AFL Goldfields is open to the idea of an AFL Victoria Community Championships double-header in Ballarat next year.
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While the fixture for next season is not confirmed, the current rankings see Ballarat Football League set to host the the metropolitan-based Western Region in 2018.
The two leagues met last season on the WRFL’s home turf at Whitten Oval.
If there is no change to the current gradings, the Central Highlands and Maryborough Castlemaine District competitions are also poised to clash, but it remains unclear which would get to host the encounter.
Each played away this year after home games in 2016.
AFL Goldfields regional operations manager Aaron Nunn responded positively to the suggestion of a senior double-header, possibly at the newly-developed Eureka Stadium.
The idea follows the success of back-to-back community championship matches at Bendigo’s Queen Elizabeth Oval on Saturday, when Heathcote District clashed with Central Murray in a curtain-raiser to the Ballarat and Bendigo clash. The latter finished under lights.
Nunn said the concept would certainly be worth consideration next year and agreed that Eureka Stadium would be a great venue to showcase such an event.
He said it would be dependent on which leagues had hosting rights.
Nunn said if Eureka Stadium was to be the venue for such a fixture, it would require it to be free of VFL and TAC Cup commitments.
Central Highlands league president Eddy Comelli liked the idea and said it would be something worth discussing.
“We would certainly have a look at that,” Comelli told The Courier.
“To me on the surface it sounds like a good idea.”
Comelli said he felt the interleague concept needed something to make it more appealing to the supporters.
The Ballarat league climbed to eighth on the list of statewide rankings following the weekend’s victory against Bendigo, while the Highlanders slipped to 25th on the back of the loss to the Southern competition. The Maryborough Castlemaine District is 26th after beating Warrnambool and District on Saturday.