Best 20 Victorian country football teams since 2000: GVFL, GFL, GDFL, MPNFL
The Weekly Times has named the 20 best teams from the past 20 seasons of Victorian country footy. See which sides made the list.
SELECT the 20 best country football sides from 20 seasons.
It sounds easy enough. But when you take into account the dozens of football leagues across Victoria and all the incredible achievements of their more than 400 clubs since 2000, all of a sudden it gets a little daunting.
Every weekend for six months of the year, for 20 seasons between 2000-2019, players, supporters and officials would flock to football ovals across the state to play for or cheer on their local teams.
In trying to assess who were the standout 20 from all of those teams from the past two decades, the overriding guide became premiership streaks, consecutive grand final appearances, winning streaks, and the overall number of premierships and appearances on the big day in September (or August, or even occasionally October).
To some extent, the size and relative strength of leagues was also taken into account. And only the senior teams were taken into consideration.
Even then, the inclusions, and even the order of said inclusions, was debated at length. Some very, very successful teams did not make the cut.
The Weekly Times has chosen its best 20, but everyone will have their own lists. We look forward to hearing what yours would be.
Good luck to all for the 2021 season — the 21st season of the 21st century.
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20. OCEAN GROVE — Bellarine (BFL)
THIS is perhaps a slightly controversial way to kick off the countdown of the best 20 teams from 20 seasons, given we are only taking into account the past 20 football season.
But the start of the 2000s also caught the tail-end of a phenomenal streak in the Bellarine Football League.
Ocean Grove appeared in 12 grand finals consecutively from 1993-2004 and won eight premierships in that time. That included the first four premierships of the new century.
From 2005 onwards the Grubbers have only made the grand final twice but there is no doubt it entered the 21st century with a bang.
19. TATYOON — Mininera & District (MDFL)
THE new millennium has proven very successful for Tatyoon Hawks in southwest Victoria.
It has taken its total premiership tally in the Mininera and District league to 11, with five premiership wins, including a hat-trick from 2006-08.
That was part of a run of eight consecutive grand final appearances in a row. In fact, the Hawks won through to 12 grand finals in 14 years.
Not a bad record for a town that recorded a population of 130 people at the last census.
18. WARRNAMBOOL — Hampden (HFL)
WARRNAMBOOL has an enviable record in the Hampden Football League of southwest Victoria.
The Blues are the most successful club currently in the league, with a whopping 25 premierships to their name. Five of those have been won since 2000, including back-to-back wins in 2001-02 and again in 2012-13, its most recent flags.
But the tally could have been higher — Warrnambool played in 11 grand finals in the past 20 seasons of the major league competition.
In particular, Warrnambool appeared in eight grand finals in a row between 2008-15, winning three.
17. NARRE WARREN — Mornington Peninsula Nepean (MPNFL) / South East (SEFL) / Outer East
OVER the years the Narre Warren Football Club has called several competitions in southeast Melbourne and southwest Gippsland home.
It made history in 2019 by becoming the first team to win the Outer East league’s Premier division flag, but prior to that it had been a powerhouse of the Casey Cardinia division of the Mornington Peninsula Nepean league.
Entering the new millennium, Narre Warren had just three senior premierships to its name. From 2005, the Magpies played in eight grand finals in nine seasons and added another six premiership cups to their collection. They also appeared in two South East league grand finals 2017-18, coming to a total of 12 grand finals from 20 seasons for seven wins.
16. NAVARRE — Maryborough Castlemaine District (MCDFL)
FIFTY wins in a row.
It was a feat almost unheard of at the time in Victoria’s senior country football ranks — it was believed Hazelwood had reached it, albeit with the help of a forfeit in its favour, in the 1950s, while North Ballarat won 49 consecutively in the early 1990s.
Tungamah from the Picola and District league had come close, before being toppled on 48 in Round 1 of 2016.
So when Navarre reached 50 wins in a row later that same year, football historians took note of the significant milestone.
But it was not something the team was focused on, said playing co-coach of that year, Ash Driscoll.
“When we’re out on the field it’s not something we really think about,” he said.
“That said, it’s a great achievement for the club and to be part of it.”
The streak was broken the following week, but Navarre would still win the premiership in 2016, its fourth in a row.
Overall it made the grand final seven times straight from 2011-17, making its presence quickly felt after joining from the now-defunct Lexton Plains league.
The 50 wins would not long go unmatched.
15. SORRENTO — Mornington Peninsula Nepean (MPNFL)
DURING the summer Sorrento might be known as the beach destination, but during the winter sports season, it is very much Shark territory.
With the turn of the millennium, the club that had formerly used nicknames including the Bloods, Seagulls and Sorras took on the nickname of the Sharks, and have taken a healthy bite out of the premiership offerings in the 20 seasons since.
Sorrento claimed seven premierships, and played in several more grand finals, including a run of seven in the Nepean league from 2008-14. The arrival of former St Kilda player Troy Schwarze as coach in 2007 has been credited with this rise in fortunes.
Sorrento last won the flag in 2017, and came runner-up in the league’s Division 1 in 2018-19.
14. SOUTH BARWON — Geelong (GFL)
THE Geelong Football League is rated one of the top country football leagues, and for very good reason.
Therefore the fact that one of its clubs took home eight premierships across the past 20 seasons deserves attention.
After 21 years in the competition, South Barwon finally took home its first major piece of silverware in 2001 — but the best was still to come.
Between 2005-13, the Swans played in eight of nine grand finals, winning a hat-trick and two doubles.
They were at the centre of an emotional win in 2013. Their co-coach Casey Tutungi — who became a quadriplegic after an on-field collision earlier that season — was able to return to the coaches’ box that September to guide the team to another flag alongside co-coach James Garvey.
13 BELL POST HILL — Geelong & District (GDFL)
THIS is one country football side that was making up for lost time the past 20 seasons.
Bell Post Hill has been part of the Geelong and District Football League since 1977, but did not win its first premiership until 2010, having lost the previous two grand finals.
The Panthers would play in 10 grand finals in a row up to 2017 and win seven senior premierships from them.
After claiming a hat-trick of flags from 2010-12, losing the 2013 decider wasn’t all negative, according to chairman of selectors Tony Dosen.
He told The Weekly Times in 2014 the challenge to return to the top of the pecking order had revitalised the playing group.
“It was a little bit of an end of an era I suppose. Four in a row would have been a massive thing for the club to achieve,” Dosen said.
“Strangely, it was a bit of a relief at the end of the year because it’s hard to be up for so long.
Revitalised they proved to be — the Panthers won the next four in a row.
12. KALKEE — Horsham District (HDFL)
KALKEE may simply be a locality north of Horsham, but at one stage it was boasting one of the most in-form football teams in country Victoria.
Kalkee appeared in seven grand finals in a row between 2007-13, and won five in a row (it lost the first and last in that streak). After sitting out the 2014 final, Kalkee was back in the grand final, but this time lost to Laharum.
In total, Kalkee won six premierships from 11 grand final appearances since 2000.
One of their most famous players is Steve Schultz, a born-and-bred local player who was part of four Kalkee premierships across his career, and won four league best-and-fairest awards — three in Horsham District with his home club.
He told The Weekly Times in 2017 that his family home is “probably second or third-closest house to the footy ground”.
“I just loved my footy when I was young, I really just idolised a lot of players,” Schultz said.
“Looking back now I’ve really enjoyed playing with a few people I idolised, and then I’ve ended up playing with their kids because I played so long.”
11. CALIVIL UNITED — Loddon Valley (LVFL)
IT WAS a league history-making premiership streak at that time, and a feat rarely replicated across country football, regardless of the team or league you follow.
Calivil United became the first club in Loddon Valley Football League history to win six grand finals in a row, a record it achieved between 2003-08. It also made the grand final the following year, but its steak was ended with a loss to Mitiamo.
The drought only lasted nine years — in 2017, it lifted the premiership cup again, this time as the team ending another premiership streak.
Defunct club Laanecoorie won five flags in a row from 1919-23, according to league records.
In 2003 and 2007, Calivil United won the premiership across all three grades of football — seniors, reserves and under-17s.
10. FRANKSTON YCW — Mornington Peninsula Nepean (MPNFL)
THERE have been several changes to football competitions along the Mornington Peninsula over the past 20 seasons, including the switch from geographic competitions to divisions.
But one thing that has been reliable is the performance of Frankston YCW.
Competing in the Peninsula league, the Stonecats won seven premierships in eight seasons between 2010-2017.
Its tally since 2000 stands at eight premierships, as it also won in 2003.
One of its longest contributors was Craig Nankervis, who played in eight senior premierships across his career.
9. KYABRAM — Goulburn Valley (GVFL)
SIXTY-TWO wins in a row. Three perfect seasons out of four, while the only blemish in the fourth was a two-point loss in the 2018 grand final.
This Kyabram era will go down in the country football history books as one of the best ever.
After losing the 2015 grand final, the Bombers — under the legendary Paul Newman — went almost three seasons without dropping a game.
Their shock loss to Shepparton in the 2018 grand final was followed up by yet another flawless season in 2019, beating Echuca in the decider to win their fourth flag this century (under David Williams, Kyabram had won in 2013, and reached the grand finals in 2009-10).
Asked after the 2019 home-and-away season what Kyabram’s secret was, Newman said the group, which included former AFL players and Goulburn Valley juniors Kayne Pettifer and Sam Sheldon, was “really level-headed”.
“We set high standards as a team, rather than just going out there focusing on individual performances.
“We’ve had strong people in the club and leadership from within over a long period of time.”
The only reason they are not higher on this list is that there are other teams with a longer run of success. So, stay tuned.
8. MAFFRA — Gippsland (GL) / West Gippsland Latrobe (WGLFL)
FINALS are a feature for Maffra Football Club in Gippsland — and it has the silverware to prove it.
This team has never missed out on making the finals of its league this century. That’s a whopping 20 seasons straight.
And it has capitalised on that streak. Thirteen grand finals, and nine premierships. And it broke the league record for consecutive wins along the way.
Between 2002 and 2012, in particular, they made nine out of 11 grand finals and won seven. And Maffra has played the past four Gippsland League grand finals against Leongatha – the record stands at 2-2.
But that was not always the case. Prior to winning in 2002 — a premiership it would go on to turn into a hat-trick — the Eagles had not won a senior premiership for 54 years.
In 2005, club secretary Allan Evans spoke about Maffra’s three flags in a row. “There was an element of disbelief in the town when we first started winning,’’ said Evans, who attributed the team’s success to switching focus from attracting Melbourne players to fostering local talent. “But now, after such a long period of time, it’s almost become part of life.’’
7. NATHALIA — Murray (MFL)
WHAT is the only thing better than winning four premierships in a row? Winning five in a row.
The Purples have matched, and then beaten, this Murray league record twice already since 2000. After Deniliquin Rams won four premierships from 2001-04 (the last one against Nathalia), the Purples responded by winning the next four, from 2005-08.
After claiming another win in 2012, Nathalia was at it again, this time winning five in a row from 2015-19. Eight players from the 2019 team — Mal Barnes, captain Tom Nihill, former coach Jason Limbrick, Harley Cobbledick, Liam Evans, Alistair Corry, Alex Hicks and Brodie Ross — had played in all five flags.
And Barnes, who took over as coach midway through that season, said all the players in that team went to school in Nathalia, and all but five played juniors with the club.
“It doesn’t (get old), it’s still fun,” said Barnes, who played alongside his brothers Drew and Ricky.
In total, Nathalia has won 10 premierships from 11 grand final appearances this millennium.
6. ALBURY — Ovens & Murray (OMFL)
MOST people with even a passing interest in community football knows of the powerhouse Ovens and Murray Football League. And most will have heard of Albury.
And considering its stats from the past 20 years, that is hardly surprising. The Tigers appeared in 10 consecutive grand finals between 2009-18, taking home seven premierships in the process.
For the first six years of that streak it went tit-for-tat with Yarrawonga, picking up four flags. The latter challengers have been Wangaratta and Lavington — the two sides that met in the 2019 grand final, the first Albury had missed since 2008.
It was an era when equalisation became a hot-topic, but there is no overlooking the success of this team, which has included stars Chris Hyde, Dean Polo and Joel Mackie.
5. GOLDEN SQUARE — Bendigo (BFL)
THE Bendigo Football League, which boasts some of the oldest football clubs in the country, entered a golden era a little over 10 years ago.
Golden Square achieved what only two clubs had previously managed to do in the league’s history, stringing together five consecutive premierships between 2009-13, having lost the 2008 decider to Eaglehawk.
Grant Weeks was at the height of his goal-kicking prowess, leading the goal-kicking for the league for three straight seasons in 2010 (145 goals), 2011 (125 goals) and 2012 (148 goals)
Hawthorn premiership player Rick Ladson was playing coach of the fifth flag — his first year back at his old club.
“We have been challenged a lot this year, but the self belief in this group is something that I haven’t seen before and that is a big statement,” Ladson said after the historic win.
“I have been involved in a quality side at AFL level but it is hard to come by in country footy.
“To just be a part of a side and coach a side with that mentality, that makes my job easy and I love every single one of them for it.”
There have been two other clubs of note in the Bendigo league so far this millennium: Gisborne, which won four premierships from six straight grand finals between 2002-07, and Strathfieldsaye, which is already a four-time premiership side since the seniors joined the league in 2009.
4. BRIDGEWATER — Loddon Valley (LVFL)
IT WAS a record that had waited decades to be broken — and then took less than 10 years to break again.
As mentioned earlier in this list, Calivil United set a new standard in the Loddon Valley Football League in the 2000s with a then-record six premierships in a row.
That record stood for less than a decade.
Bridgewater — AKA the Mean Machine — won seven straight premierships between 2010-16. Along the way, it won 103 from 112 home-and-away games.
Bridgewater had last won the senior premiership in 1991, a 19-year wait before its incredible streak began. Ironically it started with a victory against Calivil United, and it ended with a loss to the same club in 2017.
The club also took home four consecutive league best-and-fairest medals, courtesy of Adam Parry (2013-14), Andrew Collins (2015) — who played AFL football with Carlton and Richmond before returning to his home club to coach — and Zeb Broadbent (2016).
Bridgewater played finals for 11 straight seasons, from 2007 to 2017.
3. KOROIT — Hampden (HFL)
THE Hampden league has seen not one, but two powerhouses in the past two decades.
Overshadowing Warrnambool is the incredible feats of a club located about 18 kilometres from the South West Victorian city.
Going into last year’s lay-off due to the coronavirus pandemic, Koroit had won a league-record six consecutive premierships from seven straight grand final appearances – which began with a loss in 2013 to Warrnambool.
After overtaking the old record with its fifth win, coach and club legend Chris McLaren, who played more than 300 senior games for the club, said the emotions of the win didn’t dissipate despite the tally. Another local legend, Adam Dowie, coached the initial hat-trick.
Winning six in a row is not the only remarkable finals feat Koroit has pulled off this millennium. In 2003, 30 years since its last Hampden premiership, coach Jason Mifsud helped the Saints bounce back from almost 50 points down at half-time to win the final against Camperdown.
2. KERANG — Central Murray (CMFL)
KERANG sealed its place in Central Murray Football League history in 2015 by becoming the first club to win four consecutive senior premierships.
It would go on to win another two in 2016 and 2017, making it six flags in a row from 10 consecutive grand final appearances from 2008-17, earning it second place on this list.
Add its 2004 and 2010 triumphs into the mix, and Kerang has taken home eight premiership cups this millennium.
Over the course of that period some of the big names to pull on a Blues jumper included Luke Livingston, a Kerang junior who played almost 50 games for Carlton, and another local and former AFL player, Troy Davis. Meanwhile, Troy Coates coached four of the premierships before taking the reins at Bendigo powerhouse Strathfieldsaye.
In 2015 he told The Weekly Times the side tried not to focus on the historic milestone in the build up to the grand final. “We tried not to talk about it too much, but we knew it was there,” Coates said.
1. HORSHAM — Wimmera (WFL)
NUMBER one with a bullet. How could you go past the side that appeared in 14 grand finals since the turn of the millennium, and won 13 of them?
That includes 10 in a row between 2003-2012, believed to be a country football record. Stuart Farr coached the last seven in that streak and played in the first nine, missing the last due to a knee injury (before being sensationally replaced as coach).
Since making that 2003 final – which broke a 13-year premiership drought – the Demons have only sat out the 2013, 2016 and 2019 grand finals.
Scott Batchelor, Cameron Penny, Marcus Anson, Billy Lloyd and Ryan Kemp have also taken home league best-and-fairest medals in that time, while spearhead David Johns set a league goal kicking record with 156 in the 2006 season.
In mid-2009, with six flags under the belt, then-club chairman Bruce Hartigan called the streak “a little bit freakish”. We wonder what term he used as the streak got longer.
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