2013 Presidents Report
I commenced last season’s President’s report with the following statement “Change is inevitable” and mentioned that the NTFL and its Executive were supportive of change and the belief that we all needed to be ahead of the game and make changes that suit our circumstances rather than react after change is forced upon us.
2013 has been a difficult year for the Executive as people have continually challenged our decisions especially around the Eastern end State League team. It should be remembered that the Executive members are independent and as such have only the best interests of the NTFL in mind when making decisions. In accordance with our constitution these decisions are not binding until ratified by the Board. The NTFL Board only meets monthly and at times “In Principal” decisions need to be made by the Executive to progress discussions and flush out all the details so they can be presented to the Board for ratification or rejection.
The NTFL believe that an eight team competition based on the coast would be ideal for us going forward. Devonport have applied to rejoin our competition and we are in discussions with AFL Tas. about reducing the State League representation from the coast to two senior teams .One based at the Western end and the other based at the Eastern end of the coast. If we are able to work with AFL Tas. to achieve this then we believe it would be possible to have both Burnie and Devonport clubs back into the NTFL.
The six team format again proved successful with all teams at stages throughout the year having good patches of form with Latrobe the standout all season going through undefeated. Attendance figures were slightly down on the previous year with an extremely wet winter being the major contributing factor.
Wynyard played a couple of games under their new lights, Smithton played a game on Good Friday at Stanley, Matthew Lloyd, Micky O’Laughlin and Anthony Koutoufides played “one off” games proving that our clubs are looking outside the square in an endeavour to attract people to our games.
Our Executive officer Vicki Slater has flown solo this year and has been outstanding in organising and running our competition along with providing invaluable support to the Executive. Thank you Vicki for making the transition so trouble free.
Our season’s launch was held at the Ulverstone Football Club. It was great to see so many of our sponsors enjoy a great night that was also well supported by all clubs.
Club Ambassadors were introduced, as were the senior coaches who gave an insight into what we could expect over the coming season.
Latrobe started the season as the only club to retain its coach as Wynyard appointed Tom Robinson, Smithton appointed Jarrod Watling returning from a stint with Clarence, Penguin appointed Justin Cotton from within their ranks, Ulverstone appointed Justin Hays to lift them up the ladder and East Devonport appointed Brett McCall to continue their improvement. Brett unfortunately broke his leg in the first game of the season and was restricted to the sidelines for the remainder of the season.
At the end of the roster season we were left with a final four of Latrobe, Wynyard, Ulverstone and Smithton.
Latrobe were first through to the grand final defeating Wynyard, Ulverstone accounted for Smithton to progress to the Pre-final only to be beaten by Wynyard who earned the right to defend its crown against Latrobe.
Congratulations to the three premiership teams. Latrobe took back their senior title and who again won the Reserves and Ulverstone who proved too strong in the Under 19’s.
The NTFL Representative side having disposed of both the SFL and NTFA in the past two seasons tackled the undefeated State Under 23 side at Ulverstone. Kent Jackson who was a late appointment to the coach’s role brought together a very good team that was not only good on paper but played to its potential and had a resounding win by 67 points. Credit must go to Kent and his coaches who were able to unite the group so well in a very short time frame.
The Mead Con Darrel Baldock Medal and Ambassador Quest function was again held at the Burnie Arts and Function Centre and proved to be a great success with over 240 people in attendance. The red carpet competition complete with photos was conducted again and was a highlight of the event with all photos displayed on screen during the function.
Invites were sent to the top five vote getters and although the main result was obvious early, the runner up was only decided by the last vote of the call.
All Ambassadors represented their clubs with distinction and to hear how involved in their clubs they had become and the work they performed was outstanding.
The selection of the winner and runner up’s proved extremely difficult and our thanks go to Giovana, Natalie, Vonette and Vicki for their work as judges.
Congratulations to all award winners, who have been listed elsewhere in this report.
As I have mentioned it has not been an easy year for the NTFL Executive with many additional meetings required and I would like to thank them all for their continued support and efforts along with all club official’s who have assisted in maintaining the professionalism synonymous with the NTFL.
The NTFL would like to express its appreciation to all our generous sponsors for the wonderful support they have given the NTFL. Next season WHK )now known as Crowe Horwath) will continue as our naming rights sponsor and we are hopeful that all other sponsors (as listed on the inside cover) will continue on in 2014.
The NWUA has again been totally responsible for providing umpires for our competition and has provided very professional and reliable teams of umpires throughout the year. New joint coaches Phil McCullough and Martin Gaffney have brought new ideas to the table and their two year appointment should allow them to continue to develop these ideas next season.
The NTFL and the NWUA have met with AFL Tas. regarding the recruitment and retention of umpires as this is seen as a major problem within football across the state.
The media support of the NTFL has been outstanding with all major events and award functions being extremely well covered. The extensive weekly coverage of a very interesting competition I am sure is enjoyed by all members of the public.
The Advocate continued the hugely popular “blog” of both the Darrel Baldock Medal count and the Grand Final with another increase in participation experienced.
The Tribunal unfortunately experienced an increase in the number of sittings but as usual handled all matters very professionally and we thank them for their continued support and commitment to the NTFL.
The NTFL Appeals Committee was not required during 2013 but again we appreciate their availability and continued commitment to the League.
The Tasmanian Football Council and AFL Tas. continue to working together on a plan for all football beneath the State League. This is a partnership between the TFC and AFL Tas. and can only be good for community football within Tasmania as we are able to influence the direction of football within the state. A united TFC will represent all football below the State League and provide potential sponsors with a very large audience.
Established initially to unite the three regional competitions and organise representative football, the TFC has developed into much more and has the capacity to provide regional football with a very strong voice.
The TFC provided the opportunity for 23 players to travel to Perth and play a Western Australian Under 23 Amateur side over the June long weekend. Their triumph by 21 points was a fantastic effort by all involved.
The NTFL were well represented by ten players and an assistant coach.
Tyson Armstrong and Chase Armstrong from Smithton, Kallum Kubicki and Nick Hall from Wynyard, Randall Hardy and Jason Radford from Penguin, Travis Davies and Corey Dyson from Ulverstone, Brodie Sheehan from East Devonport and captain Kurt Byard from Latrobe with Ross Harris as assistant coach.
The NTFL is headed for bigger and better things and I ask for everyone’s assistance to maintain the NTFL as the premier regional competition (both on and off the field) in Tasmania.
Andrew Richardson
NTFL President
Last Modified on 16/02/2014 15:53