April 15, 2016
Last year’s Division 1 and Division 2 Darling Downs AFL competitions have been combined for 2016 which means the South Burnett Saints – last year’s Division 2 Premiers – could be facing tougher opposition in at least some of their games.
Round 1 of the combined competition kicks off this Saturday with the Saints taking on the Highfield Lions at 2:50pm at Lyle Vidler Oval in Kingaroy.
Darling Downs competition organisers have released a 10-round draw for the combined 11-team men’s competition however once these 10 games have been played, the competition won’t be over.
The ladder will be split in half.
Teams in the top half will then play each other – the number of games has yet to be released – to determine the grand finalists for Division 1.
Likewise, teams in the bottom half of the ladder will play off to determine the Division 2 grand finalists.
All the Darling Downs clubs are struggling to field junior teams, so the U8s-U16s competitions have also been cut back and the Saints won’t be fielding any juniors this season.
However, interest in the Women’s competition is growing and more players have signed up for the South Burnett side.
The Saints’ Women have a bye in Round 1.
Their first game in the seven-team Women’s competition will be against the Dalby Swans at Dalby on April 23.
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Saints’ Draw for First 10 Rounds
Men’s
- R1 – Highfield Lions @ Kingaroy
- R2 – Dalby Swans @ Dalby
- R3 – Toowoomba Tigers @ Kingaroy
- R4 – Lockyer Valley @ Gatton
- R5 – Coolaroo Roos @ Warwick
- R6 – University Cougars @ Kingaroy
- R7 – South Toowoomba @ Kingaroy
- R8 – Chinchilla Suns @ Kingaroy
- R9 – Bye
- R10 – Warwick Redbacks @ Warwick
Women’s
- R1 – Bye
- R2 – Dalby Swans @ Dalby
- R3 – Toowoomba Tigers @ Kingaroy
- R4 – Lockyer Valley/Uni/Highfields @ Gatton
- R5 – Coolaroo/Warwick @ Warwick
- R6 – Goondiwindi Hawks @ Goondiwindi
- R7 – South Toowoomba @ Kingaroy
- R8 – Coolaroo/Warwick @ Kingaroy
- R9 – Bye
- R10 – South Toowoomba @ Toowoomba
