Going to the polls - How public opinion differed from GVL coaches about remainder of the season

By Tyler Maher

Aug 9, 2021

In the midst of Victoria's fifth coronavirus lockdown, The News polled Goulburn Valley League coaches about what the remainder of the season should look like.

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Upon releasing those results, a survey was also distributed to the general public to see what the lay of the land was outside of the coaches’ box.

Since then, the state has come out of, gone into, and then come out of lockdown again — and a standalone GVL fixture has been played — but with regional Victoria set to be open, while metropolitan Melbourne still sweats on being released towards the end of the week, the questions remain relevant.

1. If the Goulburn Valley League is able to start back up before metropolitan Melbourne residents are allowed to return to the region, would you be in favour of playing?

What the coaches said

Yes - 12

No - 4

Unsure - 2

What you thought

The public was on the same page as the coaching fraternity here, with more than two-thirds of respondents voting yes. That is 65 of 94 people stating they would be in favour of starting back up without metro residents — a course of action which may yet have to be considered for this weekend.

2. What is the minimum amount of home and away games that need to be played for you to be comfortable playing finals under the current top-six system?

What the coaches said

We've played enough already — 5

Play everyone once — 9

14 — 1

As many as possible — 3

What you thought

Overwhelmingly, the public voted to play everyone once. While about one-third of the coaches polled would have been happy to start playing finals as soon as relevant, more than 86 per cent of answers to the survey were in favour of playing all opponents at least once. That equated to 81 votes, with 13 other votes spread between enough already, 13, 14, 15 and 16.

3. If that minimum is not reached, would you like to see a different finals system in place, a cancelled season or the premiership be awarded to the team on top of the ladder?

What the coaches said

A finals campaign of some kind — 11

Award premiership to the minor premier — 1

Unsure — 6

What you thought

No coaches voted to cancel the season, but more than one third of the public did. The 33 votes to scrap the campaign were outweighed by the 41 for a finals system of some kind, while awarding the flag to the minor premier and the unsure category garnered 10 votes apiece.

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