MANGOPLAH-Cookardinia United-Eastlakes face a nervous wait to hear whether forward Trent Castles can be selected for their season opener this weekend, with his availability hinging on whether a contract standoff with Corowa-Rutherglen is taken to the national permit committee.
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Castles was initially contracted to play with Yackandandah before the Kangaroos paid a fee to release him from that deal.
He then played for the Goannas in last year's AFL Riverina Championships after the Ovens and Murray was cancelled.
The Goannas officially submitted their appeal after the third clearance request was rejected on Thursday by Corowa-Rutherglen.
They have four days to respond to the appeal and decide whether to have the issue resolved by the national permit committee.
If they do so, the tight time frame means it is highly unlikely the committee will convene in time to resolve the issue before the Goannas take on Wagga Tigers in Saturday's ANZAC Day eve clash at Robertson Oval.
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"Corowa-Rutherglen would have been notified today (Monday), which then gives them four days to decide if they wish to challenge or not, ACT and Regional NSW community football manager Marc Geppert said.
"If they decide not to challenge then Trent will be cleared to play automatically, but if they choose to match the appeal then a permit committee is convened to determine the outcome.
"It's highly unlikely (if a permit committee is required) that they will have an outcome for the weekend."
Fellow forward Damian Cupido also recently had a contract dispute with Corowa-Rutherglen settled by the national permit committee
Castles said unlike Cupido he didn't receive a $3000 sign-on fee to join the Roos last year.
Instead, Yackandandah received a payment from Corowa-Rutherglen to release the star forward from the second year of his contract with the Tallangatta league club.
"We just want the case to go to the permit committee so it will be chucked out straight away," Castles said.
"I'm supremely confident that I will be cleared because Cupido was and I didn't even receive a sign-on fee.
"To my knowledge Yackandandah received $5000 to release me from my contract and I didn't receive any money like Cupido did.
"There would be something wrong with the system if I didn't get cleared."
The Goannas had the bye in round one and won a trial against Eastlake on Saturday.
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