Portland look into possible move away from Hampden

The Tigers will meet with the SANFL next week after South Australia’s peak football body approached the club about joining one of its two new competitions next year.

The SANFL next year will have two leagues, of 11 and 14 teams, which will replace the Mid South East, the Kowree-Naracoorte-Tatiara and Western Border leagues.

While two of the three leagues involve all South Australian clubs currently, the Western Border league has a Victorian club involved with Casterton-Sandford set to move into one of the two new leagues.

Portland played in the Western Border league from 1964 to 2012 before moving to Hampden alongside the Hamilton Kangaroos, which was a merger between Hamilton and Hamilton Imperials.

“They contacted us about six or seven weeks ago,” Portland president Troy Bannam said.

“We’ve been in discussions at an executive level for a number of weeks, we’ve been waiting for the SANFL to supply us some more facts and figures and a bit more detail before we then put it to the general committee.

“The general committee then took the next steps to explore it.”

Since playing in the Hampden league the team has struggled, only making finals once.

The team also won its first final against Warrnambool.

This season the team is languishing in ninth with just one win after losing 15 of their first 30 players from last year’s squad.

Bannam said their reasons for moving to Hampden back in 2013 haven’t played out to plan for them.

“We’ve had quite limited success in the Hampden league,” he said.

“We struggle to retain like most country clubs, we are four hours from Melbourne and we have our ex-players leave town to go to university.

“We’re also losing trade people, our young fellas and girls, to Geelong for trades and that also now.

“The thought process was going to the Hampden league would hopefully get them to travel back to play with us.

“Camperdown and Warrnambool are only a couple of hours (from Geelong) compared to going to Mount Gambier and that.

“But it’s proved to be fruitless for us.

“We might have had one or two over the last 10 years travel back to us but that might only be a year before it becomes to hard.

“It’s been hard for us to retain.”

The other factor influencing the offer is when Portland were in the Western Border league, it was successful, winning eight premierships during their time.

He said this has all made the SANFL’s offer something to seriously consider.

“The SANFL are coming over next Wednesday (June 7) to present to put to our members and say this is what they are offering,” Bannam said.

“There will be discussions after that to see if it is viable. It’s generated a lot more interest than I’ve anticipated.

“It’s something we will have to look at over the next two months.”

Bannam stressed no decision has been made and staying in the Hampden league is an absolute possibility.

“I talked to the Hampden league president and advised him we are exploring our options,” Bannam said.

“They are well aware of what is going on, no one is being blindsided.”

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The club has nothing in its constitution which highlights what per cent is needed from their members to pass it through.

“If everyone is going ‘that’s the way we need to go’ then that’s what we’ll do,” Bannam said.

The Hampden league and SANFL were contacted for comment.

Originally published as Portland look into possible move away from Hampden