THE reigning Riverland Football League A grade premiership coach said he and his players felt like they had “the rug pulled out from under us a little bit” when learning of the commission’s decision to cancel senior football this year.
Speaking to the Murray Pioneer on Monday, Renmark A grade player/coach Josh Vater said the final decision came as a surprise to him.
“Initially I was shocked to be honest,” he said.
“I had been given the vibe that it would be given the go ahead.
“Even just a few days before it was my understanding that it was going ahead, so I was pretty shocked and since then I’ve gone through a few different emotions, with frustration, anger, disappointment and disbelief and things like that.
“I’m still pretty shocked that this is what has happened.”
Vater said he wasn’t alone in his disappointment about the decision.
“I told the playing group about the vibe I was getting and we all thought how it might play out,” he said.
“Obviously no matter what did or didn’t happen this year, it was always going to be an odd experience, but we had been gearing up ready to play.
“Our whole club, right from the junior grades was ready to go.
“It’s great to see the juniors still being able to have a season.
“Our senior numbers were really good, blokes were back out at training.
“It feels like we have had the rug pulled out from under us a little bit, which is frustrating.”
Vater said while he was disappointed his side will have to wait until 2021 to have a shot at back-to-premierships, there were other reasons behind his frustration.
“It is disappointing, because we are in a really strong position as a club on and off the field, and it is disappointing not being able to carry that on this year,” he said.
“At the same time, it is crazy and unprecedented times with COVID-19 anyway, so you want to win premierships, but it almost becomes not about that at this point in time.
“I think this is why I’m so disappointed and frustrated with the season not going ahead, because whether there is a premiership on the end of it or not, I just think it is important for country communities in particular to have footy clubs and places where people can come together and engage positively, and that is at the heart of why we are all involved with country footy.
“I would have loved to have continued to strive for ongoing success, but at the same time you almost forget about that and think guys and girls just want to play footy, which is frustrating, because they won’t have the opportunity to.”
Vater said the Rovers will look at doing what they can this winter to give their players a chance to have a kick and a catch.
“This week we are training Tuesday and Thursday again, but what that looks like ongoing, I don’t know,” he said.
“We will do something, whether it is one or two nights a week remains to be seen.
“It has been hard to maintain the motivation of players, but I think it is important for us to provide something where blokes can still get together and catch up socially, and stay physically active.
“I have got blokes pestering me even just about playing internal trial games, just to do something.
“I don’t know whether we will just end up doing internals, or we might end up playing trials against other teams up here if they are keen.
“Blokes just want to play footy.”
Vater said he was aware of the possibility of losing players from the RFL, who choose to play elsewhere this year.
“I don’t know, but I expect there will be some, which in one sense makes me extremely disappointed for the RFL not to have a season and to be losing players, because the worry is, if they go this year, are they coming back?” he said.
“Footy clubs everywhere across the country are filled with good people and people have a good time at a footy club, it doesn’t matter where you go, that is what footy clubs are all about.
“If some people go, we might only lose 10 per cent of players from our region, but we might not get many of that 10 per cent back.
“At the same time, I’m a player and I just want to play footy, so I can certainly empathise with players, who just want to go and play, and I’m not going to stop anyone from doing it.
“It is a bit of a catch-22 situation, because you desperately don’t want them to go because you want them to be around your club and your community and be here long term, but at the same time you want people to be able to go and play some sport.”