BFNL: THE DECADE THAT WAS - the 2015 season

The 2014 season

The 2013 season

The 2012 season

The 2011 season

The 2010 season

If you weren't at the QEO for the 2015 grand final you'd be forgiven for thinking the BFNL decider between Strathfieldsaye and Sandhurst was played in pouring rain, with a howling cross-breeze on a QEO bogheap.

After all, there had been only two goals kicked for the entire first half and Sandhurst went to the main break with just 0.1 on the board.

Yet with a scoreline that could only be described as bizarre, the game was played in ideal conditions as Strathfieldsaye won its second flag in a row - and capped an unbeaten season - with the BFNL's lowest winning grand final tally since 1958.

A scoreboard that had read Strathfieldsaye leading Sandhurst 2.9 to 0.1 at half-time ended with the Storm 8.12 (60) to 8.5 (53) victors.

"It's probably the hardest game we've had all season. It was a terrific effort by everyone," a relieved Storm coach Darryl Wison said.

The Storm's Michael Pilcher and Shaun Everington kicked the only two goals of the first half; the Dragons didn't boot their first until six minutes into the third term through Lee Coghlan.

At one stage the Storm kicked 10 consecutive behinds; their inaccuracy threatening to prove their downfall as the Dragons pressed hard in the final term with 20 inside 50s to seven.

As wayward as the Storm had been, the Dragons weren't much better, kicking the ball out on the full four times in the last quarter, which stifled their momentum.

Storm half-back Matt Smith captured the Nalder Medal, while dashing Sandhurst defender Codie Price was the recipient of the AFL Victoria Medal.

And a year after missing the Storm's 2014 flag due to injury, Nick Smith returned from a knee reconstruction late in the season to be part of the 2015 triumph.

CASTLEMAINE

Finished - 7^th (6-12)

A much-improved season for the Magpies, winning six games - a significant step forward given they had won just nine the previous five years.

Among their victories was a first win over Gisborne since 2009, while the Magpies had been a live finals chance right up until round 15.

Midfielder Justin Dorward won the Addy's player of the year award with 34 votes, while his brother-in-law, Jason Cloke, kicked four goals in a one-off game for the Magpies in a 35-point loss to Golden Square in round nine.

Best player votes:

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

Justin Dorward - 80

Kalan Huntly - 48

James O'Brien - 45

Top goalkickers:

Mark Ramsey - 51

Klai Jermyn - 38

Justin Dorward - 20

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

EAGLEHAWK

Finished - 4^th (13-7)

Boasted their second Michelsen medallist of the decade in the dynamic Brodie Filo, five years after Josh Bowe's victory in 2010.

Also had the competition's leading goalkicker in gun forward Matt Gretgrix (82) in his return from Mount Pleasant, but the Hawks couldn't get beyond the second week of the finals after bowing out with a 47-point first semi-final loss to Sandhurst.

Best player votes:

Tim Hill - 43

Ben McPhee - 43

Glenn Daly - 43

Top goalkickers:

Matt Gretgrix - 82

Sean Williams - 43

Jarrod Findlay - 38

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

GISBORNE

Finished - 6^th (6-12)

After being less than a kick away from playing in a grand final the previous year, the Bulldogs slipped down the ladder to finish sixth.

Only won one of their first eight games, with Gardiner Reserve anything but a "Graveyard" in round seven when they could muster just one goal in a 117-point loss to Sandhurst.

Later in the year in December Gisborne would be forced to hold a "Call to Action Day" amid fears for the long-term viability of the club due to a decreasing volunteer and membership base.

Amending last week's Gisborne 2014 snapshot, this was the post-season where the Bulldogs went through the Rod Sharp-Jeff Gieschen-Brad Spear coaching merry-go-round.

Best player votes:

Ollie Messaoudi - 42

Tim Walsh - 34

Ben Sonogan - 25

Top goalkickers:

Matt Knox - 55

Ben Sonogan - 29

Andre Headberry - 13

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

GOLDEN SQUARE

Finished - 3^rd (17-4)

Finished second on the ladder with a 16-2 record, then beat Sandhurst by 18 points in the qualifying final.

However, then it all went pearshaped for the Bulldogs, losing the second semi-final to Strathfieldsaye by 41 points and an injury-ravaged side managing just three goals in a 77-point preliminary final loss to Sandhurst.

Recorded the season's biggest victory of 238 points against Maryborough in round 15, 40.20 (260) to 3.4 (22) - the game in which Corey Jones kicked 16 goals, including eight in the first 16 minutes of the match.

Best player votes:

Tom Toma - 57

Simon Rosa - 43

Corey Jones - 40

Top goalkickers:

Corey Jones - 63

Ryan Herring - 43

Dale Lowry - 17

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

KANGAROO FLAT

Finished - 8^th (6-12)

Were 3-3 after six rounds and inside the top five, but won just three of their last nine games to finish eighth.

Two of their wins came against finalist Kyneton, while Cameron Rinaldi (32) was the only Roo to kick more than 20 goals.

Best player votes:

Corey Greer - 33

Ash Benbow - 28

Nick Lang - 28

Top goalkickers:

Cameron Rinaldi - 32

Ryley Barrack - 18

Ryan McNish - 17

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

KYNETON

Finished - 5^th (8-11)

A season that had been 12 years in the making for the Tigers as they finally made their long-awaited first senior finals appearance since 2003.

Their finals berth came in just their second season back after the senior team went into recess in 2013, but their path to September wasn't without controversy.

Sacked coach Mark Adamson after 14 rounds; the side was 6-8 and fifth at the time.

"The decision was made after a recovery session was called for the players last Sunday... the players fronted, but Mark didn't. That's not reaching the standards that we require," president Rob Waters said.

With four founds left in the season Luke Beattie took over the reins as coach and would become the first Tiger since Peter Foster to coach Kyneton in a final, with the side losing the elimination final to Eaglehawk by 26 points.

Earlier in the year their 24-point win over South Bendigo in round four was the Tigers' first at the QEO since 1999 to end that hoodoo.

Best player votes:

Joel Stevenson - 50

Rhys Magin - 49

Alik Magin - 48

Top goalkickers:

Ben Weightman - 76

Mitch Scholard - 57

Alik Magin - 37

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

MARYBOROUGH

Finished - 10^th (0-18)

The closest the Magpies came to a win for the year was their 11-point defeat to Kangaroo Flat in round three - a game they had led by 23 points at half-time.

Ended the year 0-18 with an average losing margin of 112 points and their first wooden-spoon since rejoining the league in 1992.

Endured one stretch of matches in the second half of the season where they lost seven games consecutively by 100, 104, 150, 138, 238, 100 and 186 points.

Best player votes:

Coby Perry - 58

James Macer - 36

Billy Mahony - 36

Top goalkickers:

Matt Bond - 34

Coby Perry - 18

Jacob Rollason - 11

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

SANDHURST

Finished - 2^nd (16-6)

The disappointment of another grand final defeat for the Dragons, who fell seven points short of power side Strathfieldsaye in the decider.

Played an attacking brand of footy, kicking 15 scores above 100 in their 22 games - yet had just one behind at half-time of the grand final.

The only teams the Dragons lost to throughout the year was Strathfieldsaye and Golden Square three times apiece, while Joel Wharton proved a livewire inside 50, booting 48 goals.

Brett Fitzpatrick coached the Dragons to both the 2014-15 grand finals, but his tenure ended after 2015.

Best player votes:

Codie Price - 42

Lee Coghlan - 42

Lachlan Ross - 39

Top goalkickers:

Joel Wharton - 48

Matt Thornton - 29

Galen Munari - 25

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

SOUTH BENDIGO

Finished - 9^th (4-4)

When you hear the name Steven Oliver you immediately think Castlemaine - after all he did kick over 1000 goals for the Magpies.

But Oliver did have a one-season stint as coach of the Bloods in 2015, which yielded four victories - double the previous year's two.

There was no easing into the season for the Bloods, whose first four games were all against sides that would go on to play in the finals - Eaglehawk (lost by 102); Golden Square (lost by 42); Sandhurst (lost by 86); and Kyneton (lost by 24).

Best player votes:

Aaron Connaughton - 44

Adrian Coad - 33

Jacob Smythe - 30

Top goalkickers:

Michael Tonkin - 23

Darby Walsh - 14

Jayden Sheean - 13

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

STRATHFIELDSAYE

Finished - 1^st (20-0)

The Storm were 19-1 in their premiership season of 2014, but went to another level the following year, completing a perfect 20-0 blitz.

Won their 20 games by an average of 60 points, although twice had to soak up massive challenges from Sandhurst in not only the grand final, which they won by seven points, but they also edged out the Dragons by five points in round 12 at Tannery Lane.

Such was their 2015 dominance, the only time the Storm trailed at any break was when they were two points behind Golden Square at quarter-time in round 10.

Added another former St Kilda player to their list in Matthew Ferguson (43 goals), while in his first season at the club Kallen Geary won the best and fairest.

Had five of the top 13 vote-getters in the Michelsen Medal - Shaun Everington (16), Geary (13), Sam Heavyside (11), Sam Mildren (11) and Jake Hall (11), while Harry Conway won the Rising Star. A big year indeed.

Best player votes:

Kallen Geary - 42

David Gallagher - 39

Matt Smith - 30

Top goalkickers:

Matthew Ferguson - 43

Sam Mildren - 41

Lachlan Sharp - 36

Twenty-four years after his father won, Eaglehawk's Brodie Filo claimed the Michelsen Medal with 17 votes.

The Storm's Shaun Everington led for the bulk of the count, but Filo charged home to win by one vote in what was the first of a trifecta of league medals.

In 2016 Filo would win the Northern Territory league's Nichols Medal and he won the Ovens and Murray's Morris Medal in 2018.

Filo's father, Derrick, was the BFNL's Michelsen medallist in 1991.

The "G-Train" was back in the BFNL in 2015 after stopping at the Mount Pleasant station in 2014, with Matt Gretgrix marking his return to Eaglehawk by winning the Ron Best Medal.

Booted 82 goals - including two hauls of 12 and 11 against Kangaroo Flat - but his season was de-railed late with a strained medial ligament that forced him out of the finals in a big blow.

Gretgrix's 2015 goal tallies - 3, 1, 6, 12, 1, 4, 2, 1, 5, 5, 2, 5, 11, 4, 5, 4, 11.

1. STRATHFIELDSAYE

Record - 18-0, 221.8%

2. GOLDEN SQUARE

Record - 16-2, 198.3%

3. SANDHURST

Record - 14-4, 184.4%

4. EAGLEHAWK

Record - 12-6, 162.3%

5. KYNETON

Record - 8-10, 88.4%

6. GISBORNE

Record - 6-12, 82.6%

7. CASTLEMAINE

Record - 6-12, 81.0%

8. KANGAROO FLAT

Record - 6-12, 66.9%

9. SOUTH BENDIGO

Record - 4-14, 74.9%

10. MARYBOROUGH

Record - 0-18, 30.6%

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

ELIMINATION FINAL:

Eaglehawk 12.17 (89) d Kyneton 9.9 (63)

QUALIFYING FINAL:

Golden Square 14.14 (98) d Sandhurst 12.8 (80)

1ST SEMI-FINAL:

Sandhurst 15.17 (107) d Eaglehawk 8.12 (60)

2ND SEMI-FINAL:

Strathfieldsaye 15.13 (103) d Golden Square 9.8 (62)

PRELIMINARY FINAL:

Sandhurst 15.14 (104) d Golden Square 3.9 (27)

GRAND FINAL:

Strathfieldsaye 8.12 (60) d Sandhurst 8.5 (53)

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

Bendigo 4.12 (36) lt Ballarat 17.11 (113) at Ballarat

Best - M. Thornton, B. Dorrington, J. Dorward, T. Waters, J. Hall, L. Coghlan

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

(includes finals)

82 - Matt Gretgrix

(Eaglehawk)

76 - Ben Weightman

(Kyneton)

63 - Corey Jones

(Golden Square)

57 - Mitch Scholard

(Kyneton)

55 - Matt Knox

(Gisborne)

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

FOOTBALL:

SENIORS:

Strathfieldsaye

RESERVES:

Golden Square

UNDER-18S:

Strathfieldsaye

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

NETBALL

A GRADE:

Golden Square

A RESERVE:

Golden Square

B GRADE:

Golden Square

B RESERVE:

Strathfieldsaye

17-UNDER:

Kangaroo Flat

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