BY MICHAEL ESPOSITO
ASIDE from the bottom clubs in Division One and Division Two struggling to be competitive, WRFL chief executive officer Bob Tregear the season had been a resounding success.
Perhaps the most encouraging sign for the top division was the epic Spotswood versus Altona preliminary final, which eventual premiers Spotswood won by a point.
It was a game that erased the memory of the unfortunately one-sided qualifying final between the same two weeks prior, in which Spotswood won by 96 points.
If that had been repeated in the preliminary final, doubts would have been cast over the ability of the rest of the Division One sides to compete with Spotswood and Albion next season.
Instead, we have a competition that promises to be tightly contested between at least seven clubs. Division Two premier Deer Park of course is the unknown quantity.
¡§Altona is a quality club and the second half of their season has been terrific, so you would expect them to be competitive. Our top seven or eight clubs are very competitive, very well run, and are all worthy first division clubs,¡¨ Tregear said.
IN other WRFL news:
„P St Albans and Caroline Springs football clubs have rejected advances from the Essendon Football League to join its competition. ¡§We¡¦re very confident we¡¦re delivering an attractive product to them to keep them in their own region,¡¨ Tregear said. The WRFL has not approached outside clubs to join the league, but Tregear said the door was always open.
„P Penleigh Essendon Grammar School has approached the club about bringing teams into the WRFL¡¦s junior competition next season. Tregear said he expected the league would field under-9 and under-10 teams from Penleigh Essendon Grammar next season, with a view to build from that platform.
