sport, local-sport, NWFL, Circular Head Giants, Circular Head Football Association, Nic Bellinger

Circular Head Giants president Nic Bellinger hopes that the player number woes that has put the future of the club in doubt will be the wake-up call to AFL Tasmania about the need to restructure football in the area. As they prepare to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Smithton Football Club, lack of under 18 players have the Giants seriously questioning whether they will have enough numbers to compete in the NWFL, with the club having a "crisis meeting" on Tuesday in attempt to rectify the situation. "While numbers haven't particularly been strong (this pre-season), before Christmas our numbers certainly were better, but this has been a slow trend that has been happening for a few years in our region,'' Bellinger said on Thursday. "Eventually it was going to get to the crunch time of whether it was us or one of the Circular Head (Circular Head Football Association) clubs, and unfortunately it is us. "The community itself here has a massive shortage of grade 9 and 10 kids and it has been a talking point down here for quite a few years the current structure of football in Circular Head "We are running junior teams in the NWFL and the Circular Head competition, with four sides, is also running a junior competition, so you are stretching resources. "You'd hope they (AFL Tasmania) would notice, as I have been very vocal, particularly to AFL Tas, to really invest in our region and get the structure right and that is still to happen. "Probably until an outsider comes in and to a degree forces or strongly suggests these restructures, whatever they might be, it probably won't happen." However, he was clear in his belief that he wanted both his club and the CHFA to remain viable. "We need both competitions for the community, because not everyone wants to play in the NWFL, and we understand, which is why we know the other competition is so important, but the structure is not right, and it hasn't changed to suit the numbers in the town,'' he said. Bellinger said following next week's meeting, a board meeting will be held, with the Giants to take a plan to the NWFL late next week. The Giants, who have lost the likes of Matt Elliott, Ryan Grey and Scott Bryan from their senior ranks, announced Tyrone Morrison as their senior coach in October. Bellinger also confirmed their NWFL Women's team was struggling for numbers. NWFL president Andrew Richardson said the potential loss of the Giants would be detrimental to his competition. "It is certainly not something we want, and realistically, unless you can get them 30 players, there's not much you can do,'' he said. "Unfortunately you just can't snap your fingers and just produce 16, 17 and 18 year olds, and this is probably the Burnie situation rearing its head again where players are unwilling to commit to extra training and extra travel. "The sad part is we don't know where junior footy is going to end up in that area, and we need to have that pathway for kids there, and realistically getting into the primary schools, which we're intending to do." Richardson said no immediate deadline was in place ahead of the start of the season on April 6, saying the board was there to "assist". He didn't rule out the possibility of the Giants entering just two teams this season, but two thirds of the board would need to vote in that fashion. AFL Tasmania Community Football Manager Andrew Dykes said he hoped the Giants could "find a way to compete in the NWFL in 2019". “We know that the leadership of the NWFL are working hard with the club to find solutions and our team is supporting them in their efforts,'' he said. “There have been some good examples in recent times such as St Virgils in the Old Scholars, where clubs have managed to rally from crisis point to field a team and have built off the back of that. We certainly hope Circular Head’s situation plays out similarly and we will be working with the club and the NWFL to help where we can.” Tuesday's meeting will be at Circular Head Community Centre from 6.30pm.

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