As President of the Inverell Saints AFL Club, I feel the need to comment on the decision by the Tamworth Australian Football League (TAFL) to cancel this weekend's games without looking at every option available to them.
Both the Armidale and Narrabri grounds had been affected by recent rainfall and were considered to be unsafe to play on. As a Club, we believe that both games could have been played if the TAFL followed their own set of By-Laws.
Our proposal is that Muswellbrook should have been asked whether their ground was available and safe to play on {which I believe wasn't done} and could they host The New England Nomads, and the second game moved to Inverell where a double header could be staged. The Inverell Club was never asked whether this would be possible.
We acknowledge that it was always going to be tough decision but if games can be relocated, then they should be.
I know there'll be people saying that we're whingers and this proposal would have favored us and/or was not a possible option, but let me remind you that we are all here to promote this great game and to stage a double header in Inverell would have certainly helped the cause.
From a Club perspective, we want this game to grow from grass roots to seniors level and to do this we need to grab every bit of exposure we can.
Being a new entity in a town dominated by both Rugby codes, it is essential the Club gets the right exposure and profile for the longevity of the club.
This decision to abandon this weekend's round of matches will not only do nothing for this competition and the game, but will be considered a rather `soft' option.
Gerry Taveira
President
Inverell Saints Football Club
Last Modified on 14/08/2005 09:30