Senior metropolitan representative football will be back with a bang in 2014 as Melbourne’s six senior leagues go head-to-head on the eve of the 2014 season.
The triple header, scheduled for late March, will see the six competitions in action on the same day in the first all encompassing carnival since 1999.
A Metro senior team, to be coached by Brian Royal, will be then selected and pitted against the WorkSafe AFL Victoria Country No.1 side, led by Peter Knights, in July.
The battle between the best of the bush and the best of the burbs will be the first match of its kind for more than 20 years.
Based on the results of one-off representative games over the past few years, metropolitan leagues have been seeded one-to-six by AFL Victoria.
The Victorian Amateur Football Association will start in the No.1 position, hoping to remain at the top in a mouth-watering clash with the second-placed Eastern FL.
Essendon District FL (3rd) will take on the Northern FL (4th), with the Western Region FL (5th) and Southern FL (6th) match set to determine who finishes in the last position on the rankings table.
Promotion and relegation will apply to all matches to avoid leagues playing against each other in consecutive years.
All three games will be played at the same venue (yet to be finalised) on the same day in a triple header to determine bragging rights for the next 12 months.
AFL Victoria General Manager Grant Williams said reintroducing a metropolitan representative carnival to the Victorian football calendar would be a great showcase for community football.
“In recent years, leagues have played against each other in one off matches but not since 1999 have they played against each other as part of a structured program managed by AFL Victoria.
“We now manage the WorkSafe AFL Victoria Country Championships and consider the timing right to implement a senior metropolitan representative program.”
Williams said a Metro vs Country showdown, planned for July, provided an added incentive for players to represent their league in the metropolitan carnival.
“The Metro team will be selected from the six sides competing in the initial carnival, and be pitted against WorkSafe AFL Victoria Country No.1 team, made-up of the best players from leagues that compete in WorkSafe AFL Victoria Country Championships.”
