Sport
19 June, 2026
League change decisions loom
D-DAY looms for Marong and Maiden Gully on their bids to leave the Loddon Valley league and join the Bendigo football and netball competition next year.
D-DAY looms for Marong and Maiden Gully on their bids to leave the Loddon Valley league and join the Bendigo football and netball competition next year.
Maiden Gully has a special general meeting tonight at which members will discuss the potential move.
And Panthers’ members will meet next Wednesday to vote on the proposal to switch leagues, less than a week before the AFL Victoria June 30 deadline for requests to transfer.
With the two clubs finally canvassing their members so near to the cutoff date, it seems a fait accompli that both Marong and Maiden Gully will formally apply to move.
There are no guarantees that either club will be accepted by Bendigo, with a view held that if the BFNL did vote for expansion, only one addition to the league would be made.
There is a push for a second-tier competition that could potentially accommodate Marong and Maiden Gully, but any decision on a second division is out of Bendigo’s hands, with AFL Victoria making any such call.
Both Marong and Maiden Gully field teams in the Bendigo Junior Football League, with Maiden Gully also entering the new Under 14 Loddon Valley competition this season.
Marong can approach Bendigo on the back of four successive senior premierships, and the Panthers are on top of the ladder again this year, but the neighbouring league is much stronger.
Despite that outstanding recent record, Marong is no automatic choice for Bendigo, with the existing clubs having a vote on whether to accept a new club.
Maiden Gully has been an also-ran in recent seasons, without a senior finals’ appearance since 2019 and only an outside chance of making the top five this year, which may give the Bendigo league reason for caution.
Bendigo added Broadford to the competition this season, and it has been a disaster.
Broadford is winless, has a percentage of only 10, and has lost its last three matches by more than 200 points despite salary cap and player points relief from the league.
The Roos’ reserves and Under 18s are also last without a victory.
Maiden Gully appointed co-coaches Shaun Filo and ex-Essendon player Angus Monfries last year expressly to push the club’s case for a transfer.
For the same reason, Marong replaced 2025 premiership coaches Kain Robins and Paul Thomson with experienced Bendigo hand James Flaherty.
Neither club is especially strong in A Grade netball, another factor that Bendigo and its clubs would have to take into account.
The Bendigo league has nine clubs this season, but Gisborne has made repeated efforts to move to the Ballarat competition.
Transfers between leagues in the central and northern Victoria regions are frequent, with Moama among clubs still toying with a request to shift to Bendigo.
The BFNL has been unstable for several years, with Kyneton moving to the Riddell League in 2023 and Maryborough going into recess this season.
Loddon Valley offered a possible lifeline to Maryborough late last season, but the club chose to stand down instead.
Macorna, alone among the six clubs in the now disbanded Golden Rivers league, chose to join Loddon Valley this season, with the move having been a resounding success.
Winless in their old competition in 2025, the Tigers are fifth in the seniors and pushing hard for a finals berth despite Loddon Valley being a tougher league.
Clever recruiting has been the key to Macorna’s impressive first season, with former Inglewood coach Fergus Payne at the helm bringing Loddon Valley experience to the club, as well as ex-Woodies players Seb Erharter and Josh Whittle.
Former Golden Rivers club Murrabit has indicated its willingness to consider a move to the Loddon Valley in future.
Read More: Loddon Shire, Marong