BFNL 2023: Barwon Heads strongly opposed to AFL Barwon’s proposal to overhaul competitions

A president of a powerhouse club has taken aim at a proposed league overhaul from AFL Barwon, fearing that it will hurt clubs — particularly those in the Bellarine.

Barwon Heads president Tim Goddard has slammed AFL Barwon’s proposed competition overhaul, labelling the plan a “utopian vision” that will abandon Bellarine Football Netball league clubs.

Goddard said his club and many other sides in the Bellarine FNL — including premiers Torquay — are strongly against the model that would see the Geelong FNL and BFNL competitions combine, headed by a Premier League, from 2025.

The Seagulls president said it will put increased pressure on clubs across the region to retain talent and encourage powerful clubs extra to swoop in on promising juniors.

He also believes that the $120,000 salary cap proposed in the Premier League – up from the current $80,000 in the BFNL – would put an unnecessary strain on volunteers.

Goddard said that Bellarine FNL clubs are happy with the league the way it is and that the slightly more relaxed nature of the competition – compared to the GFNL – and the rivalries within it are an attraction to potential suitors.

Barwon Heads president Tim Godard said the new proposal would abandon Bellarine clubs. Picture: Alan Barber

“I’m not going to sit back and let more pressure be put on Bellarine football clubs to raise more money, players, coaches to support some sort of utopian vision of ‘Premier League’,” Goddard said.

“The Bellarine is a stand-alone competition, it is 10 clubs, it is the perfect number. And why should we forsake what makes the Bellarine good for an 8-10 team Premier division, which GFL is anyway?

“There’s some things that happen to help local footy that doesn’t need to be so. It’s going to abandon the Bellarine clubs and focus on the Premier division.

“Our club doesn’t think there will is going to benefits for our juniors, these Premier clubs will try to poach and suck up all of the juniors to play in the Premier division.

“That’s not what makes me volunteer as president to help our club to raise more money, more pressure on everybody to do that. That’s not what it is about.

“Players and coaches come to us because we are not a GFL club. We do play town against town, we don’t train as much as those bigger clubs in the GFL, it’s attractive.”

Goddard said the potential structure won’t help equalisation and may have the opposite effect on struggling clubs like Portarlington.

He pointed to clubs like Leopold and Modewarre who have applied to change into different competitions in the past.

Goddard believes that is a better solution than the one offered by AFL Barwon through the new structure.

Barwon Heads unfurl their 2022 premiership pennant. Picture: Mike Dugdale

“I don’t think it will help (Portarlington) one iota, I don’t think it will help anyone one iota,” Goddard said.

“If you look at country leagues around Victoria there is an issues that clubs are winning over time but I don’t think that’s done through this

“The vast majority of clubs that I speak to in the Bellarine, and we speak often, are not for it. If clubs want to move between divisions and play in the Bellarine or in the GFL, they can apply – they can apply now.”

AFL Barwon regional manager Ed Wilson said that some clubs have responded to the league saying the proposed $120,000 salary cap isn’t enough.

He said it is a delicate balance trying to satisfy clubs on both ends of the financial spectrum and that they were mindful of rising league salary caps in metropolitan Melbourne and inflation.

“We received feedback from clubs that the salary cap was not enough and we also received feedback from clubs that ‘yes it may have been too challenging for them in the future’,” Wilson said.

“And that’s the challenging thing about this project, we have to find a medium in between it for all our clubs to make sure everyone is supported regardless of their size, their finances, etc.

“For us as well there is an acknowledgment that if we look at Melbourne metro and those regions and their salary caps there’s been some significant jumps in the last 12 months and while we haven’t proposed any chances in 2024, we also want to keep clubs competitive as well and noting changes to the economy.

“The salary cap was brought in in the first place to ensure clubs’ sustainability was first and foremost, so we do not want to unravel that, but we are aware of making the decisions that are best for the sustainability of the region and our clubs.”

Originally published as BFNL 2023: Barwon Heads strongly opposed to AFL Barwon’s proposal to overhaul competitions