Elite teams set to vie for cup – Beaconsfi

By Marc McGowan
UP TO eight elite MPNFL football teams may clash in an innovative pre-season cup at Casey Fields next month.
Casey Scorpions general manager Brian Woodman is hoping to organise the competition that would pit sides from the Casey-Cardinia, Nepean and Peninsula Leagues against each other.
The matches would involve two 25-minute halves and be played as double-headers on Wednesday or Thursday nights from 7pm.
Woodman is aiming for the grand final to be played on the Thursday before Good Friday.
The grand final would be a full-scale four-quarter match.
“We’ve discussed it with probably three or four clubs and they have wanted more information in the mail, which we are sending out now,” Woodman said.
“We’re looking at inviting the best six to eight teams in the competition to hit out and we’ll just test the water to see how it goes.
“We’ll try and do that in late March or early April.”
Woodman considered a similar concept before last season, but Casey Fields was not in good enough condition.
“The reason we’ve held off until now is because we just had to wait and see how the ground stood up with Melbourne training on it,” he said.
“And even with the really bad heat we’ve had, the grounds’ people at Casey have been fantastic.
“We want to be able to see that the clubs enjoy it as part of a pre-season ritual and that the supporters enjoy seeing their clubs play some competitive games early against teams they wouldn’t necessarily play.”
Woodman is also hoping to involve AFL club Melbourne in some form in the pre-season cup.