BFNL DECADE THAT WAS - the 2010 season

The 2010 grand final, though, was played eight days later than originally scheduled after the first week of the finals had earlier been postponed due to the QEO deemed unplayable for the qualifying and elimination finals following 50.6mm of rain in the lead-up.

As such, the BFNL premiership was decided on Sunday, September 26 - the day after the drawn AFL grand final between Collingwood and St Kilda.

This game would be far less dramatic than what unfolded at the MCG 24 hours earlier as Nick Carter's inaccurate Bulldogs proved superior, leading at every change to win 11.21 (87) to 8.10 (58).

Golden Square's Jack Geary was just 19 at the time, but the young gun who would go on to become arguably the BFNL's player of the decade dominated on the big stage, winning the Nalder Medal for his game across half-back, while team-mate and fellow defender Anthony Holdstock earned the VCFL Medal.

Star Bulldogs' full-forward Grant Weeks slotted five goals to end the season with 157 in a game where the Bulldogs were forced to overcome injuries to James Bristow (hip), Adam Baird (shoulder) and Brayden Dorrington (shoulder).

"Our tackling today went to a new level. We knew it had to get to that level to win the game and the boys were terrific. Everyone made a contribution," Carter said.

The Bloods, though, were left to lament another missed opportunity in what remains the club's last grand final.

"For two years in a row Golden Square has shown it's the best side... they have had a super year," Bloods coach Rick Coburn said.

CASTLEMAINE

Finished - 10^th (0-18)

Unfortunately for the Magpies, a sign of what was to come in a decade of constant struggle for Castlemaine.

The Magpies endured a winless 2010: a season that started by blowing a 28-point half-time lead at home against Kyneton in round one and losing by three points.

Copped six losses by 100-plus points, while midfielder Lachlan Ford was easily the Magpies' most consistent, figuring among the best players in 15 of their 18 games.

Best player votes:

(6 for being named best; 5 for second best and so on)

Lachlan Ford - 61

Luke Walters - 52

Jeff McMurtrie - 41

Top goalkickers:

Daniel Christmas - 23

Jeff McMurtrie - 19

James O'Brien - 14

.........................................

EAGLEHAWK

Finished - 3^rd (15-6)

Knocked out by South Bendigo in the preliminary final, which brought an end to the coaching tenure of Derrick Filo that had began at Canterbury Park in 2003.

Only teams the Hawks lost to throughout the year were Golden Square and South Bendigo three times apiece.

Forward duo Matt Gretgrix (82) and Brady Herdman (51) both kicked more than 50 goals for the Hawks, who produced the Michelsen Medal winner in future premiership coach Josh Bowe.

Best player votes:

Troy Coates - 43

Cameron Milward - 33

Matt Gretgrix - 32

Top goalkickers:

Matt Gretgrix - 82

Brady Herdman - 51

Linton Jacobs - 39

.........................................

GISBORNE

Finished - 8^th (4-14)

Between 2002 and 2009 the Bulldogs had been a fixture of every BFNL finals series, but their September run ended in 2010 after winning just four games - three of which were on their home deck at Gardiner Reserve.

Ollie Messaoudi and Casey Summerfield both carried heavy loads through the midfield, with the toughest day the side endured for the year when it kicked just three goals in a 140-point hammering from premier Golden Square in round five.

Although, the 29-point loss to arch-rival Kyneton later in the year probably stung more.

Best player votes:

Ollie Messaoudi - 66

Casey Summerfield - 57

Shaun Comerford - 34

Top goalkickers:

Darren Farrugia - 35

Luke Saunders - 28

Ollie Messaoudi - 24

.........................................

GOLDEN SQUARE

Finished - 1st (19-1)

The premier side of 2010 whose only loss was a 17-point defeat to South Bendigo at the QEO in late June.

The Bulldogs wouldn't lose again until April of 2012.

Golden Square's premiership season was spearheaded by 157 goals to recruit Grant Weeks, who finished runner-up to the Hawks' Josh Bowe in the Michelsen.

Such was their 2010 dominance the Bulldogs polled 90 of a possible 108 Michelsen Medal votes, with 15 players all earning votes.

The Bulldogs' 19 victories included eight by more than 100 points and their season-ending percentage of 226.7 still ranks No.5 in the BFNL since 1950.

Weeks, Simon Rosa, Nathan Bell, Mark Lloyd, Matt O'Toole, young guns in Jack Geary and Adam Baird, James Bristow, Luke Hammond... easy to see why the Bulldogs were the powerhouse force they were.

Best player votes:

Grant Weeks - 62

Mark Lloyd - 41

Simon Rosa - 39

Top goalkickers:

Grant Weeks - 157

Shaun Young - 36

Adrian McErvale - 21

.........................................

KANGAROO FLAT

Finished - 6^th (9-9)

Season started with a bang... Justin Maddern bagging 10 goals, including eight in the first quarter, in a 45-point round one win at Gisborne in Murray Collins' coaching debut.

Maddern would go on to boot 100 goals in a team that after breaking its finals drought the year before finished sixth having entered the final round sitting fifth.

With Square's Weeks kicking 157, there hasn't been a BFNL season since where two players have kicked the ton.

One of the standouts for the Roos in 2010 was Shannon Geary, who would depart at the end of the season to begin a stellar career that has so far yielded three flags at rival club Strathfieldsaye.

The Roos boasted the season's Rising Star winner in Dylan Clohesy.

Best player votes:

Shannon Geary - 50

Justin Maddern - 46

Carl Thiesz - 39

Top goalkickers:

Justin Maddern - 100

Shannon Geary - 24

Ryan McNish - 20

.........................................

KYNETON

Finished - 9^th (4-14)

No doubt the highlight win of 2010 for the Tigers was their breakthrough victory over long-time nemesis Gisborne.

The Tigers hadn't beaten Gisborne since 2001 and lost 17 in a row by an average of 106 points before they finally rolled the Bulldogs by 29 points at home in round 13, 9.15 (69) to 6.4 (40), with Robert Trajkovski best-on-ground and team-mate Wayne Foster kicking four goals.

Trajkovski was a big midfield presence for the Tigers in 2010, finishing equal fourth in the Michelsen.

Best player votes:

Robert Trajkovski - 47

Liam Turner - 32

Beau Hopkins - 30

Top goalkickers:

James Condos - 66

Wayne Foster - 29

Liam Turner - 24

.........................................

MARYBOROUGH

Finished - 4^th (10-10)

2010 remains the last season the Magpies have figured in the senior finals, while they also won the reserves flag that year.

Coached by Shane Fisher, the senior team finished fifth on the ladder - they replaced Kangaroo Flat in the top five in the final round - before knocking over Sandhurst by 15 points in the elimination final.

Bowed out the following week with a 71-point first semi-final loss to South Bendigo in a game played at Golden Square due to precautions still being taken to protect the QEO from the week one finals washout.

Best player votes:

Matt Johnston - 50

Chris Thomson - 37

Cameron Rinaldi - 33

Top goalkickers:

Matthew Brown - 39

Cameron Rinaldi - 32

Chris Thomson - 16

.........................................

SANDHURST

Finished - 5^th (10-9)

Having finished outside the top five in 2008 and 2009 the Dragons were back in the finals action in 2010, but their return only lasted one week, bowing out to Maryborough in the elimination final.

Were under the pump early in the season at 1-3, but Kieran Nihill's side went 9-5 over the remaining 14 games to book their finals berth.

Despite playing just over half-a-season with the Dragons - and the other half in the VFL with the Bendigo Bombers, who he would captain the following year - Ben Duscher finished top five in the Bendigo Advertiser Player of the Year award won by Square's Weeks on 45 votes.

Best player votes:

Blair Homes - 49

Lee Coghlan - 41

Jon Coghlan - 41

Top goalkickers:

Sam McGee - 35

Ben Duscher - 27

Matt Thornton - 27

.........................................

SOUTH BENDIGO

Finished - 2^nd (19-3)

The Bloods were grand final bridesmaids again for the second year in a row.

Only lost three games for the year, but two of them were finals - the qualifying final against Eaglehawk by 38 points that ended a 17-game winning streak, and the 29-point grand final loss to Golden Square.

Were the only team to beat Golden Square in 2010 with their 17-point victory at the QEO in round 11, while the pair of Steven Stroobbants (55) and Dayne Frew (45) combined for 100 goals.

Best player votes:

Alex Galea - 40

Jackson Ireland - 36

Tom Hams - 35

Top goalkickers:

Steven Stroobants - 55

Danye Frew - 45

Alex Galea - 36

.........................................

STRATHFIELDSAYE

Finished - 7^th (6-12)

The second season in the competition for the Storm, who having won four games in their 2009 debut improved to a credible six in 2010.

The upwards trajectory would continue in the following years all the way to the ultimate success for the first time in 2014.

A young Lachan Sharp kicked 57 goals for the Storm in 2010 and would go on establish himself as one of the BFNL's modern day kings of the goalsquare, with a further 545 - and counting - goals to his name since.

Best player votes:

Brenton Hall - 41

Cameron Hall - 36

Dermott Smythe - 36

Top goalkickers:

Lachlan Sharp - 57

Kris Lea - 22

Cameron Hall - 20

Eaglehawk midfielder Josh Bowe clinched the coveted Michelsen Medal on the final vote of the count.

A best-on-ground performance for the Hawks in their round 18 win over Kangaroo Flat lifted Bowe to 25 votes, surpassing Golden Square's red-hot favourite - and his former house-mate - Grant Weeks (22).

"I'm shocked... I don't really know what to say," Bowe said after the count.

"I was pretty happy with my year. It was reasonably consistent, but there's a lot of good players, so no way did I expect to win this."

After joining Golden Square from Colbinabbin in the pre-season, Grant Weeks proved to be a goalkicking machine for the Bulldogs.

Weeks ended the home and away season with 145 goals, before adding 12 more in the finals for a year-end tally of 157. Weeks set the tone for the season early with 31 goals after four rounds and would need just 12 matches to bring up his ton.

Weeks' 2010 season tallies - 9, 5, 8, 9, 11, 11, 2, 10, 12, 11, 4, 14, 1, 7, 11, 5, 3, 12, 7, 5.

1. GOLDEN SQUARE

Record - 17-1, 236.9%

2. SOUTH BENDIGO

Record - 17-1, 224.2%

3. EAGLEHAWK

Record - 14-4, 154.5%

4. SANDHURST

Record - 10-8, 113.7%

5. MARYBOROUGH

Record - 9-9, 104.4%

6. KANGAROO FLAT

Record - 9-9, 91.2%

7. STRATHFIELDSAYE

Record - 6-12, 74.0%

8. GISBORNE

Record - 4-14, 67.3%

9. KYNETON

Record - 4-14, 57.7%

10. CASTLEMAINE

Record - 0-18, 47.9%

...........................................

ELIMINATION FINAL:

Maryborough 13.12 (90) d Sandhurst 11.9 (75)

QUALIFYING FINAL:

Eaglehawk 18.13 (121) d South Bendigo 13.5 (83)

1ST SEMI-FINAL:

South Bendigo 23.6 (144) d Maryborough 11.7 (73)

2ND SEMI-FINAL:

Golden Square 20.11 (131) d Eaglehawk 13.9 (87)

PRELIMINARY FINAL:

South Bendigo 17.8 (110) d Eaglehawk 7.12 (54)

GRAND FINAL:

Golden Square 11.21 (87) d South Bendigo 8.10 (58)

...........................................

Bendigo 15.11 (101) d Gippsland 12.20 (92) at QEO.

Bendigo's best - N. Bell, A. Baird, K. Robins, J. Geary, T. Nicolson, S. Stroobants

...........................................

(includes finals)

157 - Grant Weeks

(Golden Square)

100 - Justin Maddern

(Kangaroo Flat)

82 - Matt Gretgrix

(Eaglehawk)

66 - James Condos

(Kyneton)

57 - Lachlan Sharp

(Strathfieldsaye)

55 - Steven Stroobants

(South Bendigo)

...........................................

FOOTBALL:

SENIORS:

Golden Square

RESERVES:

Maryborough

UNDER-18S:

Golden Square

.....................

NETBALL

A GRADE:

Kangaroo Flat

A RESERVE:

Kangaroo Flat

B GRADE:

Eaglehawk

17-UNDER:

Sandhurst

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