Central Murray FL Discussion 2025

[TopOfTheSquare23]

Will dow come home and play?

Not a chance. The young fella still has plenty to give and will try earn a spot somewhere else

 

[handshaker]

Any word on a Tooleybuc coach

 

[Tampon]

I attempted to play or partipated in the central murray, golden rivers, bendigo, heathcote, Loddon Valley and mcdfl at a pretty basic level.

Lucky enough through work to have lived in different parts of the state and seen what makes good clubs. At the moment
Ovens and murray and geelong are head and shoulders above the rest of the leagues.
Gv, ballarat, Gippsland and hampden and maybe sunraysia next level.
Then bendigo, murray, central murray, bellarine west gippy, heathcote, north central, Wimmera the next level down

The rest would be pretty equal
Hope that helps

Thanks Trent, I was curious as to what you thought of the country levels, Hampden league were quite strong once i havent heard much of late, I would have thought Sunraysia was down below CMFL, NCFL & Bellarine. But I think you have your finger on the pulse much more than I, is why I asked.

 

[Trent from barwon Heads]

Thanks Trent, I was curious as to what you thought of the country levels, Hampden league were quite strong once i havent heard much of late, I would have thought Sunraysia was down below CMFL, NCFL & Bellarine. But I think you have your finger on the pulse much more than I, is why I asked.

Mildura are strong, imps likewise, you just have to look at where south Mildura finished this year in sunraysia with a lot of central murray stars to see the comp is pretty strong and Ouyen have recruited 5 top liners this year, with afl and sanfl experience and Robinvale have some big recruits too

 

[Tampon]

Mildura are strong, imps likewise, you just have to look at where south Mildura finished this year in sunraysia with a lot of central murray stars to see the comp is pretty strong and Ouyen have recruited 5 top liners this year, with afl and sanfl experience and Robinvale have some big recruits too

As an ex AFL player told me one day, for a true indication of the strength of a league, you should compare the top teams in each league against top teams from another league for a true indication and not use the interleague side as the gauge as to their strength.

 

[tampex]

Any word on a Tooleybuc coach

They have announced 2 playing coaches and a non playing assistant on their social media, all with good backgrounds. Robbie McComb, Nayef Hamad and Greg Coyne. Also recruited an ex vfl and wrfl player named Nicholas Ryan.

 

[kidgorgeous]

Herald Sun article:

Country footy produced its latest No. 1 draft this week, Foster’s Willem Duursma, who is headed to West Coast Eagles to play alongside Tongala’s Harley Reid.

The Mid Gippsland club where Duursma started his career and other country clubs that produce draftees received their token small mention in the wash-up, and everything grassroots appeared all rosy in the garden.

But away from the draft, AFLW and Snoop Dogg’s $5m grand final appearance fee, country footy is at a crossroads again at an even more concerning level than previous crises - because its voice is gone.

More than a decade ago, the VCFL sold the farm and voted itself out of existence on the promise the purse strings would open to properly resource regional admin hubs to run leagues, ease pressure on volunteers, recruit more umpires and retain players.

Admin hubs and commissions to make the big calls were cornerstones of the Peter Jackson Report, the latest blueprint to save country footy.

Sadly, the report has gone the same way as the parliamentary inquiry 10 years earlier that attempted to fix the same problems: under funded, under resourced and all too hard as AFL House’s priorities pivot to development and participation.

But in the shift of focus, who will do the job the VCFL once did and take up the fight for country footy?

The landscape is more complex, more red-tape heavy since the VCFL folded.

Salary caps and player points system have been introduced with debatable levels of success in pulling the handbrake on player payments and evening up lopsided leagues.

Clubs wanting to change leagues continue and those moves soak up a lot of energy of regional managers, who will now be spending more time on Auskick, women’s footy and clinics.

Big gaps in responsibility and accountability inevitably will open up, but a return to the “old VCFL” to save the day won’t happen.

Did someone say ‘what about netball?’

Every league and club in the bush is a merger of footy and netball. So what’s preventing a groundbreaking football-netball body of men and women with the correct amount of skin in the game being formed to be AFL Victoria’s eyes and ears in the country?

But in order to succeed any start up body must have clear lines of responsibility and those involved be paid accordingly.

It would also need to be listened to.

An area many in country footy have long felt AFL House can lift its game in.

 

[Lastmanstanding]

Heard over the weekend Cohuna have lost 13 of their best 22. Toma and Monti are committed for now.