twobob wrote:Not being familiar with the HFL has this rating the club across all teams policy been in for a long time, Did all clubs vote for it and has it been implemented to ensure that clubs don't buy premierships? I can understand Echunga's not wanting to go down but what do they suggest happens to the teams in the country division striving for success and promotion. I think in this situation whist it may be unfortunate, if the delegates voted in this policy regardless of where your A'Grade have finished if your club has not performed as a whole then the rule should apply. Echunga get your house in order and come back a better and stronger club. But don't try and get the rules changed just to suit your situation.
I don't think anyone could accuse Echunga of not having their house in order, they have entered a team in every grade and have won the A-Grade Premiership (the one that counts). I am not sure how they could come back a bigger and stronger club.
They have obviously worked hard to ensure they have fielded each junior team, to push them down now will move those teams to a faulty junior competition and will make retention of those juniors difficult, therefore undoing the good work.
The points system as it stands is way too weighted against A-Grade, in no semi-professional competition in the world would winning a game in your reserves and a couple of underage teams be more valuable than a win for your senior team. However, the saving grace is that the rule is so poorly worded that it has lost all credibility as there is no definition of what games count and which do not. Echunga cannot possibly be relegated as the rule is currently stated, in no way should they accept it and they should explore every legal avenue to avoid it.
It cannot be in the best interest of the Board of the HFL to relegate them, this is going to continue to grow profile in the media the longer it continues due to the nature of it. It has all the makings of a David & Goliath story and will make some great headlines.
On the other side of the coin Bridgewater find themselves in an interesting position, from the discussions on here it appears they have been told that they are safe. If that is the case, they too have a strong case to stay up as a result. I can see an 11 team competition next year, not necessarily as a result of a vote of the clubs, but potentially as a result of a court injunction.