The Eastern Football Netball League has confirmed the proposed changes to the 2021 season fixture following the most recent Covid-19 lockdown.
The EFNL Board unanimously supported the following League recommendations;
The League shall maximise Home and Away matches for all participants.
The League shall schedule Home and Away matches in lieu of fixtured finals to maximise participation.
The League shall adjust the structure of all Senior and Junior competition finals to increase the number of fixtured weeks available to complete as many Home and Away matches as possible.
The League is committed to a finals series in all competitions, but the structure and length (number of weeks) of the finals series will be dependent on the number of fixtured Home and Away rounds missed.
Assuming competitions can return as planned on the 18th/19th/20th of June, some round/s will be made up during the week/s allocated to finals.
Rounds added will be on a first missed first played basis and the ability to add rounds is dependent on the competition finals structure (Top Four / Three-week series v Top Five / Four-week series).
Finals will revert to a Top Four knockout system which will see 1v4 and 2v3 play in Week One and the two winners play off in the Grand Final a week later.
You can view the updated fixture dates for the Senior Men’s, Women’s and Junior competitions here (June 19 Return Fixture Changes)
Read the new AFL Vic Return To Training Principles here (AFL Victoria Return to Training and Games Protocols – 11 June 2021)