At the mid-point of the 2019 season the EDFL Board of Management is very pleased with the progress so far. Across all four grades we have seen plenty of very competitive football. Encouragingly the trend in recent years of the gap between the top and bottom sides is once again reducing. Interest depends on competition so this is a very healthy sign for our league.
At senior level seven clubs are well and truly in the running to play finals football and there looks a very strong chance eight clubs will field teams across all four grades come finals time. And our EDNA colleagues must also be pleased with the evenness across their grades with the likelihood that nine clubs could have teams in the finals amongst the six grades at the end of the 18th round.
As with any non-profit organisation it relies heavily on sponsorship and the EDFL is indebted to Parklea to come aboard in 2019 as a naming right sponsor. Parklea is an Australian owned company leading the way in property development in Victoria. Hope you have noticed their logo on all the league social media, the follower, junior and senior interleague jumpers and executive apparel. We hope to forge a long partnership with Parklea.
And it would be remiss of me not to acknowledge league newcomers the Yarragon Football Netball Club. The Panthers have proved competitive at senior and reserves level and have shown to be a good fit for our league.
Yarragon hosted the Worksafe Interleague Community Championships match this year between the EDFL and our neighbours the West Gippsland Football Netball Competition (WGFNC). The EDFL participated at both senior and U/18 level. Congratulations to the WGFNC who comfortably beat us in both grades but great to see both our teams’ show plenty of fight and it was terrific that a big crowd was in attendance.
Looking forward once again the top five teams in each grade will play finals. The finals will start on Saturday 24 August with the 2019 Parklea Grand Final to be played on Saturday 14 September. The league will work through all the applications from clubs to host finals over the upcoming weeks.
Administration wise I’d also like to recognise our newcomers; League Secretary Madi Louden, Treasurer Meredith Anderson and Jodie Pratt who compiles the follower. To all three – keep up the good work!
On another note as most followers of the league are well aware the composition of our league in 2020 is currently being decided by AFL Victoria. The EDFL has pushed hard to preserve our 10 team competition in its current state. We expect to hear a decision very soon.
Finally as I have said many times before I would like thank the work of all officials and volunteers across all clubs. The strength of the league is in no small way due to their presence.
And while I have already mentioned it is fantastic to have Parklea as a new sponsor, I’d just like to also thank our other sponsors, Viatek, Physioworks, Gary Blackwood, Warragul Gazette, Lang Lang Golf Club and Intersport Warragul for their support.
Roger Gwynne
EDFL President
Last Modified on 20/06/2019 21:42