Football Wagga is considering changing the finals formats across its first grade competitions in a bid to allow more teams to compete for the premiership, while disposing of the secondary Pascoe Plate and Leonard Plate competitions.
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The concept would see six teams qualify for the finals instead of four.
Increasing postseason participation was also the intention behind the introduction of the Plate, which pits the teams placed fifth through eighth against each other.
But the secondary playoff has drawn an underwhelming response from a host of players, many of whom have little interest in playing off for second-best.
But FWW president Tony Dobbin said both concepts had their positives.
“The Plate gives teams that generally don’t make the top four a chance to play for something at the end of the season, so it certainly has merit,” Dobbin said.
“Having said that, there has been a fair amount of support for this change.”
Dobbin said the potential move could have additional benefits.
“It would also help us in the running of grand final weekend because we wouldn’t have to schedule two lots of grand finals” he said.
“That gives the ground a bit more rest and means we aren’t playing on it the day before the Pascoe and Leonard finals.”
The fate of next season’s format will be decided at the next Council of Clubs meeting in late January.
The proposed finals shakeup would feature a commonly used format which sees the top two sides skip the first round, with third playing sixth and fourth facing fifth.
The winners would then advance to play the first and second-placed teams for a spot in the grand final.
Meanwhile, Football NSW has flagged a new directive with FWW which could see a 10 minute ban for yellow card recipients.
The concept, which is a product of the International Football Association Board, is optional at this stage and will also be voted on at the Council of Clubs meeting.
Dobbin said he was heavily in favour of the proposed move.
“It would ensure that players are more disciplined because missing 10 minutes could be very costly,” he said.