The Kyabram District League grand final has been shifted to the Friday before the national competition's decider and will be played on the statewide public holiday.
The announcement comes after the league executive met on Tuesday night to thrash out plans for the remainder of the 2021 fixture following the recent Victorian lockdown.
It will be the first time one of the region's leagues will use the public holiday to host its final match of the season.
The decision — which comes after the Goulburn Valley League's call to push its grand final back to Sunday, September 26 — will mean footy and netball lovers get treated to an action-packed weekend of grand final games.
League president Fraser Kerrins was over the moon to land the grand final on a date that will shine the light on the KDL.
“It's pretty exciting. We have toyed with the idea for a couple of seasons now,” Kerrins said.
“We thought ‘why not? Let's try and give ourselves a chance to showcase our league'.
“When the GVL shifted its grand final back to the day after the AFL, we saw the potential to turn Shepparton into a bit of a footy festival over that weekend.
“When the public holiday was created, it was more for people in the city to get down to the AFL parade, regional Victoria didn't really have a big event.
“So we are really looking forward to hopefully getting a big crowd on the day and who knows, it might become a success and something we stick with going forward.”
In terms of other fixture changes the league has settled on, the round 15 split round will now be condensed into one weekend on July 24.
The postponed round eight matches have been shifted to what would have been the second week of the split round on July 31.
Round nine matches planned for this weekend have been stamped in for after round 18 on August 28, with the finals series pushed back one week.
And lastly, action will not return to KDL grounds until round 10 on June 19 — with the league opting to stick with its Queen's Birthday bye week.
“We have been talking to all of our clubs for the past four to five days and we, as an executive, felt this was the best decision to get a full season in,” Kerrins said.
“We thought it was the best solution to keep the Queen's Birthday bye, we didn't want to take that weekend away from people who had booked plans.
“And we were unsure with the length of the lockdown, so by pausing for a few weeks, hopefully it gives us the best chance to resume after the bye.
“If we happen to be in a position where (COVID-19) may interrupt matches being played, we have COVID-19 guidelines in place that would kick in. Fingers crossed we don't get to that stage.”
More local sport
Zavier Maher lives out ‘childhood dream’ in senior debut for Shepparton United
Yorta Yorta artist designs Melbourne Vixens’ indigenous dresses
Tribunal news | KDL player receives penalty a decade after incident
6°C