AFL Goldfields general manager Rod Ward has confirmed there is concerns over player point allocations for “most, if not all” of the Central Highlands Football League’s 18 clubs.
And while Ward refused to comment on the exact number of footballers whose values are in question, he has queried whether a pre-season audit of the league’s club lists was completed.
While Ward was unsure, CHFL president Eddy Comelli told The Courier that the audit had been done.
Comelli’s comments followed a meeting he had with two other CHFL board members and representatives of the AFL Goldfields commission – including Ward – on Thursday. Here, the findings of an emergency examination of the competition’s senior lists was discussed.
Ward said CHFL administrator Diane Ryan had committed to carrying out the audit before round one, which he states was completed by AFL Goldfields staff for the Ballarat, Maryborough Castlemaine District and Riddell District competitions.
AFL Goldfields decided to conduct a review of CHFL club point allocations after inaccuracies were discovered in more than one of its senior teams.
“We will be flagging a number of players that we think the Central Highlands Football League needs to take a further look at and have a look at their point allocation,” Ward said on Thursday.
“The Central Highlands Football League has committed to conducting their own audit of those players within the next week.”
Ward said the expectation was that any changes to player values would be made within the next seven to 10 days, with past team sheets then to be adjusted.
He said AFL Goldfields would then meet with the CHFL again on Thursday, June 23.
“Once we know those full results of those audits, once we’ve had a review of the adjustments to any team sheets, (we will) then take a look at where things sit and come up – again – with a way forward,” he said.
Ryan did not respond to The Courier’s attempts to contact her on Thursday.
There is no play in the CHFL this Saturday because of the Queen’s birthday long weekend.
