By Mark Murray
THE Western Region Football League (WRFL) season is poised to start on time despite the current water restrictions, which are playing havoc with the bulk of metropolitan competitions.
WRFL chief executive John Batty said the league would continue to monitor the state of club grounds, but was optimistic play would commence on the weekend of 14 and 15 April as scheduled.
He did admit changes to the fixture could take place in the junior grades if the current drought failed to break.
“At the moment the line we’re pushing is we still want to start on the weekend of 14 and 15 April,” Batty said
“And all indications at the moment from the clubs and from council are that we expect to go ahead then as planned, which is great.
“The feedback we’re getting certainly from the Division One and most of the Division Two grounds is they’re going to be ready and suitable.
“There is a little bit more of a problem with some junior venues, but time will tell and we hope to get a little bit more rain between now and then to rectify that.”
The current water restrictions sit at Stage 3, but if that is raised to Stage 4 grounds would no longer be able to be watered, which ensured the threat of a delayed WRFL season was still live.
“My core business is to make footy happen and to organise footy games,” Batty said.
“But in the end the decision can change from day to day, so we must realise that.
“Some councils still want to look at their grounds weekly, and who knows what they’re going to say about their grounds in two weeks’ time.”
Batty said all clubs had been hampered by the restrictions and were coping with the situation to varying degrees.
“Training has been disrupted obviously, and practice match schedule has been disrupted, so it really is a wait and see game,” he said.
Batty has been busy visiting various venues as the season approaches, and said calls from several clubs had increased.
“To be honest, the list of grounds we need to monitor particularly closely seems to be growing, so that’s a bit of a concern,” he said.
“In general the councils are the ones that own the asset, so it is their ground and they’ll make the decision for us whether we can use them or not.
“We just have to keep monitoring the situation.
“If the councils say that we can’t use the grounds or the insurance companies make some recommendation, then obviously we change our plans.
“But at the moment we think we’re on track.”
