A DECADE ago, football in Ballarat appeared to be suffering a terminal decline. The rural city's once-proud clubs had been reduced to also-ran status, as five sides from the Bacchus Marsh, Melton and Sunbury communities - the ''Eastern Bloc'' - dominated the local competition.
The situation reached its nadir in 2001, when century-old clubs Golden Point and East Ballarat were forced into a shot-gun merger just a few weeks before the opening game of the season, due to a shortage of players and administrators.
When the home-and-away rounds concluded five months later, the BFL ladder told the tale. The Eastern Bloc clubs filled the top five places on the table. In contrast, the newly-formed East Point, along with Sebastopol, Redan and the Ballarat Swans, had won only 10 games between them.
But since those dark days, Redan has risen from its deathbed to win four premierships. Last year, the Swans continued the trend when they defeated Darley with a kick after the siren to win a long-awaited flag. Both clubs have profited from a combination of canny recruiting and investments in junior teams and improved facilities.
The change in fortunes has been so pronounced that when the BFL finals begin next weekend, four of the six sides will be from Ballarat.
While Redan is considered the premiership favourite, local experts suggest the youthful Lake Wendouree line-up also has the talent to go all the way. However, it is another Ballarat-based contender that has the most to prove.
This will be East Point's fourth consecutive appearance in the finals. In each of the previous three seasons the Kangaroos have ended the home-and-away rounds in the top two. Yet, by failing to win a premiership, they have developed a reputation for folding when the pressure rises. So during the next month, the club is aiming to finally claim its reward for playing a big part in the rebirth of footy in Ballarat.
East Point's early years were difficult to say the least. Co-tenants at the picturesque Eastern Oval, Golden Point and East Ballarat had been fierce rivals, so the hastily arranged merger alienated many supporters and players.
''Certain people didn't agree with it, didn't like it, and I was one of them,'' says current reserves coach Grant Wilson, a former East Ballarat player, who spent a number of seasons playing with Rokewood-Corindhap in the Lexton Plains league. ''It took me five years to come back. By that time I'd realised it had to happen. This way we still have somewhere to hang our premiership photos. The history of both clubs is still alive. Because of that a lot of people have come back now.''
East Point won only four games in its first three years. The Kangaroos finally began to show signs of improvement in 2004, notching nine wins. Under the coaching of Shane Fisher, they won another 10 the following year, before a recruiting campaign saw them charge into premiership contention in 2006.
The key signing was full-forward Dan Jordan, who had become a star in Melbourne's amateur competition with St Bernard's.
A tall and powerfully built player, Jordan booted 130 goals in his first BFL season, as East Point finished on top of the ladder. However, he and his teammates were left heartbroken when they lost the grand final to Redan by five points.
In 2007, Jordan kicked 105 goals, as the Kangaroos topped the table once more. Again they failed when it mattered most, losing both their finals.
Stung by the repeated failures, some of East Point's biggest names, including Fisher, departed the club before last season, so the Roos were expected to slip down the ladder.
Instead, they made the preliminary final after new coach Mick Hynes - winner of five senior premierships with North Ballarat in the 1990s - promoted some home-grown talent.
''The East Ballarat and Golden Point junior clubs still operate independently and that keeps plenty of kids coming through,'' notes East Point president Alan Dennis. ''This is a major reason why our under-18s have won the flag in the past three years.''
The 2009 line-up again contains many local youngsters, with Sam Kitchin and Tom Petersen among the standouts.
''We've turned over 34 players in the last two years,'' explains Hynes. ''We've played heaps of kids and that sets us up for the future. It's great for our club culture, as they bring their families to the games and that's what we're about. Plus, they give you everything on the field.''
East Point began this season with 11-straight wins.
''We weren't rated that highly at the start of the year but that didn't faze us,'' Jordan says. ''We thought we had a much better side than last year.''
The momentum was halted when onballer Chris Banwell and Jordan, who to that point had booted 70 goals, headed to England for five weeks as part of their jobs with Australian Sports Tours, a business based in Ballarat.
As Jordan and Banwell hosted Aussie supporters at the Lord's and Edgbaston Tests, their teammates stumbled, losing to Redan and the Swans.
While fitness certainly wasn't a high priority for the cricket fans on their tour, Jordan and Banwell had a kick whenever they could and both impressed the East Point hierarchy by returning to the club in great shape.
This was demonstrated in their first game back against lowly Bacchus Marsh, as Jordan recovered from a rusty start to slot 10 majors.
''I only got back on the Thursday before the match,'' Jordan recalls. ''I had a run around on the Thursday night and I was terrible. The first couple of shots were only 30 metres out and I didn't make the distance, just kicked them off the shin. Then it all came back after a while.''
Last weekend the Roos suffered a pre-finals reality check when they copped a 91-point hiding from fifth-placed Sunbury. So even is the BFL, the defeat saw them fall from the top of the ladder down to fourth.
But having completed their home-and-away matches at home to Melton South yesterday, all focus is now on next weekend's first final. Given the events of the past three years, the Kangaroos are taking in some mental baggage.
''Other teams in the competition certainly have a go at us about it,'' Jordan admits. ''But this is a new side, a lot younger side. The new mentality is that there won't be thoughts about previous years. We'll be going out to give it a shake and see how we go.''
Article first appeared The Sunday Age,
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