Hume League president Philip Bouffler tackles some of the big questions

STEVE TERVET: The debate around whether you should stick with a top-six or revert to a top-five isn't going away; what are your thoughts?

PHILIP BOUFFLER: This has actually come up at a couple of directors meetings and the overwhelming support, in the last couple of years, has been for it to remain a top six. While we've still got 12 sides, I can see merit in it. I've asked around quite a bit and there's pros and cons. At the end of the day, the biggest pro (for a top-five) is that if you finish third, you get a second go at it. But on the other side, it's giving a little netballer a go, who might never play another final, and we're getting six of our clubs involved. There are far more positives than negatives about having a top six. If people feel strongly enough about it, come and see the board. I know there's a couple of clubs pushing it but I don't think it will have the traction. I've talked to a few club presidents recently and they're happy with the six. You might be the president of your club but you're not just the president of the first-grade side, you're also the president of the under-11 netball girls, so what do they think about this? If you're going to be fair dinkum about this, you're going to have to ask everybody in your club and get a consensus. I think a lot of these clubs who are pushing it are solely focused on their first grade and they haven't drilled down and actually thought about what other people think. It's important they do that.

ST: One argument in favour of having a top five is that it would have created a very exciting finish to the home-and-away season this year, would you accept that?

PB: Yes, but that's a cyclic thing. Next year could be a battle between sixth, seventh and eighth. We can't make a rule that suits one particular year, we've got to have a set of rules in place and you've got to look at what's best for the league in the long-term. The coaches come and go and they might push a certain barrow but the coach next time might think 'hang on, we finished sixth this year, it's a pity we didn't have a top six, could we bring that back?' We've got to wade through all the information and come out with what we think is best for the league.

ST: But you're open to feedback and potential change?

PB: We're always open to options but we need something official. We can't just wander around and go off articles in the paper, we need to have an official letter requesting an agenda item at our next directors meeting, it's as simple as that. We're not anti-anything, I'm just going on what my personal feelings are and the large majority of the board. There's probably a couple on the board who want a top-five but I just think by far the majority would still be happy with a six. We want as many sides from as many towns playing finals as possible - I can't see what's wrong with that.

ST: What is the biggest challenge facing the Hume League in 2023?

PB: Junior football. There's issues in every league. The transition of players in junior football, between the Albury-Wodonga Junior Football League and the Hume League and Tallangatta League, there seems to be some road blocks about having two games on the one weekend. We need to sit down and sort a lot of this stuff out. Intrinsically, the problem is that you can't change grades. Changing grades in junior football doesn't help because you've still got exactly the same amount of players so we need to get more people playing football at a junior age.

ST: How do you address that?

PB: A lot of this has to be driven by the AFL. They've got to have a strong Auskick program and they've got to get into schools. A lot of the problem now is that schools don't like kids kicking the footy at lunchtime because someone gets injured and they get sued, so they're very mindful of kids getting hurt at school. They'd rather them kick a soccer ball than actually go and tackle somebody and play Aussie Rules. The AFL needs to promote bringing current players and past players up to clinics around here to encourage people. They used to do that but they've gone away from it so the onus is back on the AFL to lift.

ST: Do you think kids should be able to play on both Saturday and Sunday?

PB: There's a group of people called parents and they're the ones who should decide that. If a parent thinks their child is capable, that's their call. The argument is that 'they're playing too much football' and that would be fine if the boy on Saturday played in the centre and got 30 possessions, half knocked himself out and then turned up and ran himself into the ground on Sunday and he was a champion. But they don't take into account the boy who mightn't get a kick on Saturday but he comes back into a slightly lower standard and gets two or three kicks and has a great time. We can't always focus on the top end of the football and netball, we've got to focus on all the other kids. If your parents are willing to put themselves out, because it's a big impost - if you have to go to footy on Saturday in the Hume or Tallangatta League and then you've got to line up on Sunday for the Albury-Wodonga Junior Football League - the parents should be dictating that, not football administrators.

ST: What is the knock-on effect if junior numbers don't pick up?

PB: We're going to be short of numbers and maybe sides won't have grades. It's important teams realise that with the points system in the first grade, the best player you'll ever have is the bloke who's come through your juniors and is on one point. The Murray Magpies is a case in point because they haven't got any juniors so they've got no one-point players coming through. They can be given a few extra points but that's not the point, you need a core of one-point players in your team to be successful and if you don't have juniors, you haven't got them, simple as that. It reflects later on in your club.

ST: How worried are you about the Magpies?

PB: The vice-president, Peter Morris and I sat in on one of their meetings not long ago and we had a talk about it all. I think the biggest mistake they made this year was saying 'we won't have 14s' two or three weeks out before the season started. On the other hand, you had the Billabong Crows who might have only had seven or eight players in their under-17s but they said 'listen, we'll start and see how we go.' If you have an entity there to start with, people can join in and play. If you say two weeks before the season 'we haven't got a side' you've got no chance. We've said to the Magpies we need a circumstance where you have a side starting the year. At the start of the 2024 season, we'd like you to have an U14 side at least and if you can get 17s as well, that would be great. But we need a 14s side there and if you're starting with seven or eight players, it won't matter, because other clubs will support you. We've got the ability to increase the permits and other clubs are happy with that. I've said to them other clubs are happy to support you but you need to be seen to be doing some of this stuff on your own. I know they've been trying very hard and the Hume League needs to have a successful side based in Albury. I don't understand why it can't be. It's good for the league and it's good for the Magpies. That's a huge area out there and they're the only city-based team in the competition so we need them to be in Hume - but we need them with juniors.

ST: Speaking of permits, how does that system impact your junior footy conundrum?

PB: The permit system is wrong. I don't mind if it's capped but whatever the cap is should only apply to the home-and-away season. The AWJFL competition is normally over before the Hume League finals start so why deny these kids a chance to play finals in the Hume and Tallangatta Leagues? It makes no sense. Two years ago, we had 12 games (on permits) and that was great but now they've cut right back and said you can only have 10 games including finals. It's also hard for coaches because say there's three games to go and you've got some kid who's played eight games, which is the game you rest him in? Do you rest him and risk not making the finals or do you play him, get into finals and then he can't play? It needs to be 12 permits for the year and finals are on top of that. Permits are a necessary evil. In a perfect world, you wouldn't have any permits at all but we don't live in that environment.

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