GISBORNE'S situation in mid-winter five years ago was the talking point around the Bendigo Football Netball League and surrounding leagues.

The Ballarat Football League had been "banging down the Bulldog doors" trying to entice the club across for the start of the 2010 season.

Ballarat officials had beefed up their bid by emphasizing that Gisborne would be able to establish rivalries against much closer geographic neighbours.

Clubs such as Melton, Sunbury, Melton South and even Darley and Bacchus Marsh were mentioned as potential huge rivals for Gisborne.

The then chairman of the BFNL board, current State Minister for Sport Damian Drum, was unmoved by Ballarat's push.

"There's clear benefits associated with being part of the Bendigo FL," he said. "Our grounds and conditions --- in terms of the climate --- are dramatically better than those in Ballarat.
"And Gisborne has become set and established in this league over the past 10 years and have enjoyed success at the highest level during that time."

The then league CEO, Steven Oliver, backed up his views.
He told the Advertiser he'd been in regular and constant contact with the Gisborne Football and Netball Club throughout 2009.

"I've asked: 'Do you want a formal hearing from us, would you prefer an informal chat, is there anything you want from the league and would you like to raise any issues which are annoying you.'

"Throughout this period Gisborne has been saying: 'No, no, no. We're right. We're fine'," he said.

Both men indicated that as a league the BFNL was clear they'd done everything they could to make sure when the Gisborne committee and members voted about where they were headed for 2010 they'd be "comparing apples with apples".

BUT out on the footy field the Graveyard Dogs had copped a thumping at the start of the BFNL's split round 14 just five, short years ago.

The other Dogs, from Wade Street's MyJet Oval in Golden Square, had handed Gissy its biggest defeat since joining the BFNL in 2000.

The Square bolted home by 159 points: 31.11 (197) to 6.2 (38).

And to make it worse for Gisborne, the game was played at the Gardiner Reserve.

The match was all over by the long break. Square, coached by Mark Adamson (the Kyneton Tigers' mentor this season) led 11.2 to 5.1.

The lead was stretched to more than 13 goals by the last change --- 19.4 to 6.2 --- and to cap off their complete supremacy the Square Bulldogs added a massive 12 goals in a last quarter blitz.

Not surprisingly Golden Square boasted 12 goalkickers. Current coach Nick Carter and Danny Bateman nailed five majors each, and returning from injury Jason Limbrick banged home four: all in the last term.

The only multiple goalkicker for the Graveyard Dogs was Michael Thornton (he's still playing) with a couple. One other stat. which should be remembered: Gisborne had booted four of its six goals for the day by the 19-minute mark of the first quarter.

Astoundingly, Gisborne led 4.1 to 1.1 at that stage of the game and then added just two more majors for the entire afternoon. The Square, meantime, piled on a lazy 30 extras.

And all this in front of visiting Ballarat Football League officials keen to lure the Graveyard Dogs away from the BFNL.
The flogging surpassed Gisborne's previous biggest loss from its 180-odd BFL fixtures. The Bulldogs had lost to Castlemaine by 154 points in Round 15, 2000: their first season in the BFL.

THAT Gardiner Reserve match certainly ended up with a huge margin between the teams. On the same July Saturday, I was out at Canterbury Park watching Eaglehawk demolish Kangaroo Flat.

Even with Justin Maddern prowling around the goal square, the Roos did not kick a goal in the first half. The Two Blues led a low-scoring encounter 5.8 to 0.4 at half-time.

Big Balraj Singh (how soon we tend to forget larger-than-life characters) kicked four for Eaglehawk that day. But as was his wont he barely moved far from the goal square and if a Roo backman took off with a run and a bounce, Balraj propped and stared. He's with Pyramid Hill in the LVFL this season.

Reigning Michelsen medallist Shannon Milward was the catalyst for Eaglehawk's first-half dominance. He picked out teammates with precision passes and got great midfield support from young guns Jordan Ford, Jarrod Findlay and Ryan Alford.

Among the Hawks' surprise late inclusions were playing coach Derrick Filo, Luke Milroy and Jayden Dole and all were serviceable.

Nonetheless, supporters had to sit through a miserable, goal-less second term. Even though Eaglehawk centre half-forward Elliott Massina hauled in some strong marks the Two Blues forward moves amounted to nothing save a handful of minor scores.

Finally as the third term opened, the Roos started to look like a Top Five team. Tyrone 'Tigga' Downie --- now at the VFL's Bendigo Gold --- took the mark-of-the-day as he flew across the front of the pack. He hauled in the pill and kicked truly.
When Billy White and Shannon Geary goaled soon after, suddenly the Roos seemed a chance. The charge was snuffed out when Eaglehawk's Ryan Alford snapped home an around-the-body shot following a goal square ball-up.
But then by the 20-minute mark of the final term the Roos had narrowed the gap to 17 points with three, consecutive majors to Maddern.

Recognising the challenge, Luke Button initiated the play-of-the-day as he ran the ball out from full-back. The Hawks took the ball the length of the ground and the play ended with a coast-to-coast sealer by Cameron Milward.

Final scores: Eaglehawk 13.14 (92) def. Kang. Flat 8.7 (55).
Your correspondent was one of four Addy tipsters who'd gone for the Roos in the Friday paper that round.

Kangaroo Flat was trying to end its 14-game losing streak to Eaglehawk. By that Saturday night in July 2009, the streak had been stretched to 15!

And the Two Blues had moved to fourth on the BFNL senior ladder, shoving the Roos (also 8 wins-6 losses) down to fifth.

SOUTH Bendigo withstood a spirited last half surge by Maryborough to win the Round 14 QEO clash by 26 points.
The Bloods had eased out to a 23-point lead by the long break, restricting the Pies to just two first-half majors.

Brad Wright and Josh McLeod shut down the visitors' attack. Deon Jones even drifted down from the backline to kick a goal.
Maryborough made a surge in the third term and halfway through the 'premiership quarter' trailed by just 11 points.

However, the late Shaun Bergin snapped a left foot corker as time-on loomed, and then early in the final stanza South extended their break with goals to Alex Galea and Neville Clark.
And even though I wrote about Jamie Bond's 2004 official "retirement" at age 32 in a June Archives article this season, here he is again bobbing up with three of the Magpies' eight goals.

Two of those goals were kicked in the third term as Maryborough started to challenge.

Five years ago Bond must have been closing in on 37 years of age. Retirement? What do we scribes know.
Final scores: South Bendigo 10.20 (80) def. Maryborough 8.6 (54).

[In the second half of Round 14 in 2009 Castlemaine severely dented Sandhurst's finals aspirations with a 27-point win at the Camp Reserve while in its debut BFNL season Strathfieldsye trounced Kyneton by nine goals at Tannery Lane.

Final scores: Castlemaine 14.16 (100) def. Sandhurst 11.7 (73)
Strathfieldsaye Storm 19.16 (130) def. Kyneton 10.14 (74)]
Top Five: South, Square, Gisborne, Eaglehawk, Kang. Flat.

Richard's tips for Round 13: Eaglehawk by 16, Strathfieldsaye by 88, Gisborne by 15, Kyneton by 9 and Sandhurst by 39.
2014 season tally to date: 52.

By Richard Jones