Wimmera Football League will make history in the form of a Good Friday fixture if a proposed clash between Stawell Warriors and Ararat Rats is approved.
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Warriors and the Rats are set to go head-to-head on the public holiday in the 2017 season, should current negotiations between the league and the clubs be successful.
Warriors President Debbie Bach believes that the match gives the league the opportunity for people outside the region to get familiar with local clubs.
“Obviously the game could pull a big crowd given the amount of people coming to Stawell for the weekend, which means we have the chance to showcase the local clubs,” she said.
“With the regular home and away season, you get the same people at the game every week. This game can expose the local clubs to people who are in the area for the weekend.”
Ararat President David Jennings said that the game would make the most of the high numbers of tourists attending the Stawell Gift on the same weekend, and would offer people the chance to watch football on a day where sport is not usually played.
Wimmera Football League Commissioner Trevor Albrecht said the game would allow a natural step in the evolution of the league.
“We see it as a great venture, it’s a similar idea to the introduction of Sunday games and night games in recent years,” Albrecht said.
“Where other leagues might have problems with players going away for the weekend, we have the opposite happening in Stawell, people tend to come back home instead of going away.
“The dates line up really well for the next eight years, so it’s definitely something we’d like to see happening annually.”
Albrecht believes that the fixture between the Warriors and the Rats should be the only match played on the day, setting it up as a marquee clash for future years.
Due to the timing of Good Friday in 2018, it even has the potential to be played as the season opener.
The idea was proposed to the two sides after their clash in the league last week, which the Warriors convincingly won by 70 points.
If the game is to go ahead it will be played at North Park.