OVENS and Murray Football League clubs will be allocated a player points total of 42 next season in one of the biggest reforms in the competition's 122-year history.
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The player points cap in the O and M will then drop to 38 the following season as AFL Victoria attempts to rein in player payments across the state.
The cap has been set at 44 for the Tallangatta and District league and 46 for the Ovens and King and Upper Murray competitions before each also drops by four in 2017.
The Hume league already operates under a player points system.
AFL North-East Border regional manager John O'Donohue said the system rewarded clubs which best developed and retained their own talent.
A former AFL player who has played at least one senior game in the previous three seasons will carry the maximum individual point tally of six followed by a VFL, SANFL or WAFL player with five.
Players from the TAC Cup under-18 competition, remaining state leagues and other major country leagues will carry four points.
A player transferring into the Ovens and Murray league from the Tallangatta, Hume, Ovens and King and Upper Murray will carry three points, but will rise to four if they finish top-five in a club best and fairest or top-10 in a league best and fairest.
A homegrown player will carry only one point, but a player transferring from one O and M club to another will be a five-pointer.
A player's points will deduct with every year of service and the North-East Border Commission will consider re-assessments of individual player cap limits on a "case by case" basis.
The introduction of a salary cap has been put on the back-burner until 2017 at the earliest.
O'Donohue said the points cap had been settled on following testing of all selected teams in the middle part of the season.
"This is the biggest reform to country footy ever undertaken," he said.
"The intent has always been to ensure the sustainability of clubs and it is one step closer to addressing player payment trends."
The Ovens and Murray's neighbouring major league, the Goulburn Valley, is expected to have a team cap of 45 next year.
Peter Tossol, who was part of a pro-equalisation lobby group formed last year, welcomed the pending reform.
"Hopefully this will give all clubs the opportunity to be competitive and sustainable," he said.
"There will no doubt be some fine tuning to address local circumstances but I have confidence the North East Border Commission will make the right points allocations."
A player who doesn't meet any of the player categories outlined in the document released to clubs on Tuesday will need to apply to the commission for a total.
The commission will also consider increasing a team's points due to population disadvantage, significant hardship, lack of success or being merged.
A reduction will also be considered for a club enjoying sustained success.