Wahgunyah Football Club president fears his beloved Lions

Hore, who is approaching his sixth year in charge of the battling Tallangatta and District Football League club in the state’s northeast – not through choice but obligation – feels like the Lions are stuck in what some would describe as an unhealthy cycle.

Needing money to attract better players to be something resembling competitive, and yet unable to produce the type of results which would draw more fans to their home games, and ultimately boost the bottom line.

So just a few weeks ago, a local community meeting was held, amid a failed merger proposition between themselves and league opponent the Rutherglen Cats, which in itself followed talk of a possible recess in early 2022.

It also comes after Ovens & Murray League team Corowa-Rutherglen elected to not field football and netball teams in 2023.

That meeting led to the Lions letterbox dropping every local resident, calling on their support for a club which sits dead last after a 0-16 season and has made a habit of being pumped by margins more resembling Bazball cricket scores.

“If we’re going to go ahead, you’ve got to get behind us,” Hore said was the tone of that missive to potential supporters of the club which was established in 1877.

However, he freely admits it’s hard to get bums on seats to support a club which was belted by 431 points last year by Beechworth.

That said, results have improved, relatively at least, with a 213-point loss last Saturday to top team Kiewa Sandy Creek seen as “a win” in today’s climate.

The most tangible problem, Hore believes, is a lack of players — in particular juniors.

While the club started the season with 57 senior and reserves players, that tally has been whittled down through injury to around 40.

And with no under-17 team to speak of, for a variety of reasons, the reserves have forfeited on several occasions.

That’s where another long lasting issue rears its head: archaic competition rules.

Hore said the league’s rules about using fill-in players from other clubs – during their bye weekends – could use more flexibility.

Those ancient bylaws, in Hore’s estimations, which have not kept pace with the changing times, have especially impacted on the club’s meagre junior program.

With no under-14 team either, a dearth of juniors has an impact on gate takings, canteen sales and the ability to lure sponsorship from an already under pressure local economy.

“That’s what is really killing us,” he said.

“This is the worst year we’ve felt ... financially, it’s getting hard.”

He said the last junior league to be introduced in the area – the Albury Wodonga Junior Football League – allowed clubs to field several teams in one age bracket, which has “really hurt” neighbouring competitions.

Most frustrating of all, some parents were happy for their children to also fill-in with the Lions where possible, but kids can only be registered at one club.

He said the situation would lead to desperate clubs playing kids under false names, just to make up the numbers, and a rule change would make a “massive difference”.

“Once a kid registers with a club, the club owns them,” he said.

“It shouldn’t be up to the clubs whether the kids should play at another club, it should be up to the parents of the kids.

“But in this environment, there’s no leeway, there’s no movement in the rules.

“(The rules) never get changed and clubs continue to face new challenges, and the rules aren’t changing with them. It’s frustrating.”

He understood Rutherglen cooled on the idea of a merger with the Lions because of faith in its superior junior program.

Some might perceive the pandemic has been a club killer, but Hore says Covid didn’t exactly gut their senior list, even though some players migrated to NSW for a game and didn’t return.

However, there’s been a definite drop off in junior numbers, with some taking up golf and sticking with it.

He also said the days, where local farmers might have had several kids playing footy with the Lions, were over with many now moving away to attend university.

“We’ll always be able to find senior footballers, it just depends if you’ve got the money to go and get them,” he said.

He said a larger salary cap in leagues across the river in NSW also put pressure on the club’s ability to recruit or retain players.

“All of sudden, to get them back, you’re paying $250 for a player five years ago was worth $100,” he said.

“It’s not a level playing field.”

He said there had been talk of the league’s $65,000 salary cap rising again next season in the TDFL, which he believed had to happen to ensure competitiveness with rival competitions, with Hume Football League’s cap close to double that figure.

Which is why finances remains the heaviest of millstones for the Lions.

While the club is desperate to draw more spectators and paid up members, it’s hard to achieve when the results aren’t there.

“People won’t pay money to come through the gate and watch a team get beat by 200 points,” Hore said.

“It’s very hard. To get the community in, we’ve got to start being competitive.

“And to be competitive we’ve got to start spending the money, and the money is very hard to get when you can’t get juniors.

“It’s a cycle.”

Hore is equally frustrated with the sport’s peak body, AFL Victoria, which he believes should be offering more support.

In his view, there are perceptions local footy is largely forgotten beyond the nearby Ovens and Murray Football League level.

“The feeling is (within AFL headquarters), as long as (the Ovens & Murray) survives, we’re not really worried about the rest,” he said.

“It’s not club versus club, it’s league versus league.

“It’s a tough environment at the minute.”

AFL Victoria’s community football manager John O’Donohue said a number of process were in place to help support clubs.

He said the biggest challenge was often making clubs aware of those opportunities which is why the AFL has introduced club development leads across the state.

“Our investment is on future proofing the game and looking at ways we can build on what we’ve got and find new participation opportunities,” he said.

“I don’t think cash handouts are going to solve the problems that clubs face, which is genuinely around access to players or volunteers. Money is not going to necessarily solve that.

“We’ve got some evidence to suggest that most clubs are in a strong financial position post-Covid.

“We haven’t had clubs come to us and suggest they’re broke. We put processes in place to mitigate those risks of financial strain.”

Wahgunyah pays a league affiliation fee each year, but Hore questions its worth, with clubs having to contribute money and resources towards the league’s media promotion.

“If we want to do it, we’ve got to do it ourselves,” he said.

He said the club would sometimes find “a good ally” at AFL Victoria, before their role might change and they moved on.

However, there are also factors impacting the club which go beyond the AFL’s wide reach.

He said the Lions struggled to attract new players due to local geography, with a multitude of clubs – like Chiltern and Howlong – within half an hour of each other.

“It’s not an area where the population is growing,” he said.

“Jobs aren’t increasing, we’ve seen school numbers at the local primary school and high school decreasing.”

O’Donohue said the AFL was continuing to work on ways to face lowering populations.

“We’re taking a strategic look at every LGA (local government area),” he said.

“Just to maintain the football footprint in some towns is going to be challenging because as the population declines so does the participation rate.”

A local Uncle Toby’s factory used to employ more than 1200 people back in the 1980s, but now, through the wonders of automation, that workforce has decreased to around 350.

Hore is concerned his club may have missed an opportunity for a sustained future.

Seven years ago, several clubs, including the Rutherglen Cats, met under the guide of a “cluster group”, where mergers were discussed, warning of “natural attrition” if they didn’t consider the idea.

“Unless something like that happens, a club will fall over,” he said.

“They used to say six months is a long time in footy, two weeks is a long time in footy now.

“It can take you 10 years to build a club, five minutes to f*ck it all up.

“It’s a very volatile situation at the minute.

“The amount of clubs that have closed their doors or folded over the past two years would be astronomical I believe.

“It seems to be an accepted thing now that clubs will just close their doors.”

He questioned whether the upper echelons of the AFL truly understood the challenges country and regional clubs face.

“Financially, it’s very hard,” he said.

“The AFL’s got to realise that it’s not just a footy club, it’s a community,

“If there was no football club here, then all of a sudden there’s nothing for kids to do.

“Does the AFL realise what’s happening in country football?”

The dire situation facing the Lions is why Hore remains in the job — well beyond the three years he believes should be the lifespan of any football club president.

“Do I want to do it? No, I don’t, but somebody’s got to put their hand up and do it,” he said.

“Have I got better things to do? Definitely.

“(But) I thought there were some things happening (in the area) that I didn’t like.

“There are things ... that I can’t see improving in a hurry.

“If I can have a small impact on that, I’ve got to put my hand up.”

Community Sport Minister Ros Spence said country football clubs are “the heart and soul of Victorian communities”, with the government’s Country Football and Netball Program investing more than $37.5m into over 560 grassroots footy and netball infrastructure projects since 2005.

“More than $1.9b has been invested in high-quality, accessible community sport and recreation infrastructure since 2014 to increase participation opportunities across the state,” she said.

The state’s sport and recreation sector generates more than 71,000 jobs annually and contributes around $9.2 billion in “gross value add” to the Victorian economy.

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This financial year’s budget will provide more than $213m for new and improved community sports infrastructure, including the extension of the Local Sports Infrastructure Fund and Country Football and Netball Program.

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Through the Sporting Club Grants Program, more than $16 million has been invested across the state, to support sport and active recreation clubs, their participants, volunteers, coaches and officials, including funding to over 457 regional footy clubs.