Maryborough-Castlemaine: Clubs reject Maryborough bid to become 14th club

Moving to another country footy league is continuing to prove difficult as Maryborough has discovered. See the latest.

Maryborough has joined a growing list of clubs wanting to move to another league failing at the first crucial step.

The embattled major league club faces an even more uncertain future after Maryborough-Castlemaine District league clubs late last week rejected its proposal to become its 14th club.

It’s understood that the extra pressure of another team drawing on an already shallow pool of players was one of the main reasons Maryborough’s bid was knocked back.

“Following a comprehensive process of consultation and voting with our member clubs, a decision was made by a majority vote to reject the application to join the MCDFNL made by the Maryborough Magpies,” MCDFNL president Kathie Teasdale said.

Maryborough’s plan-B is applying to join the 17-team Central Highlands league which would require additional travel for all parties.

Staying in the Bendigo league where it hasn’t been able to field reserves since round 3 and relying on opposition clubs for players to ensure its senior team doesn’t forfeit can’t be discounted.

Maryborough’s plans to join the Maryborough-Castlemaine league next year have been rejected. Picture: Yuri Kouzmin

And, there is also the worst case scenario of going into recess in 2025 like Broadford did this year when the Kyabram District league clubs blocked its bid to join.

Under AFL Victoria rules, clubs seeking to move leagues, firstly need the approval of the destination leagues’ existing clubs.

Their current league must also agree with the transfer.

The Bendigo league has maintained it won’t stand in the way of Maryborough leaving, unlike it did in the early 1970s when it forced Rochester to sit out a season for wanting to join the Goulburn Valley league.

The initial step that has brought Maryborough unstuck also happened when Marong, Maiden Gully-YCW and Cohuna Kangas wanted to join the Heathcote District league last year.

Cohuna Kangas are mounting a fresh bid to leave the Central Murray league and join the Heathcote District league in 2025.

Kyneton bucked the trend last year when it left the Bendigo league and was accepted with open arms into the Riddell District league.

“The big difference was we had someone who wanted us,” Kyneton president Hayden Evans said.

“We will be a future option for the league to host the grand final once we get our netball courts fixed up.

“We wanted to be more competitive in our first year, but we’ve had some bad injuries.

“But in the future we will be very competitive, draw big crowds and we’ve also got infrastructure.”