More teams, games and communities set for the 2019 BRFL season

17 April 2019 02:45pm

The 2019 Big Rivers Football League (BRFL) kicks off next Friday 26 April, and it is an exciting year of growth for the League, welcoming two new teams into the competition to take the total number of men’s teams to eight.

See here for the 2019 BRFL fixture (PDF) or visit the SportsTG website which will be updated by Thursday morning: http://websites.sportstg.com/assoc_page.cgi?c=1-4005-0-398197-0&a=COMPS

The Arnhem Crows, hailing from Barunga, disbanded following their 2011 Premiership and have re-established themselves, training since December in preparation.

Further south, the Northern Warlpiri Swans will make the journey from Lajamanu each week as a newly formed club off the back of the community’s successful local competition during the wet season.

Both teams submitted strong applications, and the respective communities are extremely excited and proud to be represented in the competition this year.

Each team in the men’s competition will play 12 games across 16 rounds, and with the installation of lights due to be complete for Barunga at the start of June there is the possibility to fixture night matches there in the later part of the season.

For the first time, Round 1’s traditional ANZAC Clash at Tindal RAAF Base will include a women’s match. On Saturday 27 April an ANZAC ceremony will take place, and RAAF members will participate in both men’s and women’s matches.

With a healthy appetite for more competitive football, the second year of the women’s competition is set for 15 rounds of full-field matches.

Three teams have formed full squads for 2019 and are scheduled to play 10 games each.

The women’s grand final rematch between the Katherine Camels and Eastside Blues will take place in Round 2, while the highly anticipated men’s grand final rematch of the Eastside Blues and Katherine South Crocs will be the highlight of Round 6.

Clubs’ men and women will play back-to-back games with five nights exclusively involving the same two clubs, allowing volunteers to better assist in the one spot and supporters to enjoy more of their club’s footy action.

As the BRFL continues to become more accessible to remote players, a total of three rounds will be played in Jilkminggan and Barunga, with clubs having the ability to engage players from communities that are not currently participating in the competition.

The introduction of Thursday night matches is another new feature in the 2019 BRFL fixture, enabling games to be played leading into long weekends, and increasing the number of playing rounds to 16 before the finals commence in September.

The season will culminate for both men’s and women’s competitions on Saturday 21 September and will include a carnival for teams not currently participating in the BRFL.

AFLNT Regional Development Manager for Katherine, Julie Hunter said it was going to be an action-packed 2019 BRFL season.

“It’s really pleasing to have two more teams join the men’s competition and represent their regions, and it’s also great to see the interest in the women’s game continues to grow, which has far-reaching effects for the whole region.

“We’ll have some more theme rounds to announce a little later but we’re really pleased to commence the season with our annual ANZAC clash and ceremony.”