Sport
17 August, 2024
Irony as Demons have a say on whether merger partner will play NCFL finals
NCFL merger partners to meet in Saturday's final round of season.
NCFL
HOW'S the irony - Nullawil must beat the club it is about to merge with to be a chance of playing in the North Central league finals.
Nullawil and Wycheproof-Narraport will merge at the end of this season to form a new entity: Calder United.
In a quirk of the draw the two clubs will play perhaps their final games in their current guise against each other on Saturday at Nullawil.
It will definitely be the last time Wycheproof-Narraport takes to the field in a senior game with the Demons out of the finals race.
But whether it will be the last game for Nullawil is still unclear - and its merger partner will have a say on it.
Nullawil sits fifth on the ladder and to play finals must, firstly, beat Wycheproof-Narraport and then rely on Wedderburn losing to Donald to leap over the Redbacks and grab fourth spot.
There was a stage mid-season when forecasting ahead there loomed a strong possibility that this round 18 game between the two merger partners could have potentially been the Maroons and Demons playing for fourth spot.
However, a drop-off in the back half of the season put an end to Wycheproof-Narraport marking its final year as it has been known since 1964 with a finals berth.
It was a highly emotional day for Wycheproof-Narraport last week as it played its final home game as the Demons and produced a stunning 12-point upset win over Birchip-Watchem.
And it will be another day of high emotion on Saturday as the Demons run out in their blue and red guernsey for the final time against the club who their future beyond this season will be tied to.
"I think you can look at this weekend in two ways... either the end of an era or the beginning of another and a lot of us are looking at this as the beginning of another era," the Demons' Rory White said on Friday.
"Not taking anything away from what the club has achieved over the years (including 19 senior flags since Wycheproof and Narraport merged in 1964), but the merger is ensuring the history of the club is maintained in some way, shape or form.
"You look at a club not far from us in Quambatook that has had to close its doors, so we're seeing this as the start of a new era with the merger with Nullawil.
"Nullawil is very close neighbours to us and our communities have been very intertwined, so it is a natural fit."
And as for the ironic scenario of the Demons having the chance to impact on whether Nullawil makes the finals or not.
"It is an interesting one... a few people have commented about have we had a conversation with Nullawil around allowing them to win so they can be a chance of making finals," White said.
"But we're a lot prouder than that and Nullawil won't be expecting anything different.
"Hopefully, we can bring the same level of game we did against Birchip last week and we can finish with a win."
Looking beyond Saturday's Nullawil v Wycheproof-Narraport game, the merged Calder United will be jointly coached in its first season next year by Darryl Wilson and Jordan Humphreys.
Wilson is coaching Nullawil this year, while Humphreys - a former Bendigo Pioneer - is skipper of the Maroons.