ONE of the biggest names in Sunraysia football has lashed out at the SFNL for passing on the opportunity to stage this season’s showpiece event at the new $45 million Mildura Sporting Precinct.
Irymple playing co-coach Dan Coghlan “just can’t believe” the SFNL board opted in a 5-4 vote last month to play the football and netball grand finals at the rundown facilities at Mildura Recreation Reserve on Saturday, September 10.
The 2019 McLeod Medallist is usually quite reserved – but he didn’t hold back when asked this week for his assessment of the league’s grand-final venue call.
“I just can’t believe they aren’t playing the grand finals at the new precinct,” said Coghlan, a former VFL captain with Essendon.
“We played at No.1 Oval last week, and the ground is so much worse (than the premier oval at MSP). It’s dangerously worse.
“It’s really soft under foot and players were slipping at crucial times. Maybe the Mildura and Imps guys (who share No.1 Oval as a home ground) are used to it, but to me, it’s not great.
“You eventually want to play AFL and top-level cricket games at the new precinct, and we’re not playing our football and netball finals there? It’s crazy.”
Coghlan said the netball deciders could have been a major drawcard on the big day, with temporary courtside seating for more than 1000 spectators inside the new stadium.
“Atmosphere-wise, it would be so much better playing it indoors than outdoors,” he said.
“I would pop my head in for a look, because the cheering would be that loud in there.”
He said he doesn’t buy the argument mounted by some officials that netball is “too fast” when played indoors.
“I think that people just play at that pace anyway, regardless of whether it’s indoors or not,” Coghlan said.
“I know the vote went against going out there, but I personally disagree with it.
“The atmosphere would be absolutely electric for football and netball on grand-final day at the new precinct.”
As for the future of football in north-west Victoria, he said it was a troubling time in the wake of massive score blowouts in the Millewa league, as well as player shortages across all leagues this season.
While Coghlan said he didn’t have the answers, he cautioned about making hasty decisions due to the historic “ebbs and flows” in all country leagues.
“A lot of people from Irymple say that from mid-1990s to early 2000s, they were getting smashed,” he said.
“It’s such a tough one. Watching from the outside, it’s hard to know when the right time is to make changes.
“But it’s a long way back for any league when teams are getting beaten by 300-plus margins, and when top of the ladder is beating the second-best team by 10 or more goals.
“I also think some of the struggling clubs will probably need to merge to stay alive.”
