I know it doest matter big picture wise but how many of the 'star' players from the 'lower league' clubs in that area would hang around to play in the Bendigo league??
Many would be out there for the $$ or coz they don't have the time to commit to playing 'major league' footy.
The merger gives you, hopefully, more players but what would the quality look like??
Maybe not immediately but it will help in the long run as there will be less options for the quality blokes ro head off to