Under lights and home for a sleep in; night shift a winner for Pascoe Cup

The first grade men's competition was moved to Saturday nights to provide better visibility of the senior competition to juniors and clear Sunday's for the women's games.

Coaches of both in and out of town teams have said the change has been beneficial in the early parts of the season.

Flexibility from Football Wagga has also been appreciated with clubs adjusting their fixtures when necessary for both club events and field availability.

Renovations at Hanwood's field has kept their home games in the traditional Sunday slot, but coach Gabriel Abdala is pleased overall with the Saturday night games.

Travelling every other week to play, not arriving home late on a Sunday evening has been a welcomed change.

"It's been good from a travelling there and travelling back perspective, I can't say that we've had any issues with that," Abdala said.

"I think in hindsight having all the men's games there and then being able to see everybody else to play at the same time, for me as a coach, I think it's been pretty good.

"I get to see results play out or even just sometimes check over my shoulder and see how somebody else might be performing that week as opposed to when we played them the week before."

Utilising group games at Rawlings Park in Wagga to have a sneak peak at the opposition is a surprise addition.

It has also created an improved atmosphere at games.

With supporters for up to eight clubs arriving at Rawlings on a Saturday night for the games, Abdala said you can hear the action across the venue.

Young coach Duncan Cameron felt the same way.

"It's been great and you know when you're going to Wagga that that night there might be Henwood Park and Lake Albert and Tolland and Wagga United playing, and it's a great atmosphere," Cameron said.

"You can hear everyone screaming from other grounds or at your ground when there's a goal, it does bring a good atmosphere."

The Lions were in favour of the change from its first proposal and Duncan is pleased with how it has been received.

Lake Albert co-coach Chris Ayton agreed the change has been positive.

With advanced notice he said the playing group were able to ensure they were still available to take the field.

"We're happy with the Saturdays, moving forward it would be better to move it earlier but if it means moving earlier and going to a Sunday, I'd prefer this Saturday at 6:15," Ayton said.

"We've had some away games on the Saturday night and that works well, I don't know how the other club feels but hopefully it's all positive because from our side I think it's been a great change."

The move has also had a positive impact on club members outside of the game, freeing their Sundays and removing late nights ahead of the working week.

Several games have also been moved to earlier timeslots on Saturday as per club requests.

Cameron said the association has been very flexible with clubs who have been seeking alternative kick off times.

"We had Hanwood in Young and with a quick email to Football Wagga we were able to change the time to one and three," Cameron said.

"It was perfect because there was obviously no other games in Young and it was easier for Hanwood, they would get home earlier and we could go to our sponsor, which I think is a big thing for clubs, to be able to get back to their sponsors at the end of the day.

"It's really good that Football Wagga have been accommodating with changes like that."