Bendigo FL discussion 2026

[Jack Doolan]

So what you're saying jack is bernacki, blake or mckenna are being offered 40k-60k by bendigo clubs as well as other clubs id assume in the edfl or travelling.

Im not sure tardew was on even that coin last year.

Metro clubs yes to 40k, mallee clubs yes and maybe o&m but very few clubs can pay that for players.

I think Gisborne have a couple more gun players than that but that’s the nuts of it and it would seem there’s quite a few clubs paying that sort of money

 

[Crazymaggy2020]

I don’t hear too much in the off season but it’s certainly something the players have been told is on the table
As I said previously my feeling is a more moderate committee will step in and they will play in Bendigo and then the whole things happens again next year

If Broadford or any other clubs shit the bed in 2026 then Gisborne will be no chance of leaving again. A powerful club could be in serious trouble because of the sandhurst 5

 

[Doona2]

I don’t hear too much in the off season but it’s certainly something the players have been told is on the table
As I said previously my feeling is a more moderate committee will step in and they will play in Bendigo and then the whole things happens again next year

Is there a potential situation where a committee and/or collective of "enough" volunteers may only step forward if the club is to play in the Ballarat comp?
Or in the ridiculous situation that looks likely now will there still be enough willing people to do 2026 in Bendigo?

 

[Jack Doolan]

Is there a potential situation where a committee and/or collective of "enough" volunteers may only step forward if the club is to play in the Ballarat comp?
Or in the ridiculous situation that looks likely now will there still be enough willing people to do 2026 in Bendigo?

I think when it comes down to a Bendigo or nothing point which is basically where it sits now a group will step forward to steer things for next season while the pro Ballarat group continue to work at that

 

[Jack Doolan]

If Broadford or any other clubs shit the bed in 2026 then Gisborne will be no chance of leaving again. A powerful club could be in serious trouble because of the sandhurst 5

Will Castlemaine apply to leave Crazy

 

[billyjoe]

I’m sure Souths latest signings will be able to squeeze underneath the salary cap, both probably get to come as 1 point players as well.

 

[billyjoe]

Lot of mud being thrown at a young bloke here I hope people are certain of their facts before trashing his good name

His name and good shouldn’t be used in the same sentence.

 

[Crazymaggy2020]

Will Castlemaine apply to leave Crazy

Missed that boat ! Stuck here now til comp tips over in 3-5 years

 

[Wooden Robot]

Those guys I think would rather play in Bendigo but I suspect that’s largely because their netballer girlfriends would much rather play in Bendigo
Having said that they all voted to move so I suspect they don’t care either way
As for next year it feels like the expectation is it will be Bendigo but there’s a definite lack of enthusiasm because the feeling seems to be it will be a treading water season
The footballer and netballer at my place are talking about heading to Europe for a good chunk of the season if they stay in Bendigo but would play the whole year in Ballarat

That was my impression at the time.
A lot of the girls wanted to stay in Bendigo and some of the boys, but nearly all voted along club lines to leave.
The 90% Yes vote really surprised me - not that I wasn’t expecting the Yes vote to get up.
I personally know three girls who voted to stay and two guys, so that accounts for five of the 19.

 

[Jack Doolan]

That was my impression at the time.
A lot of the girls wanted to stay in Bendigo and some of the boys, but nearly all voted along club lines to leave.
The 90% Yes vote really surprised me - not that I wasn’t expecting the Yes vote to get up.
I personally know three girls who voted to stay and two guys, so that accounts for five of the 19.

At the end of the day I think the respect was there for the committee people who were telling them this is the best move for the club so they went along with it
Personally I abstained as I felt as a spectator with no real role in the club it wasn’t for me to say what they should do and I was surprised there wasn’t more of that

 

[ringo1]

AFL Barwon’s decision to move away from the just over decade-old RAC model has proven the final straw for AFL Victoria, who have announced they will wind up the other four remaining RACs.

 

[Wooden Robot]

At the end of the day I think the respect was there for the committee people who were telling them this is the best move for the club so they went along with it
Personally I abstained as I felt as a spectator with no real role in the club it wasn’t for me to say what they should do and I was surprised there wasn’t more of that

Likewise.
I'm a member (as I am at a few local clubs), but with no real role at the club, wasn't my job to deciding their future when I'm unaffected and will continue to be a member regardless.
Prefer to see them stay, but the reasons for leaving are obvious and compelling and the only logical means of safeguarding their future. Something that seems to be lost on the powers that be running the game.

 

[Jack Doolan]

AFL Barwon’s decision to move away from the just over decade-old RAC model has proven the final straw for AFL Victoria, who have announced they will wind up the other four remaining RACs.

What is an RAC?

 

[Long Run]

What is an RAC?

The hub as in AFLCV hub which gets a lot of mentions on here

 

[Shinjuku]

AFL Barwon’s decision to move away from the just over decade-old RAC model has proven the final straw for AFL Victoria, who have announced they will wind up the other four remaining RACs.

AFL Victoria announces RAC Directional Strategies Project - Play AFL

AFL Victoria has confirmed it will continue its reform of regional football administration across the state.

play.afl

 

[Truck]

AFL Victoria announces RAC Directional Strategies Project - Play AFL

AFL Victoria has confirmed it will continue its reform of regional football administration across the state.

play.afl

Everyone has been calling for a review for a while now. Will be interesting to see how the consultation is rolled out.

 

[Shinjuku]

Everyone has been calling for a review for a while now. Will be interesting to see how the consultation is rolled out.

The weekly times have run an article on the RAC model winding up and quotes - 'The Bendigo League - which has a policy of not publicly disclosing their financial performance". It would be interesting to see how this league and others will/wont become more transparent as a result. My feeling is that they will have to for the transition to succeed.

 

[Long Run]

Everyone has been calling for a review for a while now. Will be interesting to see how the consultation is rolled out.

No review, they're going. Admission they're no longer fit for purpose. Leagues will need to source their own admin types with the money they pay for hub staff now essentially

 

[Doona2]

No review, they're going. Admission they're no longer fit for purpose. Leagues will need to source their own admin types with the money they pay for hub staff now essentially

RDFNL model is working brilliantly after a diabolical period under AFL Goldfields

Jordan Doyle is the main man, doing really well - perhaps they could administer this comp too

 

[Jack Doolan]

I’m not quite understanding how this all works wasn’t the issue with the league the board and the chairwoman
What does this RAC do?

 

[NeonLeon81]

Been sitting on this for a while so as not to compromise the individuals identity but have a bit of inside word on the salary caps

Gisborne players been getting tapped from all over the place as you can imagine and the couple I am in close contact with have had multiple clubs reaching out with offers from within the Bendigo league other bush leagues and some metro ones

One of these guys is a gun player in bush footy by anyone’s measure and the offers he has had come in are unbelievable and when you look at the leagues and salary cap they range from about 30% through to as much as 55% of the total salary caps for those teams

His mate is a good senior player and has also had good offers but nowhere near as much but when you put the few clubs who have come to both of them together you get a spend of 45% to 70% of the total salary caps

One of those clubs is a Bendigo league club and a good one and although those offers were on the lower end the percentage of salary cap on just two recruits is such that there is no possibility they are operating under the cap or even anywhere close to it

I always take these things with a grain of salt when written on here but now have first hand knowledge the so called salary caps are being demolished all over the state

The only small rider is I don’t know exactly how the caps work and what counts and what doesn’t but I’m assuming every cent a club pays goes in there whether it is a sign on match payment or travel money

Do they wear red and white? The stories I am heard on what they are paying for players right now is astonishing.

They might know there is going to be no one to enforce the leagues cap so why bother with it?

 

[NeonLeon81]

Looks like Eaglehawk are well and truly leading the recruiting race this season warm favourite to go back to back at this stage

Lucky everyone plays for the love of the club and don’t get laid in the Burra.

2k a game and a juicy sign on for the big fella from Melbourne. Money talks

 

[western royboy]

No review, they're going. Admission they're no longer fit for purpose. Leagues will need to source their own admin types with the money they pay for hub staff now essentially

They were never fit for purpose - a classic example of someone’s theory not having any common sense applied to it.

 

[Long Run]

I’m not quite understanding how this all works wasn’t the issue with the league the board and the chairwoman
What does this RAC do?

The Rac or regional admin centre is where all the afl vic employed staff work to run leagues in the region on day to day running of leagues. At this time of year doing fixtures, finalising everything for agm, chasing sponsors, working on ways to make the comps better (or at least that’s what they should be doing). The league board still oversees the comp and their appointed staff member in RAC. Sadly for a lot of staff they get poorly paid and start looking for other jobs and in doing so putting the leagues who operate under this model further behind the ones who either didn’t sign up or got out when they had the chance. Does that help?

 

[Truck]

Lucky everyone plays for the love of the club and don’t get laid in the Burra.

2k a game and a juicy sign on for the big fella from Melbourne. Money talks

If they can raise it let them spend it.
Very rarely does money just land in a football clubs lap. It takes a lot of hard work from dedicated supporter base to raise money for clubs.

If volunteers want to put the work in to raise the coin to bring in quality players, so they get to watch high a high quality side run out on a Saturday afternoon then I say let ‘em go for it.

The salary cap has done the opposite to what it was intended. It took gentleman’s agreements and hand shake deals and made them public knowledge that on average everyone should be getting paid $X.