Kyneton will leave the Bendigo league after 90 years to join the Riddell District

After 90 years in the Bendigo Football League, Kyneton has made the decision to cross to the Riddell District competition for the 2024 season.

Mitch Comben in action for Kyneton. Picture: Yuri Kouzmin

Kyneton is on the move for 2024.

After 90 years, the Tigers will leave the Bendigo Football Netball League and join the Riddell District competition next season.

The club and leagues confirmed the news on Wednesday.

The Tigers have also announced Ethan Foreman will take over as senior coach next season, following Paul Chapman’s departure.

Kyneton won six premierships in the BFNL, the last in 1997, but has fallen on hard times financially in recent seasons, briefly going into recess in 2013.

With Gisborne Giants delaying their entry to the RDFNL until 2025, the decision will bring the RDFNL back to a 10-team competition.

A club with Kyneton’s history is a huge coup for the league, general manager Jordan Doyle said.

“We’ve been looking for a 10th club for a while now and with their juniors and women’s already in the competition and being a great geographical fit for the league it’s great to have them on board,” he said.

“They expressed an interest to come, they reached out to us a couple of months ago.

“They’ve had a really good season with their women’s and juniors, which showed them what the league was all about, and have been starved of success for a while.

“It’s been hard to travel up to Bendigo for their players and members and they see it as a positive long-term step for their club.”

The move will eliminate lengthy travel to Bendigo for Kyneton, potentially making recruiting and player retention easier.

With close proximity to several strong clubs, Doyle believes the Tigers will have ready-made rivalries.

Ryan Pretty in action for Kyneton. Picture: Yuri Kouzmin

“They’re a neighbouring town of Woodend and very close to Macedon as well and that will create some good rivalries,” he said.

“Kyneton supporters are well known as good travellers, so our clubs will have an influx of spectators and gate takings.

“We had a bumper crowd for our women’s grand final between Kyneton and Macedon, played at Woodend, 10 minutes for each town, which I think hammered home what the RDFNL experience could be for them.”

While the Tigers will step into a nominally smaller league, they won’t have it any easier.

Powerhouses such as Diggers Rest, Wallan and Riddell are sure to remain dominant clubs.

The RDFNL has seen significant improvement this season with the likes of Woodend-Hesket returning to finals after more than a decade and Lancefield and Melton Centrals beating reigning premier Riddell.

“The competition’s never been more even, we’ve had four senior finals so far and the biggest margin was seven points,” Doyle said.

“Lancefield and Melton Centrals have improved this year, they both knocked off last year’s premier, and been in a lot more games.

“Kyneton will be a strong club in the league but there will be plenty of competition for them, we’ve got some well established strong clubs already.”

Doyle hopes Gisborne Giants can get back on track for 2025 after ground issues forced the club to postpone its entry.

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The Giants were looking to step up from an under-19s team to a fully fledged senior club next season but will not have a venue available.

“That’s been postponed for 12 months, they’ve just had a hold up with their ground,” Doyle said.

“It was supposed to be ready by the start of next season but it’s now mid to late next year, which has created a few headaches.

“We tried to see if they could use another one but they wanted to wait until their have their own facility.”