PORTLAND Football Netball Club has been approached by South Australia football’s governing body about potentially joining one of their newly-minted competitions which are set to begin in the 2024 season.

Portland president Troy Bannam said he was contacted by the South Australian National Football League last week with the proposal, and added it was something the club would strongly consider.

“SANFL has been in touch with us to see what our interest is in potentially joining one of their merged competitions for 2024,” Bannam said.

“We’ll be having an open meeting on June 7 where our members and interested parties can come along to hear what SANFL has to say and voice any thoughts or concerns they might have.”

The exact structure the proposed league will remain dependent on whether other clubs that have been contacted by SANFL are happy to buy in.

“I understand Hamilton and Penola have also been contacted about joining, and while I won’t obviously speak on their behalf, their decisions will obviously affect how the league looks,” Bannam said.

“They (SANFL) want this to happen by 2024… obviously there’s a lot to consider for us during that time period.”

The potential change comes at a time when the club is already headed in a slightly different direction, with the search underway for the club’s next president and senior football coach after Bannam and Jarrod Holt both recently announced this year would be their last in those respective positions.

“It does come at an interesting time for the club… we have a lot to consider in the near future,” Bannam said.

“The big thing to weigh up is probably our junior alignment as well, since clearly if the move were to happen, we’d be aligned with SANFL rather than AFL Western District, and just how that would affect our juniors,” Bannam said.

“SANFL have told us that since we’d be playing through Mount Gambier a lot there might be even more opportunities for our players to see some scouting, so there’s possibly an opportunity there as well, but it is something we need to address.”

Being part of a South Australian-aligned league is nothing new to Portland, who – alongside Hamilton, Hamilton Imperials, Heywood, Coleraine and Casterton – were all part of the Western Border league in the past.

Heywood and Coleraine now play in the South West league, while Portland and Hamilton Kangaroos (a merger of Imperials and Hamilton) have been part of the Hampden league since 2013.

Casterton (now Casterton Sandford) was the only Victorian club to remain in the Western Border, and have played in a six-team competition since 2013 alongside the four Mount Gambier clubs and Millicent.

A restructure of South Australian competitions has been on the cards for some time, and would involve the Western Border, Kowree Naracoorte Tatiara, and Mid South Eastern leagues.

The South East Football and Netball Working Group, established in 2022, recently finalised its recommendation for the future structure of both sports in the region for 2024 and beyond.

It has suggested two senior competitions in the region, with the disbandment of the Western Border Football League – with South Gambier, West Gambier, North Gambier and Millicent moving to the current Kowree Naracoorte Tatiara league, and for Casterton Sandford and East Gambier to move to the current Mid South Eastern league.

How that structure fits in with the addition of Portland and Hamilton is anyone’s guess at this point in time.