NORTH Ballarat Roosters will continue to have an AFL alignment with North Melbourne in the VFL next season.
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Roosters chief executive officer Mark Patterson confirmed the on-field partnership, which had produced three VFL premierships, was locked in for a 10th year in 2015.
He said the clubs had reached terms to extend the previous three-year agreement for another season.
Patterson said he wanted to make it clear that the Roosters’ alignment with the Kangaroos had not been linked with the City of Ballarat’s previous agreement with North Melbourne.
“Our partnership is purely a football arrangement and in the hands of North Melbourne Football Club,” he said.
The Roosters’ part-alignment with the Kangaroos began in 2006 – well before a memorandum of understanding between the City of Ballarat and North Melbourne was signed in 2009.
While next year’s North Ballarat list will feature Kangaroos players, there are no guarantees beyond that.
Patterson said all discussion to date had focused on finalising the alignment for 2015.
He said North Ballarat could not be sure what might happen further down the track.
“The landscape of the VFL continues to evolve,” Patterson said.
“It’s too early to predict what might happen beyond 2015.
“We just don’t know.”
However, he did predict it might not be too long before North Melbourne announced its long-term plans for the VFL.
Patterson said AFL clubs tended to announce intentions well in advance, so a decision might not be far away.
The number of AFL clubs fielding stand-alone teams in the VFL is growing.
Western Bulldogs (Footscray) and Rich-
mond parted ways with Williamstown and Coburg respectively to go alone this year and join the likes of Geelong, Collingwood and Essendon with their own teams in the VFL.
Patterson said North Ballarat believed it was well organised for whatever scenario might occur.
“If North Melbourne chooses at some time to change the way they want to develop their players, we need to have strategy in place.”
Patterson said while a partial AFL alignment was the Roosters’ preferred option, North Ballarat was well placed to be part of the VFL for the long-term.
“We believe we have an important role in a state league as a regional team, as well as for Ballarat regional football, by providing a pathway and opportunity for regionally based players,” he said
In stunning development this week, AFL scheduling manager Simon Lethlean revealed that the Western Bulldogs had entered an agreement with the City of Ballarat.
This came on the back of the Bulldogs being scheduled to play Melbourne in a NAB Challenge match in Ballarat next year, ending a run of pre-season appearances in the city by North Melbourne.
The change in allegiance took North Melbourne by surprise.
Kangaroos CEO Carl Dilena said North Melbourne was disappointed in the AFL’s shift in thinking on Ballarat, stressing that the Roos had not voluntarily abandoned their relationship with the region.
david.brehaut@fairfaxmedia.com.au