WHERE has Sunday football disappeared to?
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Another cracking round of Riverina Football League (RFL) action awaits this weekend and unfortunately for the public all four games are again scheduled for Saturday.
This is one of six rounds this season that sees no Sunday football.
Where is the common sense in that?
Most clubs in this day of age are all for Saturday football.
And that's fine.
It's understandable.
It enables clubs to hold functions on the Saturday night.
It also allows them to support their associated pubs and clubs better too, and that results in more sponsorship dollars at the end of the day.
Players love Saturday footy as well.
They can enjoy a win that night with team mates, they can go out and have a good time.
Players then still have Sunday to get over the soreness that comes with a game of footy, rather than having to climb out of bed and head to work on a Monday morning being barely able to walk.
The RFL has grown to embrace Saturday football, but it is now to a point where it has forgotten about Sundays.
Of the 72 home and away games played this RFL season, just 14 will be played on a Sunday.
This in the RFL, who traditionally used to be a Sunday competition.
As earlier mentioned, no one can begrudge clubs for moving towards Saturdays, that is understandable.
But the league has shifted too far, to the point now where it is costing itself spectators, exposure and money.
Holding all four games on Saturday robs football fans of the ability to attend more than one game a weekend.
There needs to be balance.
This Saturday we see Coolamon host Mangoplah-Cookardinia United-Eastlakes, second versus third in what should be a ripping game of footy.
We also see Collingullie-Ashmont-Kapooka host Wagga Tigers, the ladder leaders up against the fourth placegetters in what looms as an intriguing affair.
Then you throw in Turvey Park and Ganmain-Grong Grong-Matong fighting for their seasons at Maher Oval, along with the western derby between Griffith and Leeton-Whitton.
All Saturday.
There are plenty of football supporters that would love to attend at least two of these games.
But more and more often, fans are being made to choose one game only for a weekend.
It is cutting at each other's gates.
Throw in four Farrer League games any other weekend, plus umpteen Hume League fixtures and Saturday is well and truly jam packed with football.
Come Sunday, sometimes nothing.
One Farrer League player told of how he resorted to heading to Harris Park last month to check out a Group Nine game featuring Southcity.
He had looked forward to going to an RFL game but was surprised to hear that no game was on.
Coolamon is the only RFL club that remains a big supporter of Sunday football.
Five of their eight home games this season are on Sunday.
GGGM is close behind with four its eight home games on Sundays.
You only need to look at a crowd on a Sunday game to see the benefit in the exercise.
Coolamon president John Piltz yesterday confirmed there is "no doubt" its Sunday crowds are bigger.
Sure, the Hoppers' same day football with its juniors helps, but you only have to look around the huddles at quarter time to see players and supporters from rival clubs and leagues that are there to check things out.
Bigger crowd means more money at the gate plus at the canteen, bar and in the raffle.
Piltz pointed out how Coolamon juggles the balance between Saturday and Sunday football to keep the players happy.
He said Saturday football was important for club functions and that players preferred it.
But added that Sunday football is also necessary due to the financial benefits, among other reasons.
If it's good enough for Coolamon, what's to stop other clubs from holding more Sunday home games?
While it may not prove beneficial to all, a one Sunday home game minimum could not hurt.
Who knows, it may even surprise some clubs as to the exposure gained along with the financial benefits.
It would also be a solution to ease the pressure on the umpires with their current shortage.
The one weekend this season that caused great problems with umpire numbers occurred when all four RFL games were played on a Saturday.
Riverina Umpires Association (RUA) therefore had to cover eight Saturday games, four from Farrer plus for from RFL. It fell a couple of umpires short so fill ins were used from Canberra and the Hume League.
Saturday football certainly has its advantages, no one is arguing that.
But so too does Sunday.
Finding the right balance is the key.
Five rounds this season where there is no Sunday football is a wasted opportunity by the RFL.
It is the responsibility of clubs, the league executive and AFL Riverina to ensure its maximises the opportunity to promote the RFL.
Stand-alone Sunday games, possibly feature clashes, rivalries or 'match of the rounds', is one way of doing this.
It only needs to be one game a week, but in such a competitive market, Australian football as a sport cannot afford to give its rival codes a free kick when it comes to Sunday fixturing.
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CONGRATULATIONS to the NSW-ACT Rams under 18 team.
The Rams proved too good for Queensland on Wednesday to claim the division two title at the national AFL championships for the first time since 2009.
Among the Rams team were Riverina talent Mick Mattingly, Jock Cornell, Jim Carroll, Dougal Howard, Jacob Hopper and Jeremy Finlayson.
Matt Hard and Rhys McAlister featured in the coaching staff.
The six footballers will now go back to club football for the remainder of the season before pinning their hopes on the AFL draft later in the year.