AFL North-East Border will take the biggest step towards helping the region’s perennial battling clubs become competitive again on Wednesday.
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With clubs resisting pressures to merge, AFLNEB will announce 12 clubs across the region have been successful with applications for significantly increased points limits with two others which missed out having the option to appeal their failed bids.
AFLNEB general manager John O’Donohue said there would be clubs which could have an additional nine points allocated to them in a one-off bid to help make them competitive again.
The maximum number of points a club can have in any league is 47.
In the four senior leagues in the region, Wangaratta Rovers (Ovens and Murray), Wodonga Saints (Tallangatta) and Bonnie Doon (Ovens and King) didn’t win a match and Tumbarumba (Upper Murray) won one.
Corowa-Rutherglen has also been unable to emerge from the depths of the ladder.
O’Donohue said data had been assessed over a decade-long period with win-loss records, finals appearances and population challenges all guiding decisions on extra points.
“It doesn’t guarantee that they can use them and they won’t be able to go from bottom to top, but at least they can be competitive,” he said.
“There are still no guarantees because there are a lot of things that go into recruiting.
“But we want those bottom teams now to have the scope to at least be competitive.”
O’Donohue conceded past examples of clubs being given a small number of additional points had failed since its inception three years ago.
But, North Albury had an application for extra points in the 2018 season rejected with the Hoppers maxing out their 38 points most weeks and still not making the finals.
Albury has won seven flags in last 10 years, but in the Hampden league, Koroit, which has won five flags in a row, was recently deducted three points for 2019.
“The discussion has been around how do you define success,” O’Dononhue said.
“Is it win-loss, premierships and do you define it over three, five or 10 years?
“In fairness the system has only been in three years and how many points do you deduct and under what criteria.
“I also think we would need to give a club a season’s notice that we would intend to apply that under the right circumstances.”
O’Donohue said the O and M league would also need to be supportive of the move.
It’s understood matches at Wangaratta and Lavington under lights on the weekend of March 30-31 – a week before the scheduled start of the season proper – has been proposed.
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