We haven't put a line through staying in BFNL: Q & A with Magpie president

Quinlan is the president of a club with a history of more than 150 years whose future beyond this season in the Bendigo Football Netball League is up in the air.

While Quinlan says the club - which is enduring a season of significant on-field hardship as a lack of numbers and injuries have combined for several horror senior scorelines and no reserves for a fourth-straight game this week - has absolutely no intention of shutting its doors, where the Magpies play next year and in what guise is up for discussion.

The Magpies have this week informed their members and supporters of the club resolution to "investigate moving to another league" as either a stand-alone or merged club, but Quinlan has also stated the club hasn't ruled out remaining in the BFNL, where it has played since 1992.

As the Magpies begin to navigate their way forward and look at what 2025 and beyond holds, Quinlan spoke on Thursday with the Bendigo Advertiser's Luke West about the situation his club is facing.

LW: For a start, is there any chance that the club won't see the year out and will pull the pin mid-season?

SQ: 100 per cent we will be finishing the year out. I should have mentioned this in my media post that the BFNL has been nothing but supportive and wants us to stay.

"We're not saying we're out of the BFNL at the end of the year and the league is really encouraging us to stay and looking at ways they can help us to stay. They are not forcing us out at all.

"The immediate challenge we've got as we've communicated in the past is filling reserves matches for away games."

Is the club still trying to keep a reserves side alive this year following the forfeits of the past three games?

"We haven't put a line through the reserves at all.

"The MCDFNL (Maryborough-Castlemaine District Football Netball League) slaughters you when you're the premier club and when you're a population of 9000 people and there's five district clubs within eight kilometres of Princes Park... there's just not enough numbers to go around.

"That's the big problem, but we haven't put a line through the reserves.

"The BFNL is giving us exemptions for kids to play under-18s and reserves, but you've got to mindful of player welfare."

Will you get the reserves back on the park at home against Golden Square this weekend?

"No, we won't get the reserves up this week. Golden Square has been accommodating and the under-18s will play in the timeslot of the reserves this week."

So just to clarify an earlier point, it's not a foregone conclusion at this stage that Maryborough will be finished as a Bendigo league club at the end of this season?

"Absolutely not. Both Cameron Tomlins (BFNL general manager/AFL Central Victoria region manager) and Carol McKinstry (BFNL chair) are doing everything they possibly can to keep us there.

"And what's even more comforting is the other eight presidents are more than supportive and happy on a weekly basis to hand players over and so forth to try to get a twos game up.

"We've also got to be mindful that we can't be having blokes every week missing out on games, so we've got to permit them out to the district league so they can keep the miles up in their legs.

"Sandhurst offered to give us 10 players a few weeks ago... the presidents are being really good about it because no-one wants to see Maryborough jump out of the competition.

"The cold hard reality is we've got, and I say this respectfully, 12 or 13 BFNL quality players who would probably jump into any side, but it's the 10 after that who aren't at the standard of the BFNL."

What would it take for the club to remain in the BFNL next year?

"It needs, and this is what I'm working on right now, a team of three or four people in recruiting that starts right now about potential signings.

"The club is quite flush, money isn't an issue at all, so it's about securing players for next year along with maybe a high profile coach.

"It's got to come back to the men's senior football team because everything else in the club is flourishing... it's just the men's senior football team.

"The other thing to point out is that if something does happen, whether it's a merger of we go stand-alone in another league, we would still be represented in the Bendigo Junior Football League.

"We've had good chats with Nathan Williams (AFLCV junior/female football operations manager) and they are more than supportive to leave our juniors in the BJFL if we were to jump out of the BFNL."

There has been information provided to your members and supporters outlining the club's need to look at its future beyond this year and tabling options such as merging or standing alone in another league. What are the initial steps now in terms of how it plays out over the next few weeks?

"I've got a meeting coming up with the two respective general managers of AFL Central Victoria and AFL Goldfields to thrash some ideas around and what options are on the table and what it could potentially look like.

"My personal view is I'd rather the club stays where it is in the BFNL, but that comes back to recruiting.

"But the decision is not mine to make. There will be a vote for members and supporters next week and they will ultimately have the casting vote.

"I just need to be able to give them the options in terms of what it could potentially look like if we were to stay in the BFNL, what we would have to do if we went stand-alone in the MCDFNL and what are the pros and cons.

"I'll probably throw three options at the members and supporters and like any club, they are ultimately the ones who make the decisions."

I assume those three options will be stay in the BFNL, merge or join a district league. Would the Loddon Valley league be a potential option?

"No, that has already been knocked on the head by our committee. There's nine on the committee and it was 8-1 against, so we wouldn't entertain the idea of the LVFNL."

What about the Central Highlands purely as a point of difference to being another MCDFNL club?

"There's already 17 teams in that competition and geographically that's not going to help our problem with recruiting.

"So if we're going to go into a district league then it makes sense that we'd look to go into the Maryborough-Castlemaine league given it's in the heartbeat of the town."

What could a merger option potentially look like given we've just seen the other two clubs in Maryborough, Rovers and Royal Park, come together this year to form the Maryborough Giants. As you mentioned, there's a lot of surrounding MCDFNL clubs on your doorstep. Have you had any discussions yet with any prospective merger partners?

"We have been approached informally in that league by two clubs. I won't say who though out of respect to them.

"But two clubs have approached us after the media post went out about what the positives could be if we were to do something with them.

"The obvious drawcard of a merger is suddenly you've got the potential to have a powerhouse club in the league flushed with footballers and netballers and juniors with the best sporting facility in the district being Princes Park.

"So yes, there has been a couple of informal approaches."

Is shutting the doors completely and folding the club as an absolute last resort an option that will be considered?

"No... that won't happen. No chance at all.

"There was a vote taken on that last week when we had 34 people in the room - committee, junior committee, netballers - and I mentioned it as is it an option we need to consider and it was a flat no, so that won't be happening.

"There's just too much quality juniors, both netball and football, to do something along those lines.

"If the club was dire with money issues and something like that then you'd be re-assessing, but it's not the case whatsoever."

The club has had its well-documented struggles for years now. What was the particular tipping point where it hit home that we've now got to look at what's best for us moving forward?

"I get that clubs get injuries, but make no mistake, we've had eight or nine of our proper senior lads who have been injured since round one.

"It has been an absolute bloodbath with our injuries, but we'll get four or five lads back this week, which is encouraging.

"But it was a couple of months ago where I started thinking without a win or being competitive, how long are our players going to want to keep rolling out there in the black, white and teal and continually lose?"

Are you concerned with the results the way they are and putting the club's future up for discussion that you could potentially have players seeking clearances prior to June 30 and it could still get worse in the back end of the season?

"Coby (Perry), Matt (Johnston, co-coaches) and I have addressed the playing group on several occasions over the past six weeks.

"We've had a couple of byes and given the green light for our players to go wherever home may be for them and play in the district league and a couple of those boys have had wins, which mentally keeps them up and about.

"When you get messages from some of our senior players who have said, thanks Scotty for the opportunity to be able to go out and play a game elsewhere, but clear me back to Maryborough because that's where I want to play, even though we're losing... that gives me a bit of heart.

"I've been very transparent with our senior men players so they know exactly what's going on in the background and they're not in the dark.

"It has been a build-up over the past three or four years and I think a lot of it comes back to geographically.

"You get kids to age 18 or 19 and then they head off to university because there's no great employment opportunities in Maryborough for kids to hang around and it's unfortunate that you lose them.

"Again, the BFNL has been fantastic in supporting us, but we have had to be honest and say that we can't sustain this model because we will just continue to bleed players and not end up with any quality at all.

"Every day the league has said what can we do to help... we can assist with clearances, we can assist with permits, anything and everything they can do to help us they are.

"Ultimately, the BFNL board led by Carol McKinstry, their desire and hope is that we stay and that's the straight-from-the-heart truth."