Picola District league has ‘no process’ to block Tocumwal’s move according to AFL Goulburn Murray regional manager

Connell said there was nothing standing in the way of the Bloods joining the competition in time for round one on Saturday, April 1 from an AFLGM perspective.

“The application of Tocumwal to the Murray league is on the back of an untenable situation for them,” Connell said.

“The process now that the Murray league have informed us of their willingness to accept, we now go through the formal process of just verifying the acceptance from an AFL Victoria rules perspective.

“There is a formal process around the AFL Vic country rules, which means that it just needs to be acknowledged and confirmed by AFL Victoria and AFL Goulburn Murray.

“It's just a matter of going through the process. We're supporting the club in the league through the process, but we don't envisage there to be any barriers at this point in time.”

Tocumwal left the Murray league in 2014, but the NSW club, which was provisionally suspended by the Picola District league from October until mid-February, has opted to return.

Last year the Picola District league opted against remaining with its governing body and did not sign the proposed agreement prior to a November 2022 deadline, meaning it became an unaffiliated association for the upcoming season.

Connell said that because of that there was nothing the PDFNL could do to stop the move.

“The unique situation here is that the Picola District league is unaffiliated. And what we've got is a scenario where Murray league and Tocumwal have agreed for them to play in the Murray league,” he said.

“Being unaffiliated there's no rules that would apply to them from an industry point of view, so there's no right of refusal under the current circumstances because they've chosen to work outside of the rules and regulations of the AFL.

“There is no process from an industry perspective that would hinder the admission of Tocumwal into the Murray league.”

Connell said AFL Goulburn Murray had provided support to Tocumwal and other Picola District league clubs about switching to an affiliated league in the past and did so when the Bloods wanted to shift to the Murraly league

And, while that support to PDFNL clubs in an official capacity has halted, he said the governing body would still offer its support, if required.

“Our role here is around support of both the league and the club. It was well documented at the end of last year that we were providing support to all the Picola league clubs around understanding the benefits of affiliation,” he said.

“Once the decision was made not to come across to an affiliated competition our role around supporting the clubs as a collective ended on December 31 last year. So from our end, we've had no further involvement until the recent approach.

“From our end, we want to try and support clubs and leagues to continue to be affiliated and enjoy the benefits of affiliation.

“We think there's a lot to be gained by working together on growing the game in our communities and that's where, from a commission point of view, we'll continue to strive to achieve that.”