The Mornington Peninsula Nepean Football League will be fielding only one team in the Vic Championships next season, shunning the traditional arrangement of both Nepean and Peninsula teams. AFL South East’s hand has been forced as AFL Victoria changed its Community Championships format to include both metropolitan and country leagues.
In light of this decision, the AFL South East Commission decided that it would be in the best interest of the MPNFL to return to one representative side, ensuring they can compete strongly against the metropolitan leagues that have three or more divisions of players to select from. The MPNFL will play the Northern Football League in 2016, which has three divisions and 26 teams to choose players from.
In order to better compete, the Nepean and Peninsula teams will be amalgamated. No coaches have been announced at this stage, although it’s rumoured John Hynes has been given the nod ahead of Langwarrin and Dromana premiership coach Gavin Artico.
The MPNFL will play on Saturday, May 21 to have a shot at the title of number one ranking against either the Eastern Football League or Geelong Football Netball League.
Venue details will be released early in 2016.
First published in the Mornington News – 15 December 2015
