Southern Mallee Giants and Jeparit-Rainbow, and Maryborough Rovers and Royal Park merge

The big decisions that follow a footy merger have begun for Southern Mallee Giants and Jeparit-Rainbow. See what needs to be decided soon.

The Wimmera league’s newly merged club will be known as either Southern Mallee Power or Southern Mallee Thunder.

After recently agreeing to merge, the club’s interim board is seeking feedback on the two options only for the new name and colours.

Southern Mallee Giants have played in the Wimmera league since 2018 and Jeparit-Rainbow Storm were part of the Horsham District league.

The two colours options are navy and white (Geelong) or teal, black and white (Port Adelaide).

The name and colours are expected to be finalised at the annual meeting on November 22.

The Wimmera league 2024 fixture was released on Wednesday and the newly-merged club is drawn to play Warrack Eagles, another merged club, in the first round on April 20.

The first match of the season will be the traditional Easter clash between Stawell and Ararat at Stawell on March 29.

It is a standalone fixture brought forward from round nine.

EVERY MERGER SINCE 2000

Merge or not merge?

These are the conversations that take place around club boardroom tables across the state at the end of each country football season. Or sometimes sooner, when the realisation hits home that something must change.

The first mergers in eight years are happening now, with the Southern Mallee Giants and Jeparit-Rainbow Storm merging, and Maryborough Rovers and Royal Park.

Southern Mallee Giants were already a merger of old Mallee league combatants Hopetoun and Beulah, and Jeparit-Rainbow also played in the now defunct Mallee competition following a 1995 merger.

A perennial shortage of junior players in Victoria’s grain-growing belt is the driving force behind the latest merger with the Giants unable to field an under-17 team for the majority of years it has been in the Wimmera league.

It will have under-17 and under-14 teams next year.

Southern Mallee Giants played off in this year’s Wimmera league grand final against Ararat. Picture: Yuri Kouzmin

Current Jeparit-Rainbow president Lucas Edelsten is expected to be the inaugural president of the new club, which is also tipped to retain the Southern Mallee name with a nickname and jumper still to be confirmed.

“It’s all positive,” he said.

“No one is really leaving (the club), we’re just adding more.”

Southern Mallee Giants president Nathan Williams said “we just had to do it”.

“It’s a bit of a sigh of relief that we’re going in the right direction,” he said.

“The lack of juniors is the only reason we’re doing it.”

The merger will start on a strong footing with two clubs’ senior teams playing off in the Wimmera and Horsham District grand finals this year.

Between 2000 and 2007 at least one merger took place every year with the exception of 2002 before another run of them between 2012 and 2016. They happened in leagues big and small.

Since the first year of Covid, Border-Walwa, Federal, Thornton-Eildon, Ardmona, Quambatook and Yea have gone into recess or folded.

Orbost-Snowy Rovers president Royston Nettleton, centre, with former Orbost player Brett Lynn, left. and former Snowy Rovers player Denis Morgan. Picture Yuri Kouzmin

But a merger isn’t the silver bullet to guaranteed success as Orbost-Snowy Rovers, who merged in 2003, can attest.

It hasn’t won a flag since the two former powerhouses of East Gippsland came together in response to shrinking population brought on by the winding down of the timber industry.

The timber industry’s demise altogether from January 1 is another headwind coming for the club.

President Royston Nettleton said it was up for the fight and an on-field resurgence this year could be traced back to the work it did in the Covid years of 2020-21 when there was no footy or netball.

“Covid got blamed for a lot of things, but in our case we came back stronger,” he said.

“Don’t worry. We were worried, but people missed that connection and we made it a big focus to reconnect with everyone.

“It will remain a battle because plenty still migrate to the city and footy clubs are a reflection on a community in lots of ways.”

Corowa-Rutherglen life member Fred Longmire’s calls for mergers in the Corowa cluster of football clubs have been ignored. Picture: Yuri Kouzmin

One region stubbornly resisting mergers is the “Corowa cluster” of clubs made of Corowa-Rutherglen, Wahgunyah, Rutherglen, Billabong Crows and Coreen-Daysdale-Hopefield-Buraja United.

Issues about declining player numbers have been known since 2016.

But not even the cluster’s major league team, Corowa-Rutherglen, spending 2023 in recess, and Rutherglen and Wahgunyah winning only one game between them at senior level this year in the Tallangatta District league sparked anything remotely resembling meaningful merger talks.

Corowa-Rutherglen has announced it will return next year and Rutherglen and Wahgunyah are going to fight on.

“It’s been an opportunity lost,” Corowa-Rutherglen life member Fred Longmire said.

FOOTY MERGERS SINCE 2000

2000 Moyston-Willaura

2000 Korumburra-Bena

2001 Woorndoo-Mortlake

2001 Warrack Eagles

2001 Terang-Mortlake

2001 East Point

2003 Timboon Demons

2003 Orbost-Snowy Rovers

2003 Kolora-Noorat

2003 Sea Lake-Nandaly Tigers

2004 Tooleybuc-Manangatang

2004 Glenthompson-Dunkeld

2005 Wonthaggi Power

2005 Rand-Walbundrie

2006 Billabong Crows

2006 Coreen-Daysdale-Hopefield-Buraja United

2006 Brocklesby-Burrumbuttock

2007 Omeo-Benambra

2012 Hamilton Kangaroos

2013 Casterton-Sandford

2014 Natimuk United

2015 Robinvale-Euston

2015 Southern Mallee Giants

2016 Geelong West Giants

2016 Ouyen United

2016 Rand-Walbundrie-Walla

2024 Maryborough Giants

2024 Southern Mallee Giants-Rainbow-Jeparit

FOOTY CLUBS IN RECESS OR DISBANDED SINCE 2000

2000 Gerang-Kiata

2000 Marnoo

2000 South Purrumbete

2000 Western Lions

2000 Yaapeet

2002 Landsborough

2002 West Bairnsdale

2004 Ararat United

2005 Nambrok

2005 Newry

2007 Devenish

2011 Wunghnu

2014 Swanpool

2014 Tatong

2016 Deakin University

2016 Forrest

2016 Woomelang-Lascelles

2018 Devon-Welshpool-Won Wron-Woodside

2018 Wakool

2019 Smythesdale

2019 Glenrowan

2020 Border-Walwa

2020 Thornton-Eildon

2022 Ardmona

2022 Federal

2022 Quambatook

2023 Yea

Source: Countryfootyscores.com.au