A new player points and salary cap system will greet Picola & District Football League clubs this year after the competition revealed a number of changes for the 2023 season.
Released on January 4, in the wake of the affiliation saga with AFL Victoria, the main change will have player points allocated based on the ladder position senior sides finished in the 2022 home and away season.
Alongside the player points allocation, the league will acknowledge Goulburn Valley League as the only ‘‘premier league’’ in the region, with Kyabram District League and Murray Football Netball League designated as ‘‘community’’ leagues.
This means clubs will be able to sign a category two player and not receive the additional point that is added when transferring from a premier league.
Modelled on the system previously used within the AFL Vic Country CCSP with some variations, teams who finished first to fourth in 2022 will be allocated 40 points, fifth to eighth 43 points, ninth to 12th 46 points and 13th to 15th will be awarded 50 points.
All clubs will also have the ability to apply to the league board for additional points.
League president Colin Senior said the new system was one of the main reasons the competition chose not to renew its affiliation with AFLGM in 2023.
“We had three clubs who were uncompetitive (in 2022), so that was always our first argument, what sort of points can we give these clubs to make them competitive,” Senior said.
“We put some science to the process; the top four sides get 40 points, the next four 43, the next four 46 and the bottom three 50.
“It’s a bit like the draft system in the AFL.”
Setting a salary cap of $95,000 for the season ahead, Senior said the league was constantly reviewing its processes, with a potential decrease in the cap to $80,000 or below in 2024 allowing for clubs to help homegrown players with travel outside of the cap.
“The biggest problem for clubs like Blighty, Jerilderie and Berrigan is when their kids go to university they might be one-point players, but they’ve got to travel three hours to get to the footy. They’re not going to travel that for free,” Senior said.
“We review everything all the time, if there’s a problem that comes up and there’s a problem we address it, we don’t wait until the end of the year.”
While the new system results in the top four sides having two less points than last year, Senior said the adjustment of the Murray league to a community league meant those top outfits could still field a competitive side.
“We always felt that we should be classed the same as the Murray league, the GVL is obviously the premier competition, we’d be ranked similarly to the Murray league points-wise,” he said.
“If our clubs recruited from the Murray league we’d get a one-point penalty which loaded our points up, so we decided to scrub that one point.”