EDITORIAL: Everyone deserves a fair deal
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YARRAWONGA Football and Netball Club president Glenn Brear has launched a stinging attack on the Ovens and Murray league, just days after winning the senior premiership.
In a wide-ranging blast, Brear said Sunday’s grand final should not have been played at Lavington and he accused the league’s board of having an Albury-Wodonga bias.
He also hit out at critics of Brendan Fevola, with legendary Lavington coach Tim Sanson firmly in his sights.
Brear said he believed clubs outside Albury- Wodonga weren’t getting a fair go.
“If you want the league to prosper then you’ve got to give other clubs a go,” Brear said.
“That’s not happening.
“Country clubs need to be encouraged and supported.
“That’s not happening.
“Are we all getting a fair whack?
“They can say what they like, but it’s not happening.”
Ovens and Murray general manager Aaron McGlynn yesterday brushed off bias claims when contacted and said the board made its decisions in the best interests of the league.
Brear said it was unfair for Ovens and Murray grand finals to always be played at Lavington.
The Panthers had six out of a possible seven teams in grand finals on Sunday.
The seniors grand final with Yarrawonga and Albury was the only exception.
“Ovens and Murray premierships are too hard to win as it is, let alone with a team having a home ground advantage,” he said.
“I’ve got nothing against Lavington, but it’s too big of an advantage.
“They’ve had it for almost 20 years, and I’m tipping they want it for another 20.
“In that period they’ve won two premierships on their own ground against Myrtleford.
“If they’d played those two games at Myrtleford, I daresay the Saints would have won one of them, at least.
“The advantage is huge. It’s not healthy.”
The Pigeons’ president quashed suggestions the game’s attendance would suffer should it leave its biggest hub.
“Don’t ever say people won’t go,” Brear said.
“It would be full at Myrtleford, it would be full at Wangaratta and it would be full at Corowa.
“I think you’ll find about 8000 people went to the grand final in 2011.
“There was a game at Mulwala in round 1 that next year that got about 10,000.
“So don’t tell me people won’t go.”
The 2012 game at Mulwala Brear referred to was Fevola’s first game for the Pigeons.
“People can say what they like, but the only reason we got Brendan to Yarrawonga was to get people back watching country football,” Brear said.
“And Brendan has been an outstanding success at doing that.
“I recall a two-time premiership coach (Sanson) saying in the paper that it would all end in tears with Fev.
“You know what? He was right.
“It did end in tears — tears of joy.”
Brear suggested more than one ground should be prepared to host the grand final, with a decision made once the finalists were determined.
Brear said there was evidence to suggest Albury-Wodonga clubs had been shown leniency that his club hadn’t been afforded.
“I look back to that game against Rovers last year when they changed the date to set up Barry Hall and Fev,” Brear said.
“Wodonga Raiders put up the same story as us when they tried to move their game so Hall could play and they didn’t have to.
“But we did. Tell me how that works?
“Financially, we lost big time and still we’ve got no compensation.”
Brear was left scratching his head about how Friday’s grand final parade had been scheduled at the same time as a lunch hosted by Albury Tigers —as a result few senior Tiger players took part in the parade.
