Bendigo FL discussion 2026

[Wooden Robot]

A couple of points to make here...

• The Chairperson is almost always the most powerful voice on a board. They are responsible for setting/driving the agenda of the Board. To suggest otherwise is absolutely fanciful
• It should not EVER be "normal" or "reasonable" for a Chairperson, or any member of a Board to be interacting with umpires during a match. The role of a Board (in any industry) is to set and oversee the strategic direction of the organisation. It is the absolute height of poor governance for a Board, or any of its representatives, to be involved in operational matters. If there was a "need" to provide support to the umpires after the incident, it is the responsibility of an operational person (perhaps CEO or Umpires Manager) to do so, not a Board member.

I have no skin in the game in regards to how the Board/league has performed or what is required moving forward. But the assertions you have made are incorrect.

I'd be keen to know what happened to the 'umpires escort' who started the game and was with the umpires at quarter time and led them in at half time.
Seems to be relieved of their duties, which would be a first.

 

["The Roar Is Back"]

A couple of points to make here...

• The Chairperson is almost always the most powerful voice on a board. They are responsible for setting/driving the agenda of the Board. To suggest otherwise is absolutely fanciful
• It should not EVER be "normal" or "reasonable" for a Chairperson, or any member of a Board to be interacting with umpires during a match. The role of a Board (in any industry) is to set and oversee the strategic direction of the organisation. It is the absolute height of poor governance for a Board, or any of its representatives, to be involved in operational matters. If there was a "need" to provide support to the umpires after the incident, it is the responsibility of an operational person (perhaps CEO or Umpires Manager) to do so, not a Board member.

I have no skin in the game in regards to how the Board/league has performed or what is required moving forward. But the assertions you have made are incorrect.

Your opinion not fact , my assertions are common practice .
You think the chairperson would be setting and driving agenda’s rather than the ops staff providing items for consideration by the whole board ?

The chairperson driving agendas and somewhat being a dominate party within a board is not only extremely old school , it’s poor governance and problematic, take a look within this thread the chairperson is assumed to have been solely responsible for all matters .
I agree ops staff ideally should be the ones with the umpires not specific board , but it doesn’t always occur that way and from the vision I’ve have seen of the grand final presentation ops staff were nowhere to be seen and nor were any other board for that matter .
I’m unsure of what common procedure is in or at the bfl grand final but from a neutrals point of view and regardless of if you do or don’t like the chairperson , the lack of support by others was glowing .

 

["The Roar Is Back"]

I think we all understand that many times voting on boards is predetermined before they get there, its a numbers factions game, and for too long voting has been skewed in favour of the bfl power clubs. Its a big reason why Kyneton left and Maryborough are no longer a club and gisborne want out.

The game is far cleaner than even 10 years ago roar, off the ball stuff rarely occurs now, the doubling of the penalty isn't needed at all. Whens the last time theres been a full on punch on by teams in a grand final or player taken out 100 metres off the ball with a king hit?

The trends in country footy are all major leagues have gotten weaker in 10 years, apart from geelong and ovens and murray, the gap between the top teams and bottom teams has never been wider, middle community leagues have gotten far stronger, as players enjoy that level of engagement more than training 3 nights a week and starting preseason now.

Unless theres a vcfl model adopted, what we will end up seeing is a survival of the fittest, im not sure thats a great outcome for footy

The demise of major leagues commenced when AFL reserves were canned which meant another layer was introduced between community footy ( predominately premier leagues ) and AFL clubs . Likewise , the under 18’s TAC / Coates comp , in Bendigo this was further amplified when the Bendigo bombers was canned .
Numbers of kids falling out of TAC/ Coates league and not playing again are disastrous.
The view was community clubs were responsible for premier clubs losing players and this could easily be seen as a reason for bringing in the points and salary cap system , which favoured premier leagues .
It is seemingly now becoming obvious that the issue is there is no benefit for players to play premier leagues and the additional commitment .
The VCFL chair who over saw the transition to AFL was the chair at central vic for some time which would give indication the region should have received service most like the old VCFL model .

 

[Wooden Robot]

Most leagues have issues dealing with perceived bias toward clubs who have members upon a board and likewise almost every RAC has the same accusations of bias toward clubs in the major city which the RAC has in its boundaries . Rightly or wrongly .
It is why IMO it is good governance to eliminate or minimise the amount of judgement calls by the board .
It is very normal and reasonably common for the chairperson and or operation staff / ceo to be seen with the umpires during the grand final, upon the ground . Particularly after an incident has occurred , it importantly sends support to the umpires .
In some cases umpires have asked for such people to be with them or walk off the ground along with escort / security after such an incident .
As for the doubling of the penalty in the GF , l like the idea as it serves as a deterrent . IIRC the incident occurred after the quarter time siren and clearly not ‘ an act within a contest ‘ .
If ever there was a case for doubling a sentence , any reasonable person would say that was the case .
Should he have received 5 weeks from the independent tribunal for the incident I have no idea, but having sat in on a couple of tribunals the evidence presented at the tribunal is overwhelming the most determining factor in any case which only the tribunal party hear without bias .
Lesson( s ) to be learnt , certainly and the biggest one might be to make the doubling of tribunal penalty mandatory and remove the ‘ option ‘ clause if that is currently the case .

Not saying the board chair has to go, should go, should say or whatever, but way to admonish the board chair of everything.
Except in the era of Daniel Andrews' Victoria where he evaded all accountability, the buck stops at the top.
When things go wrong in the corporate and sporting worlds it's the people at the top whose head rolls - the board chair, CEO etc. That's why you have a chain of accountability and hierarchy in place.
You've done your best to reduce the head of the board to a casual bystander.

 

["The Roar Is Back"]

Not saying the board chair has to go, should go, should say or whatever, but way to admonish the board chair of everything.
Except in the era of Daniel Andrews' Victoria where he evaded all accountability, the buck stops at the top.
When things go wrong in the corporate and sporting worlds it's the people at the top whose head rolls - the board chair, CEO etc. That's why you have a chain of accountability and hierarchy in place.
You've done your best to reduce the head of the board to a casual bystander.

No attempting to reduce the head of the boards responsibility at all , merely pointing out the angst directed solely at her is misled .
There are multiple pieces to the parcel which includes the role afl vic and the local rac has or hasn’t played in some key decision making .
All of which are seemingly unknown and may very well be the case that the leagues board are merely figure heads for others decisions . .

 

[Carn The Berries]

Your opinion not fact , my assertions are common practice .
You think the chairperson would be setting and driving agenda’s rather than the ops staff providing items for consideration by the whole board ?

The chairperson driving agendas and somewhat being a dominate party within a board is not only extremely old school , it’s poor governance and problematic, take a look within this thread the chairperson is assumed to have been solely responsible for all matters .
I agree ops staff ideally should be the ones with the umpires not specific board , but it doesn’t always occur that way and from the vision I’ve have seen of the grand final presentation ops staff were nowhere to be seen and nor were any other board for that matter .
I’m unsure of what common procedure is in or at the bfl grand final but from a neutrals point of view and regardless of if you do or don’t like the chairperson , the lack of support by others was glowing .

I'm not sure what Boards you've worked with/on - But some of this is just rubbish. In terms of strategic agenda, that is the domain (nay - the responsibility) of a Board. They may ask the operational team for their input, and it will be their responsibility to implement it, but the direction comes from the Board. A good Chair is able to find the balance between leading and including the rest of the Board, it is far from problematic. They are the leader, this inherently means they are more likely to... well... lead.

The hypothetical situation you've described above (about the operational team being "absent") shouldn't be accepted as ok, which was the premise of your original post. If that was the situation, firstly it reflects an operational breakdown and, secondly, it should reflect badly on the Board as they aren't getting the best out of their ops team. There isn't a good justification for a Board member (be it the Chair or anyone else) interacting with umpires during a game. It would be akin to a Board member walking into a business and by-passing a worker's manager to speak directly to them about performance. It's just not on.

 

[Jack Doolan]

Something that has always stuck with me was when Forest tipped us off that the old commission met with the clubs and deliberately froze out the board that was pretty damning

 

[MortlockWatcher]

Hopefully we see the resurrection of Forest here some time soon.

 

[western royboy]

Unless theres a vcfl model adopted, what we will end up seeing is a survival of the fittest, im not sure thats a great outcome for footy

What are you suggesting here because I can assure you aside from pathways AFL Vic has absolutely no interest in getting involved with this and it’s most definitely survival of the fittest

Hopefully we see the resurrection of Forest here some time soon.

We need Don Chipp’a in every sphere to “keep the bastards honest”

Plenty of good minds ignored because what they suggest doesn’t suit what city hall says and common sense appears lost on plenty of people in at AFL House

 

["The Roar Is Back"]

I'm not sure what Boards you've worked with/on - But some of this is just rubbish. In terms of strategic agenda, that is the domain (nay - the responsibility) of a Board. They may ask the operational team for their input, and it will be their responsibility to implement it, but the direction comes from the Board. A good Chair is able to find the balance between leading and including the rest of the Board, it is far from problematic. They are the leader, this inherently means they are more likely to... well... lead.

The hypothetical situation you've described above (about the operational team being "absent") shouldn't be accepted as ok, which was the premise of your original post. If that was the situation, firstly it reflects an operational breakdown and, secondly, it should reflect badly on the Board as they aren't getting the best out of their ops team. There isn't a good justification for a Board member (be it the Chair or anyone else) interacting with umpires during a game. It would be akin to a Board member walking into a business and by-passing a worker's manager to speak directly to them about performance. It's just not on.

Didn’t mention anything about operational staff overseeing ‘ running ‘ strategic direction . You’ve got that all ballsed up .
Your assumption of the chairperson being required to ‘ lead’ is flawed and problematic particularly within football / netball leagues for a number of reasons .
The reality is many board members including the chair have a specific skills set whether that be , junior football , junior netball , netball rules , football IT , netball It , rules , finance.
.
It is rare if a volunteer board member far less the chair has a sound knowledge of all .
What occurs within the corporate world and what is ideal within football / netball world is a vastly different .
A chairperson attempting to ‘ lead’ in the matter you suggest , which does occur in some corporate business, leads to community organisation board members questioning their worth on the board .
Your example is assuming the board member spoke to the umpires on their performance , which is unknown .

 

[Wooden Robot]

Didn’t mention anything about operational staff overseeing ‘ running ‘ strategic direction . You’ve got that all ballsed up .
Your assumption of the chairperson being required to ‘ lead’ is flawed and problematic particularly within football / netball leagues for a number of reasons .
The reality is many board members including the chair have a specific skills set whether that be , junior football , junior netball , netball rules , football IT , netball It , rules , finance.
.
It is rare if a volunteer board member far less the chair has a sound knowledge of all .
What occurs within the corporate world and what is ideal within football / netball world is a vastly different .
A chairperson attempting to ‘ lead’ in the matter you suggest , which does occur in some corporate business, leads to community organisation board members questioning their worth on the board .

Being the chair of a board - any board - is not a status symbol.
You are there to LEAD. Period.
If the chair isn't leading - and I'm not saying the current chair is or isn't - it's no matter we are in a mess under your formula as its directionless.

 

["The Roar Is Back"]

Something that has always stuck with me was when Forest tipped us off that the old commission met with the clubs and deliberately froze out the board that was pretty damning

It’s been a reasonably consistent theme if a board is looking or considering to reduce its engagement with afl vic

 

["The Roar Is Back"]

Being the chair of a board - any board - is not a status symbol.
You are there to LEAD. Period.
If the chair isn't leading - and I'm not saying the current chair is or isn't - it's no matter we are in a mess under your formula as its directionless.

I believe that has somewhat been the issue with RAC’s perceived or otherwise.
I can assure measures have been taken against people who have led .

 

[Doona2]

How's Broadford looking? seemed to have slowed down on their signings.

I'd assume there's still a few names of note yet to be rolled out, but got a message Monday night that showed a big number of bodies (upwards of 50-60) on the track night one.
Unsure of calibre or standard of said bodies but it seems the club will run out come Rd.1 2026.

Round 1 season opener Sunbury vs Gisborne I can feel it deep down in the loins!!!!

Or could be Gisborne vs Broadford !

Surely it's Kangaroo Flat v Broadford or Broadford v Kangaroo Flat, both club's seeking a long awaited victory.

 

[10571z]

I'd assume there's still a few names of note yet to be rolled out, but got a message Monday night that showed a big number of bodies (upwards of 50-60) on the track night one.
Unsure of calibre or standard of said bodies but it seems the club will run out come Rd.1 2026.




Surely it's Kangaroo Flat v Broadford or Broadford v Kangaroo Flat, both club's seeking a long awaited victory.

That’s great news getting 50-60, they’ve got a side

 

[Jack Doolan]

Hopefully we see the resurrection of Forest here some time soon.

Think it became a little too well known who he was and caused a bit of angst for the club so unfortunately his wisdom might be confined to the Camp Reserve social rooms now

 

[Wooden Robot]

I'd assume there's still a few names of note yet to be rolled out, but got a message Monday night that showed a big number of bodies (upwards of 50-60) on the track night one.
Unsure of calibre or standard of said bodies but it seems the club will run out come Rd.1 2026.




Surely it's Kangaroo Flat v Broadford or Broadford v Kangaroo Flat, both club's seeking a long awaited victory.

Seventy players on the books ..... 60 of them at training on night one of pre-season.
I'm hearing whispers the first up opponent will be ...... South Bendigo.

 

[Trent from barwon Heads]

Seventy players on the books ..... 60 of them at training on night one of pre-season.
I'm hearing whispers the first up opponent will be ...... South Bendigo.

Why would the league do that? Has to be flat

 

[Wooden Robot]

Why would the league do that? Has to be flat

Maybe they threw up their hand to do it.
After round one last year, South would be best replicating the massive crowd it drew to Harry Trott.
I'd assume the Kangaroos would want a home game.

 

[truckster]

Why would the league do that? Has to be flat

Other than narkle, I don’t think broadford have signed one top level footballer yet and maybe only 2-3 blokes who are up to major league senior footy standard. Assuming they’ll get round 1 at home and if south have their fly ins, it’ll be a disaster for them first up

 

[Jack Doolan]

How does the salary cap work for fly in players is the cost of the flight counted or does it not count if purchased by the players?

 

[Wooden Robot]

How does the salary cap work for fly in players is the cost of the flight counted or does it not count if purchased by the players?

They own the plane

 

[western royboy]

How does the salary cap work for fly in players is the cost of the flight counted or does it not count if purchased by the players?

Who purchased the flight? Rarely the club through the books…there’s your answer

 

[Wooden Robot]

Who purchased the flight? Rarely the club through the books…there’s your answer

Frequent flyer points

 

[Trent from barwon Heads]

Well when its published in the newspaper they can't really get around it can they, from Noosa, you look at least 800 return per player