By ADEM SARICAOGLU
THE Essendon District Football League has finally released the 2013 Premier Division fixture to the public after a lengthy delay to consider proposed changes to the finals system.
A week after the Division One and Two fixtures were announced, the EDFL revealed its 18-game home and away schedule for its top senior competition, which will kick off on Good Friday (29 March) with Strathmore hosting Keilor.
League general manager Marc Turri revealed the delay was the result of a two-month investigation to gauge support for a new final five finals system proposed by one Premier Division club.
“The clubs have had a draft copy since late October, but we’ve had some minor changes to it over the course of the last few months with the biggest issue being what to do with the finals series,” Turri said.
The current final four will remain in place this September, but Turri says that could change from 2014 onward.
“We asked the clubs for their views on whether to keep the four or go to five, but we weren’t able to obtain a response from every single club,” he said.
“So we thought we would stick to what we have for the time being, get a response from every club and then make a decision based on the views of every club for 2014.”
Keilor, who are currently mourning the sudden loss of life member Geoff Just, is one of the clubs in support of the final five.
Club president Craig Teal told Star he believes the final five will have many benefits and provide lesser clubs an incentive to improve on the field.
“It was touted about two years ago and it was shelved by the EDFL, and I think Avondale Heights has been pushing for it big time, but I’m not really sure what their agenda was,” Teal said.
“If more clubs can make the finals it’s a hell of a lot more viable for them financially as well, plus from an EDFL point of view it’s a lot more viable for them, too.
“With all the talk about how everyone’s recruited this year I think it’s going to be a very, very tough year and there might not be a lot of difference between first and fifth.”
Teal was also pleased to again secure the Good Friday fixture with Strathmore, which this year was brought forward from round five and will be played two weeks prior to round one.
“It’s a fantastic concept and I know we’ll do more of a money-raiser for the Royal Children’s Hospital appeal,” Teal said.
“We plan on building it up for bigger and better things over the next few years with Strathmore.”
Turri also revealed Division Two clubs Hillside and Keilor Park could have some home games moved to the 5pm timeslot on Saturday evenings, but that remains a work in progress.
