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Bendigo FL discussion 2025

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Grimmett said:
Castlemaine should refuse to pay affiliation fees next year. The league won't kick them out because they can't lose another team and then Castlemaine can leave as an unaffiliated club 😁
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They'd be ordered to pay the outstanding fines before they could be cleared and then they'd be refused anyway.
 

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The Longblow said:
What's changed at Gisborne for them to want to Leave the BFL? They appeared to be quite happy playing in the BFL when they were winning flags.
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They won a flag 2 years ago you Nuffy ! They have just had enough of the travel and their main gate/Rivalry has gone aswell.
 
redragger said:
If a town of 8k can’t get their act together and maintain a competitive football club, I don’t think that’s on the league. The broadford stuff, yep, I don’t think anyone agrees with what’s going on there.
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You're living under a rock surely? Are you seriously comparing the areas of Maryborough vs Broadford against each other? You surely understand total population might possibly not equal the likely playing population of the different areas along with potential population growth? Looking at raw data suggests that Broadford has a much greater chance of creating a sustainable football club compared to Maryborough, but it appears the league couldn't sign up quick enough to be rid of Maryborough but at the same time realise they have backed themselves into a corner and now need Broadford to be competitive.

The league has clearly made things difficult for themselves with recent decisions - Gisborne decision has been made on league sustainability but they were more than happy to let Maryborough go into recession and Kyneton leave. Hell, the Kyneton decision felt like a, "don't let the door hit you in the way out" decision as they laughed, only for Kyneton to be laughing now.
 
To look at things regarding Gisbourne a slightly different way .
The ability to leave Bendigo is solely based on AFL decision , I do not like
their chances of getting out of that however , I don’t believe there is anything legally to prevent them from having dual membership ( one with Bendigo one with Ballarat ) .
It is then up to the AFL as to whether they severe ties with Ballarat if they put Gisbourne in their draw and have them play in their comp .
Gisbourne being a non- playing member of Bendigo having full voting rights whilst playing elsewhere would be a nightmare for Bendigo and I’d suggest short lived .
 
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Nathan Thompson to coach Assumption College while leading Broadford’s return from recess​

Ex-AFL man Nathan Thompson has taken on an elite school coaching role as he leads Broadford’s return from recess. He reveals the relationship he plans to foster between the two and how he will juggle both roles.
Mitch Bourke


[PLAYERCARD]Nathan Thompson[/PLAYERCARD] is set to take the reins as the Assumption College coach from 2026. Picture: Assumption College Facebook.

Nathan Thompson is set to take the reins as the Assumption College coach from 2026. Picture: Assumption College Facebook.

Local Footy​

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Nathan Thompson believes “balance and flexibility” will be key as he juggles a new role coaching private school football with rebuilding Broadford as its senior coach in 2026.
Thompson has been appointed as the head coach of Assumption College, which competes in the Associated Grammar Schools of Victoria competition, while also leading Broadford’s ambitious bid to compete in a major league for the first after spending the past two years in recess.
“It’s just about balance and flexibility, I certainly made sure when the opportunity arose that both parties – Assumption and Broadford – were well aware of what the conversation was and what it entailed with accountabilities,” said Thompson, who played 179 AFL games with Hawthorn and North Melbourne.
“Everyone was on the same page with working together and being flexible to make sure we get the best out of both roles.”
Bendigo Football Netball League games are typically played at 2.20pm on a Saturday, whereas AGSV games are played on a Friday afternoon or at 10.30am at the latest on Saturday morning.
“The schedule’s in both have some flexibility, the important thing is that both work together, the Bendigo Football League are very aware of it and will try and support where they can,” Thompson said.
“Broadford Football Netball Club are excited about creating a link and a connection with a great sporting school like Assumption.
“There’s certainly a lot of positives for everyone as far as Assumption and me working closely with a Div 1 club as well and aligning the strengths and the assets of both and utilising them to the best of my ability.”
Broadford said things such as gameplans and fitness programs would “align very well” between Broadford and Assumption.

“The opportunity for me to take IP across from what the school do well, and then I’ve got a great group of people around me at Broadford, people that have been working in the Coates Talent League for many years that I can lean on and get some information from as well,” Thompson said.
“There’s assets from both sides that can be translated and for me to reach out and utilise that more so than just the opportunities for the kids coming across.
“There are some excellent connections there, the opportunities are there, it’s just a matter of working out the best way to utilise everything and get the best out of both.
“I certainly don’t get into the funnelling of kids in any way but the opportunity’s there for them.
“The Bendigo league’s a strong competition and what we’re building at Broadford is going to be a great foundation and a great place for young people to come and better themselves.
“That opportunity will be there for any kids, players both men and women from the school if they’d like to get involved but there’ll be no pressure for them. That’ll be a personal choice if they think it’s the right path for them.”
Thompson described rebuilding Broadford after two years in recess as a “huge job”, and was optimistic about the player numbers the club would have going into 2026.
“I’m not really worried about numbers to be honest, I’m very confident the numbers are there, I don’t think numbers are our issue,” Thompson said.
“The depth of experience that we can add is always probably the challenge, guys that have played Div 1 footy, guys that have that experience and that leadership and maturity. To insert those guys into the club is the key to ensure we set a great foundation for the first year.
“Recruiting’s been going well, there’s still a lot of work to do and a lot of people that have signed up and are keen to get involved and take the field with the Broadford jumper on for ‘26.
“We’re excited about that, a lot of young people have signed on and got involved, the key is to get some strong bodies and some mature people around them.
“From the youth that are signed up and coming to the club, the future’s bright, we just need to make sure we look after them through these next few years to bring them through and help them improve their footy and grow as people.”
The Assumption role is set to Thompson’s first school coaching role although he has a plethora of underage coaching experience at club level.
He said the opportunity to be involved in the AGSV was “very exciting”.
“I think it’s a great competition, the AGSV schools competition has been around for a long-time, it’s got a lot of great history and it’s very prestigious,” Thompson said.
“To get involved there and to try and get some strong results for Assumption College is certainly my focus.
“For myself as well, it’s going to be a great experience and something I’m sure I’ll learn a lot along the way while I’m doing it.”


Am I missing something here?... Thompson has said numbers are looking good and numbers aren't the problem and that they have signed some players but still the only thing they've posted on social media is the god damn Bingo.... Surely if you were a club trying to recruit and get players in then announcing existing signings would be a big step in showing other recruits what's going on. I think move on from Broadford and focus North of Bendigo... Maybe I need to move and follow a different league.
 

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If my memories of the broadford demographic and the demographic of Assumption college has any current relevance he will need to be very adaptive in the way he goes about each job. Could some of the assumption students also play for broadford at the same time?
 
MortlockWatcher said:
Bet you he requests to play the matches against Peninsula and Mentone at home, no matter what the fixture cycle says.
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Having functioned in and around the AGSV in various roles since Covid, I'm not sure how much pull coaches have given there's often people involved wearing multiple hats.

ACK played both Mentone and Peninsula in Kilmore this season, think 6 maybe 7 of the games were Saturdays too.
Watched the last home game against Camberwell on a Friday arvo, and I attended a Friday game at Ivanhoe too from memory.
 

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