THE North East Football Union is building a business case with a plan to submit a request to join the Northern Tasmanian Football Association from next season.
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Just Winnaleah and Scottsdale Crows remain in the union after the NTFA council’s controversial 17-13 vote to admit Bridport and East Coast into its division 2 competition last year.
The Crows and Magpies have kept the NEFU alive by playing each other this season.
The NEFU board met two weeks ago to discuss its future and are in the process of compiling its own feasibility study into either Winnaleah and Scottsdale Crows or a combined NEFU team participating in the NTFA.
NEFU president Kirk Wagner said union life members and club stakeholders were being consulted and that details of a proposal would be released by “the middle of next week”.
“We’ve got a plan and we want to make sure we do it right,” Wagner said.
“When they (NTFA) did a report last year they believed there were not enough players up here to support another team, we disagree with that.
“We are building a business case now that contradicts their findings.”
Wagner said there are plenty of players playing in Launceston from the North East that have indicated an interest in lining up with teams in the region.
The NTFA has previously said it would be unlikely to accept any more clubs into division 2, which already has 12 team competing.
Some existing division 2 clubs are believed to still be concerned about dwindling player numbers with many struggling to field both seniors and reserves teams this season.
Association president Paul Reynolds said a strong business case would need to be submitted for the NTFA council’s ideology to shift.
“I indicated to Kirk in a meeting a couple of weeks ago that any team is eligible to make an application to join the NTFA as that is the basis of our commitment to football,” Reynolds said.
“Any application would need to demonstrate some aspect of sustainability. A significant change would be needed.
“We went through the process very thoroughly and did our due diligence last time and it was clear there wasn’t the numbers to support it (four teams in the North-East).” Reynolds said he has suggested that the NEFU discuss the possibility of its clubs aligning with existing NTFA clubs.
He said no further thought had been put into a NTFA division 3 competition.
“That was only ever a stretch option that wasn’t wanted and was never received any support from either the NTFA board or council,” Reynolds said.
Corey Martin
Having started at The Examiner as a cadet in 2009, I have held various positions telling the stories of Northern Tasmanians in sport and news. I was appointed deputy editor in 2019 and became editor in September 2021.
Having started at The Examiner as a cadet in 2009, I have held various positions telling the stories of Northern Tasmanians in sport and news. I was appointed deputy editor in 2019 and became editor in September 2021.
