Riddell District Football Netball League will host its Nepean league counterpart in the AFL Victoria country championships on May 23.
The match is a coup for the RDFNL, with the Nepean league ranked 14th in the state, 14 places higher than Riddell.
The RDFNL was due to play Tallangatta FNL on the weekend of May 23 but has pulled out of the competition to play in a localised representative carnival in the Murray-Riverina area.
Nepean FNL was meant to play the Mallee FNL.
In another bonus for the RDFNL, it will host the country championship game for a second successive year – this time at Macedon’s Tony Clarke oval.
Last year the RDFNL footballers went down by one point to Alberton Football Netball League.
RDFNL operations manager Toby Boyle says he’s excited about taking on the challenge of playing a league ranked much higher than Riddell District .
“Taking on a league ranked in the top 15 will give us a good indication of where our league sits among other AFL Victoria country leagues, and we’re looking forward to the challenge,” Boyle said.
The RDFNL’s current ranking of 28 is protected regardless of the result against the Nepean FNL, meaning a loss won’t drop the RDFNL down the rankings.
As well as fielding senior sides, the two leagues are hoping to have an under-18 footy game, along with open and under-17 netball fixtures.
