AN AFL-free weekend is expected to be a boon for finals gates in the south-west this weekend.
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Warrnambool and District league will run its preliminary final and the Hampden league its qualifying and elimination showdowns without competition from the elite level following a decision to implement a post-round 23 bye. Live TV broadcasts have impacted country leagues in the past.
Warrnambool and District chairman Barry Crimmin and Hampden president Hugh Worrall expect their respective leagues to benefit.
Crimmin is anticipating a bumper crowd for the senior football clash between Dennington and Nirranda at Reid Oval.
“If you sit back and think about it, the Hampden league has done the right thing by us having the second semi-final at Cobden between Warrnambool and Koroit too,” he said.
“It’s good of them to take it out of town. We have a captive audience in town.
“Due to the fact Nirranda hasn’t been in finals for 17 years, the whole community is turning up in droves.
“I thought (before considering the AFL bye) we’d have a good gate for the preliminary final because they have reserves and A grade in too.”
Worrall believes the competition’s evenness will encourage fans to turn up.
“You can’t pencil a game in for next week thinking ‘they’ll win this one’,” he said.
“We expect our gates to align with there being no league – if you don’t want a week off, you can see the best footy in the countryside.”