Even season says BFL GM

THE McDonalds Ballarat Football League gets underway this weekend and the general manager is predicting an again even competition in 2019.

Speaking at the official launch of the BFL season at Saxon House, AFL Goldfields GM Shane Anwil said come September there’ll be familiar names, and some potential dark horses in the mix.

“We expect this year will be as even as last,” he said. “Last year’s grand finalists have not had significant changes at all, they are essentially the same teams. They were such strong teams last year and they are still going to among the top two.

“There’ll be a bit of shuffling in the mid pack and I think you could probably look at getting some improvement out of Sebas. We expect them to push for finals this year. The middle of the competition is going to show up how even it is.”
Part of the reason for a more level competition has been the introduction of the player points system.

“You have the salary cap and then the points,” Anwil said. “The points are probably the one that’s having the real impact at the moment.

“The evenness gives every club the sense of opportunity that they’re going to be in with a chance.”

One person who wasn’t willing to make predictions about the upcoming season was East Point veteran Paul Kodorenko.

He said his club had a strong preseason and was looking forward to raising their first flag since amalgamation.

“It’s been a long time,” he said. “The feeling’s good, obviously you have to try and shift the focus a bit from last year to this year.

“The boys are going pretty well, they’re really fit and had a good couple of hit outs. So we’re really looking forward to round one.”

Kodorenko also felt the league was going to be a challenge for all teams.

“The comp’s really even now.” He said. “The grounds are fantastic, and I think it’s attracted a lot of quality players into the league. There’ll be no easy games, that’s for sure.”