Point Cook is on the verge of becoming the Western Region Football League’s 25th senior club.
The Bulldogs canvassed the opinions of club members and players at a recent meeting and the overwhelming majority seemed in favour of a move from the Victorian Amateur Football Association to the WRFL.
The finer details will need to be thrashed out before a move can be sealed, but the Bulldogs expect to hold an extraordinary general meeting in the coming months at which members will vote to decide if they want their club playing in the western region competition.
Bulldogs senior coach Ian Denny did not weigh into the debate at the meeting.
“On the day, I just said people make decisions and not clubs,” he said.
“People within this club who are running it at the moment have made a decision to put this on the table and it’s now up to the members and the players whether they want to make this choice.”
But Denny is now happy to discuss the pros and cons of staying or going for Point Cook.
An obvious benefit of joining the WRFL is the travel factor.
The Bulldogs would be playing closer to home, cutting down on travel time and boosting crowd numbers at home games.
The move would also align the Bulldogs with their junior teams, which already play in the WRFL.
From a coaching standpoint, it could help the Bulldogs re-connect with former players who are playing for other clubs in the WRFL.
Or they could even land a big fish, given the ability to pay players.
“I think the most exciting part for Point Cook is we’re hoping to attract bigger crowds if we move,” Denny said.
“We’re thinking a move to the WRFL might get more people interested in the Point Cook footy club.”
Some Point Cook members are keen for the club to retain its amateur status.
The VAFA has a strong reputation for good player and crowd behaviour, and there are benefits to players not getting paid to play.
“There is a distinct difference in the reputation of the WRFL compared to the VAFA,” Denny said.
“Players are expected to conduct themselves to a standard and even the way they are umpired, the tolerance levels are different.
“Some people don’t like the idea of people getting favouritism because they’re getting paid, either.”
Should the members vote “yes” in favour of a Point Cook move to the WRFL, it brings up another question – in which division should it play?
“There’s no way known they’d want to go into division 3 – they’d want to go into division 2 straight away,” Denny said.
“I don’t know whether the league would accept that or whether the clubs in division 3 would want that, but the WRFL needs to get up from six to eight teams in division 2 anyway, to improve the calibre of competition and we believe we could meet the criteria.”
Meanwhile, Point Cook went down by eight points in a thriller to local rivals Westbourne Grammarians in VAFA division 3 at the Westbourne School Ground on Saturday.
Charles Hunter kicked four goals for Westbourne, while Patrick O’Brien, William Wright and Michael Culliver were dominant players for the winners.
Shane Sinclair was dynamic in the forward line for Point Cook with three goals, while Alex Grigg, Robbie Milne and Nathan Cowie were the standout players.
