Hampden Football Netball League adds split rounds to 2023 draw

TWO split rounds, designed to give players more breaks throughout the season, are features on the Hampden Football Netball League's 2023 fixture. The league released its draw on Thursday with play to get under way on April 1. Hampden league president Shane Threlfall said the addition of split rounds would be trialled. Round four will be played across April 29-May 6 and round 15 across July 29-August 5. "It is something we're trying," he said. "The split rounds are something new so it will be interesting to see what the clubs think of it once it's been put into practice." Threlfall said it was important to have games on as many weekends as possible. There is only one league-wide by on July 1. "It means on those weekends there's still football," he said of the split rounds. "The split round enables people to still have games on if they want to watch them live." It means the traditional two-week break between the Warrnambool and District and Hampden grand finals returns, giving the latter the opportunity to host its preliminary final at Reid Oval if desired. "By starting (the season) a little bit earlier it enabled those split rounds to be played and still gave us time at the end of the year to have access to the Reid Oval for the prelim and grand final," Threlfall said. "We have been able to work with the District league with their draw. We didn't have access to the Reid for the prelim this year so Gary (Walsh), Andrew (Ferguson) and Mike (Farrow) have done a fantastic job of communicating with the district league plus other clubs." Other highlights on the draw include the grand final on September 23 and a Good Friday game between Koroit and South Warrnambool. Bushfield-based club North Warrnambool Eagles will play two home games at Warrnambool's Reid Oval and South Warrnambool's home base at Friendly Societies' Park will be unavailable in the early rounds as its change rooms undergo much-needed renovations. Threlfall said Super Saturdays and night games would be at the clubs' discretion and would be finalised at a later date. He said the league would like to get the draw out publicly earlier leading into the 2024 season. "It does take a long time... especially trying to accommodate clubs' wishes," Threlfall said. "Then there's some grounds unavailable some weeks so it's not an easy process which I guess it's why it does take a while to get to the release point. "We are going to attempt to get it done a little bit earlier to give clubs a bit more time to do their planning which is understandable." Round 1, April 1 Terang Mortlake v Camperdown North Warrnambool Eagles v Hamilton Kangaroos Cobden v Koroit Portland v Warrnambool Port Fairy v South Warrnambool Good Friday, April 7 Koroit v South Warrnambool Round 2, April 15 Camperdown v South Warrnambool Warrnambool v Port Fairy Koroit v Portland Hamilton Kangaroos v Cobden Terang Mortlake v North Warrnambool Eagles Round 3, April 22 &amp; April 25 North Warrnambool Eagles v Camperdown Cobden v Terang Mortlake Port Fairy v Koroit Warrnambool v South Warrnambool Portland v Hamilton Kangaroos (Anzac Day) Round 4, split round April 29 Camperdown v Warrnambool North Warrnambool Eagles v Cobden May 6 Hamilton Kangaroos v Port Fairy Terang Mortlake v Portland Round 5, May 13 Cobden v Camperdown Portland v North Warrnambool Eagles Port Fairy v Terang Mortlake South Warrnambool v Hamilton Kangaroos Warrnambool v Koroit Round 6, May 20 Camperdown v Koroit Hamilton Kangaroos v Warrnambool Terang Mortlake v South Warrnambool North Warrnambool Eagles v Port Fairy (Reid Oval) Cobden v Portland Round 7, May 27 Portland v Camperdown Port Fairy v Cobden South Warrnambool v North Warrnambool Eagles Warrnambool v Terang Mortlake Koroit v Hamilton Kangaroos Round 8, June 3 Port Fairy v Camperdown South Warrnambool v Portland Warrnambool v Cobden Koroit v North Warrnambool Eagles Hamilton Kangaroos v Terang Mortlake Round 9, June 10 Camperdown v Hamilton Kangaroos Terang Mortlake v Koroit North Warrnambool Eagles v Warrnambool Cobden v South Warrnambool Portland v Port Fairy Round 10, June 17 Camperdown v Terang Mortlake Hamilton Kangaroos v North Warrnambool Eagles Koroit v Cobden Warrnambool v Portland South Warrnambool v Port Fairy Round 11, June 24 South Warrnambool v Camperdown Port Fairy v Warrnambool Portland v Koroit Cobden v Hamilton Kangaroos North Warrnambool Eagles v Terang Mortlake (Reid Oval) Bye, July 1 Round 12, July 8 Camperdown v North Warrnambool Eagles Terang Mortlake v Cobden Hamilton Kangaroos v Portland Koroit v Port Fairy South Warrnambool v Warrnambool Round 13, July 15 Warrnambool v Camperdown South Warrnambool v Koroit Port Fairy v Hamilton Kangaroos Portland v Terang Mortlake Cobden v North Warrnambool Eagles Round 14, July 22 Camperdown v Cobden North Warrnambool Eagles v Portland Terang Mortlake v Port Fairy Hamilton Kangaroos v South Warrnambool Koroit v Warrnambool Round 15, split round July 29 Koroit v Camperdown Warrnambool v Hamilton Kangaroos August 5 South Warrnambool v Terang Mortlake Port Fairy v North Warrnambool Eagles Portland v Cobden Round 16, August 12 Camperdown v Portland Cobden v Port Fairy North Warrnambool Eagles v South Warrnambool Terang Mortlake v Warrnambool Hamilton Kangaroos v Koroit Round 17, August 19 Hamilton Kangaroos v Camperdown Koroit v Terang Mortlake Warrnambool v North Warrnambool Eagles South Warrnambool v Cobden Port Fairy v Portland Round 18, August 26 Camperdown v Port Fairy Portland v South Warrnambool Cobden v Warrnambool North Warrnambool Eagles v Koroit Terang Mortlake v Hamilton Kangaroos Qualifying final September 2 Elimination final September 3 Second semi-final September 9 First semi-final September 10 Preliminary final September 16 Grand final September 23 Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. 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