EAST Wagga-Kooringal's Farrer League premiership hopes have been boosted by an important appeal victory.
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The Hawks are free to field their strongest possible team when it becomes available after successfully appealing key recruit Dylan Morton's player points allocation.
AFL Riverina's League Equalisation Panel (LEP) ruled in favour of the Hawks' appeal and allocated Morton as a two-point player for the remainder of the season.
Morton had originally been valued as a two-point player at the Hawks under a 'marquee recruit' due to his state league experience in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL).
The Hawks were then informed the night before their round one clash against Coleambally that Morton had been reassessed as a three-point player. The extra point was added on for three transfers in three years.
The last-minute decision on the eve of the season put the Hawks over the limit of 37 points and had the potential to jeopardize their round-one win.
But EWK president Paul Bourne was happy to be vindicated by the LEP.
"Obviously we're very happy with the end result," Bourne said.
"We felt that we were right in the first place and we did go through the right channels and make all the right enquiries before we signed Dylan because we knew if he was a three pointer, he wasn't going to fit into where we were at with our points, we were going to go over.
"We done all the due diligence before that and we looked at other examples at other guys who have had three transfers in three years and what not and they were two points so we signed Dylan.
"That's not to forget he was actually graded as two points initially then he's come back as a three pointer at 7pm on a Friday night before round one so it doesn't matter what club you're ringing or emailing with that information at that time, it doesn't matter who it was, you were going to get them offside.
"At the end of the day, the LEP obviously read through our case and the facts and we got the result we wanted, we're very happy with it but in saying we're very happy with it, we never thought for a minute it shouldn't have been."
Not only does the ruling remove any question marks surrounding EWK's round one win, it also allows the Hawks' flexibility at the selection table.
While the on-field availability of coach Jake Barrett remains up in the air due to his injury, the decision allows he, or a four-point equivalent, to come back into the team without having to squeeze out a three-point player, of which Morton was for rounds two and three.
The Hawks were given approval to play Morton as a two-point player in round one, after much discussion and debate in the hours leading up to the game.
Eventually, the Hawks' successfully had Morton downgraded by stating one of his three transfers' in the last three years was to his home club of Wagga Tigers and should not count, which was part of the policy at the time of his signing.
What added further grey to the issue was that AFL NSW-ACT's player points policy has since changed.
AFL Southern NSW community football and competition manager Luke Olsen confirmed the ruling.
"We followed the process, it went to the LEP and they decided with all the evidence that was presented to them that (EWK) were well within their rights to presume (Morton) was a two-point player, sign him up as a two-point player and have him remain as a two-point player," Olsen said.
The ruling comes after the Hawks unsuccessfully applied for two extra points for season 2024 and also a downgrading of four-point ruck recruit Mason Dryburgh.
