REVAMP BACK ON RADAR FOR LOCAL FOOTY, NETBALL
LOCAL football-netball clubs can expect promotion-relegation to be back on the agenda in 2022, with incoming AFL Barwon region manager Bruce Harwood set to revisit a competition restructure.
Former boss Will McGregor urged clubs to reconsider promotion-relegation “for the betterment” of local footballnetball last year, labelling it as one of the challenges for his successor.
Harwood, 60, said he would discuss the ongoing debate with clubs ahead of round 1 next year.
“I’d like to think by the start of next season I’ll have had a number of conversations that will give a very clear guide as to where some clubs are at and would like to go and what they’d like to see,” Harwood said.
“Of course there’s going to be many different, varied comments and views and then it’s a matter of putting on the table the harsh reality of where we sit with what’s available with infrastructure, with finances, with how clubs are going, what their short, mid and longer term issues might look like.
“If we’re fair dinkum and were open to a really honest discussion, we should see where that takes us.”
The contentious local football shake-up was stalled in 2018 during Lee Hartman’s reign after the plans were halted only months prior to his resignation.
GFL clubs expressed their desire at the time to stick with a 12-team competition and the GDFL wanted to remain an independent competition until at least the end of 2021.
It was revealed at the time that a three-division, promotionrelegation proposal remained
AFL Barwon’s “desired position in due course”.
Harwood said the “shifting demographics of Geelong” needed to be considered.
“You look at the growth of Geelong now, you’d be expecting potentially more clubs to come through, whether it’s at Armstrong Creek, whether it’s out in the north when the growth of the northern-western growth zone comes on,” he said.
“There’s a lot going on around the region and I dare say, in five to 10 years local sporting clubs will look different.You still want them to be strong, high numbers and thriving.”
Harwood, a long-serving Geelong councillor and former mayor, also refuted any suggestions of conflict of interest in taking on the most important job in local football-netball and his responsibilities with the City of Greater Geelong.
He confirmed he would remain on council but would relinquish his role as women’s football director at Geelong Amateur, where he is a life member.