SOUTH Bendigo spearhead Phil Hetherington bagged 10 goals in a split round match against Castlemaine 12 seasons ago.

In fact, he nailed the lion's share of the Bloods' 16 majors, while at the other end recently departed central Victorian footy administrator Steven Oliver snared seven of Castlemaine's 13 six-pointers.

The 2001 match was played at the Maine's Camp Reserve with South slipping way to a 13-point lead by half-time after an even first term.

The two gun spearheads booted the opening goals of the match for their clubs, with South defender Neville Clarke prominent in repelling many Maine thrusts.

Centreman Lachlan Brown --- still a handy midfielder in the MCDFL last year and now on the Magpies' matchday panel -– snared Castlemaine's second goal.

And then a 50 metre penalty was a big help for Chris McGeachan who made no mistake with his shot for the Pies.
Two quick goals from Hetherington levelled up the scores at the first break.

A great tackle from Paul Eyles resulted in a turnover for the Maine, but South then went on a spree landing five unanswered majors.

Hetherington nailed a pair with the others provided by Devin Brown, Ryan Connaughton (still playing in the South Twos) and John Hardinge.

When Oliver slammed home a major off the ground Castlemaine lifted as the home side tried to get past South's defence, led by Julian Lake, Wayne Maxted and Matt Sandiford.
Then a holding-the-man decision allowed Oliver to nail his fourth goal and reduce South's lead to 13 points by the main break.

THE Magpies upped the pressure early in the third term and were rewarded with goals to Oliver, Eyles and Leigh Rees.
For a few moments, it seemed as though the Magpies had wrested control away from the Bloods.

The Bloods responded, though, with great teamwork through midfield and in attack as Hetherington (3), Brown and Clarke added to South's score.

With the lead close to six goals, Clarke could have stretched the margin even further. But his shot from a pocket hit the post close to the thee-quarter time siren.

Even so, the Bloods led by 39 points at lemon-time.
John Hardinge's sure marking was a problem for the Maine defenders as he pulled in timely grabs up forward.

Finally, Evan Showell rammed home a Castlemaine major as the two clubs went goal-for-goal in an even last term.
Hetherington continued to get great service from midfielders Connaughton, Ryan Griffin and Steven Blake. As the final siren sounded the Bloods' full-forward lined up for his 11th goal, but the shot drifted to the right and registered a behind only.

CASTLEMAINE playing coach Shane Robertson said he was reasonably happy with his team's efforts.

"We seemed to slacken off a bit for around five minutes each quarter, though.

"You can't do that against a quality club such as South Bendigo," he said.

"We worked hard and I was very happy with the outcome of the game," Bloods' coach Simon McLean said.

He added he was "looking forward" to playing Eaglehawk in Round 9. The Hawks had the bye in Round 8 and occupied third spot on the ladder behind the top two --- South and Sandhurst.
The loss tumbled Castlemaine down to fifth, a game behind fourth-placed Kangaroo Flat.

Hetherington was level on top of the BFL goalkicking table with 36 goals, the same tally as the Flat's David Lancaster.
Lancaster had managed just the one major in Flat's 32-point loss to Sandhurst: 11.11 (77) to 16.13 (109).
Steven Reaper of Gisborne was next on 34 with his game still to come.
Eyles had 28, South's David McCormick 25 and Oliver 24. Eaglehawk's Adam Rout was on the seventh line with 20 goals.

WITH the second half of 2001's split round scheduled for the following weekend, winless Maryborough and Kyneton filled the cellar positions. The Pies and Tigers were scheduled to clash on the second Saturday of the split round, so one club at least was destined to grab its first points for the year.
Golden Square (3 wins, 4 losses -- 6th) and Gisborne (2 and 5, 7th) were listed to play each other in the only other match of the split round's second week.

The Advertiser ran with special footy supplements in the Friday and Monday editions in the early 2000s. Full colour liftouts were the order of the day, complete with AFL ladders and match wrap-ups along with round-up stories and action pictures of the BFL, LVFL and Heathcote District footy all included in the Monday supplements.

NOW back to a decade ago in early 2003 when there was a flurry of activity before the season got underway.
Newly-appointed BFL interleague coach, Gisborne's Mick McGuane, expected to announce a squad of 30 players as soon as Round 1 had been completed.

McGuane's decision was outlined in the Advertiser in mid-March, 2003.

Bendigo was drawn to play the Murray F.L. in a Division 1 knockout clash at the QEO on May 10th..

BFL chairman Mark Johnston --- currently a member of the new 2013 Central Victorian Football Commission --- explained it was customary for the Blue and Golds to offer the inter-league coaching position to the successful mentor from the previous season.
Gisborne had won the 2002 flag, with a whopping 79-point victory over Square. And in mid-2002 the BFL had won the Division 2 grand final, defeating the Central Murray F.L. in Swan Hill.

TO ENLARGE on other 2003 pre-season news reported in the Round 1 BFNL program this year, Kangaroo Flat president Scott Jackman had some big releases.

Now a prominent property developer, the Flat boss revealed the Roos intended to appoint a permanent part-time general manager.

Mr Jackman said with his club turning over more than $100,000 annually the need for a qualified employee to oversee the day-to-day operations of the Dower Park-based club was crucial.
"This is a road not just our football club, but all football clubs, need to head down in my opinion," he added.

"Every year you see clubs going out and spending huge amounts of money on players only to exhaust their bank balance in a year or two. That then creates considerable problems for the future."

The Roos' supremo said the Flat had been guilty of this practice in the past. But so had every other club, he said.
At just 24 years of age in 2003, Jackman was one of the youngest presidents in BFL history.

He boasted an impressive resume with a degree in accounting and a diploma in financial planning.

Mr. Jackman had replaced outgoing president Lyle York, who resigned in early March 2003 for personal reasons.

Richard's selections for split Round 11: Strath Storm by 25 points, Maryborough by 5, Eaglehawk by 36 and Gisborne by 17 (on the Sunday, second week).
2013 season total: 29.
*And a touch more than halfway through 2013 how are the pre-season predictions standing up?
Eaglehawk as the season's big improver looks OK. Kain Robins as the Michelsen Medallist perhaps still on track. He knows how to win a medal --- he took it out in 2006.

And after all, he's in the top bracket of voting so far for the 2013 Advertiser Footballer of the Year.

But leaving out South Bendigo as a Top Five selection now seems dodgy. And the Hursts's Ricky Symes missed a lot of football in April meaning he's on the fifth line as leading BFNL goalkicker. So a Ron Best Medal this year appears unlikely.

By Richard Jones