The Mid South Eastern football and netball clubs are set to strongly resist any moves by the SANFL to break up their league.

This was the mood of an unprecedented meeting of Mid SE club presidents last week at the central location of the clubrooms of the Mount Burr United Football Club.

Eight clubs were represented by their off-field leaders in both football and netball.

Convened by the Hatherleigh Football Club, the 90-minute informal gathering was a “club-only” event.

“We talked about ways to insulate ourselves,” one meeting participant told The SE Voice.

“There is no appetite at all for a merger with the other leagues and we want to keep the status quo.

“I expect a joint media statement from the nine Mid SE clubs will soon be sent out.

“We will probably meet again in about a month’s time.”

Comment has been sought from Hatherleigh Football Club president Deon Chester who wrote to his fellow club leaders earlier this month and urged them to meet to consider strategies.

Neither the Mid South East Football League executive nor the MSE Netball Association executive were invited to the Mount Burr meeting.

The SANFL is looking to shake up the region’s competitions in 2024 and this would spell the end of the MSEFL which stretches back 87 years.

The MSEFL is one of the most stable competitions of its size anywhere in the nation with just one change in composition in almost six decades.