By: Troy Swainston – Chief Executive Officer – Eastern Football League
This week, the Eastern Football League will be supporting the TAC Towards Zero – ‘Zero is Possible’ campaign.
Towards Zero is Victoria’s plan to ensure no one is seriously injured on our roads. The Towards Zero Round is a new approach by the TAC and AFL Victoria to engage the community and increase awareness about critical road safety issues. As part of this initiative, the TAC have invested $300,000 in a Community Grants Program, where local clubs will have the opportunity to apply for grants of up to $10,000. Clubs who support the initiative via social media and education to raise awareness will most likely be the beneficiaries of the grants program.
Club captains of our senior men’s and women’s teams will be wearing the ‘0’ on their backs in all games and in the Eastland match of the round between Rowville and Vermont, the two senior field umpires will also wear the ‘0’. We thank our clubs for their support of the round and creating awareness for road safety.
Our junior boys season finishes this weekend and we remind clubs that head-to-head results will separate teams where they have the same win/loss records. These adjustments will be made Sunday night to ensure the ladders correctly reflect team positions ready for finals next week.
Two years ago, we removed percentage from junior football to assist with overcoming uneven fixtures and to stop incentivising clubs to beat sides by the largest margin to build percentage. This went against player development and the spirit in which we wanted games played. Removing percentage means that the head-to-head results against the other strongest sides are the most important games and ultimately determine the final ladder positions.
With some lopsided games taking place in the under-19s and reserves, we wonder if removing percentage in these games would assist in removing the need to beat a team by 30 goals to build percentage. Thereby focussing on player development, team play, ball movement and structures as opposed to ruthlessly demoralising the opposition and kicking the biggest score possible in the pursuit of percentage. Perhaps a conversation worth having in the future.
Another big round of football this week with critical games taking place that will impact the finals aspirations and ladder positions of clubs. Whilst there is a big game taking place at Vermont Recreation Reserve there is a massive game taking place at Koonung Reserve where Croydon North-MLOC will be looking to notch its first win in the EFL against Nunawading. The celebrations will be big no matter who the winner is, can Croydon North-MLOC create history with its first win in the EFL?
Good luck to all teams on the weekend and remember to tune in to the Eastland match of the round on 1377 SEN+ or watch the live stream via the EFL website.