THE dominance of the Bendigo Football-Netball League’s city-based clubs will be on show throughout the finals series.
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Throughout the BFNL’s three football and five netball grades, 40 teams have qualified for finals.
Of those 40 teams, just five are country-based sides.
Gisborne has four teams in the finals – its reserves and under-18 football and A grade and 17-under netball – while Kyneton’s senior football side has finished in the top five for the first time since 2003.
The rest of the 35 finals teams are all from city-based clubs – Eaglehawk, Golden Square, Kangaroo Flat, Sandhurst, South Bendigo and Strathfieldsaye.
Neither Maryborough or Castlemaine have any teams in the finals.
On the football field, 12 of the 15 finalists come from the same four clubs.
Not only were Strathfieldsaye, Golden Square, Sandhurst and Eaglehawk the top four sides in the senior competition – and will all play finals together for the third year in a row – all four also have their reserves and under-18s playing in September.
Those four clubs combined for 176 home and away wins of a possible 216 on the football field.
On the netball court, there has also been a domination by four clubs, with Golden Square, Kangaroo Flat, Sandhurst and Strathfieldsaye having all five sides in and combining for 20 of the league’s 25 finalists.
Those four dominant netball clubs won 280 out of 352 games during the home and away season, with the remaining five finals teams filled by Gisborne (two) and South Bendigo (three).
