Bendigo FL discussion 2024

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Too Old Too Slow (TOTS) said:
I am not supporting this position, and have no insight to the Boards thinking.
However, allowing the Country Clubs to fold definitely makes it easier to make it a Bendigo (only) focused league with maybe a White Hills and Marong entering the league. 8 Bendigo based clubs would work.
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Realistically why would any club want to join the BFL. Looking from the outside in there is a core of 5 relatively strong and successful club and the rest for various reasons have had little success for 20 years. If you are a Marong or White Hills and are happy where you are your not moving. The Maiden Gully scenario is almost as ridiculous as the Broadford proposal. If the BFL board and AFLCENTRALVIC have any plans in mind they need to bring the whole comp ie clubs and supporters with them and the sooner the better otherwise a 5 side comp will be what theve got.(If there is restructure plans for the whole area please let us know,)
 

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fatkidinthepocket said:
Realistically why would any club want to join the BFL. Looking from the outside in there is a core of 5 relatively strong and successful club and the rest for various reasons have had little success for 20 years. If you are a Marong or White Hills and are happy where you are your not moving. The Maiden Gully scenario is almost as ridiculous as the Broadford proposal. If the BFL board and AFLCENTRALVIC have any plans in mind they need to bring the whole comp ie clubs and supporters with them and the sooner the better otherwise a 5 side comp will be what theve got.(If there is restructure plans for the whole area please let us know,)
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From an outsider's POV the league appears cooked. Country clubs are all struggling and/or looking to leave. These dreams of Echuca or Rochester coming back will not happen as Echuca are dominating the GV at present and Rochester would never go back.

Unless they can drag in a Nth Bendigo or someone I suspect Strath, Square, Sandhurst, Eaglehawk, South Bendigo ... maybe 'Flat will be playing in a 5-6 team competition.
 
Silver Tongue said:
From an outsider's POV the league appears cooked. Country clubs are all struggling and/or looking to leave. These dreams of Echuca or Rochester coming back will not happen as Echuca are dominating the GV at present and Rochester would never go back.

Unless they can drag in a Nth Bendigo or someone I suspect Strath, Square, Sandhurst, Eaglehawk, South Bendigo ... maybe 'Flat will be playing in a 5-6 team competition.
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Would the strong Bendigo teams am Ballarat teams consider a merged league ? Fair bit of travel but Jee it be good footy.
I think it’s enviable that the rdfl will be a two division comp again one day with marsh darley melton etc joining
Makes most sense.
Or could there be a super league
 
masoncox_ said:
Would the strong Bendigo teams am Ballarat teams consider a merged league ? Fair bit of travel but Jee it be good footy.
I think it’s enviable that the rdfl will be a two division comp again one day with marsh darley melton etc joining
Makes most sense.
Or could there be a super league
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Yeah I agree mate. Ballarat and Bendigo clubs could certainly work in relation to demographics. 90 minutes every second week I hardly a huge ask.

Who knows what the two league administrators would think ... Ballarat are probably not interested and Bendigo clubs too arrogant!
 
Too Old Too Slow (TOTS) said:
I am not supporting this position, and have no insight to the Boards thinking.
However, allowing the Country Clubs to fold definitely makes it easier to make it a Bendigo (only) focused league with maybe a White Hills and Marong entering the league. 8 Bendigo based clubs would work.
Click to expand...
You’d see any even bigger exodus of players if that was the case. A 14 game season!
 
I can't see what is in it for Ballarat to be honest. Their league is running effectively and their only real issue with the composition of the league is the uncompetitiveness of Melton South.

The Bendigo league is in a far different state - a situation it created for itself when Rochester was pushed out of the league and Echuca joined them in sympathy. A proposal such as this has echoes of the BFL's efforts to take over the Golden City league at the start of the 1980s.

Dismantling the Ballarat league makes no sense - why should their clubs suffer because of the actions of an ineffective external party? As has been evidenced with the non-Bendigo based clubs and North City, supporters from Bendigo are unlikely to travel to watch their team play away so the inter-city fixtures will be a costly exercise for clubs.

Being in different regions is an issue as well - who is going to run it. Are the Goldfields and Central Victoria regions going to be merged?

The attachment from Paul Daffey's book on the history of the VCFL highlights that issues with the administration are not new. Cheatley has a dig at the BFL's predicament in the mid 1970s and in 1977, GVFL president Jack Arthur flatly rejected a merger of the GVFL and the BFL, lambasting the BFL for its "self-inflicted wounds".
 

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I'm in Ballarat. There's no interest in or connection with Bendigo from our viewpoint. Most footy people here are barely aware of Maryborough's plight, let alone bigger picture issues like league structure or administration dissatisfaction.
No interest and it's wishful thinking by anybody connected to Bendigo football to think Ballarat based clubs and administrators would be willing to pull apart a league that's faring pretty well to rescue another league they don't have any history with.
 
Self interest and egos have created the situation footy is seeing across the state and it’s those 2 things getting in the way of solutions moving forward.

Time for all current leagues to be scrapped and new leagues constructed based on the current landscape…ie population, location, participation numbers.

The past is the past…it can’t dictate the future
 
Maybe so Roota but you still wouldn't naturally pair Ballarat and Bendigo. Alterations to Ballarat FNL would more likely involve sending Melton, Melton South and Sunbury back to metro or Riddell footy and then adding stronger district clubs to the eight remaining clubs in the league.
Maybe Ararat after Wimmera football implodes in the short to mid term future. Probably Buninyong as it has the facility and a 500+ student primary school.
 
Grimmett said:
Maybe so Roota but you still wouldn't naturally pair Ballarat and Bendigo. Alterations to Ballarat FNL would more likely involve sending Melton, Melton South and Sunbury back to metro or Riddell footy and then adding stronger district clubs to the eight remaining clubs in the league.
Maybe Ararat after Wimmera football implodes in the short to mid term future. Probably Buninyong as it has the facility and a 500+ student primary school.
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I didn’t say Ballarat and Bendigo have to pair. I’m saying everything needs to be scrapped and redrawn from scratch
 

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Grimmett said:
True, my apologies for misinterpreting and my agreement that leagues will change. FoOtball history says they always have evolVed.
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Distance wise Bendigo & Ballarat would actually be a good fit with no significant travel. Toss in two divisions with promotion/relegation and struggling clubs would get a chance to recover. Having said that the concept has been put before the two boards and rejected in the past and it is clearly not going to happen now.

My opinion is just another pebble on the beach but I am going to reiterate that what is far more important (essential in fact) for the BFNL. That is, rather than recruit a new club(s), improve the health of the clubs outside the top five. Castlemaine, Kangaroo Flat, South Bendigo (and Maryborough????) all need to enjoy success and by that I mean make the finals. Eight/nine competitive teams would still make a good competition.

The task is difficult and complex, but right now it should be the focus of the BFNL Board. I still don't know if this Broadford business is a joke. I personally cannot take it seriously. Time for another public statement from the Board.
 
AlburyE said:
Distance wise Bendigo & Ballarat would actually be a good fit with no significant travel. Toss in two divisions with promotion/relegation and struggling clubs would get a chance to recover. Having said that the concept has been put before the two boards and rejected in the past and it is clearly not going to happen now.

My opinion is just another pebble on the beach but I am going to reiterate that what is far more important (essential in fact) for the BFNL. That is, rather than recruit a new club(s), improve the health of the clubs outside the top five. Castlemaine, Kangaroo Flat, South Bendigo (and Maryborough????) all need to enjoy success and by that I mean make the finals. Eight/nine competitive teams would still make a good competition.

The task is difficult and complex, but right now it should be the focus of the BFNL Board. I still don't know if this Broadford business is a joke. I personally cannot take it seriously. Time for another public statement from the Board.
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As an Ararat bloke I understand travelling. One away game per year less than 60 minutes away. Three games at least 90 minutes. I agree that Ballarat to Bendigo is not that hard but I coach the current kids. Ballarat kids grow up playing all bar one game per year in town. They get to senior footy and only travel down the road three or four times per season. And they don't cope.
Ballarat and Bendigo combining in some format theoretically makes sense but practically will find big resistance in the cold, gold city.
They complain going forty minutes down the freeway to Bacchus Marsh. They almost hyperventilate at the thought of going longer than an hour to Sunbury.
Would take several years to break down that issue for the petal generation.
And, yes, I am aware each club has guys travelling out from Melbourne and Geelong to play. Adding extra kms to their annual mileage shouldn't be an issue I expect it would impact a few.
 
Grimmett said:
As an Ararat bloke I understand travelling. One away game per year less than 60 minutes away. Three games at least 90 minutes. I agree that Ballarat to Bendigo is not that hard but I coach the current kids. Ballarat kids grow up playing all bar one game per year in town. They get to senior footy and only travel down the road three or four times per season. And they don't cope.
Ballarat and Bendigo combining in some format theoretically makes sense but practically will find big resistance in the cold, gold city.
They complain going forty minutes down the freeway to Bacchus Marsh. They almost hyperventilate at the thought of going longer than an hour to Sunbury.
Would take several years to break down that issue for the petal generation.
And, yes, I am aware each club has guys travelling out from Melbourne and Geelong to play. Adding extra kms to their annual mileage shouldn't be an issue I expect it would impact a few.
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Remember north Ballarat did it for a few years in its inception. A Goldfields two tiered league may work, so the finals sides of each comp in div 1 and non finalists div 2, relegate and promote each year.
 
I was going to say can anyone remember the North City debacle... that sums up the disconnect and non interest in leagues being combined between Ballarat and Bendigo. North City couldn't wait to be finally readmitted into the Ballarat FNL when the VFL team folded.

The Ballarat FNL is generally well administered and the football is of an excellent standard. Ballarat has more in common now with the western fringe of Melbourne than Bendigo.

As Grimmett stated, future growth in the Ballarat FNL will come from Buninyong or perhaps the addition of Ararat one day. I think they should have been in the league some time ago for many reasons including they would be very competitive with both football and netball. Unfortunately now with the eastern based clubs such as Sunbury etc. that will never happen due to the travel.

I would have loved to see Maryborough return to the league one day too but that is just a pipe dream now as I feel our club had more in common with the Ballarat clubs than Bendigo.
 
Long Run said:
Assuming the Broadford noise is correct, hasn't the BFNL killed off any hope of attracting clubs to the north? I speak of Moama in particular.
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Unsure Moama would leave, presume their happy in the Murray league. Comp goes down to under 14s, plus netball for 11,13,15 and 17s, their juniors in the Goulburn Murray FL. Local games against United, Tongala, Nathalia. Plus they have been hosting the grand final of late aswell.
 
Long Run said:
Assuming the Broadford noise is correct, hasn't the BFNL killed off any hope of attracting clubs to the north? I speak of Moama in particular.
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They'd be better of analysing what options they have to the west of Bendigo as well as the area just to the north of the Bendigo town hall rather than pie in the sky options like Echuca, Rochester, Moama and the in-recess Broadford.
 
Hawking Hawkeye said:
Unsure Moama would leave, presume their happy in the Murray league. Comp goes down to under 14s, plus netball for 11,13,15 and 17s, their juniors in the Goulburn Murray FL. Local games against United, Tongala, Nathalia. Plus they have been hosting the grand final of late aswell.
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I can only see the GV as an option if their seniors ever move leagues. A derby against Echuca would have to be a factor.
 
MortlockWatcher said:
They'd be better of analysing what options they have to the west of Bendigo as well as the area just to the north of the Bendigo town hall rather than pie in the sky options like Echuca, Rochester, Moama and the in-recess Broadford.
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How about if true those involved stop worrying about any expansion and just get the existing league back on a stable and even footing. Trust me Maryborough is doing it tough but is not the only club in the league that is on difficult times. Many other clubs around Central Victoria are also in dire straits with some potentially on their last legs.

A club like Moama will never join the BFNL. They will go to the Goulburn Valley if the opportunity ever arises due to the want of having a rivalry with Echuca. I will state they are very happy in the very well run and stable Murray League and see it as a point of difference when recruiting players.

Instead of all this talk about taking on a basket case we should be looking at other leagues and how they effectively operate. This information can be used for the betterment of football in the BFNL and surrounding leagues who could do with all the help they can get.
 

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