A statement from the Tallangatta & District Football League reads as follows:
“The TDFL Executive are pleased to release the season 2022 Draw fixture. Find attached the media release associated with the draw release and 2 versions of the same draw.
We accept that not all clubs will be happy, however, we have been able to satisfy the majority of club requests and no club has to play 3 games in a row Home or Away other than Wodonga Saints who due to ground availability have 3 Home games being Rd 11,12 & 13 with a Bye between rounds 12 & 13. The Wodonga Saints have 2 Away games in Rounds 1 & 2 also due to ground availability and as a consequence of this Beechworth have 2 Home games in Rounds 1 & 2 and the flow on is multiple clubs have blocks of 2 Home or 2 Away games in a row however on balance we hope that clubs are mostly happy with the result.
The draw is scheduled as follows, commence 2nd April which was clubs preference when asked at the start of the process, play 2 rounds then Easter Bye. Play 4 Rounds then AFLNEB Junior Carnival Bye 21st May. Play 6 Rounds then Bye Vic Schools Hols 9th July. Play 6 Rounds then Finals. This structure is to support player health and safety after 2 seasons with only 11 rounds played. If we did away with the July Bye clubs would play 14 or 15 rounds straight to get through to the Grand Final from the May 21st Bye.
As a consequence our Finals series and Grand Final will clash with the HUME League Grand Final. With the recent Covid 19 impact in losing the entire 2020 season and only playing 11 rounds and no finals at all in season 2021 to get through the scheduled draw and complete a final series will be the biggest focus for season 2022.
The TDFL Executive accept that the clash of Grand Finals with the HUME League is not ideal however the 2022 Fixture focuses on maximising our players participation across the entire season with the best outcome for the players health and safety and injury risk management following an increase in soft tissue injuries to players in the 11 rounds of the 2021 season.”
