Bendigo: Confusion emerges over South Bendigo points tally for 2025

A “data error” is being blamed for a Bendigo league team playing on an incorrect player points tally in 2024. See the explanation.

South Bendigo’s player points controversy has taken a fresh twist with evidence emerging the Bendigo league club mistakenly played above its allocation eight times this year.

The 2024 BFNL PlayHQ page was updated late last week and revealed South Bendigo had only been allocated 43 player points for the 2024 season.

Two of the eight times South Bendigo was over 43 points were in victories against Kangaroo Flat, which finished one spot below South Bendigo at the end of the home and away season and winless Maryborough, which has gone into recess for 2025.

South Bendigo mistakenly played with 46 points in 2024. Picture Yuri Kouzmin

AFL Central Victoria regional manager Cameron Tomlins confirmed a “data error” led to South Bendigo’s team points being changed to 46 points on PlayHQ.

“We acknowledge that there was a data error identified in PlayHQ that impacted the 2024 team points allocation of South Bendigo by reverting their team points value to the system default of 46,” he said.

“Unfortunately this was not identified until very late in the season.

“This has clearly resulted in discrepancies with 2024 points in the system and has only recently been amended for accuracy purposes.

“I can confirm that the 2025 team points allocation for South Bendigo has not been reduced by three points from season 2024 and acknowledge multiple outlets have reported on this recently incorrectly.”

A year ago, AFLCV confirmed there had been no changes to any team points allocations for the 2024 season with South Bendigo staying on 43.

The PlayHQ page update shows South Bendigo played on 44 points against Sandhurst in round 5, 45 points against Golden Square in round 8, 46 points against Kangaroo Flat in round 12, 44 points against Gisborne in round 13, 46 points against Sandhurst in round 14, 46 points against Maryborough in round 15, 46 points against Golden Square in round 17 and 44 points against Eaglehawk in the last match.

South Bendigo finished one win ahead of Kangaroo Flat at the end of the season.

Bendigo Football Netball Leaugue chairwoman Carol McKinstry.

BFNL chairwoman Carol McKinstry said: “South Bendigo had 43 points in 2024 and will have the same in 2025.

“South Bendigo has recruited a lot of their past players back so we are looking forward to them rising up the ladder in senior footy and also have recruited for A grade netball.”

SOUTH STRIPPED OF THREE PLAYER POINTS

South Bendigo has been stripped of three player points for next season despite missing finals and not beating a top-five team in the Bendigo league in 2024.

Player points for the eight teams that will compete in the league next year were handed down last week and South Bendigo will go from the maximum allowable 46 points to 43.

Premiers Sandhurst, runner-up Gisborne, and two other finalists, Strathfieldsaye and Golden Square will drop a point to 39.

The four-point difference between them and South Bendigo doesn’t equate to a player with recent AFL experience.

South Bendigo played finals in 2022 and 2023 before slumping to seventh this year. Picture: Yuri Kouzmin

South Bendigo suffered back-to-back losses of 149 points and 139 points to Gisborne and Sandhurst in the first half of the season and 127 and 132 points in the second half of the season.

It’s only four wins were against Maryborough twice, Kangaroo Flat, which finished eighth and Castlemaine, which missed finals.

South Bendigo declined to comment to The Weekly Times on the points cut.

In 2024, Bendigo was the fourth most uneven league in the state with average margins of all matches increasing by nearly two goals to 81 points.

Gippsland, Mornington Peninsula-Nepean, Sunraysia and Ovens & Murray were all in the top 10 most even leagues with Murray, Hampden and Wimmera in the top 15.

Maryborough has gone into recess for the 2025 season.

South Bendigo has been one of the most active recruiting teams since the end of last season following the appointment of co-coaches Troy Coates and Jack Fallon.

Castlemaine and Kangaroo Flat will have the most points in 2025 with 46.

SUNRAYSIA PREMIERS COP POINTS CUT

Sunraysia league premiers Mildura Imperials are being forced to knock back recruits after copping a savage cut to their player points tally next season.

Imperials made a stunning recovery from wooden-spooners in 2023 to flag-winners this year with former Essendon star Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti a key player in the revival.

But their points are dropping from 45 to 36 points under a sliding scale system introduced in leagues in the western half of the state this season.

Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti played as a six pointer for Mildrua Imperials this year. Photographer: Noel Fisher

It’s an even bigger cut than Ovens & Murray club North Albury, which will go from 46 to 39, in the first year of the new system in three leagues in the North East.

Imperials president Dale Stafford said they were knocked back with an application for two more points to help put its rebuild on a more sustainable footing.

“We’re in a two to three year period where we need to bring players into our club,” he said.

“We brought in Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti, who has been huge for our region, on and off the field.

“When you are 36 points, and he will be five of them next year, yet has been so good for the competition, you’d think there would be some sort of relief.

“We weren’t asking for five points, we were only after two.”

This year’s wooden spooner South Mildura will go from 45 to 46 points next year and already recruited Jydon Neagle and his brothers Matt and Jaxon and Harrison Soraggi from Central Murray club Balranald.

Jydon Neagle has been joined at South Mildura by brothers Matt and Jaxon. Picture: Yuri Kouzmin

Former South Mildura juniors Mason, Brodie, and Rory Fitzgerald are returning from Balranald.

Robinvale-Euston will play on 31 points after being docked six points for a salary cap bust, but has still managed to recruit Torquay star Baxter Mensch and Tyntynder duo Jayden Magro and Marcus Wattie.

Stafford backed the tiered points system, but said some flexibility was needed.

“It is a major issue when you look at our depth,” he said.

“Two years ago we turned over 76 players in our reserves with many of them aged 40-plus.

“We can’t recruit.

“We’ve got four players who have expressed an interest to come to our club and relocate to the area which brings new people to our region.

“Those four families have nine kids between them and they’re nine kids we don’t have playing junior footy in our area.”