Football
16 April, 2024
WFNL excited about wide open season
Wimmera Football Netball League president Peter Ballagh is looking forward to the season with a new team coming in, rolling subs in netball introduced and the umpires and admin staff working harder than ever before.
"I am excited to see how the Thunder come together," Ballagh said.
"Good on them for being proactive and taking initiative out of last year to form a new club. I am happy to have them come into the league and looking forward to what they have to offer."
The big talking point in recent weeks has been the AFL changing the age group gap in the Under-14s and Under-17s which has left some clubs struggling for numbers.
"It was such a short notice period and credit to the clubs for taking it on the chin and working it the best they can," Ballagh said.
"No one is happy with it and we didn't see it coming at all. The short notice period hasn't given clubs a chance to chat to other clubs or sharing players and it's put a lot of people under pressure to sure up their numbers.
"Clubs have been very accepting and willing to work with us to get the best outcome."
Ballagh said a lot of permits have come through and the board has approved a third of them, but there is a lot more to process.
"We are trying to make sure it doesn't impact the competition too much. Under the circumstances we have the best process in place," Ballagh said.
"We will try and accommodate those players as best we can. We have a full understanding that it's not going to be ideal, but we are working through it."
Rolling Subs a positive change
The other change that has been implemented is the rolling subs in netball. Rolling subs allows players to tag each other and rotate on and off the court and they won't need to wait for a stoppage in play.
"It has taken a lot of work for a few of our board members to look after this and they have done a good job on it and how it works," Ballagh said.
"It seemed to run smoothly in the Good Friday match between Ararat and Stawell and it will be interesting to see how clubs adapt and use it to their advantage.
"It's a positive addition to the netball side of things and we look forward to seeing how it unfolds during the season."
Sponsors acknowledged and board members thanked
Ballagh would like to thank the other board members for their hard work over the summer.
"It has been a busy summer for most of the board members, formulating the draw, looking after the juniors, implementing rolling subs and looking after sponsorship," Ballagh said.
"I have to give special mention to Jennie French and Jayde Ellis who have worked tirelessly during the off-season as well as Neil King and Bart Turgoose for their work with the sponsors.
"With the business environment tightening up, we had to sure up most of our sponsors and we thank them for jumping on board."
Ballagh thanked the sponsors and said they would be rewarded during the season.
"We will hold a sponsor night where all the sponsors can come together at the Horsham Sports and Community Club where we can thank the sponsors for their continued support," Ballagh said.
"We will do our utmost to promote these businesses and promote and encourage supporters to support these businesses that support us."
Umpires putting in the hard yards
Ballagh acknowledged the umpires, highlighting the work Chris Van Buuren has done as president.
"Chris has set up a new structure and has been fantastic to deal with," Ballagh said.
"There have been no issues with the umpires and everyone is happy and the umpires are happy.
"By all reports, they have good numbers and the umpires do a fantastic job for the league and hats off to Chris."
Competitive season ahead
Ballagh is excited by the recruits to the league and said it is going to be a cracking season.
"By all accounts, talking to clubs, everyone has recruited extremely well and it is going to be a cracking season across 2024 and I expect all clubs to be vying for a finals spot," Ballagh said.
"There will be good sides that finish outside of the five. Stawell has recruited well, the Burra will be thereabouts, Thunder is the unknown dark horse, the Saints have young talent, Nhill has recruited well and Warrack has recruited well.
"The Demons have a solid coach and young team, Dimboola has recruited well and Ararat is still up there so I am excited for a cracking season."
"In netball, looking at the club lists, it is going to be a cracking competition and there are a lot of clubs that have talent and will be vying for spots. It will be just as tight as the football in A-Grade netball."
MVP award
This season, Horsham Toyota is sponsoring an MVP award. Ballagh said it is exciting.
"There will be a public vote later in the year around round 15 where people will be invited to vote for the WFNL's most valuable player and you might be able to find a cheap car at the same time," Ballagh said.
Team of the Year
The WFNL Team of the Year is being decided differently this year. I, Chris Graetz will be organising it and in conjunction with sponsor Gavin Morrow and board member Neil King, who will both have input, a positional-based side in both football and netball will be named.
Coaches have been informed and will be asked at the end of the year to nominate players from their team they feel are deserving of being in the team. The shortlist will then be placed in the paper where we will choose the team and present it to the WFNL board to be approved.
As coaches won't nominate themselves, if any playing coach is in contention, then I will nominate them.
The strict rule is that any suspended player won't be eligible. If you are sanctioned you will still be eligible, however.
I am looking forward to being involved this year and thank the league for allowing me this opportunity.