Goulburn Valley coach Paul Newman has declared today's home interleague football clash against the Ovens and Murray the most important in history.
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The pair has met 25 times over the past 92 years, but the GV stalwart pulled no punches about the future of representative football.
"We want both teams to put on a show because it's pretty important with interleague at the crossroads," he suggested.
"We've got to try and rejuvenate it and if the Ovens and Murray and Goulburn Valley rivalry doesn't do it, then I'm not sure what's going to save us."
If the Ovens and Murray and Goulburn Valley rivalry doesn't do it, then I'm not sure what's going to save us.
- Paul Newman
The AFL Victoria Country Championships were disbanded after the 2019 season.
It worked on a sliding scale where leagues had the opportunity to win the number one ranking for the state.
The O and M's last game was a 41-point away loss to Mornington Peninsula Nepean, which would have forced the league into the five v six playoff had the competition not been abandoned.
"It's been on the decline for a few years, certainly pre-Covid, it's hard to put your finger on why that's the case, a bit of commitment from the players, money's got a fair bit to with it from local clubs," Newman revealed.
The O and M, for example, has been a victim of its own success.
The league is coming off its biggest recruiting blitz in at least 25 years, but a number of those players are well paid in club land, so some won't be willing to risk injury at representative level and therefore miss the hefty weekly club payment.
However, if you work on the theory you are only good as your last contest, the O&M-GV clashes appear safe.
The teams last met in a blockbuster at Wodonga's John Flower Oval in 2017, where the O and M fought back in the final quarter to win a seven-point thriller with Wangaratta's Michael Newton the difference.
IN OTHER NEWS:
The O and M holds a 15-10 lead with the game at Mooroopna Recreation Reserve.
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