Geelong Amateur will plant its flag in the Bellarine for at least the next two seasons, despite holding an unassailable lead in the rolling two-year club championship.
Long-serving president Simon Farrell has confirmed earlier reports by K rock Football that the Pegs will reject AFL Barwon’s offer of a spot in the Geelong Football Netball League under its non-mandatory promotion-relegation system.
Amateur, which sits atop the senior and reserves football and B grade netball ladders, and second in A grade netball, can’t be unseated from top spot, with two rounds remaining.
Farrell says the club’s point of difference, being the only Bellarine club located in that part of suburban Geelong, was a deciding factor.
“If we were to join the GFL, we’d have South Barwon (nearby), Newtown, just up the top of the hill from us,” he told K rock Football’s Beyond the Boundary podcast.
“St Joseph’s is not far away. Either is Bell Park, and either is St Mary’s.
“So just a little bit of a difference, and the Bellarine’s a fantastic competition.”
However, Farrell, who has indicated the 2026 season, where Geelong Amateur will celebrate its 100th anniversary, will be his last, hasn’t ruled out revisiting a return to the GFNL.
Ammos featured in the competition from 1986 to 1988 before heading back to the GDFNL, which it had joined after exiting the VAFA in the early 1980s, in 1989.
They made the move to the Bellarine in 1995.
“I wouldn’t say never,” Farrell said
“Where we are at the moment, looking at our junior structure, which is fantastic, we just don’t seem to have enough division one (underage football) teams.
“If we were in the position of a couple of other clubs, where we had division one under-18s, under-16s, under-14s, probably another conversation would take place then.
“Does that make sense?”
Torquay sits a clear second in the rolling club championship, opening the door for it to make the jump to the region’s premier competition.
If the Tigers were to accept the offer, that would result in North Shore being relegated.
K rock Football understands the matter has been the topic of discussion at Spring Creek Reserve, with no decision made either way.
Torquay president Cam Healy has been contacted for comment.
X: @krockfootball
| CLUB | 2024 TOTAL | 2025 (at Round 16) | COMBINED TOTAL |
| GEELONG AMATEUR | 36 | 39 | 75 |
| TORQUAY | 35 | 29 | 64 |
| OCEAN GROVE | 25 | 23 | 48 |
| QUEENSCLIFF | 22 | 25 | 47 |
| DRYSDALE | 20 | 25 | 45 |
| ANGLESEA | 25 | 16 | 41 |
| BARWON HEADS | 20 | 19 | 39 |
| MODEWARRE | 16 | 17 | 33 |
| PORTARLINGTON | 12 | 14 | 26 |
| NEWCOMB | 9 | 13 | 22 |
