Central Victoria: Loddon Valley league opposes Maiden Gully-YCW move to Bendigo under-18s

The long-running saga over where a resurrected Maiden Gully-YCW under-18s team will play this year will be decided this month.

Maiden Gully-YCW’s latest attempt to have an under-18 team playing in the Bendigo Football League this season will be decided by the end of the month.

The Loddon Valley team has senior and junior clubs and an initial application by the senior club to field a team in the BFL was rejected by the AFL Central Victoria Commission late last year.

But a fresh bid has been mounted by the junior club and won backing again from the BFL, which hopes Maiden Gully-YCW will eventually be the replacement club in all grades for Kyneton, which has departed for the Riddell District league.

Maiden Gully-YCW has mounted a fresh bid to field an under-18 team in the Bendigo league this year. Picture: Yuri Kouzmin

Maiden Gully-YCW has not fielded a junior team in the LVFL for two seasons.

The LVFL has objected to the fresh bid for the club to field a team in the BFL.

But if Maiden Gully-YCW can resurrect a junior team in 2024 the LVFL wants the team in its ranks.

LVFL president Simon Tuohey declined to comment when contacted by The Weekly Times.

The AFLCV Commission will sit in judgement on the latest application with the deadline for submissions from all parties being this week.

Angus Monfries playing for Port Adelaide against his previous AFL club Essendon. He is the co-coach of Maiden Gully-YCW this season. Picture: Sarah Reed

Junior clubs can be accepted into a new competition until March under AFL Victoria rules.

In a bid to lift its senior team off the bottom of the LVFL ladder, Maiden Gully-YCW has appointed former Essendon and Port Adelaide player Angus Monfries and Shawn Filo as co-coaches after the duo had been at the helm of Central Murray club Lake Boga for the past two years.