The Courier understands the two parties will engage in formal talks on Wednesday next week.

News of the meeting follows a club gathering on Tuesday night, where Magpies members and supporters were briefed on the findings of a subcommittee set up to investigate Clunes' options moving forward.

Central to the club's concerns is the senior football team's ability to compete in the current 18-team Central Highlands league.

The senior side has not played finals since 2005 and has endured a horror start to the 2015 campaign, losing its opening five games by an aggregate total of 451 points.

It is believed a move to the Maryborough Castlemaine District competition - which currently plays host to 14 clubs - is the Magpies' preferred option for next season.

And despite flagging their desire to attend the meeting, the Central Highlands Football League was not invited to the discussions on Tuesday night.

League president Eddy Comelli said he understood why the club might want to keep their talks private.

"It's up to them. They are probably still trying to figure out amongst themselves where they want to play and where they want to be at. That's fine," Comelli said.

"When they do decide, I'm sure we will find out about it and we will have a conversation."

Comelli believed the club was "keeping their cards close to their chest".

"Until they've met with all their members and the members have voted on what they want to do, I suppose they can't really say," he said.

"The fact that they are exploring going to another league, I suppose they want to take a step backwards from where they are playing at.

"They wouldn't be exploring it if they weren't thinking about it, so you get the feeling they might want to go, so that's disappointing."

The Magpies are one of the founding members of the Central Highlands competition, which was formed when the Clunes league merged with the Ballarat and Bacchus Marsh league and began in 1979.