Which Country League Has Declined The Most?

[Munners]

I often hear older followers of country footy state that the leagues were stronger back in the past. I was wondering what league has declined the most in quality in the last 50 or so years?

My guess is that it would most likely be a major league which hasn't merged. In my area, you often hear of the decline in the Western Border FL and Wimmera FL but I don't know if they are the most affected by the rural decline.

There's obviously the Mallee area which no longer has a single league on either side of the border but are there any current leagues that used to be a lot more prestigious?

 

[MortlockWatcher]

Bendigo and Goulburn Valley have lost their standing in recent times.
Both now notably behind Ovens & Murray in comparison.

The major leagues in general seem to have been stronger when former VFL players went bush to coach after finishing in the big smoke. Names like Grant Thomas (Warrnambool), Paul Spargo (Albury), Jim Buckley (North Ballarat), David Williams (Rochester) and Ken Hinkley (Camperdown) off the top of my head.

Nowadays, they seem to aim for the media, a coaching job with an APS or AGSV school team or TAC Cup team if they cannot walk into a gig at AFL or VFL level.

The days of David Rhys-Jones (North Launceston) coaching against Mark Yeates (North Hobart) like what happened in Tassie in the 1990s are long gone outside of VFL or TAC level.

 

[RudyCt]

I often hear older followers of country footy state that the leagues were stronger back in the past. I was wondering what league has declined the most in quality in the last 50 or so years?

My guess is that it would most likely be a major league which hasn't merged. In my area, you often hear of the decline in the Western Border FL and Wimmera FL but I don't know if they are the most affected by the rural decline.

There's obviously the Mallee area which no longer has a single league on either side of the border but are there any current leagues that used to be a lot more prestigious?

Western Border was legendary in the 80's & 90's. Probably never at the level of leagues like Ballarat/Bendigo/O&M/GV but really strong nonetheless. It's fallen for sure. I'm not convinced that the rebadging (to Limestone Coast) is going to make much difference unless they can lure a couple of teams from Vic (Hamilton/Portland) so we'll see how that pans out.

Bendigo League seems to be getting some media now about the situation there. I remember Carlton back in the day would get a ton of players out of that league. We're talking about the days of zoning which is long gone

I know it's different times, but good old interleague games would be a way to see where the leagues are at.

 

[MortlockWatcher]

I agree.

Unfortunately those days are gone as the best players in the league are on too much to risk a hammy or an ankle on a game they aren't being paid to play in.

It's like soccer with club versus country and a reason why State of Origin footy is long gone.

 

[jumperfan]

Not an older head but it's got to be the Bendigo League doesn't it? It's gone from one of the best in the state to an uncompetitive mess with 300 point margins and teams wanting to move to smaller leagues.

 

[Oraaaaazio]

Not an older head but it's got to be the Bendigo League doesn't it? It's gone from one of the best in the state to an uncompetitive mess with 300 point margins and teams wanting to move to smaller leagues.

Have to agree. A lot of country leagues have dropped in standard but Bendigo seems to be hit the hardest. The best players stay in Melbourne rather than going to country leagues these days.

Latrobe Valley league used to be one of the strongest in the state and possibly the strongest over a couple of periods (late 70s-early 80s especially and again arguably in the early-mid 90s), won a few country championships including a couple undefeated. The league is now known as the Gippsland League and it's dropped in standard a fair bit, a couple of dominant teams over the past 2 decades but there has been a gap between the haves & have nots. Seems to be a more even competition this year but the standard of each list has dropped a bit this season, a lack of top end talent for the same reason mentioned above - ex AFL/VFL guys staying with metro comps for the work on offer through sponsors etc. though it's not close to falling as badly as the Bendigo league which looks to be in a bad way at the moment. Amongst country competitions, it appears that only the O&M league is still able to attract the cream of the crop out of metro areas.

 

[Del218081]

Interleague is comical these days, Muzza the best player in the competition wasn’t interested before twanging the string, and Raiders to put Ellis Yolemen on ice to make sure they win to Corowa the following week. Back when I was playing it was all about pride, chests puffing and heads tilting to show who the leader of the pack was. Rovers or Yarrawonga at full strength would give the entire GV combined a run for their money.

 

[NorthernBastard]

There's no pride in representing your local region when most of the top players are not even local - it feels like that pride in your area stuff has really dropped off, which is unfortunate, as inter-league used to be brilliant.

 

[western royboy]

Any league that’s not within driving distance from Melbourne is the answer

Western Border probably the best example

Hampden has dropped but it’s still ok, Interleague is played vs Ballarat at U/23 level and it’s a good standard.

COVID has altered many past accepted practices.

As a close observer (umpire - who straddles major and minor leagues) country footy is in huge trouble