AFL Southern NSW has eased the pressure on youngsters who could have felt compelled to choose between their club or school by moving the Carroll Cup grand final back a week.
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The schoolboys decider between Mater Dei Catholic College and The Riverina Anglican College was due to be held this Wednesday, just four days before AFL Riverina Championship grand final day.
But it will now be held next Wednesday, September 23 at 5pm to ensure players won't feel obligated to bypass the match in order to be fresh for AFL Riverina grand finals.
A number of players were set to play in Carroll Cup as well as seniors, reserves or under-17.5 deciders.
The Carroll Cup is generally played in June, well before senior finals, but the coronavirus pandemic forced it to be rescheduled.
AFL Riverina Championship grand final day was initially set for October 10, but the league's reduction to just six rounds caused finals to clash with Carroll Cup.
Ganmain-Grong Grong-Matong will play Leeton-Whitton in Saturday's preliminary final, meaning Lions player and TRAC captain Matt Hamblin would have initially faced a major juggling act.
Hamish Gilmore, who plays for Mater Dei and Wagga Tigers seniors, would have been similarly affected.
Fellow Lion Tom Sase is also now unavailable after dislocating his shoulder representing Kildare Catholic College in Wednesday's semi finals.
"Common sense has prevailed and we don't want the kids to be in a position where they could potentially be playing in a Carroll cup grand final and another grand final three days later," AFL Southern NSW regional manager Marc Geppert said.
"Senior coaches aren't going to want their kids playing in a Wednesday night Carroll Cup game before a grand final. That's a position that's totally fair, but it's an unreasonable situation for a kid to be in if we've put them in that position through fixturing."
GGGM president Jason Hamblin, father of Matt, contacted AFL Southern NSW on Thursday with his concerns over the scheduling, and was pleased it had been rectified.
Matt only played around ten minutes of TRAC's semi final win on Wednesday in order to manage his workload.
"We would have been putting undue pressure on these kids to do something they don't want to do," Hamblin said.
"He's captain of TRAC and it would have been a really hard decision for him (if it presented itself).
"He loves both teams and I know there's certain people who would say 'why are you worried about school football, but he's had six years there with his mates playing footy and it means a lot.
"In the bigger picture it would be selfish for a club to say you can't play, and as president I couldn't make that call."
The third versus fourth playoff between Kildare and Kooringal High will still be played this Wednesday due to one school's reluctance to reschedule, meaning players involved in grand finals next weekend won't be expected to play.
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