Over the past two weeks the NFL has seen Eltham play Greensborough in front of a large crowd on Good Friday, and on ANZAC Day Heidelberg played against Northcote Park, and Epping played against Mernda.
All three games were played in a fantastic spirit and all clubs promoted themselves and the NFL with distinction.
Congratulations to each of those clubs for the professional manner that they conducted themselves on these significant public holidays. Each game showed that NFL football is alive and well and I am sure there will be many more of these examples as the season progresses.
On a disappointing note, last Sunday was Round 2 of the under-9 demonstration day at C.T Barling Park.
Whilst the first lot of games were in progress, we became aware that there was no running water in the facility. With further investigation we discovered that thieves had stolen the copper piping and water pump that provided water for all amenities at the venue.
After exploring all options with Darebin Council and Yarra Valley Water, a decision was made to cancel the remaining games for health and safety reasons.
All toilets had gradually gone offline and there was no water for teams to fill water bottles, wash their hands or to flush the toilets.
I appreciate the co-operation and understanding of all players and most team officials and parents in attendance on the day.
The welfare of all players, officials and spectators is paramount, and the NFL is committed to providing a quality environment for all NFL matches to be played in.
On behalf of the NFL I would like to apologise to everyone who was impacted by this unavoidable inconvenience. The NFL is working closely with Darebin Council to reduce the risk of this occurring again.
On a more positive note, congratulations to Trent Barbero (Northcote Park), Nick Carter (Northcote Park), Cameron Cloke (Bundoora), Matthew Dennis (Bundoora), Jesse Donaldson (Montmorency), Ricky Dyson (Bundoora), Patrick Fitzgerald (Montmorency), Patrick Flynn (Lower Plenty) and Ryan Jackson (Montmorency) for their selection in the Vic Metro preliminary senior rep squad.
Vic Metro will play Vic Country on Saturday, July 12. This is fantastic recognition for their performance to assist the NFL to defeat the EDFL on March 28 at Visy Park. I am sure everyone will join me in wishing all of them the best of luck as they try out for the Vic Metro team.
As I venture from club to club, I have been very pleased with the way every game that I have watched has been played, in particular in the under-19 age group, which sometimes can be the most challenging age group.
There is a lot of football still to be played, but so far so good. Keep up the good work and most importantly, enjoy watching NFL football.
See you at the footy.
Peter McDougall
Chief Executive Officer
