Bendigo FL discussion 2025
- Thread starter fatkidinthepocket
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It's time to refine it more now It's up and running.
My personal view is it should be changed from max points to requiring x amount of 1 point deemed local players. So in Bendigo you might have gisborne, sandhurst, square, strath need to have 16 1 point players. Eaglehawk, south, castlemaine 14 and flat 12 I pointers. Who cares if a guy is 3 points or 4 points?
If you recruit a player within the same league, than your 1 point players rise by 1 2 or 3. Depending on the player, where each club is on the ladder. So the bottoms side best player goes to the top team. The top team need 19 1 point players.
Have a limit on how many players can leave 1 club and go to another. So max 5 players could leave kerang and all go to south. Instead of letting 15 guys leave and travel around with one another.
Finally have mous in place with major and community leagues where players are 1 point who transfer between those clubs.
NeonLeon81
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As if Gisborne, Strath and Sandhurst wouldn’t improve significantly without a cap and points though, they are so well positioned to thrive no matter what the rules are.
Both very well run clubs with strong administrators and sponsorship. They would be able to raise equal to if not more than any other club in the region and using their advantage with facilities, strong junior programs and a long list of talented ex players that are scattered around the state they would have no problem improving at the same rate as their opposition and in my opinion they are already well ahead.
Talented players still want to play at good clubs and win flags. I feel like those club would have no issues raising big dollars and having first pick at the talent they want.
Guns aren’t driving two hours past Bendigo to play lower leagues because they love the countryside drive.
NeonLeon81
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My read is there aren’t any sugar hits for the lower clubs in Bendigo they need to look at in 5 year blocks. The amazing work south and Castlemaine have done in their off season
Will put them in a better position this year no doubt but to truly compete and have sustained success at the very top they need to keep topping up talent with talent whilst retaining what they currently have which can be very tricky at the moment.
Teams need to get their junior pathway right and have 5 senior calibre players stepping into their senior program from 18s every year
Without player points / salary cap smaller clubs were able to build their war chest and have crack for maybe 2-3 years . Local kids coming through knew that if they stayed and stood by their local club they were a chance at same time during their career of being involved with a period of strengh / extreme competiveness . Which would include highly talented players being at the club and in many cases in premier / major leagues they would be ex genuine AFL players that they could learn off , if only from playing with them .
It’s not going to happen within the points system so we see bigger clubs getting stronger and smaller clubs getting weaker.
It’s not going to happen within the points system so we see bigger clubs getting stronger and smaller clubs getting weaker.
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When was the last time your Maryborough, Castlemaine & Flat did so?
It gets thrown up as a complaint but going by the info posted earlier in this thread, it appears the caps have had minimal, if any impact at all.
We've also seen that clubs that require a leg up can receive an increased points allowance..
NeonLeon81
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No one outside the top 5 from this year has looked like winning a flag since 2000.
Admittedly, I may be being a little rough on some of those south Bendigo teams but the point remains.
The truth behind it was all the best footballers were staying in Melbourne. Their war chests were 2 to 3 times larger and local kids moved away from country clubs.
Country clubs were forking out good money for average footballers.
It certainly needs revisiting the points system and afl vic need to be harder on metro and vafa points
South were a very good side, just ran into arguably the best side in country Victoria in a couple of grand finals. They were also a good side under McLean.
Castlemaine should have played in the 2005 grand final, easily the second best side in the league.
Maryborough with Aston, Bondi and tranter were a very good side in the early 2000s.
Even flat in 2001 had dekka, Ned landry ash Wilson, fox Lancaster, growler and were a bloody good side
NeonLeon81
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no premierships
NeonLeon81
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PLAYER POINT ALLOCATIONS FOR 2025
BENDIGO LEAGUE
39 points – Gisborne (-1), Golden Square (-1), Sandhurst (-1), Strathfieldsaye (-1).43 points – Eaglehawk (no change), South Bendigo (-3).
46 points – Castlemaine (NC), Kangaroo Flat (NC). Maryborough in recess for 2025.
Salary cap – $125,000.
well it looks like South Bendigo succeeded in their lobbying to to afl central vic to have point deductions. Pity it was to their team allowance and not their recruits
This sums up how ridiculous things have got. Win the flag, 1 point deduction. Win 4 games for the year and finish 7th, 3 point deduction. Am I missing something? If I’m not, this is tip of the iceberg type stuff.
Maryborough was 1998/1999 and were great. Massina spent a heap and got results and moved on. Unfortunately for the league they never reached those heights again
Was mindful not to state clubs ‘ were winning premierships ‘ .
I don’t have statistics to confirm but it appears glaringly obvious than fewer high end talented players ( ex AFL) are choosing to play country footy ( aside from
O&M) each year .
It’s also apparent that the systems ( points/salary cap) are designed for a slow build 5+ year's for clubs near the bottom of the ladder .
The build ( 5 + years) is a commitment players and coaches just aren’t prepared to make so it’s creates a situation whereby players are merely opting not to stay at lower placed clubs .
They are hard to win
This is bang on! No one has 5 years to commit to a club not playing finals. They jump ship and go to the stronger clubs . If clubs are going to be given Points concessions its need to go hand in hand with an increase in the cap. Remember also that there are a number of clubs in plain site blowing the cap up. Apart from Fergus, when was the last time a handful of ex AFL players wondered into the GV or BFNL? The excitement of big name players signing up in the pre season has gone!
Can someone please explain to me how South Bendigo get 3 points taken off their allocated points? Because we won’t get an explanation from the Hub or the new invisible council.
I’m far from a South Bendigo supporter but can’t understand this.
I’m far from a South Bendigo supporter but can’t understand this.
Where's the addy? Surely this is back page news, wheres the hubs accountability?
How can you justify south dropping 3 points? Yet maine remain on 46, when their coach is employed by afl vic, where's forrest and crazy now with the tin hat conspiracy theories?
How can you justify south dropping 3 points? Yet maine remain on 46, when their coach is employed by afl vic, where's forrest and crazy now with the tin hat conspiracy theories?
Yep great point ringo, there needs to be more incentives for guys out of the afl system to play for their home club or a country club like maryborough, kangaroo flat, tat, shepp united, Benalla, corowa, St Albans and lara or we end up with boring two tiered leagues, where the ladder doesn't move
Arnold Horshack
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You won't get an explanation because there can't possibly be one. It's an absolute joke. South dropping points makes zero sense.
As many have said here before, the points system hasn't worked and will never work. The strong teams have plenty of points up their sleeve because they have good junior numbers and due to success (or the likelihood of) recruits stay for a few years. The unsuccessful clubs generally have lower junior numbers and need to recruit which due to poor results they don't stay leading to the cycle continuing.
Clubs are also faced with interesting choices due to their recruiting. Senior selection I'd suggest for Castlemaine and South will now be more about not exceeding points than picking the best side available.
Players should be able to play where they want.
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It wasn’t that long ago you had to fight to get to another club. You had to have a reason to leave or a club could just knock back your clearance. Now everyone can go anywhere including juniors. This hasn’t helped clubs trying to rebuild either.
South have been penalised for heavy recruiting. The powers that be clearly don’t want to upset the status quo of the same clubs contending year on year. There can be no other explanation.
Next lower ranked club that recruits hard would be better off not announcing anything early, telling the hierarchy they are going to struggle again, try get their points allocation maintained or increased, then once it’s locked in, announce 10 recruits.
It’s time for all clubs, in all leagues to make a stand against the hubs. We don’t need them, what have they done to assist clubs, lighten the burden of club volunteers and improve football in the region?
Other than put in place a salary cap they don’t enforce and a points system that hasn’t helped, except make it harder on clubs to improve and added work for volunteers
Its not like with their recruits south were a certainty to play finals. I've got them 6th. None of their recruits are from another major league, yet castlemaine have 2 from keilor and another vfl player, plus brown.
Also south finished below castlemaine in all 3 grades of football. If I'm south, I'm joining the gv now. You couldn't treat a club any poorer
I notice the leagues forgot about the juggernaut, or will their points be s surprise in 2026. Surely they get 60 and surely maryborough will as awell and not 46
