THE football landscape in Griffith is set to undergo a dramatic transformation, with the news the Country Super League (CSL) has been given the full support of the Griffith District Football Association this week.
While most club officials gave their conditional support to the proposed CSL before this week’s meeting, some still had lingering doubts about how it would affect this generation of players and next.
But most of those issues were cleared up at the committee meeting, with teams now busily discussing in-house which direction their first grade side will take for 2012.
Griffith Football president Matthew Curran said it was unanimously agreed upon to let clubs join the CSL if they so wish.
“We know where we sit, which is a good thing, after it was voted as an association that we’re in agreement with the Super League,” Curran said.
“So now it’s up to the club to fill out the criteria for them to assess and they will pick the teams out of that.
“That’s not to say all of the teams will make it but they are able to apply if they want to.”
However, Curran said Football NSW still had not given the green light for Griffith teams to join the CSL, meaning the plan could hit a roadblock soon after the January 16 submission deadline.
“While we have voted to allow teams to join the Super League if they want to, at the end of the day Football NSW has not sanctioned it as yet,” he said.
“Until they do that then we can’t do anything because we can’t go against their wishes because obviously they’re the governing body and all of our insurances are with them.
“So they still have to allow these clubs to go and play in a competition that will see them obviously play in Victoria from time to time.
“They (Football NSW) will have to look at the whole concept and how it affects the local area, how it affects players, sponsorship deals, viability of clubs, the whole picture.”
One of the biggest sticking points regarding the CSL was cleared up this week, with the promotion and relegation of players to the premier league given a benchmark.
If a player takes part in more than 50 per cent of the CSL regular season games, they are not allowed to drop back to the Griffith inter-city competition.
With clubs only having six days in which to make their submission to join the CSL, Curran said they need to realise the magnitude of the decision.
“Some clubs are saying they feel like they have no choice but to go, and that they don’t want to miss out, and they feel like they’re being pushed into a corner,” he said.
“But I said to all of them last night (Monday), don’t go for the wrong reasons, you have to be fully focused on what you want to achieve as a club.
“This competition costs money with people going away every week, so it takes a big commitment from the players, the committee and everybody.
“Basically don’t go because you feel you have to go.”
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