Riddell District Football League looking to grow in 2021 after departure of Broadford
The Riddell District Football League is looking to grow in 2021 and made clear its disappointment in Broadford’s decision to jump to the AFL Outer East next season.
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The Riddell District Football League is on the hunt for new clubs come the 2021 season.
The league has lost two clubs in two years after the Sunbury Kangaroos moved to the EDFL and Broadford switched to the AFL Outer East, leaving it a 10-team competition.
RDFL football operations manager Jordan Doyle said the league was committed to growing in 2021 and had some parting words for Broadford.
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“It was obviously disappointing to lose Broadford, we thought we did all we could to help them survive in our competition and remain viable long-term,” he said.
“I think the ship had sailed for them, they made some poor financial decisions in years past and weren’t willing to stick it out like some clubs have.
“If you look at the geographical map of where we sit, there are a fair few clubs on the borders in every direction.
“We’ve already spoken to a couple of clubs and we’ll have ongoing discussions through 2020 in the hope they’ll be in the RDFNL in 2021.”
After reaching a preliminary final in 2016, Broadford collapsed in recent years, winning just five games in the three years since.
While equally disappointed to lose Sunbury at the end of 2018, Doyle said there were vastly different motives.
“Sunbury Kangaroos weren’t overly interested in being in a football netball competition, I know they have netball teams in the EDFL but it’s much more of a social league,” he said.
“Broadford left because they weren’t as competitive as they would have liked and this was a different avenue for them.”
Stunned by the broadside from the league, Broadford president Bonnie Cavanagh denied the club’s issues were on-field, reiterating the need for a better junior pathway as a major reason for the switch to AFLOE.
“We’re a strong and resilient club,” she said.
“We found we weren’t getting that transition of players from the under-16s into our under-19s,” she said.
“That’s the culture shift that’s driving this league swap, as it’s going to be a real strength for us going into the new league.”
In better news for the RDFL, Rockbank’s immediate future is secure with the club appointing Marty Weaver as senior coach for 2020 and holding a successful Debt Demolition day.
Doyle pointed to the continued hard work at the Rams and improvement at fellow strugglers Lancefield as clubs committed to long-term sustainability rather than quick fixes.
“Rockbank has done a lot of work, they’ve still got a bit of work to do but we’re continuing to work with them,” he said.
“Lancefield has done the opposite of what Broadford has done, they rebuilt from the bottom and took the hits for a couple of years.
“Tom Waters has come back and I think they’re in a position to push for finals next year, over the next few weeks and months you’ll see a lot of transfers come in for Lancefield.”
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