BFNL DECADE THAT WAS - the 2017 season

The 2016 season - Sandhurst premiers

The 2015 season - Strathfieldsaye premiers

The 2014 season - Strathfieldsaye premiers

The 2013 season - Golden Square premiers

The 2012 season - Golden Square premiers

The 2011 season - Golden Square premiers

The 2010 season - Golden Square premiers

Look away now if you're an Eaglehawk supporter... this is the grand final where the Hawks blew a 20-point lead at three quarter-time against Strathfieldsaye.

The 2017 BFNL flag looked bound for Canterbury Park when the Hawks - riding a 14-game winning streak - led the Storm 7.11 to 4.9 at the final change on a grand final day where the temperature topped 31.8 degrees.

Given the Hawks were expected to have the fresher legs having played just one lead-up final, the odds appeared well and truly stacked against Strathfieldsaye - albeit the Storm were kicking to the scoring end in the last quarter.

But what unfolded over the last 30 minutes will go down in BFNL folklore as a Lachlan Sharp blitz powered the Storm from a 20-point deficit to a 32-point win.

Having kicked just four goals to three quarter-time, the Storm slammed on nine unanswered to the city end in the final term to win 13.10 (88) to 7.14 (56).

Having already bucked the trend and won the Michelsen Medal as a key forward earlier in the week, Sharp would write another chapter in one of the BFNL's most remarkable comeback stories given the knee reconstruction he had undergone in 2016.

Sharp booted five of his six goals in the last quarter to end the season with 142. His second of the final term at the 11-minute mark gave the Storm the lead for good as the Hawks ground to a halt.

Sharp earned the AFL Victoria Medal, while team-mate Kallen Geary, who played a mix of half-back and half-forward where he also dominated the last term, was the Nalder medallist.

The grand final capped a memorable BFNL September in which the first four finals had been decided by margins of just five, nine, four and three points.

CASTLEMAINE

Finished - 9th (2-16)

New coach at the helm in Derrick Filo - his fourth BFNL club after previous coaching stints at Eaglehawk, Kangaroo Flat and Kyneton.

For the second year in a row the Magpies sat on top of the ladder after a round one win over Maryborough, but next week came a 199-point hiding from Sandhurst and a long year ensued.

Midfielder Kalan Huntly polled 145 votes - 88 clear of his nearest rival Jarryd Graham - to win the best and fairest, prompting Filo to label him one of the best six players in the competition. The following year Huntly would be on Essendon's VFL list.

Best player votes:

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

Kalan Huntly - 69

Jarryd Graham - 39

Braidon Blake - 35

Top goalkickers:

Simon Seddon - 24

Jackson Hood - 15

Kalan Huntly - 13

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

EAGLEHAWK

Finished - 2nd (17-3)

Following the six-season stint of Luke Monaghan as coach, it was a favourite son in Josh Bowe who took the reins having returned to Bendigo from Western Australia.

Sat sixth on the ladder after five rounds with a 3-2 record, but the Hawks then motored their way through the rest of the home and away season.

Won their next 13 games by an average of 75 points to finish a game clear on top of the ladder and then beat Strathfieldsaye by three points in the second semi-final to book their grand final berth.

Were 20 points up at three quarter-time of the grand final, but couldn't finish the job as Strathfieldsaye stormed home to win by 32 points on the back of their nine-goal last-term onslaught.

It was a gut-wrenching end to a season where the Hawks had done so much right, but it would light the fuse for a season of redemption that would follow in 2018.

Best player votes:

Ben McPhee - 43

Josh Bowe - 34

Brodie Collins - 33

Top goalkickers:

Matt Gretgrix - 73

Ben McPhee - 37

Sean Williams - 35

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

GISBORNE

Finished - 7^th (6-12)

Year two of the Gisborne rebuild under Brad Spear featuring the added bonus of a huge chunk of experience in the arrival of 2008 Hawthorn premiership player Clinton Young as assistant coach.

Doubled their three wins of 2016 to six in 2017, with one of the Bulldogs' biggest growth signs being the round four game when they finished just a kick away from Strathfieldsaye at Gardiner Reserve.

In what was an exciting team packed with plenty of emerging talent, it wasn't a surprise that one of the Bulldogs' young pups - key forward Jack Scanlon - won the league's Rising Star award.

Best player votes:

Daniel Weaver - 40

Jarrad Lynch - 36

Trent Crosbie - 30

Top goalkickers:

Thomas Wood - 37

Jake Conolan - 27

Clinton Young - 17

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

GOLDEN SQUARE

Finished - 3^rd (15-5-1)

For the first time in more than a decade the Bulldogs appointed an outsider from Wade Street as coach, with Bernie Haberman taking over from Nick Carter.

But just like the previous year, the Bulldogs fell one step shy of playing off for the flag when beaten by Strathfieldsaye by 16 points in the preliminary final after scores had been level at half-time.

Despite missing five games with a fracture below his right eye, Jack Geary finished runner-up in the Michelsen Medal, while team-mate Tom Toma was part of the five-way tie for third.

Best player votes:

Tom Toma - 57

Jon Coe - 46

Jack Geary - 44

Top goalkickers:

Travis Baird - 49

Dylan Johnstone - 42

Adam Baird - 28

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

KANGAROO FLAT

Finished - 8^th (4-14)

Co-coaches at the Roos in Shawn Filo and Corey Greer.

Beat Maryborough twice and knocked over Castlemaine and South Bendigo once for their four wins as the Roos missed the finals for the eighth year in a row.

Midfielder Jono Lanyon featured among the Roos' best three players in 15 of their 18 games in his debut season.

Best player votes:

Jono Lanyon - 90

Liam Collins - 49

Ross Turner - 29

Top goalkickers:

Charlie Bowyer - 23

Jack Bower - 20

Dylan Klemm - 15

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

KYNETON

Finished - 5^th (10-7-2)

Different opponent, but still the same outcome for Kyneton - beaten in the elimination final yet again.

Having lost the previous two elimination finals to Eaglehawk, this time the Tigers bowed out to Sandhurst with a five-point defeat - yet another thriller Kyneton was involved in during 2017.

The Tigers were the first team since 1988 to play in two draws when they finished level with Sandhurst (96-96) in round four and Golden Square (71-71) in round 17.

They were also involved in five other games decided by eight points or less, providing their supporters with plenty of value for money.

Ben Weightman topped the Tigers' goalkicking with 96, which included a season-high haul of 13 against Castlemaine in round 12.

Best player votes:

Rhys Magin - 53

Josh Govan - 48

Ben Weightman - 37

Top goalkickers:

Ben Weightman - 96

Mitch Scholard - 55

Max O'Sullivan - 22

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

MARYBOROUGH

Finished - 10^th (1-17)

The season highlight for the Magpies was more than 1000 days in the making when they finally rid themselves of a 47-game losing streak by beating Castlemaine by 58 points in round 10.

The drought-breaking 17.12 (114) to 8.8 (56) victory at Princes Park came on June 24. The Magpies' previous win had been 1049 days earlier on August 10, 2014, against South Bendigo by a point.

"We were 0-47 and now we're 1-0," coach Shane Skontra said after the game.

Lost their other 17 games of the season though by an average of 104 points.

Best player votes:

Ethan Crackel - 64

Ashley Noonan - 41

Connor O'Shea - 31

Top goalkickers:

Cameron Rinaldi - 30

Jayden Templeton - 17

Andrew Siekai - 10

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

SANDHURST

Finished - 4^th (12-7-1)

The reigning premiers were unable to replicate the high of a year earlier, with their flag defence coming to an end in the second week of the finals when beaten by Golden Square by five points in the first-semi after starting the year $1.55 favourites with Sportsbet to go back-to-back.

In his first year back at Sandhurst Andrew Collins topped the Dragons' goalkicking with 42 in a season where someone at the club must have walked under a ladder given Collins, reigning Michelsen medallist Kristan Height, Tim Martin, Nick Stagg, Adam Parry, Matt Thornton and Lachlan Ross all missed large chunks.

Best player votes:

Blair Holmes - 43

Andrew Collins - 39

Joel Wharton - 34

Top goalkickers:

Andrew Collins - 42

Kristan Height - 26

Lee Coghlan - 22

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

SOUTH BENDIGO

Finished - 6^th (9-9)

Right up until round 15 the Bloods were sitting in the top five as they hunted their first finals berth since 2012.

But were curtailed by injuries late and five losses in a row to end the season finished the Bloods in sixth position with a 9-9 record.

Who knows what damage the Bloods could have done had they not lost both star forward Kaiden Antonowicz and gun ruckman Kieran Strachan to ankle injuries.

Best player votes:

Mitch Rogerson - 52

Aaron Connaughton - 34

Blair Whelan - 33

Top goalkickers:

Kaiden Antonowicz - 29

Liam Bartels - 29

Brad Wright - 26

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

STRATHFIELDSAYE

Finished - 1^st (18-4)

What a season for the Storm, who not only pulled off their stunning comeback in the grand final to win the senior flag, but also won the reserves and under-18 premierships - the first club since Gisborne in 2002 to do so.

The senior team's 32-point grand final win over Eaglehawk capped an 18-4 season that included a brutal run of wins leading into the finals when they flogged Maryborough by 124, Castlemaine by 141, Kangaroo Flat by 143, South Bendigo by 115 and Kyneton by 109 in their last five home and away games.

2017 also marked the end of the Darryl Wilson coaching era at the Storm that had began in 2011 and yielded three flags to go with a 107-32-1 record from 140 games.

Best player votes:

Kallen Geary - 52

Lachlan Sharp - 44

Trent Donnan - 40

Top goalkickers:

Lachlan Sharp - 142

Shannon Geary - 26

Harry Conway - 25

Grant Weeks couldn't achieve it earlier in the decade despite kicking 451 goals in three years for Golden Square, but finally, a Michelsen Medal win for the key forwards.

Strathfieldsaye's Lachlan Sharp was duly rewarded for a home and away season in which he kicked 124 goals by winning the Michelsen with 18 votes, polling in nine games to become the Storm's first winner of the medal.

Another accolade for Sharp as the spearhead became just the third player in BFNL history, along with Rochester's Ray Willett in 1962 and Eaglehawk's Greg Kennedy in 1971, to complete the league goalkicking and Michelsen Medal quinella.

The left-footer's season-ending tally of 142 goals - 124 in the home and away and 18 in the finals - included five bags of 10 or more.

He was on 64 goals after 12 rounds, before kicking 60 in his next six games - 8, 12, 12, 8, 9 and 11. Rare form.

Sharp's 2017 goal tallies - 4, 4, 10, 7, 14, 7, 2, 5, 5, 2, 2, 2, 8, 12, 12, 8, 9, 11, 1, 6, 5, 6.

1. EAGLEHAWK

Record - 16-2, 173.9%

2. STRATHFIELDSAYE

Record - 15-3, 218.2%

3. GOLDEN SQUARE

Record - 14-3-1, 174.1%

4. SANDHURST

Record - 11-6-1, 153.2%

5. KYNETON

Record - 10-6-2, 131.0%

6. SOUTH BENDIGO

Record - 9-9, 115.1%

7. GISBORNE

Record - 6-12, 87.2%

8. KANGAROO FLAT

Record - 4-14, 62.0%

9. CASTLEMAINE

Record - 2-16, 37.6%

10. MARYBOROUGH

Record - 1-17, 34.4%

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

ELIMINATION FINAL:

Sandhurst 12.18 (90) d Kyneton 13.7 (85)

QUALIFYING FINAL:

Strathfieldsaye 9.19 (73) d Golden Square 10.4 (64)

1ST SEMI-FINAL:

Golden Square 7.13 (55) d Sandhurst 6.15 (51)

2ND SEMI-FINAL:

Eaglehawk 14.13 (97) d Strathfieldsaye 14.10 (94)

PRELIMINARY FINAL:

Strathfieldsaye 10.17 (77) d Golden Square 9.7 (61)

GRAND FINAL:

Strathfieldsaye 13.10 (88) d Eaglehawk 7.14 (56)

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

Bendigo 14.10 (94) lt Ballarat 16.9 (105) at QEO

Best - A. Collins, C. Price, T. Martin, M. Thornton, H. Conway, B. McPhee

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

(includes finals)

142 - Lachlan Sharp

(Strathfieldsaye)

96 - Ben Weightman

(Kyneton)

73 - Matt Gretgrix

(Eaglehawk)

55 - Mitch Scholard

(Kyneton)

49 - Travis Baird

(Golden Square)

42 - Andrew Collins

(Sandhurst)

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

FOOTBALL:

SENIORS:

Strathfieldsaye

RESERVES:

Strathfieldsaye

UNDER-18S:

Strathfieldsaye

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

NETBALL

A GRADE:

Sandhurst

A RESERVE:

Kangaroo Flat

B GRADE:

Sandhurst

B RESERVE:

Kangaroo Flat

17-UNDER:

Sandhurst

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