Sport
10 April, 2024
Sanctions against Eagles - stripped of points before season start
MAIDEN Gully has been hit with hefty sanctions for what the Loddon Valley Football League has labelled actions bringing the league into disrepute. The Eagles have refused to field an under 18 side for a third season after spending the last two years...
MAIDEN Gully has been hit with hefty sanctions for what the Loddon Valley Football League has labelled actions bringing the league into disrepute.
The Eagles have refused to field an under 18 side for a third season after spending the last two years trying to put a team on the field in the Bendigo or Heathcote leagues.
In the firmest message from league powerbrokers to clubs in three decades, the Eagles have been hit with a $10,000 fine with half suspended for a year.
And their first three senior wins of the 2024 season will count for nothing. The league board decided this week to strip the club of 12 premiership points.
The Loddon Herald understands there was discussion at the league annual general meeting last November that sanctions might be on the horizon.
The bombshell decision was dropped on Maiden Gully on Wednesday, three days before Saturday’s opening round.
When contacted by the Loddon Herald this morning, league chairman Simon Tuohey said continued agitation and applications by Maiden Gully to enter junior teams in other leagues was unhelpful for development of the local under 18 competition and the nine-club league.
“The league and clubs want this destabilisation to stop. Under our by-laws, all clubs are required to field a junior football side unless there are extenuating circumstances under which a dispensation can be given. We have done this for Bears Lagoon Serpentine, Mitiamo and Calivil who combine to field and support East Loddon Rams along with Newbridge that tried and was unable to raise sufficient numbers.
“But Maiden Gully, despite saying it had player numbers to field junior teams in both the Bendigo and Loddon Valley leagues, is now refusing to step on to the field in Loddon Valley.
“The constant pushes from Maiden Gully, and they have not ruled out fresh bids in coming months, is not what is expected from member clubs. Our by-laws are quite clear that actions unbecoming or prejudicial to the interest of the league are the subject of disciplinary action.
“The board has considered all matters, including the standing and reputation of the league, in applying sanctions against a member club.
"The league is about every club and clubs have responsibilities to work within our rules.”
The by-laws also stateaction can be taken where a club’s actions are “calculated to bring or in fact bringing discredit on the League or any of its constituent clubs or a person connected therewith, or to impair or affect the enjoyment by any club or person of the privileges associated with the membership of/or association with the league”.
Maiden Gully was at the centre of threatened sanctions in the 1990s when the Eagles and Marong risked the loss of 16 premiership points if they failed to field underage football sides.
Maiden Gully president Chris Garlick this afternoon said the Eagles would be exploring avenues and options for appeal. However, he did not say when the club would make any decisions on whether to appeal or dispute the league's decision and grounds used to apply the sanctions.