CASTLEMAINE overcame a spirited fight from Maryborough in the Bendigo Bank Bendigo Football Netball League’s senior footy match on Good Friday.

Hundreds of fans packed Castlemaine’s Camp Reserve to watch the fierce country-based rivals strive for the first premiership points of the 2024 season.

For a lot of the opening hour it was the Coby Perry and Matt Johnston-coached Maryborough which outplayed the hosts.

The run and teamwork of the Maryborough team was outstanding and included goals by Jake Twycross, two; Seb Collins, Kaian Constable, Robert Castiglia, Bailey Edwards and Ty Stewart.

Many spectators were stunned as Maryborough led 46-28 nearing half-time.

Fortunes then swung dramatically after Maryborough recruit Seb Collins broke his arm.

After a delay of several minutes it was the Michael Hartley-coached Castlemaine which took control.

In his debut as coach, Hartley’s fourth goal was followed by consecutive majors by Bailey Henderson, the first when a long shot from near the centre bounced through.

In the space of seven minutes the ’Maine scored 3.2 to nil.

Castlemaine quickly turned a two-point lead at the start of the second half into a 33-point lead.

After a subdued start to the match, Henderson was the spark.

Back-to-back goals by Henderson was then capped by brilliant team play from defence to attack where Brad Keogh passed to Zac Greeves for a goal.

Ben McConachy was on target on the run and Greeves goaled again for Castlemaine to lead 80-47.

A run of eight unanswered goals was broken when Kaian Constable booted Maryborough’s eighth in the 22^nd minute.

When  Constable spun out of trouble and goaled the margin was back to 21 points.

A Ben McConachy goal on three quarter-time meant the hosts were up 86-61.

A lack of rotations clearly hurt Maryborough’s run as the match went on.

Castlemaine scored 6.9 to a point in the last to complete a 19.17 (131) to 9.8 (62) victory.

Hartley was rapt with the team’s workrate and ability to move the ball in the second half.

Quick transition from midfield to the forward 50m often led to one-out duels where the marking power of Hartley, Henderson and Greeves was to the fore.

Best afield honours went to Hartley whose experience from AFL stints with Essendon and Hawthorn is a massive plus for Castlemaine.

Now a full-time player with Castlemaine after VFL stints with Richmond and Williamstown, Henderson’s athleticism and skill make him one of the best players in the Bendigo competition.

Others to perform well for the black and white stripes were Kalan Huntly, Zach Greeves and Liam Wilkinson.

Maryborough on-baller Bailey Edwards kept racking up possessions to be his team’s best, along with talented teen Kaian Constable.

Coby Perry’s attack at every contest is inspirational.

GOALS – Castlemaine: Michael Hartley, Bailey Henderson 5, Zach Greeves 4, Ben McConachy, Callum McConachy 2, Zavier Murley,. Maryborough: Kaian Constable 3, Jake Twycross 2, Robert Castiglia, Seb Collins, Bailey Edwards, Ty Stewart.

BEST – Castlemaine: Michael Hartley, Bailey Henderson, Kalan Huntly, Callum McConachy, Zach Greeves, Liam Wilkinson. Maryborough: Bailey Edwards, Kaian Constable, Coby Perry, Alex Brown, Joel Swatton, Aidan Medlyn.

Although disappointed about the final margin, Maryborough co-coach Coby Perry said the opening 50 minutes showed what his team is capable of.

Injuries to Collins (arm) and Fraser Russell (groin) were significant as both had been strong targets inside the forward 50m arc in the first half.

It was a hat-trick wins on the footy field for Castlemaine.

In the reserves, Castlemaine won 101-13.

A high-standard under-18s match ended in a 9.10 (64) to 8.9 (57) victory for the Bailey Henderson-coached Castlemaine.

Netball results were split two-all.

Castlemaine won B-grade and B-reserve by margins of five and seven goals.

Maryborough took the points in A-reserve, 56-38, and 17-under, 61-53.

There was no A-grade match.

The first round of the Bendigo FNL season will be completed on April 13.

Highs in the footy action include Eaglehawk against reigning premier Golden Square on the Borough’s turf at Canterbury Park.

Strathfieldsaye Storm takes on South Bendigo at Triple M Park in Tannery Lane.

Kangaroo Flat tackles Sandhurst in the twilight match on the Roos’ ground at Dower Park.

Gisborne has the bye.

Castlemaine and Maryborough have a break until April 20.

The Michael Hartley-led Castlemaine makes its way to Kennington’s Harry Trott Oval to take on South Bendigo.

Maryborough will be home at Princes Park to face Kangaroo Flat.

A new season for Gisborne begins against Sandhurst at Queen Elizabeth Oval.

The Bendigo Football Netball League, in conjunction with the Castlemaine FNC, Kyneton FNC, and Bendigo Umpires Association (BUA), can confirm adjustments to Round 6 senior football match results unanimously supported by all parties, following the tragic passing of Castlemaine FNC Under 18 player Dallas Keogh-Frankling on the day.

Immediately following the tragic incident during Round 6 on May 27^th, 2023, both the Senior football and A-Grade netball matches were classified as ‘abandoned’ with both competing teams awarded 2-premiership points each, as an insignificant action on match day as our united primary focus became the immediate welfare of impacted players, families, club members, umpires, officials, and spectators on the day.

With the benefit of an appropriate period of reflection supported by further investigation, both competing clubs and the BUA, with the support of the BFNL Board, unanimously agree that the Castlemaine FNC Senior Football team declared to relevant appointed match officials and the direct opposition that their team was ‘forfeiting’ the senior football match on the day as a direct result of the tragic death of a CFNC Under 18 player.

This version of events is fully substantiated by both competing clubs including the Castlemaine FNC as the forfeiting team, along with appointed round 6 match officials on behalf of the BUA. Therefore, under the extreme and extenuating circumstances, the following adjustments have been approved to the round 6 Kyneton FNC v Castlemaine FNC senior football match results:

Senior Football Match, round 6, Kyneton FNC v Castlemaine FNC:

This match result will be adjusted from ‘abandoned’ to ‘forfeited’, in line with 2023 AFL Laws of the Game 11.2.1 Match Forfeiture:

For the purposes of this Law, a Team forfeits a Match if:

(a) it is unable, or it fails, refuses or neglects to commence or recommence play:

1. at the scheduled starting time; or
2. within such other time period determined or specified by the Controlling Body, a field Umpire or these Laws;

(b) a field Umpire determines, in accordance with these Laws, that a Team has forfeited the Match.

Therefore, the current allocation of 2-premiership points each for the round 6 senior match will be adjusted, with the Kyneton FNC to be awarded 4-premiership points, and Castlemaine FNC 0-premiership points.

No individual player Best & Fairest votes will be awarded for this match under regular Michelsen Medal Best & Fairest voting procedures.

Percentage for this match will be calculated in line with 2023 AFL Laws of the Game 11.2.2 Consequence of Forfeiture:

Where a Team forfeits a Match, the following shall apply:

(a) the points for the Match shall be awarded to the Team who did not forfeit the Match;

1. the percentage of the Team who did not forfeit the Match shall be adjusted by crediting and debiting that Team with the average number of points for the Home and Away Matches that were scored for and against the Team who did forfeit the Match; and
2. the percentage of the Team who did forfeit the Match shall be adjusted by crediting and debiting that Team with the average number of points for the Home and Away Matches that were scored for and against the Team who did not forfeit the Match.

The BFNL Board in consultation with the competing clubs will calculate the average percentage at the conclusion of round 9, which is the time at which each team has played each other once, offering a true reflection of season average points for and points against. All 2023 match results and ladders have now been updated to reflect these adjustments.

A-Grade Netball Match, round 6, Kyneton FNC v Castlemaine FNC:

With regards to the corresponding Round 6 A-Grade netball match between the Kyneton FNC & Castlemaine FNC, which was unable to commence on the day, the match result was initially classified as ‘abandoned’ with each competing team awarded 2-premiership points each on match day as our united primary focus became the immediate welfare of impacted players, families, club members, umpires, officials, and spectators on the day.

Both clubs recently expressed a combined desire to explore the possibility of rescheduling this match to be played on a new date as negotiated and agreed by the competing teams. The BFNL Board fully supported the combined club request to negotiate a mutually agreed time and date for match reschedule, however, unfortunately due to a variety of reasons the Castlemaine and Kyneton A-Grade netball teams were unable to agree on a mutually suitable date to reschedule the A-Grade game.

Therefore, the current round 6 Kyneton v Castlemaine A-Grade netball match results of ‘abandoned’ and the allocation of 2-premiership points each will remain as previously communicated, with no individual player Best & Fairest votes to be awarded for this match under regular Betty Thompson Medal Best & Fairest voting procedures.

The Castlemaine FNC, Kyneton FNC, and Bendigo FNL extend their sincere gratitude to all clubs, individuals, and organisations who have offered overwhelming support and understanding during this difficult period.

With the 2024 season very close, let’s look back at what happened in the opening round 28 years back.

Two of the big clubs of the mid-Nineties played a cracker to open the 1996 season at Dower Park.

Kyneton downed home club Kangaroo Flat by 10 points in a Dower Park clash where 45 goals were landed for the day.

There was a restrained mood in the Roos’ rooms after the game as a loss wasn’t an ideal way to celebrate champion midfielder Ron Wicks’ 200^th game.

The other big highlight of Rd. 1 28 years ago was Steven Oliver’s astonishing 19-goal haul against Northern United.

Yes, that’s correct. Nineteen snag rolls in Castlemaine’s 48.19 (307) to 7.5 (47) 260-point slaughter of the Swallows.

Maryborough wore down South Bendigo at Princes Park and marched home to a 46-point win with big men Jamie Bond, Ross Cuthbertson and Richard Peart on top in the marking and ruck hitout battles.

And Golden Square landed an astounding 10 last quarter goals at Canterbury Park to bury home side Eaglehawk by 66 points.

First gamer Mark Fulton from the VSFL Southern Stingrays finished with seven goals for the Wade Street Dogs while Damien Wingrave nailed five for the Hawks.

But back to the big Dower Park season opener.

Kyneton unearthed a new forward of real potential in Wayne Eve as the Tigers gradually wore down a spirited Flat.

Eve booted seven goals in a dazzling display at the spearhead and even though a total of 45 goals were landed for the afternoon Eve grabbled the spotlight with his match-winning effort.

Mind you, the Tigers had other great attacking targets in Bendigo Pioneer Luke Beattie (5 goals) and Rohan Larkin (4) while the Roos relied on Barry Pitson and David Lancaster (5 each) as their main goal scorers.

After a stunning first term in which 14 majors were landed, the last few minutes of the second quarter proved the most pivotal of the contest.

The Roos had slipped out to a handy break close to time-on in the second period with only about five minutes left on the clock.

But a couple of turnovers and a line-ball 50m penalty against Flat defender Steve Whitty, all of which resulted in Kyneton majors, lifted the Tigers within a point by half-time: 13.7 to 13.8.

Coach Derrick Filo and veteran on-baller Tony Kelly lifted the Tigers in the all-important third term with Kyneton outscoring the home side 5.7 to 3.3 to establish a valuable last change buffer: 18.14 to 16.11.

Eve bagged three of his seven goals in the ‘premiership quarter’ including one right on the three quarter time siren when he marked a Rohan Larkin pass and goaled from 50m out.

And then Larkin nailed two of his four goals for the day in the final stanza and even though the Roos added 6.3 to the Tigers 5.4 they couldn’t quite bridge the gap.

At Princes Park Maryborough fans were anticipating a day of high marking and big ruck tap-outs with Bond, Peart and Cuthbertson matched up against South’s big men John Hill and Brad Day.

Incredibly the Bloods had only six players from its 1995 grand final day squad of 22 on the field for Rd. 1.

The Princes Park Pies were inaccurate in the opening stanza landing only five goals from 12 scoring shots (5.7) while South kept in touch with a 4.1 first term.

As the match wore on Gordon Sumner and Geoff MacIlwain continued to dominate the inside ball count while Phil Hetherington provided the Bloods with an important focal point.

He sank three of South’s first term majors from limited opportunities to keep the Bloods in touch.

Maryborough’s eventual Michelsen Medallist Matt Aston continued his run right throughout the game as did the nippy Bryce Delidio, the Addy’s reporter-at-the-match Barry Denner reported.

“For South Frank Burke tried valiantly across his half-back flank, but had to lower his colours late in the second half to young Magpie wingman Aston.

“Aston took a spectacular mark on Burke’s shoulders to set up a Maryborough goal to mark his influence on the Magpies’ win,” Denner noted.

And he stated that Maryborough’s pacy new small men in Jim Moniz from Carisbrook and Bryce Delidio from Echuca had bolstered Maryborough’s speed across each line.

At Canterbury Park Square notched 13 goals to Eaglehawk’s five in a dominant second half although Addy writer Peter Harrick noted that two Blues recruit James Voutier restricted match-winner Fulton to just two second half goals.

The Dogs had best afield Bowden Hamilton, who alternated between half-back and half-forward, and he set up attack after attack for the Square and when in the back half combined well with teammates with accurate passes to Fulton.

Darren Moorhead and Peter Garner created drive from the tap-outs and boundary throw-ins for the Square while Brad Giri was prominent across the Dogs’ half-back line.

The home side had Damien Wingrave as their spearhead although Rowan O’Hara could have been more of a problem for the Dogs had he held onto more marks.

Harrick noted that Eaglehawk, with eight new players in the side, would improve “when players get to know each other a bit better after a few more matches.”

“And Danny O’Shannessy who had his wrong kicking boot on will be a good player for the Hawks as the season continues on.”

For the record down at the Camp Reserve Castlemaine nailed 14 majors in the first term, eight in the second, 12 in the third and wound up with another 14 in the last stanza.

Final scores: Castlemaine 48.19 (307) def. N. United 7.5 (47); G. Square 22.19 (151) def. E’hawk 12.13 (85); M’borough 20.18 (138) def. Sth. Bendigo 14.9 (93) and Kyneton 23.18 (156) def. Kang. Flat 22.14 (146). Bye: Sandhurst.

Main goalkickers, Round 1, 1996: Steven Oliver (Cm) 19; Mark Fulton (GS), Kel Stevens (Cm) and Wayne Eve (Kyn) all 7; Brett Fitzpatrick (Cm) 6; Luke Beattie (Kyn), Steve Heincke (GS), Barry Pitson (KF) and Dave Lancaster (KF) all 5.

I know it’s a bit further down the track, but by mid-June in 2005 Ollie had booted 967 goals in 202 games.

Ladder: C’maine 1 win, 0 losses, 0 byes, 653.19%, 4 prem. pts; G. Square 1-0-0, 177.65% 4; M’borough 1-0-0, 148.3%; 4; Kyneton 1-0-0, 166-85%, 4; Sandhurst 0 games, no losses, 1 bye, 0 per cent, 4 points.

Outside Top Five: Kang. Flat, South Bgo, E’hawk, Nthn United.

Netball results, A grade: Kang. Flat 34 def. Kyneton 13; Maryboro 60 def. Sth. Bgo 32; E’hawk 55 def. G. Square 45; C’maine 84 def. Nthn. Utd. 17. Sandhurst, bye.

B grade: Kang. Flat 52 def. Kyneton 29; Maryboro 66 def. Sth. Bgo 31; G. Square 34 def. E’hawk 28; C’maine 58 def. Nthn. Utd. 10.

Gazetted Rd. 2 footy and netball draw for 13^th April 1996: Northern Utd. vs. Sandhurst; Kang. Flat vs. C’maine; G. Square vs. Kyneton; South Bendigo vs. Eaglehawk and Maryborough bye.

Footnote: Northern United officially went into recess on 12^th April 1996, a few days following the Maine match, with the Swallows’ committee calling in BFL officials John Walsh (chairman) and Kevin McNaughton (CEO) after meeting behind closed doors for 75 minutes.

Clearly the BFL draw had to be re-arranged swiftly with Rds. 2 and 3 looming, so a club meeting was called for early the following week.

Although Castlemaine’s ladder percentage boost from the Camp Reserve game wasn’t allowed to accrue for the Magpies there was one other important ruling.

Oliver was allowed to retain his 19 goals so the chase for the ’96 goal-kicking medal was virtually all over before Rd. 2 even began. Including six majors in the finals he ended 1996 with 90.

Tensions were high at the Castlemaine Football Club in mid-June 1992 over a BFL investigation into one of their players.

Magpies’ reserves player Chris Bishop had just been cleared by the BFL Tribunal on a conduct unbecoming charge concerning a match played many weeks earlier – on April 18^th.

The charge related to an incident which occurred in the Kennington vs. Castlemaine game where 25-year old Saint Sean Cummings suffered a broken jaw.

So why had it taken so many weeks for the charge against Bishop to come up?

Well, BFL investigation officer Bob Richards did his probe into the affair and lodged a report with the BFL board of management.

Apparently it had taken until June for that report to be finalised.

Bishop was unaware that Richards’ eventual charge had even been laid or that he’d been investigated.

“The only way I found out about it was when I read the June 4^th Advertiser,” he said.

“I’d heard rumours that something might be afoot, but nothing official. It was all hearsay.”

Although he’d not been suspended following that June marathon sitting it’s amazing that Bishop had only found out about the upcoming June 9^th pending investigation by reading the Advertiser.

He remained completely astonished that he’d only heard about the lodged charge one week before the hearing was to be held, especially since the media already knew about the date.

“I’m thinking about lodging a complaint, but I wouldn’t like to say too much (in an interview) until I’ve had a chance to talk to my club,” he said.

Bishop added it was “hard to believe” that he had to read about his upcoming tribunal hearing before being informed by the league or someone from the Tribunal.

“I received a letter telling me of the charge the day after it appeared in the paper. I was completely surprised it had even got to that stage.

“As far as I’m concerned I’ve done nothing wrong,” he told me as I prepared the back page story.

Bishop declared that the eight-week delay between the match and the charge made getting his tribunal defence together extremely difficult.

The Castlemaine player, who worked for Telecom, said he was “very annoyed” about having to take a day off work to prepare for the tribunal hearing, especially since he had just seven days to try and recollect the whole thing and “put my case together.”

Castlemaine president Ian Shelton said the league had made “a serious mistake.”

“The amount of time which has elapsed since the incident did not match the seriousness of the charge.

“Chris is a decent lad with no (Tribunal) history and if you knew him then you’d know the incident occurred with no malice whatsoever.”

Mr Shelton agreed with Bishop that the charge of ‘conduct unbecoming’ remained a slur on a person’s character.

“And we should have been notified by either the league or the Tribunal and not have to read about it in the paper.”
BFL president Rod Fulton agreed the whole incident “was unfortunate”, but added the league was in no way obliged to tell players they were being investigated.
“It’s not as black and white as it sounds. There were extenuating circumstances.

“But maybe we gave the story to the media too soon and I’ve apologised to Ian and his club for that,” Mr Fulton said.

So, in summary --- Castlemaine Twos player Chris Bishop was cleared on a conduct unbecoming charge, the charge laid by BFL investigations officer Bob Richards.

Mr. Richards lodged his report eight weeks after the match involving Bishop had been played, and league boss Rod Fulton agreed the timing was unfortunate and apologised to Maine president Ian Shelton.

The Magpies’ boss emphasised the league had made “a serious mistake.”

Luckily these days there’s very few Tribunal hearings. I used to spend many a winter Monday night in the 1980s and 90s taking notes at Tribunal hearings in the old admin. rooms at Weeroona Oval.

I could leave the hearings at 11.30 pm, drive back to the Addy office in Pall Mall composing my report in my head during the short journey, type up the story and the wrap would still be printed in the Tuesday’s Addy, on the back page.

When computerisation with its green screens came in a few years later, deadlines were much, much earlier strangely enough and Tribunal hearings wrap-ups had to wait for Wednesday’s papers.

And also in mid-June 1992 eight BFL players were selected in the Victorian Football Development Foundation under-17 Teal Cup training squad.

They were Maryborough’s Matthew Aston and Glen Gorman, Kangaroo Flat’s Nathan Chapman, South Bendigo’s Leigh Colbert, Dylan Flavell and Adam Shanahan, Golden Square’s Tony Plim and Sandhurst’s Paul Sexton.

If some of these names sound familiar to you, they should.

Colbert and Chapman both played AFL footy --- Colbert 105 games with Geelong and 104 for North Melbourne (209 total) and Chapman 76 games with the then Brisbane Bears and Hawthorn --- while Aston was the Michelsen Medallist in 2002.

The 25-strong squad was set to train at Square’s Wade Street Oval on June 14^th (a Sunday) before the squad’s numbers were trimmed down.

On to mid-March 1995 and the BFL’s night pre-season series was well under way.

In that March second round of matches, Castlemaine was matched up against Kangaroo Flat in the 8.30 pm late game.

Roos coach Robert Ross was confident the additions to his senior playing list were going to work well in ’95.

Bond, a new recruit from South Launceston, would be playing at centre half-forward Ross told me in a pre-match interview.

The Tassie recruit had played under former Richmond premiership rover Dale Weightman, the South Launceston coach.

And he’d added extra height with Matthew Ritchie, along with former Maine premiership ruckman David Cox, both at Dower Park for 1995.

“Lack of height told against us last season when we finished sixth,” Ross said.

Castlemaine had champion full-forward Steven Oliver as playing coach in 1995 so he was coming up against a flag-winning Magpie teammate in Cox.

With Cox right there in the Pies grand final winning side Ollie had booted 146 majors for Castlemaine in their flag-winning year of 1992.

He’d play either at full-forward or centre half-forward during 1995 he told me in a pre-match interview.

The early night match that week pitted league powerhouses Golden Square and Eaglehawk in a big clash.

It was going to be a major test for Two Blues coach Robert O’Connell as his side came up against 1994 grand finalist Square.

One interesting sidelight which I’d completely forgotten about concerned defender or midfielder Bert McIvor.

I clearly remember him playing for Eaglehawk in the Eighties against Northern United in some stirring grand finals, yet in 1995 he wanted to depart Square to play for Loddon Valley club Newbridge.

Some things stick in your memory yet McIvor’s ’95 situation had completely slipped in mine.

With many credits with Square’s under-18 sides to his name, new senior coach John Fisher had to mould a competitive top-ranked side.

One interesting sidelight to the early part of the looming 1995 season was the naming of netball legend Pam Schepers to the league’s board of management.

Under the terms of the BFL’s business plan the board needed to include a full voting netball representative.

So it was Pam Schepers who took up that position on the board of management.

Richard’s 2024 tips:

• Top Five: Sandhurst, Gisborne, Eaglehawk, South Bendigo, Golden Square.
• Grand final: Sandhurst vs. Gisborne.
• Michelsen Medal: Fergus Greene (Sandhurst).
• Ron Best Medal: Brock Harvey (South Bendigo).
• Big Improver: Castlemaine.
• Big slider: Strath Storm.
• Spoon: Maryborough.

After their stunning success in the 2000 BFNL grand final, the rest of the Noughties were a mixed bag for the Castlemaine Magpies.

Finishing just out of the Top Five in 2001 and 2002 the Pies sank to eighth in 2003 before re-bounding to snatch a spot in the 2004 semi-finals.

New coach Paul Eyles had re-invigorated the Pies and the re-formed Maine netball side under Vicky McLeod reached the ‘04 preliminary final.

The semi-final beckoned again for the footballers in 2005, but the netballers had slipped to eighth although Georgia Wills took home one of the A grade netball’s BFNL Betty Thompson medals in early September.

She’d tied with Maryborough’s Alicia Cassidy in the big award, a thriller on the vote count night.

But going back to the 2005 home-and-away season gun full-forward Steven Oliver reached 1,000 BFNL goals --- only the second man after the legendary Ron Best to reach the magic four figure total.

And his 1,000th came up in a one-sided final round clash with Golden Square.

Starting out on 995, Ollie booted the five goals he needed to reach the 1,000 in the first term and then went on, in a picnic, to add eight more.

So he finished with the baker’s dozen, thirteen, as the Magpies thumped the Square by 124 points.

Oliver topped the 2005 goal kicking table with 72 majors and was eventually inducted into the BFNL Hall of Fame in 2019 along with fellow Maine greats: Derrick Filo and John ‘Chicka’ Jefferies.

There’s another interesting statistic about Ollie which often passes unnoticed.

In the 2000 grand final where the Pies beat Kangaroo Flat 12.11 (83) to 9.17 (71) Ollie didn’t kick a solitary goal.

Still it took two Flat defenders to keep him quiet so the ace spearhead played his role for the Magpies.

So let’s concentrate now on the 2004 season under Eyles’ leadership.

After three early wins the Pies fronted up against Maryborough with the Castlemaine side keen to record a victory to honour Michael ‘Apples’ Blake’s 200th club game.

But it didn’t pan out as planned with Neville Massina’s Borough downing the Maine, with another loss coming up straightaway --- this time to Gisborne.

But Eyles re-formed his playing group. And straight after the bye they downed Eaglehawk to cement a Top Four spot.

And just behind the three top sides. But losses to the Hurst and the Square meant that Castlemaine had slumped to fifth at the exact halfway point of the 2004 season.

Still, there was a fair bit of the season remaining and two, consecutive victories over Kyneton and the Flat got Castlemaine pumping once again.

There were a couple of interesting trophies contested in the early Noughties.

The victory over the Kyneton Tigers meant the Highlands Challenge Cup stayed at the Camp Reserve, while the Maine played Maryborough for the Steve Brown Memorial Cup.

Back to Maryborough in a moment, but a round earlier and the Magpies registered a great win over South.

The Bloods jumped ahead early in the match but led by Eyles’ hard work and resolve the Pies re-bounded hard in the second half to post a resounding 41-point victory.

It was similar scenario in the Maryborough match. The Princes Park Pies bounced out of the blocks to hold a very handy 33-point lead at quarter time.

Again Eyles led the fightback. The Maine whittled away at the Maryborough lead and with a bright last term won the match --- and the Steve Brown Cup --- by 14 points.

And even though Gisborne thrashed the Maine at a freezing and very damp Graveyard in the next match there was one special milestone for Castlemaine.

Down at the Gardiner Reserve Derrick Filo payed his 350th senior BFL game with his tally reached at three clubs: the Maine, Kyneton and Kangaroo Flat.

His stint at Eaglehawk was yet to come.

Blake marshalled his side in great style against the Hawks in the Rd. 16 match at the Camp Reserve, and the victory took the Pies to fourth on the ladder and only out of third spot, and the double chance, on percentage.

And even though Eyles’ boys downed the Square in the concluding home-and-away round they couldn’t just get into third place.

Castlemaine beat Maryborough by three goals in the elimination final but the netballers lost the qualifying final to Gisborne.

They weren’t finished yet though, the Maine girls.

A victory over Sandhurst by Vicky McLeod’s girls launched them into the preliminary final but the Gisborne girls were too good in A grade’s penultimate 2004 game.

And in case we’ve forgotten after all the heavy downpours of rain in recent months (including 2022’s grand final day), 2004 was a severe drought year.

A bore had to be sunk at the Camp Reserve with the footy and cricket clubs involved in a joint venture.

Finally after a bit of a hold-up a bigger and more powerful pump was installed and the Camp Reserve remained a green grassy reserve right through the scorching summer months.

Finals scores in the Noughties for the Maine – 2004, 4th on ladder: Elim. final,s Castlemaine 15.10 def. Maryborough 12.10; 1st semi: E’hawk 16.17 def. Maine 9.13.

2005, second on ladder to Gisborne with 13 wins, 3 losses, 2 byes – qualifying final: 15.11 (101) l/t E’hawk 18.10 (118). 1st semi: South Bendigo 15.20 (104) def. C’maine 11.11 (77).

With North City, Ballarat, now in the BFNL in 2006 the league had 10 clubs. The Magpies finished 6th with 7 wins, 11 losses.

In 2007 it was a sixth-placed end to the season on 9-9 and then in 2008, with North City returning to Ballarat so the BFNL was back to nine clubs, Castlemaine ended up 7th on a 5-11 and 2 byes record.

*There’ll be more about the Maine’s seasons in the middle to late Noughties, 2006 to 2008, and not forgetting the classic 2009 match at Tannery Lane to mark the Strathfieldsaye Storm’s entry into Bendigo senior footy.

The two clubs were locked together near the bottom of the 2009 ladder at season’s end.

Castlemaine finished eighth with a 5-13 win-loss record while the Strath Storm ended up just one spot lower, in ninth position, with a 4-14 tally.

Six new coaches were appointed over summer in 2010 as BFNL clubs prepared for the 2011 season.

There were some top names among the appointments, headlined by Maryborough’s Michelsen Medallist Matt Aston and Gisborne’s ‘Rolls Royce’ Luke Saunders.

The other quartet of new faces included Luke Monaghan (Eaglehawk), Derrick ‘Dekka’ Filo (Kyneton), Darryl Wilson (Strathfieldsaye) and Tony Graham (Sandhurst).

Graham wasn’t a brand-new mentor, though. He’d led the Dragons from 1997 to 2000 including a 1998 grand final loss to Maryborough by 47 points.

He took over from Sandhurst stalwart Kieran Nihill who’d served a three-year stint.

Going through the others alphabetically club-wise, Monaghan was at the Canterbury Park helm following Filo’s eight-season era which had resulted in two senior premierships.

Monaghan had previously coached the Hawks under-18s from 2005 to 2007 and he’d then had three years as the Bendigo Pioneers assistant coach.

Four-time premiership player and Michelsen medallist Saunders took over the Graveyard duties from Ty Elliott.

Not only had he played in the Bulldogs’ string of flag wins he’d also captained the successful sides in 2005 and 2006.

Saunders’ Gisborne side went down to Golden Square in the classic 2012 grannie which wasn’t decided until the final kick of the day.

Final scores: Square 16.10 (106) def. Gisborne 14.19 (103).

A Michelsen Medallist just like Saunders, Aston headed into his first coaching role at Princes Park.

He took over from Shane Fisher who’d led the Maryborough Magpies for three, consecutive seasons.

Filo had previously coached the Kyneton Tigers from 1995 to 1997, leading them to their famous flags in 1995 and 1997.

He’d also coached Kangaroo Flat from 2000 to 2002 taking the Roos to the 2000 grand final against Castlemaine where poor kicking let the Roos down.

Final scores: Castlemaine 12.11 (83) def. Kangaroo Flat 9.17 (71).

Filo took over from Paul Houston who’d coached the Tigers for two seasons: 2009-2010.

Although we didn’t know it then, a dozen years back, Strath Storm’s Wilson would become the most successful and prominent coach of the modern era.

He’d been in charge at Dower Park in 2008 and 2009 and had suceeded in leading the Roos to the 2009 preliminary final.

Final scores: South Bendigo 16.11 (107) def. K. Flat 10.15 (75). The Roos had downed Eaglehawk and Gisborne in earlier finals in that 2009 season.

And then out at Tannery Lane Darryl has moulded the BFNL’s premier side of the modern era as the Storm won flags in 2014-15 and then again in 2017 and 2019.

So that was the list of 2011’s brand new incoming coaches.

But four senior coaches from 2010 had stayed on for the upcoming season.

Premiership mentor Nick Carter would lead Golden Square for another season although he took a couple of weeks after the Wade Street Dogs 2010 flag celebrations had eased off to re-sign with his club.

Paul Eyles was returning for a return stint with Castlemaine and like Carter was going to be back for a second year.

However, Eyles had also enjoyed an earlier crack at coaching in the early Noughties.

He led the Camp Reserve Pies in 2004-2005.

Third returning coach was Murray Collins at Kangaroo Flat who, like Carter and Eyles, was saddling up for a second year.

Longest serving coach to re-sign was South’s Rick Coburn who was going into his fifth season.

He’d taken the Bloods to two second finishes in 2009 and 2010 along with 3^rd and 4^th placings, but sources had told footy writers the Bloods would go into 2011 with a much younger list.

2009 grand final: G Square 16.12 def. S. Bendigo 10.11 and 2010 grand final, G. Square 11.21 def. S. Bendigo 8.10.

So how did this impressive array of coaches end up as September in 2011 wound to a close?

Well, Carter’s Square finished unbeaten on top  of the ladder with an 18 win-0 loss record and cantered home in the grand final over Eaglehawk by 135 points.

They restricted the Two Blues to just five majors for the day.

At the other end of the table Filo’s Tigers didn’t win a game so they finished up with the exact reverse to Square: 0 wins and 18 losses.

So the ladder read at the end of August: Golden Square 18 wins, 0 losses, 72 prem. points, 267.3%; Eaglehawk 13-5, 52, 133.5%; Gisborne 12-6, 48, 142.99%; Sandhurst 11-7, 44, 130.5%; South Bendigo 11-7, 44, 117.4%.

Outside the Five: S’saye Storm 9-9, 36, 124.1%; Maryborough 9-9, 36, 81.8%; Kang. Flat 5-13, 20, 84.8%; C’maine 2-16, 8 prem. points, 55.9% and Kyneton 0-18, 0 points, 27.45%.

So Carter ended 2011 with a brilliant season -- home and away and finals. An unbeaten season for the Square.

And apart from the disastrous grand final Monaghan’s Two Blues did OK. As did Saunders with the Graveyard Dogs reaching the preliminary final.

Graham and Coburn probably rated in the 60-65 per cent mark as both clubs were gone by the end of the second week of the finals.

Wilson’s Storm were pretty new to the BFNL in 2011 so he gets a pass mark and so does Aston with the Princes Park Pies.

Both clubs had a nine win-nine loss record

Eyles and ‘Muzza’ Collins fall short of a pass mark, but at least the Roos under Collins scraped together five wins.

But Filo’s at the bottom of the barrel with the winless Tigers not setting any benchmarks at the Kyneton Showgrounds.

And there were some familiar faces in district coaching ranks for the 2011 season.

In the Heathcote DFNL North Bendigo had appointed Damien Lock, who’d played 18 AFL games for Carlton in 1998 and 1999.

Locky was also an Eaglehawk premiership player and back a little further in his footy career had won the VFL’s Bendigo Diggers fairest and best award.

Ash Wilson was the new coach at HDFL club Huntly. He’d enjoyed a fine career with Kangaroo Flat and had later coached premiership sides at Wandella and in partnership with Barry Pitson took Mitiamo to their 1999 flag.

Matt Pinniger was back in familiar territory at Colbinabbin as he took over from Brent Millar who’d led the Grasshoppers to the 2008 HDFNL flag.

At Mount Pleasant well-travelled local footy personality Denis Grinton had been named as the Mounts coach.

He took over from former Gisborne star Shane Davis who’d handed in his resignation in November 2010.

But it was a late appointment for Mounts as Grinton’s coaching job wasn’t revealed until mid-December.

Jason ‘Jugga’ Stevens was the new man at White Hills having stepped up from assistant coach.

Stevens served under Brent Dyer and for the 2011 season would have ex-South Bendigo outside midfielder Gavin Bowles as his assistant.

Incoming coaches in the LVFL for 2011 included Phil Walsh (YCW) who’d previously coached the Eagles to their 1997 flag.

Jim Angove was taking up the reins at the Marong Panthers, Phil Birchmore was to helm Newbridge while up at Pyramid Hill Leigh Davies was taking over from Shawn Filo whose health issues meant he had to step down.

Notice is hereby given that the 2022 Annual General Meeting of the Bendigo Football Netball League will be held on Wednesday 18th January 2023, at The Bendigo Club (22 Park St, Strathdale), commencing at 7.30pm. 

Light refreshments and nibbles will be available following the meeting.

Please find below official notice of the annual general meeting, along with a Board of Management Nomination form for any prospective BFNL Board members.

Please take note of the submission deadline for Board nomination forms, along with any other general business to be considered by the Board.

General Business submission deadline: Wednesday 5th January 2022 at 6.00pm.

We look forward to seeing you there.

DEPARTURES of ruckman Hamish Hosking and captain Lee Coghlan from Sandhurst have continued what’s been a dramatic couple of weeks across the Bendigo Bank Bendigo Football Netball League.

Best and fairest in his two seasons with the Dragons, Hosking has signed to play with Birchip-Watchem in the Goldacres North Central FNL in ’24.

For Coghlan it’s a return to Bridgewater where his footy career kicked off.

A Michelsen medalist as the Bendigo FNL’s fairest and best in 2009, Coghlan also won a premiership with the Dragons in 2016.

He led Sandhurst to last month’s grand final against Golden Square.

There’s been plenty of change at Golden Square since the dramatic grand final victory.

The Bulldogs this week announced Brad Eaton would replace premiership winning coach Christian Carter for the ’24 season.

An assistant coach of the Bulldogs in ’23, Eaton will be in charge of a new-look squad.

Multiple premiership winners with the blue and gold, Jack Geary and Hamish Morcom will tackle senior coaching roles at Cohuna Kangas and Harlowe Huntly Hawks respectively.

The Bulldogs will also be without long-time ruckman Matt Compston who has retired.

Just weeks after joining the premier’s club, Zavier Murley will leave Golden Square to play for Castlemaine next season.

The Bulldogs will welcome back Kyle Stevens who had played some senior games for the club when he was with the Latrobe University Bendigo Pioneers.

From Merbein, Stevens was a premiership winner with Birchip-Watchem Bulls in ’22.

A huge plus for Castlemaine’s new senior coach Michael Hartley was being able to lure former players Kalan Huntly and Darby Semmens back to the club.

After playing key roles in Harcourt’s unbeaten run to the Maryborough Castlemaine District FNL premiership, Huntly and Semmens will make their way back to Camp Reserve.

Kangaroo Flat’s new senior coach Michael Ellings takes charge of a team whose recruits include Gisborne premiership winner Luke Ellings, and former Eaglehawk player Justin Bateson.

After a playing career with North Launceston, Ellings was an assistant coach at Old Launcestonians in Tasmania.

Next season will be his first as a senior coach.

The Roos have re-signed many of their talented youngsters, but will be without talented on-baller Mitch Trewhella who will play for Rochester Tigers.

The Tigers will also welcome back Dillon Williams from Eaglehawk.

Bridgewater has landed several recruiting coups so far.

The Mean Machine is bolstered by the arrival of Coghlan and by Lachlan Sharp, a four-time premiership player with Strathfieldaye and multiple winner of the Ron Best Medal as the league’s leading goalkicker.

Sharp has left Triple M Park to take up an assistant coaching role where Bridgewater will again be coached by Rick Ladson, a Hawthorn premiership winner in 2008 and also a premiership-winning coach with Golden Square.

Also on their way to Bridgewater are the Strathfieldsaye Storm trio of Harry Conway, Jack Neylon and Joseph Mayes.

Recruits at Bears Lagoon Serpentine include new senior coach Jake Wilkinson from Sandhurst.

A key defender, Wilkinson will play a crucial role for the Bears, as will ruckman Nathan Twigg and the skilfull Darcy Hawker who return from Boort.

Coach of the past two seasons, Justin Laird will play on for the Bears.

Another newcomer at BLS is Doolan Nihill from White Hills.

Marong’s pursuit of a premiership hat-trick in the Loddon Valley will be done without brilliant forward Brandyn Grenfell who has headed further north to play for Nyah Nyah West United.

In the Heathcote District FNL there’s been some significant changes.

Coach of Mount Pleasant’s premiership teams in 2005 and ’06, Cameron Carter returns to Toolleen as senior coach once again.

Carter takes charge again after Adam Baird and Ben Weightman stepped down after leading the Blues to grand final glory in September.

This season’s runner-up, Heathcote has signed Kyneton ruckman James Orr.

The Andrew Saladino-coached Saints are likely to hold most of this year’s team.

At North Bendigo, Tyson Findlay returns to the Bulldogs’ kennel after a stint with Cohuna which included coaching the Kangas last season.

A triple premiership winner with the club, Findlay also won the Sam Cheatley Medal as the Heathcote DFNL fairest and best in 2014.

Another big recruit at North Bendigo is key defender Hamish McCartney from Maiden Gully YCW Eagles.

Coaching changes in the North Central league include Kangaroo Flat midfielder Mitchell Collins taking charge at Charlton.

Top ruckman Josh Potter is Donald’s new coach.

A three-year stint by Rohan Brown included being runner-up in ’22. Brown will coach Lake Wendouree next season.

St Arnaud is on the coaching search.

A SIX-TIME premiership player and long-time star on the netball court, Alicia McGlashan has taken on South Bendigo’s A-grade coaching role for the ’24 season.

McGlashan's third year at South Bendigo will be one of the most challenging of a brilliant career.

It’s a change at the top for the Bloods after Jannelle Hobbs stepped down as A-grade coach.

After fifth placing this season, South Bendigo welcomes back Lynley Strachan as assistant coach of the A-grade team.

The Bloods also have Marita Eddy staying on to coach the A-reserve team.

At Castlemaine it will be Chloe Hughes in the role as senior coach.

A brilliant run by the Fiona Fowler and Gary Cooke-coached Magpies in the past two years included fourth placing in ’22, and a preliminary final loss to eventual premier Gisborne last month.

Hughes won a premiership with Shepparton United and returned to the court late this season after spending many months on the sidelines because of injury.

At Kangaroo Flat it will be Jayden Cowling in charge once again.

Coach of the Roos’ A-grade team since 2018, Cowling recently signed a two-year extension.

Not only is Cowling committed to the Roos, a club he’s been with for many years, but he will also coach the Bendigo Strikers 23-and-under team in the Victorian Netball League.

There’s been some key changes to the off-court structure at North Bendigo as the club strives to compete in A-grade finals once again.

After taking charge in the second half of the season, Kiralee Kinder and Stacee Kingdon will again team up to coach the A-grade team.

A major recruiting coup for the Bulldogs was gaining Liz Taylor from South Bendigo to be the director of coaching.

Two of the club’s finest netballers, Kristie Alford and Bobbie Simpson will play crucial roles as netball operations manager and B-grade coach respectively.

Anyone who has followed the BFNL for any length of time would have seen Steven Oliver and watched his prodigious goal-kicking feats.

Now I’ve penned previous articles about Ollie, but the man’s immense ability, super long-kicking skills and creativity around the goalmouth deserves more than two or three stories.

He’s only the second full-forward after Ron Best to have booted 1,000-plus BFNL majors

And must rate as a certainty to eventually make the BFNL’s Legends list. He’s already a Hall of Famer.

But back to his early days as a footballer. As a teenager Steven gave the city a shot.

He went down to give the Carlton pre-season a try-out. But not long afterwards he injured his back while playing for the State under-17 cricket side of which he was the captain.

So that stress fracture meant his pre-season with the Blues was spent in the pool and he became fed-up and returned to the Maine.

After the next summer spent playing district cricket for Essendon he spent the autumn-winter season turning out for the Maine Magpies and playing with his mates with whom he’d forged strong bonds at Castlemaine Tech.

Following a summer playing district Victorian club cricket with Essendon, Ollie’s desire to play with the Blues had dwindled and he spent the season at the Camp Reserve.

It was 1990 and the Maine Maggies ended up in fifth position, but in 1991 they moved right up the BFL ladder with Ollie’s exploits attracting big crowds as spectators drove from everywhere to park at the Camp Reserve –-- and watch.

And it wasn’t all about Oliver. Derrick Filo, the son of a Samoan father and a Castlemaine Mum, bulldozed through packs.

Brent Crosswell’s son Tom Kavanagh was a rebounding half-back and in-and-under mid Simon Jorgensen was everywhere.

Still, the Magpies couldn’t quite snaffle the ’91 flag. South Bendigo held off their 1991 grand final challengers in front of 10,000 spectators in a gripping Big Dance: 14.14 to 10.16.

And then 1992 dawned with Castlemaine the pre-season sports writers and punters flag favourites.

There was a massive punch-up before that year’s Big Dance’s first bounce as central umpire Craig Pearce waited on tenterhooks for the signal from TV8’s Alan Besley parked on the boundary line that the coverage had started.

And when it got going Golden Square defenders hit Ollie with everything as the match got into gear.

And still the big spearhead led the Maine to a five-point premiership win: 14.13 to the Square’s 14.8.

It was their first BFL flag in 40 years. Since 1952, to be precise

And then the AFL Blues came knocking again.

Ollie won the battle to continue living in the Maine, but three times a week he finished up work in the office at Castle Bacon at 3 pm to ensure he arrived at Princes Park 10 minutes before training started.

Perhaps his greatest feats in the 13 games he ultimately played with Carlton came in the 2000 season’s Subiaco Oval game against West Coast when he hauled in a string of marks --- nailing three goals --- and turned the game the Blues’ way.

He finished his career with eight AFL goals, but halfway through that season turned out to be Ollie’s last in the navy blue guernsey as he quit Carlton for good.

And just like Tony Southcombe, Oliver had found the down-and-back driving just too much.

“Towards the end I finished up on the side of the road after falling asleep. I thought: ‘Ah well, that’ll do me’ and so I ended my Carlton career,” he later said.

Bluey had also ended up one evening in a roadside ditch.

But then Steven’s Castlemaine career surged again. He was the player-coach for three seasons before handing over to 1987 Carlton premiership backman Shane Robertson.

One of the most intriguing match-ups in the early Noughties was the Castlemaine-Kangaroo Flat fixture.

And who should be the playing coach at the Flat but Filo, the league’s greatest midfielder.

Like Ollie Derrick had had a stint -- mainly in the Twos -- with Carlton and like Steven he couldn’t latch onto life in the Big Smoke.

Out at Dower Park ‘Dekka’ had his old mate Jorgensen with him, so the playing coach and his assistant were back together after starring in a Central Murray premiership side at Balranald.

Not surprisingly ‘Dekka’ and ‘Jorgo’ were successful recruiters. They signed up Bendigo Diggers centre half-back Simon Elsum and key forward ‘Hollywood’ David Lancaster.

In the Bendigo Addy footy supplement published the day before the 2000 season started we pundits tipped the Maine to win that season’s flag with the Flat in second spot.

After all, Castlemaine had finished runners-up to Maryborough the season before: 1999.

In a high-scoring grannie Maryborough triumphed: 20.17 (137) to the Maine’s 17.4 (106).

Carlton’s David Parkin had been chasing Steven for quite a while. Sports writer and footy historian Paul Daffey understands that the Blues’ coach stuffed brown paper bags with cash, headed up the Calder Highway and virtually pleaded with Ollie to sign.

He wasn’t always on his own. On some trips Parkin was accompanied by Colin Kinnear and on others by Ian Collins.

The big spearhead turned each offer down. “They were persistent, though,” he recalled.

As the 2000 season’s finals drew closer a pivotal home-and-away match was played between the Maine and flag contenders Kangaroo Flat.

All eyes were on the key forwards, Ollie and long-sleeved ‘Hollywood’ David Lancaster.

The Flat spearhead was just 183 cm (6 feet) tall and weighed in at 80 kilograms (12 stone 5 lbs.)

But on that important afternoon Hollywood nailed eight goals while the Flat defence held Ollie to four.

Inspired by Lancaster’s performance the Roos trounced the Maine by 59 points.

But in late September a quite different story unfolded.

The Magpies had won every remaining home-and-away match after the Flat thumping, and they ran out 12-point winners in the 2000 grand final: 12.11 (83) to the inaccurate Kangaroo Flat’s 9.17 (71).

Ollie didn’t kick a major but ended the 2000 season on 135 majors with Ron Best medal runner-up ‘Hollywood’ Dave on 112. He’d managed only two snag rolls on grand final day.

We footy writers ascribed Ollie’s goalless day to the persistence, marking skills and accurate punch-aways to full-back Brett Gloury.

‘Growler’ had played four games for Collingwood with his debut game a nightmare. He’d been matched up against Essendon’s 208 cm (6 ft. 10 ins.) full-forward Paul Salmon.

In the later wash-up after the BFNL grand final 24 seasons back, centreman Shannon Milward won the Flat’s fairest and best award while Ollie won Castlemaine’s: his third.

He was installed as a BFNL Hall of Famer on a star-studded evening back in late 2019.

Alongside Ollie at that ceremony were his Maine teammates Derrick ‘Dekka’ Filo and John ‘Chicka’ Jefferies, both of whom joined Oliver as Hall of Famers.

With thanks to former Addy colleague and Victorian country leagues historian and writer, Paul Daffey.

We’ve both watched Ollie in action umpteen times, mostly separately, but once or twice as a joint reporting team.

Incidentally, Ollie had his last day in the job as the BFL’s CEO on Friday, May 17^th, 2013, before taking up his new role at the Bendigo Golf Club.

And here’s another one for you --- Steven Oliver plays golf off a single figure handicap. And he was a top grade cricketer: a real-life all-round sportsman.