BALLINA Bombers and Byron Bay Magpies are considering forming a new local Aussie Rules competition after failing to register for the AFL Queensland League, leaving men’s football in the region at a crossroads.<\/p>\n
Both clubs are in limbo after not registering teams in the QFA Division 2 South competition on the Gold Coast, which requires clubs to field both a senior men’s and reserves team.<\/p>\n
Ballina and Byron Bay merged last season to form the Southern Stingrays in a joint venture, with each club still fielding its own reserves side.<\/p>\n
Byron Bay club president Nick Rojo said both clubs were unable to register teams before the November cut-off.<\/p>\n
“I think the solution is to go back to running our own local competition,” Rojo said.<\/p>\n
“We’re in a transient location and it was just impossible for us to know what we were doing in November.<\/p>\n
“We need to make a new local competition that is accessible and helps rebuild the game in the region.”<\/p>\n
Rojo said the joint venture struggled to compete against the stronger sides on the Gold Coast last year.<\/p>\n
Byron Bay played in the AFL North Coast competition in 2023, which presented another set of challenges.<\/p>\n
The Magpies were dominant, winning the grand final by nine goals, while having to travel up to four hours to play games at Port Macquarie.<\/p>\n
“We probably got a bit ahead of ourselves there, it’s hard to get young guys to commit,” Rojo said.<\/p>\n
“There is already a lot of them who are on apprenticeships who aren’t playing because they don’t want to get hurt in case they lose their job.”<\/p>\n
Rojo suggested a modified competition with four teams could be a starting point this season with the likes of Casino and Lismore joining them.<\/p>\n
Both teams have played in the AFL North Coast competition.<\/p>\n
Lismore has not re-formed since the floods in 2022 while Casino pulled out after the following season.<\/p>\n
“We could set our own rules around a modified game, it could be like masters, but there would still be contact,” Rojo said.<\/p>\n
“We need to be open about trying something different in this region to make it work.<\/p>\n
“We’ll definitely be playing footy in some capacity this year.”<\/p>\n
The women’s teams at Ballina and Byron Bay will still play on the Gold Coast this season.<\/p>\n
Rojo said there were plans for a meeting with AFL Queensland around the future of the men’s teams next month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BALLINA Bombers and Byron Bay Magpies are considering forming a new local Aussie Rules competition after failing to register for the AFL Queensland League, leaving men’s football in the region at a crossroads. Both clubs are in limbo after not registering teams in the QFA Division 2 South competition on the Gold Coast, which requires […]<\/p>\n