The BFNL team produced some outstanding netball and advanced to the grand final after five qualifying round wins and a stunning semi-final victory against Goulburn Valley at the State Netball and Hockey Centre in Melbourne.

Featuring most of the league's best players, the BFNL was no match in the grand final for a powerhouse Geelong Football League team, which secured back-to-back association championships.

The BFNL team's sole loss in the qualifying rounds was also against Geelong.

Coached by Carol Cathcart and Mali Roberts, the runners-up defeated Alberton, Waverley City, Ovens and Murray, Victorian University and Hampden to set up their semi-final encounter against Goulburn Valley.

Cathcart said there was no disgrace in losing to Geelong, a team stockpiled with Victorian representatives and Victorian Netball League talent.

"We were competitive against Geelong, but we were beaten by a better team," Cathcart said.

"Geelong is quite close to Melbourne, so there us obviously a lot of girls who travel from to play in the Geelong Football Netball League.

"Our girls certainly did very well. We played them twice and lost by only three during the (qualifying) rounds, but the margin was a bit greater in the grand final - we had a really poor start, but came home strongly.

"I was quite happy - we were a clear second best team there."

Association championships games are contested over two eight-minute halves.

Cathcart said there were plenty of positives to emerge for the BFNL from the championships, especially the stand-out form of Kangaroo Flat duo Zoe Davies and 15-year-old Ruby Barkmeyer.

"Zoe Davies was a really consistent all day and I was real;y impressed with Ruby Barkmeyer," she said.

"To represent our league in open competition at 15 years of age and play with the composure she did, I was very impressed.

"She has a good future ahead of her if she keeps working hard."

Cathcart said the BFNL had entered the championships with 10 quality players and had combined well to finish runners-up.

Geelong has been somewhat of a stumbling block for the BFNL in recent seasons.

The BFNL was eliminated in the 2015 semi-finals by Geelong.

The team was captained by Kangaroo Flat’s Karly Elvey and included Davies, Barkmeyer, Sandhurst’s Brooke Bolton, Heather Oliver and Carly Van den Heuvel, Golden Square’s Gabe Richards, Kyneton’s Michelle Fletcher and Strathfieldsaye’s Brianna Dalrymple-Monro.