East Wagga-Kooringal are exploring the possibility of becoming a 'Premier League' club in AFL Riverina's revamped senior competitions for the 2023 season.
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The Hawks had 50 to 70 attendees at a meeting this week discussing with members what the requirements will be for the top-tier league.
President Paul Bourne emphasised it wasn't about making a decision. He also stressed that the Hawks are putting time into their juniors, including a commitment to train at Henwood Park in Kooringal next year.
Personally, Bourne would love to see EWK aim high.
"We went through it all... obviously there's no decision made on what we'd like to do, and I can't stress that enough. It was really about everyone understanding where we are as a football club," Bourne said.
"But I suppose I can speak personally and say that I have goals. We were an RFL club (Riverina League) and we came back to the Farrer League for survival some years ago. I think we've done that, through a lot of work from people before me, like (former presidents) Rob Richards, Steve Absolum, and most of all our treasurer, Toni Hull.
"Our affordability is good, our running of the club is good, our points and spending are good, we make a profit every year.
"So my personal view is, we've got to get our 17s, 15s and our junior club a little bit better and we're intending on doing that.
"So we were already pushing in the right direction."
The Hawks will hold another meeting later this year to gauge their future.
The 'Premier League' requirements include three grades of football, women and youth girls football, and senior and junior netball.
"What I can say is that we've jumped on it early, as a committee and a club," Bourne said.
"Ultimately it's the AFL's decision. And if we do want to be part of the premier comp, there's a little bit of work ahead of us anyhow."
The Hawks don't have an under 17.5s this year.
They haven't missed first grade finals since joining the Farrer League in 2009. They've been in four of the last six grand finals, winning one (2016). The other two years they reached the second and third week of finals.
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