In an exciting new initiative, the SFNL will run a round-robin preseason football competition throughout the month of March.
Eight SFNL clubs will compete for cash prizes in the inaugural Seymour Law Cup, with mid-week matches scheduled on Monday and Wednesday nights at Springvale Reserve, beginning Monday 6 March.
These preseason matches will feature reduced quarter lengths of 15 minutes, as well as shorter breaks to accommodate two matches per night at 6:40pm and 8:10pm timeslots.
Additionally, the SFNL will cap on-field playing numbers at 16 per team in a trial for the first half of competition, before reverting to the traditional 18-a-side in the final two weeks. Bench numbers will be unlimited for the entire duration of the Seymour Law Cup.
The SFNL will pool teams into groups of four for the first three weeks of the competition, with the focus on creating a competitive fixture for the participating teams. Ladder positions will determine the fixture for the final week, with the top two teams to face off on Wednesday 29 March for the inaugural Seymour Law Cup.
All competition teams will receive a guaranteed prize money return based on their final competition standings, with the highest ranked team to receive a winners’ purse of $3000.
SFNL General Manager Operations Adam Sparrow said that clubs would benefit enormously from this new preseason competition.
“This is certainly an exciting initiative and will be a great precursor to the 2017 SFNL home and away season,” Sparrow said.
“For clubs, it will provide a great opportunity to participate in four hit outs prior to Round 1, where the burden of securing a venue, an opponent and umpires has been taken out of their hands. As an added bonus, it will also provide a potential alternative revenue opportunity for participating clubs on the eve of the season.
“The buy in from clubs to date has been fantastic and we look forward to announcing the competing clubs over the coming weeks.”
SFNL Hall of Famer and former Chairman Mark Seymour said he was thrilled to have his business, Seymour Law, aligned with the new preseason competition as its exclusive naming rights partner.
“The idea of a SFNL preseason competition has been on the drawing board for some time and I am very pleased to be associated with the concept,” Seymour said.
“This competition should stand the clubs involved in good stead for the 2017 season proper, as these won’t be the usual run-of-the-mill practice matches given four points and prize money are involved.”