Central Highlands Football League president Eddy Comelli says there is no issue with players coming into the starting side that were not named in the initial squad, as was the case with newly-recruited Burras Nick Dal Santo and Jason Blake.
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The ex-AFL duo’s appearance at Wallace Recreation Reserve on Saturday came as a surprise to many, including its opponent Springbank, given neither were named on Thursday night.
Dal Santo made his Hepburn debut against Beaufort a fortnight ago, but was listed as an ‘out’ on Thursday night while Blake’s clearance was finalised on Friday.
Comelli said it was simply a part of local football and felt clubs often played “ducks and drakes”.
“I don’t see it as an issue. Come finals time, a lot of teams play ducks and drakes,” Comelli said.
“The ground manager doesn’t get the team sheet until halfway through the reserves game sometimes, my understanding from a league’s point of view is there’s no drama with that. Once the team sheets are handed over, then it is what’s on the team sheets.”
In contrast, the Ballarat Football League works under a stricter process.
Ballarat Football League operations manager Scott Carey outlined the process. Any player brought in as a late change is to be selected from the three emergencies, as seen in the AFL. While if there is a circumstance which sees a player brought in who was not in the original 25-man squad, there is the potential for a penalty which is at the “board’s discretion”.
“It depends on the circumstances,” Carey said.
In both cases, the team is to notify the league which then notifies the opposing team to ensure a level of fairness in preparation for the match.
It should be noted, Blake did not play after half-time due to injury while Dal Santo was his usual silk, but did not have a huge impact.
Springbank coach Michael Searl said he and the club were not aware of the inclusions but took no umbrage with Hepburn and felt it was great for the competition to have players of Dal Santo and Blake’s ilk involved.
“It’s good for the competition,” Searl said.
“We planned for their best possible side...there’s no grudges or anything, it certainly didn’t make the difference in the result.”
Hepburn coach Jason Olver said after the impressive 62-point win that the club opted to keep the news quiet and that he ”wanted to throw an element of surprise on Springbank”.
Given there is no clear cut rule in place, it does leave the door open to, as Comelli says, ducks and drakes. While it could also brings in to question the relevance of the Thursday night teams.
Comelli raised a good point that many clubs already, particularly come finals time, hold their cards close to their chest. But the ability to pluck a player from anywhere providing a late-week clearance, could be open to exploitation.