THE Maryborough Castlemaine District Football Netball League has been rocked by the disqualification of Dunolly from the league’s finals series.
The league announced yesterday that Dunolly had fielded an unregistered player, Samson Mungatopi, in last weekend’s elimination final against Harcourt.
Dunolly won the match by 35 points to advance to this weekend’s second semi-final against Navarre.
However, the result has now been overturned and Harcourt has been reinstated and will play Navarre this Saturday.
Under MCDFNL rules a player must play three home and away games to qualify for finals.
Mungatopi, who is based in the Northern Territory, played for the Eagles against Avoca on May 21.
He was then named on Dunolly’s team sheet for the final two home and away matches, but did not take the field and the Eagles played a man short.
League rules stipulate that a player must be in uniform and on the ground or interchange bench for a game to be registered.
Mungatopi wasn’t in Victoria let alone in Dunolly uniform, so the final two home and away games weren’t counted.
The MCDFL investigated Mungatopi’s availability after receiving an anonymous email on Monday morning.
A dejected Dunolly coach James McNamee said he thought naming Mungatopi would count for two games.
“It was an honest mistake,’’ McNamee said yesterday.
“We unknowingly broke the rules and we’ve got to suffer the consequences.
“We weren’t trying to cheat the system. We booked for Samson to make the flight down to Victoria, but he didn’t get on the plane.
“We named him in the hope to qualify him for the finals. He came down for the final last weekend and as it turned out he was in our bottom four players and had no influence on the game.
“We wouldn’t have been able to play him this weekend either because he has to go back to the NT for a funeral.
“It’s bitterly disappointing, but we’ve got to cop it.
“I’m the coach and the buck stops with me, so I’ve got to live with the decision.”
MCDFNL secretary Rod Ward released a statement yesterday saying Dunolly’s plight is a warning for all clubs.
“The MCDFNL understand that this decision will cause much anguish and distress for the players and members of the Dunolly FNC; however, all advice given to the league has made it very clear that under MCDFNL and VCFL rules the league does not have any other alternative but to make this decision,’’ the statement said.
Harcourt president Scott Berry praised the MCDFNL for the way it handled the issue.
“Rules are rules and the rules were broken,’’ Berry said.
“We were totally unaware of any problem until we received a phone call from the league.
“We were actually in the middle of our Mad Monday.
“Rod Ward from the league has done a fantastic job in getting the investigation done so quickly.”
Berry said the Lions were not concerned by their short preparation for Saturday’s clash with Navarre.
“We contacted all the boys today and everyone’s at the club ready to train,’’ Berry said.
“Mentally it might take a bit to get them up, but I’m sure physically we’ll be fine.”
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