SIX TEAMS will play in the Loddon Valley league’s under-18 football competition this season with confirmation that Maiden Gully will field a side.
The welcome news for the league comes after Newbridge failed to find enough players to re-enter the junior ranks despite a willingness to do so.
“It was disappointing, but more so for the club, which was trying to do everything they could to get a side up and running,” league chairman Richard Hicks said.
“The kids were keen, but the parents were not.”
However, Hicks said the Maroons were working hard behind the scenes and were “more than confident” they would be able to field a junior side in 2026.
“So, we’re back to a six-team competition, which is not ideal as we wanted seven, but we’re playing with a revised draw.”
Maiden Gully’s return to the competition will be against last season’s premiers, the East Loddon Rams, at Calivil.
Last season, the Eagles’ senior team was penalised 12 points by the league for the club’s failure to enter an underage side.
That penalty was eventually rescinded after Maiden Gully protested the decision.
The club also was fined $10,000, of which $5000 was suspended.
In the end, the Eagles would have finished second last on the senior ladder regardless of whether or not the points deduction was imposed.
Maiden Gully’s decision not to have an under-18 team last season in the Loddon Valley league came after the club tried to enter a side in the Bendigo junior competition.
It was intended as the first step in the club moving all its teams to the BFNL but was blocked, given that the Eagles were officially affiliated with the Loddon Valley league.
Both Maiden Gully and Marong had previously made unsuccessful moves to switch to the Heathcote league.
Maiden Gully’s other junior teams, from under-9 to under-16, now play in the Bendigo Junior Football League.
In other matches in round one of the Loddon Valley under-18 competition, Inglewood will host last season’s runners-up Marong, and Bridgewater will be at home to Pyramid Hill.