This week the news came out that South Melbourne are one of four Australian teams to apply for the new Oceania Professional League (OPL), and to that we say – wait what? Seriously?

The OPL is set to launch in January 2026 and will be largely funded by FIFA. The OPL will also serve as a pathway to the FIFA Club World Cup, meaning that it could be a pretty lucrative competition should South be successful in competition.

The competition may also help South receive Government funds as part of the Australia’s diplomacy with the Pacific.

However, the competition format is far from conventional with the League phase comprising five meets held in different pacific island locations, before moving to finals. Will we even get a home game?

There’s also the question of how we will manage this competition. The NPL will run from February to September, the Australian Championship from October to December, and this from January to May potentially?

South President, Nick Maikousis, spoke to the media about the initiative, explaining “We’ll treat the Australian comps and the NPL virtually as our reserves, and play our strongest possible team in the (OFC competition),”

Marconi and Auckland FC (from the A-League) have also applied for the competition and even though at face value it sounds insane, we need to remember this is just the early stage of the application process and South can pull out if things go pear shaped. Considering the money and prestige potentially on offer it makes sense to test the waters.

Overall – we’d rather see a full Home and Away National Second tier.