Non-mandatory promotion from the Bellarine Football Netball League to the Geelong Football Netball League could happen as soon as the end of next year.
And the door is open for the Surf Coast Suns to join the BFNL as soon as next year after AFL Barwon rubberstamped changes to senior football and netball as part of its Future of Football and Netball Project this week.
Following six months of consultation and four different proposals looking at the future of the two sports, the local governing body has adopted what it has labelled a two-year movement cycle between the two competitions, with the first cycle covering the 2024-2025 seasons.
A club’s finishing position in senior and reserves football and A and B-grade netball will determine the club’s eligibility for promotion.
Twelve points will be allocated to the club finishing on top of the ladder in each of those four sections, 11 to the club finishing second and so on.
However, the BFNL club that finishes with the most points can decline the offer to join the GFNL, with AFL Barwon extending the offer to the second-placed club.
If that is declined, no movement will take place.
However, if either the first or second-placed team chooses to make the move, the bottom-ranked GFNL club will be relegated to the BFNL.
“A significant change has been made based on the updated proposal released earlier this month, primarily recognising feedback that not all Bellarine FNL clubs currently have a desire or means to compete at the GFNL level; however, some clubs do see this as a desirable goal,” the statement said.
AFL Barwon also confirmed a tiered approach will be adopted for the salary cap and points system next year.
Applications are now open for clubs to become the BFNL’s 11th and 12th teams and close on April 24.
“The AFL Barwon Commission are very grateful for the time and effort all Clubs have put in over the last six months,” chair Michelle Gerdtz said.
“The consultation process has been extensive, and we have appreciated the individual thoughts, ideas, and club feedback provided during this process.
“The key outcomes for AFL Barwon at the commencement of this project were to create a competition landscape that promoted greater pathways, competitiveness, and opportunities for clubs to succeed, as well as providing an entry point for new clubs to be established and enter senior football and netball with success.
“By expanding the Bellarine Football Netball League to include 12 teams, we now see the opportunity for Surf Coast Suns to enter senior Football and Netball, and the mechanism has now been created for movement between the Bellarine FNL and Geelong FNLs”.
AFL Barwon will now focus on transitioning senior women’s football from Sunday to Saturday as the primary day of play, with junior football and junior netball also on the agenda for this year.
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IN SIMPLE TERMS
- AFL Barwon has adopted movement between the BFNL and GFNL, but only if one of the top two teams in the BFNL Club Championship over a two-year period (starting with 2024-25) accepts the offer to join the GFNL.
- The Club Championship will be determined using the finishing positions at the end of the home-and-away season in senior and reserves football and A and B-grade netball. Twelve points will be allocated to the team finishing first on the ladder and one to the team finishing last.
- From 2025 onwards, total player payments (salary cap) and team points will be tiered based on finishing positions for senior football and A-grade netball.
- Applications to become the BFNL’s 11th and 12th clubs are now open and close on April 24.
- Criteria to be reviewed in 2027.
