What's left of the football season

EDFL

Lang Lang senior footballers are the latest to miss out on finals in the Ellinbank and District Football League. The EDFL announced it will hold a reduced finals series for seniors and reserves, where only the top four teams will get a shot at the premiership.

In the seniors, this means top placed Ellinbank will take on Longwarry in the fourth ladder spot, and Trafalgar in second will take on Buln Buln in third. The winners will go on to the grand final in the following week.

The first preliminary final will be held on the 11^th of September, but only if metro restrictions ease and at least 1000 spectators are permitted to attend. The junior season is still set to go ahead as usual, playing the last round before a full finals series.

Longwarry, Lang Lang, and Poowong seniors are all tied with six wins, but Longwarry holds the fourth spot on the ladder by percentage.

“There’s no point getting upset about it, Poowong have missed out as well,” Lang Lang Football Club president Chris Brew said.

EDFL operations manager Ken Moore said finals were the league’s biggest revenue raiser, due to the large number of spectators that pay gate admissions.

In a regular year, Moore said a full finals series could have $60,000 of expenses but could generate $40,000 profit for the league. He said if the league had to pay to hold finals, the costs would flow back on to local clubs resulting in higher affiliation fees. This is something the league and clubs want to avoid.

WGFNC

Under the original season plan, the West Gippsland Football and Netball Competition would play the first round of finals that were set for this weekend. But with metro restrictions still in place and six clubs considered part of Melbourne, the WGFNL are still deciding on what the finals may look like.

AFL Gippsland administrator Brandon Milburn said the WGFNC were keeping their options open, and still needed to consult with clubs before making a decision.

No football and netball has been played since restrictions were implemented last month.

Gippsland League

Juniors in the Gippsland League will play their final round this weekend, but a decision has not been made for seniors. It’s understood clubs have been presented with two options and will vote on one tomorrow.

The junior fixture is being reworked to ensure a fair end to the home and away season.

MGFNL

Mid Gippsland Football and Netball League clubs returned last weekend, and the final round will be played this weekend. Some clubs struggled to fill both seniors and reserves teams, resulting in some sides forfeiting.

The league and clubs will make a decision next week on what finals may look like.