The Mallee Football Interleague Team is sponsored by Bill and Tania Morrish at Top End Training - Ouyen
by Jim Gordon
Mallee Football League President Alan Malcolm is a passionate advocate of Inter League football.
‘I see Inter league as a great opportunity for Mallee Football League players,’ said Alan Malcolm.
The Mallee team is currently working towards May 28 when they take on the might of the North Central League at Donald.
‘A lot of our players are not going to get the opportunity to play in a bigger league,’ Malcolm said, ‘and realistically the AFL is an even more remote dream.’
‘Inter league gives our players the chance to play at a higher level with their peers, the very best players in the Mallee League,’ said Malcolm.
‘Every MFL team has a core of outstanding players and Inter league is the only opportunity for the best of the best to get together and play as a team against the best that the VCFL can put up at a Regional level,’ he added.
‘It is also a rare opportunity for the League as a whole to show to the general public the high standard of our football. A win and we go up a notch in the ladder, a loss and we go down,’ he concluded.
Malcolm referred to the great North Central team of 1974 that won the Regional Championship. At that time the team consisted of representatives from Southern and Northern Mallee combined with the North Central League. Now the minor District Mallee league is pitted against North Central, the first time that a District League has had the opportunity to step out with the big boys in their own right.
Member of the victorious 1974 team, and Victorian Country Football League (VCFL) representative Underbool’s Chris Brown, put into perspective the enormous task confronting the MFL.
‘The MFL is not underestimating the huge task at hand. We will be taking on communities such as St Arnaud, Donald, Birchip, Boort, Charlton, Wedderburn and Wycheproof, all much bigger than the small towns of the Mallee,’ said Chris Brown.
‘Both leagues have strong imports into their leagues that complement local players. The Mallee League will need all of their top line players available to be a winning chance,’ said Brown.
Inter league is an opportunity for the next set of elite players to form those longstanding friendships that have come out of the early Inter league games. The Mallee League is now eagerly looking forward to the opportunity to engrave their own name in history.
North Central have a lot to lose. Defeat will linger and it will be a sorry day for a Regional League to be beaten by a District League. North Central will be expected to win.
Bill and Tania Morrish at Top End Training, Ouyen are the sponsors of the Mallee Football League inter league team for the second year.
Last Modified on 16/05/2011 17:59
