Yarroweyah enters recess from the Picola league

A club in the state’s north has made the tough decision to sit on the sidelines next year and enter recess. Here’s what we know.

Yarroweyah Football Netball Club is in recess for next year. Photo: Facebook.

The Picola District league hopes a year on the sidelines will help Yarroweyah bounce back bigger and better in 2026.

The Hoppers will officially spend next year in recess after what has been a tough period post-Covid.

In 2022, the club didn’t field a senior football team after round four.

Since 2023, the Hoppers have won one game and lost all matches last season and are currently on a 23-game losing streak.

Picola District operations manager Shane Railton said the decision was made by the club after continued discussions.

Picola District operations manager Shane Railton, Picture Yuri Kouzmin

“They've faced some uphill battles since we returned from Covid,” he revealed.

“We’ve been meeting with them on a regular basis, having discussions with them. The’ve faced some instability from an administration point of view.

“They’ve had some new people come in and they’ve felt the best way forward is to have a year off and reprogram.”

Railton is confident a year on the sidelines can be a good thing for the Hoppers.

“Their position is we aren’t in a position to try and run a club without our own house in order,” he said.

“And they’ve made that decision the best way to do it is to get all those things in place and then they can progress.

“We had a meeting with them before they made the decision about how they could best structure (for 2026).”

This leaves the competition with 15 teams, just like in 2024, with Dookie United getting approval in recent months to come back to the competition after playing in the Kyabram District league from 2018 to 2024.

Yarroweyah Football Netball Club will enter recess for the 2025 Picola District season. Picture: Yarroweyah Football Netball Club

Railton said the competition structure would remain the same.

“Dookie will come in and we’ll operate as a 15 club competition for this season,” he said.

“We’ll continue to work with Yarroweyah on the prospect of returning.”

Railton added the Hoppers would be a loss to the competition in 2025.

The club hosted the preliminary final for the competition in 2024 with Railton saying the crowd was one of the biggest in the history of the league.

The Hoppers have also been part of the competition since 1955 when the club was formed.

“It’s the most central location of all our clubs,” Railton said.

“The ground is extremely picturesque and a great facility to watch footy.”

The draw for the competition will be released soon.

Yarroweyah were contacted for comment.

Originally published as Yarroweyah enters recess from the Picola league