Sport
19 November, 2024
District League releases 2025 season fixtures confirming finals clash
HDFNL grand final confirmed to clash with WFNL prelim.
The Horsham District Football and Netball League has released the fixtures for its 2025 season, confirming that the HDFNL grand final will go head-to-head with the WFNL preliminary final.
The date of the District League's decider was a hot topic following the announcement of the WFNL's fixture changes that included shifting the preliminary to Saturday, September 13.
The decision was made by the HDFNL at the league's annual general meeting on Wednesday, November 13.
HDFNL president Rosemary Langley said that while other options were considered, the board and the clubs decided the current structure of the competition was best.
"We had lots of options put up on the night as into how many rounds for the season, starting points, finishing points," she said.
"There was a lot discussed, but we came up with this scenario to stick with our 18 rounds .. and it was the same sort of time frame as we've usually done."
"The clubs and the board did what we needed to do as a league. We didn't take into account where Wimmera [League] was.
"They needed to do what they needed to do, listen to their clubs, and we've done the same to listen to our clubs."
The HDFNL did consider some calendar changes to avoid the clash on grand final day.
One option considered was moving the decider until after the WFNL grand final and instead playing it on the Friday public holiday ahead of the AFL grand final.
"We would have had to have nearly played 20 weeks to have made that work and to not be too late into the season before you start," said Langley.
Langley also said the league was reluctant to bank the grand final on having the Friday public holiday.
"It's not one of those concrete holidays that you know is going to happen year in and year out," she said.
Playing the grand final on a Sunday was also considered.
"I know some other leagues in [other] regions do," said Langley.
But, the HDFNL decided against the Sunday.
"It just turned out that our clubs were keen to stick to a Saturday," Langley said.
Key dates
The league will kick off for most teams on Saturday, April 5, although with the opening round bye, Noradjuha Quantong's season starts a week later on Saturday, April 12.
While the season will begin before Easter in 2025, no games will be played on the public holiday weekend, instead there will be a league-wide bye.
The June long weekend will also be a league-wide bye.
The 2025 HDFNL season will contain 18 rounds of action before finals, with each team taking two byes.
Finals will kick off on Saturday, August 23, with the grand final to be played on Saturday, September 13.
To check out the full fixtures for the 2025 HDFNL, check out the league Facebook page.