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RDFL Thread 2010 (Part 1)

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Itsmyshow said:
Also that young Matty Krul is moving across to the Hawks.. Wait to see how that one plays out...
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With Luke Walker also heading to your mob, IMS, surely this spells the end of Rockbank in 2010? I've aways wanted to see the Rams be competitive as I think it would be good for the RDFL, but they'd have to recruit heavily now just to win a handful of games this season. I don't think they'll ever be viable in the RDFL now.

Too early to say the same about Melton Centrals but they are heading in the same direction. Every year they recruit, but so do the others, so they never get ahead. Its obviously hard for them considering they are effectively the third ranked team in the town and can't get 18s up and running.

I know the former GM had grand plans of making the RDFL a 'super league' again with 2 divs, bringing back the likes of Gissy, Meltons etc. etc. but surely the RDFL needs to concentrate on ensuring the current clubs are viable because personally I think the comp is just about perfect at the moment.

Wallan has the potential to grow and grow, but the fact they are still quite a fair bit out of Melbourne and don't have any rivalries with any NFL teams (they tried but failed to created one with Whittlesea), means they will probably always be in the RDFL. The Pies' shitty ground is also holding them back from playing decent football once the rain comes.

Broadford are the iffy ones and also need to be looked after. Make them feel appreciated. They enjoy good healthy rivalries with Kilmore, Wallan and to a much lesser extent, Romsey.

Kilmore is RDFL through and through, as are Romsey, Lancefield, Riddell, Macedon, Woodend (talked of Bendigo FL but just not reality).

The Kangaroos are the 'second team' in Sunbury but looking at the clearances they have the potential to start winning over the town for the mantle. If Boardman wasn't such a dive and the Sunbury council looked after the Kangas, they could very well be a powerhouse in a couple of years. However, I can't seeing them being 'too strong' for the RDFL in the next five years.

I don't think Diggers will move, despite the WRFL being an attractive option. They are always really competitive and love the RDFL.

This is an article written by Paul Daffey in the earlier millenium. Remember when the RDFL was in big strife? Thank god we'll never go back to those miserable days, but we can't afford to lose the Rams and Centrals.

FOR several years, the Riddell District Football League has been in turmoil. Rumours of imminent demise have clouded the competition like the mist that settles on Mount Macedon.

Even on the eve of this season, gossip raced through the horse studs and new housing estates between Melbourne's northern fringe and the Macedon Ranges suggesting the Riddell competition was about to fold. Supporters were thankful when the ball was bounced to begin the first round, but many wondered how long the league could continue in such a climate of uncertainty.

The league had been reduced from 20 clubs in the mid-1990s down to nine. Three clubs had folded and the best eight had moved on to stronger competitions. The most recent departure was Wallan, which won a clearance to the Diamond Valley league on appeal over summer.

Of the nine clubs that remained in the Riddell league, Melton Central and the Sunbury Kangaroos were servicing debts believed to be more than $15,000 each. Clubs in healthier condition were making noises about abandoning a hopeless cause.

Ray Hocking, the RDFL general manager, turned up at the delegates meeting at league headquarters in Sunbury last Monday expecting tension. The subject of the competition's future would surely divide the room.

But as soon as he walked in the door, he sensed an air of cohesion. For the first time in Hocking's three years at the helm, the delegates were of a similar mind.

They wanted the league to continue with nine clubs, with the aim of including another club to eliminate the bye. Their main concern, however, was to seek a guarantee from Football Victoria, the body that oversees all local footy bodies in the state, that the Riddell league would continue for five years without the threat of being disbanded.

"Everybody seemed to be pulling in the right direction," said Hocking, who also serves the competition as a leading field umpire. "Everybody was trying to put steps in place to secure the future."

A big reason for the harmony is the improved performance of clubs such as Rockbank, which failed to win a game after crossing from the Western Region league for the 2000 season. The club based on the Western Highway, on the Melbourne side of Melton, improved slowly after the appointment of Steve Lowerson as coach last year and hopes to keep inching up the ladder.

President Garry Stevens said the lack of wins has no bearing on his club's attitude towards the Riddell league. The appointment of an umpire for each match in every grade means his club avoids the trouble it struck in second division in the Western region league.

"All teams go out and play football," Stevens said. "That makes a big difference. We're very happy."

Even Sunbury Kangaroos at the bottom of the ladder are considered an improver. They might have won their first game for the season only last week, defeating Melton Central, but no longer do the Roos cop weekly wallopings.

President Paul Noonan said the growing evenness of the competition has surprised a few, including himself. "There was a large degree of inequality," he said. "Now the club's quite happy."

This inequality is the reason behind the leeching of clubs to surrounding leagues. A decade ago, the leading teams in the Riddell competition, such as Sunbury and Melton, would have matched wits with any rival in country football.

To keep up with these larger clubs, smaller outfits such as Riddell spent heavily on recruits. Riddell won the 1991 and '92 premierships in division one but the financial cost took its toll - two years later the club was broke and in recess.

The gap between the larger clubs and their smaller neighbors widened until a clear division opened up between seven clubs and the rest. The super seven were Melton, Melton South, Sunbury, Darley, Gisborne, Craigieburn and Jacana.

An eighth club made up the first division but found itself on the end of a hiding every week.

In the end, the premiers in second division refused to accept promotion. The top seven clubs were left to fight out first division among themselves, leaving 13 in the second tier.

At the delegate level these lower clubs tended to vote as a bloc, protecting their own interests but undermining the development of the competition. Rod Ward, now the Darley general manager, described it as a classic case of the tail wagging the dog.

The Ballarat league looked on at the disgruntlement of the leading Riddell league clubs and invited them to switch. Melton, Melton South, Sunbury and Darley - the westernmost powerful clubs - were flattered, but the prospect of playing in a competition that had won country championships proved daunting.

Darley decided the only way to make up for perceived shortfalls against rivals in Ballarat was to consider the unthinkable: merging with hated neighbour Bacchus Marsh, which was already in the Ballarat league. Bacchus Marsh members voted to merge but when the vote went to the Darley members, those in support fell short of the 75 per cent required by the club's constitution.

With the merger proposal defeated, Darley supporters accepted that they would front up for another season in the Riddell league. A day later, however, the matter was taken out of their hands when the 13 clubs in the lower bloc took a vote and decided to kick out the four clubs being courted by the Ballarat league.

Darley was left with no choice but to head west without a merger partner. The other Ballarat league recruits took the same approach.

Darley was overwhelmed by its debut into the Ballarat league when Jim Pryor, the revered president of the Ballarat Football Club, stood at the gate of his club's ground and personally welcomed every Darley supporter before letting them in free of charge. Darley responded by winning.

At Sunbury, the Lions were worried about their first match against Lake Wendouree. The Lakers were considered a leading finals fancy but Sunbury, under former Fitzroy defender Dean Lupson, won the match in a canter.

Halfway through the season, Sunbury realised its ambition of finishing the season midway up the ladder was misplaced. Its fellow former Riddell league rivals realised the same.

For much of the season, the four clubs filled the first four positions on the ladder. Sunbury secretary David Kimpton admitted the Lions were disappointed after building themselves up for a torrid entry into the upper reaches of country football.

"We expected the competition to be more fierce than it was," he said.

Sunbury went on to win the premiership, and the next two for good measure. Melton then stepped up to win the 2000 and 2001 flags, leaving supporters in the Ballarat region resenting the eastern bloc, as the former Riddell league rivals have come to be known.

The four clubs consider the move to the Ballarat league to be the best step their clubs have taken. At Darley, turnover has increased from $100,000 to $300,000, membership has increased from 70 to 600, and sponsorship is up from $15,000 to $100,000.

The increased scale of operations is also reflected in home crowds, which average 3000 this season. "In hindsight, the move to the Ballarat league is the best thing that could have happened to us," said Ward, who in 1996 voted to merge with Bacchus Marsh.

Gisborne remained in the Riddell league when its main rivals went to Ballarat, but it began preparing for bigger things by modeling itself on Darley, improving its facilities and playing stocks. The Bulldogs dominated the Riddell league, winning three consecutive premierships, with former Essendon defender Michael Werner kicking more than 180 goals in 1997, before accepting an invitation to join the Bendigo league.

Paul Turner, the Gisborne president when the club crossed to Bendigo, where it made the finals in its first season, said the Bulldogs outgrew the Riddell league. "Riddell is what we believe to be village football - a competition played in towns without a high school or major industry. Gisborne didn't fit into that category."

Kilmore, with a population of 3000, a share of industry and the most famous football school in Australia, Assumption College, also fails to fit Turner's definition of village football. The Kilmore Football Club last year reflected these advantages over village rivals when it went through the Riddell league season undefeated.

The Blues lost 18 players from their premiership side, including half a dozen who sought a new challenge at struggling North Central club Boort, but its strength in junior supply is reflected in the fact that it continues to hold a place in the top four.

The club believed the Riddell league was on the skids when it agreed to talks earlier this season with the Heathcote and Bendigo leagues about moving into a central Victorian competition.

Dayson Carroll, the coach and president of Kilmore, is impressed with the administration at Bendigo, just as the former Riddell league clubs in Ballarat are impressed with the independent board that runs their competition, but he believes the Blues would struggle against the might of outfits such as Golden Square and Sandhurst.

Transfer talks are also scheduled with Diamond Valley league officials in the next fortnight about following the lead of Wallan, which has won one game in second division in the competition based in Melbourne's north-east suburbs, but Carroll and his club remain open to the idea of staying with the Riddell league.

The main concern is stability. "It's no use being in a league that's a year-to-year prospect," Carroll said. "We want a commitment."

Kilmore has written to Football Victoria seeking a five-year commitment. It is this backing that Carroll would like to take to the members when the club votes on direction at the end of the season.

Football Victoria project manager Paul Milo and chief executive officer Ken Gannon are to meet the Riddell league clubs on July 15. Milo has doubts about the legal binding of a five-year commitment from Football Victoria - it might be subject to the vagaries of a changing executive in Riddell - but he said he would be guided by the clubs.

"The meeting is the starting point," he said.

In the meantime, with every passing week, the Riddell league seems to be overcoming a decade of turmoil and settling into its own rhythm. The exodus of powerful clubs has left nine clubs on more or less equal footing, with Kilmore the possible exception.

All the clubs are based just beyond Melbourne, improving on the flawed combination of suburban clubs and country clubs that existed until recent years, and seem to have much in common. Debt remains a problem, but with the help of payment programs and guidance from the Riddell league board, there is hope that the debt can be managed.

A name change, such as the Macedon Ranges Football League, has been suggested to reflect the competition's renewed rural identity. But first, the matter of whether the league is to survive must be worked out.

A few months ago, the competition looked shot. At least now there is hope of survival, and even a healthy measure of optimism.
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matt_nicholls said:
The Kangaroos are the 'second team' in Sunbury but looking at the clearances they have the potential to start winning over the town for the mantle. If Boardman wasn't such a dive and the Sunbury council looked after the Kangas, they could very well be a powerhouse in a couple of years. However, I can't seeing them being 'too strong' for the RDFL in the next five years.
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Gee thanks Nicholls, would you rate us above Lions or Rupo? :D
Boardman at the moment is coming up a treat. stripped back bare just before xmas to replace the turf with a more drought tolerant grass, it is surprising me at how quick the cover is coming along although still a bit patchy, it should be ok this year but from next year should be perfect. As for the facilities, capital works over the next 2 or 3 years will see an extension to the pavillion that will include new male and female umpire rooms that is a leap ahead of the shoe box they get ready in now. :eek:
Don't worry about our council they look after us enough, but remember you can always ask for more.
with the completion of the netball court last year, the girls can now be on site for their games.
Before you say anything else. I'm sorry but there is nothing anybody can do to stop the wind.:p

As for your last statement well, that just depends what the rest of the comp does.:eek:
 
blues12 said:
Gee thanks Nicholls, would you rate us above Lions or Rupo? :D
Boardman at the moment is coming up a treat. stripped back bare just before xmas to replace the turf with a more drought tolerant grass, it is surprising me at how quick the cover is coming along although still a bit patchy, it should be ok this year but from next year should be perfect. As for the facilities, capital works over the next 2 or 3 years will see an extension to the pavillion that will include new male and female umpire rooms that is a leap ahead of the shoe box they get ready in now. :eek:
Don't worry about our council they look after us enough, but remember you can always ask for more.
with the completion of the netball court last year, the girls can now be on site for their games.
Before you say anything else. I'm sorry but there is nothing anybody can do to stop the wind.:p

As for your last statement well, that just depends what the rest of the comp does.:eek:
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I would rate you above Rupo as a club in the sense that you're far more likely to get local support from businesses etc. if you market yourselves well. You play in a much more local competition and the standard of it is lifting annually. I'm not saying the RDFL is superior to the Ballarat FL or Ammos but the RDFL is certainly improving wheras I don't think the others are. Having high profile players does help a lot.

Its good to hear the council are finally starting to invest some cash at Boardman but they can only improve it so much. Personally I think they'd be best to make a whole oval/venue for the Kangaroos and make Boardman purely a junior venue.
 
Kangaroos would be well pleased with the recruitment of Jake Powell from the Lions, will be a very handy addition the the Kangaroos midfield...
 
matt_nicholls said:
I would rate you above Rupo as a club in the sense that you're far more likely to get local support from businesses etc. if you market yourselves well. You play in a much more local competition and the standard of it is lifting annually. I'm not saying the RDFL is superior to the Ballarat FL or Ammos but the RDFL is certainly improving wheras I don't think the others are. Having high profile players does help a lot.

Its good to hear the council are finally starting to invest some cash at Boardman but they can only improve it so much. Personally I think they'd be best to make a whole oval/venue for the Kangaroos and make Boardman purely a junior venue.
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Being involved with the relocation of the Kangas (Rovers) back in 88, 89 i certainly think the club has come a long way, beats training Mon & Wed nights at Diggers!
 
matt_nicholls said:
I would rate you above Rupo as a club in the sense that you're far more likely to get local support from businesses etc. if you market yourselves well. You play in a much more local competition and the standard of it is lifting annually. I'm not saying the RDFL is superior to the Ballarat FL or Ammos but the RDFL is certainly improving wheras I don't think the others are. Having high profile players does help a lot.

Its good to hear the council are finally starting to invest some cash at Boardman but they can only improve it so much. Personally I think they'd be best to make a whole oval/venue for the Kangaroos and make Boardman purely a junior venue.
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You obviously know nothing about Rupo. they a very professional and well run club. I think you will find they may get more support from local business than you think. Networking is very important to football clubs and they have people within with large networks. Also their junior development that a lot of other clubs throughout the state have tried to model.

As for another venue, to me Home is home. Do what you can to improve it.
 
Itsmyshow said:
The Hawks are generally always a little quiet at this time of the year, they tend to keep the cards close to the chest.. When the time is right, the info will come through.. All we have at the moment are rumours, have heard they have signed 2 big forwards, possibly with ties to Cooky's days in a higher level of football.. Also that young Matty Krul is moving across to the Hawks.. Wait to see how that one plays out...
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Rockbank has lost walker, krully was training at rockbank last night champ...he is working in woodend but not playing there:thumbsu:
 
maumsy1 said:
Rockbank has lost walker, krully was training at rockbank last night champ...he is working in woodend but not playing there:thumbsu:
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Three big signings at Rockbank this week, the three are very good players, 47 on the track last night, so Rockbank look Rock solid, well done to Lee and the boys for working hard to make sure the club is competitve! No easy games in this comp!
 
Itsmyshow said:
Kangaroos would be well pleased with the recruitment of Jake Powell from the Lions, will be a very handy addition the the Kangaroos midfield...
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Can find the football but his disposal isn't the greatest. Still he is only 21 so that is only postive for the roos. Any chance of maybe getting his twin brother back as well?
 
slyone said:
Three big signings at Rockbank this week, the three are very good players, 47 on the track last night, so Rockbank look Rock solid, well done to Lee and the boys for working hard to make sure the club is competitve! No easy games in this comp!
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Well that's fantastic news for the Rams as well as the competition, also good to hear that Krully will stay at the Rams, hopefully he can really put his mind on the job, has the capability to be an outstanding player at this level... :thumbsu:
 

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Any news on the new Riddell ruckmen. I believe played VFL last few years and works for Demon. I think he would stand about 6'9. In Power fashion surely the pressure would be on him to play with the bombers.
 

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Nothing but Facts said:
i only deal with facts KA and believe me unless something has fallen thru over last few days they will be playing each other in march at tony clark reserve. i know you like to think you get all the news first but you are well behind on this one.
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bearsboy said:
Gis v Mac is unconfirmed
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Kings Army said:
Correct - Gis are playing Mt Pleasant and Bacchus Marsh. fact
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It would seem that our, Mr "Nothing but Facts" has once again got his "FACTS".............. FACT UP !!! :eek:
 
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