Fresh Bulldogs bid to join Ballarat league in 2027

BALLARAT Football Netball League (BFNL) chair Rob Simmonds says the board is watching with interest as Gisborne Football Netball Club members prepare to have their say on where the Bulldogs’ future lies.

For the second time in less than 12 months, Gisborne members will vote on a proposed move to the Ballarat league at a special general meeting on Thursday 30 April.

A similar motion was overwhelmingly endorsed by members last August, with 193 in favour, 20 against and 10 abstaining from the vote.

The move, which was opposed by the Bendigo league, was eventually blocked by AFL Victoria, forcing the Bulldogs to stay put for the 2026 season.

Undeterred, the Bulldogs have vowed to push on and seek entry into the Ballarat league in 2027.

Gisborne’s intentions will be high on the agenda when the Ballarat league board next meets on Monday 20 April.

As it has been throughout the process, Simmonds said the league remained committed to Gisborne becoming an affiliated member of the BFNL.

“Definitely … we’ll push ahead,” he said.

“We’re a little bit earlier in the piece than they are at the moment.

“We’ll have our board meeting on 20 April, where we’ll move a motion to start the process, and then we’ll go to our clubs again and give them a say.

“Gisborne is struggling a bit with (football) numbers this year, which the club predicted.

“But I think those numbers will improve just by swapping leagues because of the travel factor.

“From our end, it seems there is a little more positivity that their application could go through.”

Ballarat league clubs last year voted 46–4 in favour of admitting the Bulldogs for the 2026 season.

Simmonds said he could see no reason why the Ballarat clubs would not again emphatically endorse the Bulldogs’ entry.

“I wouldn’t think there’ll be too many changes, but we will reach out to our clubs and make sure they are comfortable with it before we pull the trigger,” he said.

Citing a better alignment with competitors, Gisborne believes its geographic proximity to Ballarat league clubs makes that league a better fit.

Sunbury, Melton, Darley and Bacchus Marsh are all within 30 minutes of Gisborne, while the club’s closest Bendigo league rivals Castlemaine and newcomers Broadford are 50 minutes away.

A potential glimmer of hope for Gisborne is that, while its attempted switch was successfully appealed by the Bendigo league last year, the board has since undergone profound changes in personnel.

Only four board members remain from last season following Sam McGee and Andy Walker’s decision to not seek re-election in January this year, and former chair Carol McKinstry being unsuccessful in her bid to win re-election.

Of the current nine board members, five are new, including new chairman Brett Fitzpatrick, Jeremy Brown, Caleb Kuhle, Colin Rosa and Rick Townsend.