PDFNL operations manager Shane Railton said current clubs would not be pressured to consider a split competition.
Picola District Football Netball League has got on the front foot quickly when news of the possibility of the Golden Rivers League going into recess surfaced.
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The Picola league has already had talks with five Golden Rivers clubs — Moulamein, Hay, Marcona, Wandella and Murrabit – about a possible move to its competition if their league folds.
The Golden Rivers League’s future at the moment is in doubt and hinging on a bid by one of its clubs, Ultima, to join the Central Murray League next season.
If this happens, the Golden Rivers League would have only five clubs.
The Golden Rivers League and Central Murray League are administered by the same body which has expressed a desire that the Golden Rivers League clubs be absorbed by Central Murray League if Ultima is successful in its bid to join the league.
Picola District league general manager Shane Railton confirmed his league had had talks with the five Golden Rivers clubs about a possible shift to the PDFNL, but under the condition it was run as a separate league.
He said there was no intention for the five Golden Rivers League clubs to merge with some current Picola District league clubs to form another competition (or second division).
Geographically, present Picola District league clubs Deniliquin Rovers, Mathoura and Blighty look a good fit for an extended Picola league competition, but Railton said these clubs would not be pressured to consider such a move.
‘‘If they want to, they could, but it’s entirely up to them,’’ Railton said.
The Picola league once had two divisions, but returned to a one division league in 2018.
The five Golden Rivers clubs involved are expected to make decisions on their futures shortly once Ultima’s future is decided.
Meanwhile, a Merrigum premiership player believes there is a solution to his former club’s current on-field woes.
Kevin Andrews, who spent 10 years playing with the Kyabram District League Bulldogs in the 1950s and was member of their 1953 premiership side, believes a merger with fellow league club Girgarre could ensure the future of both clubs.
Kevin Andrews has proposed an idea that would have Merrigum and Girgarre football netball clubs merge.
Photo by
Kyabram Free Press
Kevin, 91, along with Neil Lowe are the only survivors of Merrigum’s 1953 flag-winning side, said Merrigum and Girgarre were currently struggling for on-field success, particularly his old club, which managed only two behinds in a 200-plus-point drubbing by top side Murchison-Toolamba last Saturday.
‘‘Something needs to be done, particularly at my old club, and a merger to me could solve the problems of both clubs,’’ Andrews said.
A former mayor of Kyabram, Andrews loves his country footy and is a regular at Kyabram games.
