By Matt Fotia
Two Eastern Football Netball League Premier Division club captains have said that they’d be prepared to take pay cuts – or play for nothing – if it means they can get back out on the park in 2020.
The league released a statement last week which was focused around possible start dates, club survey results and possible changes to the salary cap, due to the current COVID-19 pandemic that has stopped season 2020 in its tracks.
COVID-19 UPDATE | A further update on COVID-19 and the EFNL can be found here ➡️ https://bit.ly/3bmuV3f Posted by Eastern Football Netball League on Tuesday, 14 April 2020
Whilst a decision on whether the season eventual kicks off will be guided by health experts, with the safety of the community the number one priority of the EFNL and AFL Victoria, the release attracted comments aplenty on social media, one of which was newly appointed Balwyn senior captain Jeff Gobbels who posted the following.
‘If you asked the players most of us would play at a heavily reduced rate or if not for free at this stage. It would give the community something to look forward to on a weekend once again.’
Gobbels reiterated that statement when speaking to EFNL media on Monday.
“If it was put to us that you could either play for free or not play at all and that you’d have to wait till 2021, I think that’d be an obvious response (playing for free),”
“We’ve been training since November and guys are still keeping fit now for the possibility of having a shorter football season, so if that was the choice, I think majority would definitely play for free.”
Balwyn captain Jeff Gobbels will play for free if need be in 2020
Gobbels admitted that he and others had enjoyed the bonus of being paid to play community sport, but ultimately they play the game for the enjoyment it brings them and the relationships that entail.
“Ideally you want to get paid to play football and that’s great and it has been great, but at the end of the day we play because we love the sport,”
“You play because you want to get out there, you want to play with your teammates and to be involved in the community,”
“That’s why a lot of us play, you know to build relationships with people at the club and their families and at the minute I’m really missing that on the weekends.”
Gobbels Blackburn counterpart Patrick Contin said that his club would work with individual players, citing that some players may need the income due to the impact of COVID-19, but agreed that most players would be open to playing for free.
Patrick Contin said Blackburn players would be open to the idea of playing for free
“If it did come down to players having to play for free or for less, we would reach out to the individual, because some people have been struck hard with everything that’s gone on at the moment and there are others who are fortunate to still be working,”
“But without putting words in our players mouths I think they would be happy to have a chat about all of it.”
Contin hopes that local sport is given every opportunity to prosper in 2020 given the positive impact it can have on the whole community.
“Sport is such a great tool for keeping fit and socialising and community football at its roots is exactly that, it’s about getting around the community and people supporting each other and getting a release from everyday life and putting smiles on people’s faces,”
“I know our community can’t wait to get back to some sort of footy being played and hopefully that’s not too far away.”