Essendon yesterday forwarded its submission to AFL Victoria as part of its review into the future structure of the VFL.

Essendon’s submission is expected to declare its intention to split from its alignment with Bendigo.

Bombers general manager Peter Lodewijks said the club now faces a waiting game before AFL Victoria releases its findings.

“The submissions closed today (Monday), but that doesn’t mean decisions will be made today,’’ Lodeiwjks said.

“We’ve just got to wait and see what AFL Victoria says.

“Obviously, Essendon wants to go alone, but as far as we’re concerned there’s a lot of water to go under the bridge yet. We have options we’re looking at, but we’ll wait for what AFL Victoria says first.”

For Essendon to have a stand alone VFL side it must be granted a licence by AFL Victoria. The Bendigo Bombers have a licence to compete in the VFL for the next three years.

Should Essendon be granted a licence, Bendigo could form its own VFL side or seek a different alignment with another AFL club.

The latter appears unlikely, with Hawthorn (Box Hill), Melbourne (Casey Scorpions), North Melbourne (North Ballarat and Werribee), Carlton (Northern Bullants), Richmond (Coburg), St Kilda (Sandringham) and the Western Bulldogs (Williamstown) all enjoying fruitful relationships with their respective VFL clubs.