Forfeits on the rise but league not concerned

AFL Barwon says it is not concerned by a rise in forfeits across several competitions this season, despite more than a dozen matches failing to go ahead.

Since round 1, at least 12 games have been forfeited across AFL Barwon’s lower-division senior women’s, under-18 boys and under-17 girls competitions.

The issue has been most pronounced in the women’s division two competition, where five matches had been forfeited by the end of round 8.

That figure already matches the total number of forfeits recorded by the same competition in 2025.

While the league’s top-tier competitions have largely avoided the problem, Portarlington Football Netball Club was forced to forfeit its round 4 division one women’s match because of player unavailability.

In a statement, AFL Barwon said forfeits remained an unfortunate but expected part of community sport.

“We never like to see forfeits across our competitions, as it means fewer participants are able to take the field each weekend,” an AFL Barwon spokesperson said.

“Unfortunately, forfeits are not uncommon in community sport, with player unavailability and injuries often contributing factors across all competitions.”

The issue has become prominent enough for the league to remind clubs of its forfeiture bylaws in the latest Barwon Bulletin.

The notice highlighted financial penalties under section 14.3 of the 2026 AFL Barwon Handbook for teams that forfeit matches.

The bylaw also states that any team that forfeits twice can be withdrawn from its competition.

At the time of writing, no teams have been removed from any AFL Barwon competitions.