SATURDAY should have been the next installment of one of regional Victoria's most fierce sporting rivalries - Bendigo vs Ballarat.

The two goldfields foes were to face off in football and netball inter-league matches at Ballarat's Mars Stadium.

Instead, there will be no inter-league this year due to the coronavirus crisis that has delayed all 2020 community competitions.

So with no game to look forward to on Saturday, here's a look back at all 10 of Bendigo's inter-league tussles during the 2010s decade.

2010 - Bendigo 15.11 (101) def Gippsland 12.20 (92).

Grant Weeks, Justin Maddern, Brady Herdman, James Condos and Steven Stroobants - Bendigo certainly wasn't lacking for forward firepower for its inter-league clash with Gippsland at the QEO in May of 2010.

Coach Jeff Brennan had an absolute arsenal of weaponry in his front half, but it was only for Gippsland's inaccuracy that the Blue and Gold was able to get away with a nine-point victory.

Gippsland had six more scoring shots, but paid the price for its inaccuracy, which included six missed set-shots from inside 35m in the second half.

Bendigo led at every change, including by 17 points at half-time in what was a 7 v 8 match-up, yet nine minutes into the final term Gippsland had hit the front by nine points.

But the Blue and Gold kicked the final three goals of the match through Shannon Geary, Stroobants and Maddern to emerge victorious, with the trio of Maddern (four), Weeks (three) and Stroobants (three) finishing with 10 majors between them.

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2011 - Bendigo 15.12 (102) lt Geelong 19.8 (122).

This was a missed opportunity that stung Bendigo when it squandered the chance to move into the top four in the inter-league rankings in its Skilled Stadium tussle with Geelong.

The signs were promising early when Bendigo raced to a 6.3 to 2.0 lead at quarter-time, but it was unable to sustain its strong start as Geelong fought back to win by 20 points and set itself on the path to No.1.

Bendigo suffered a huge second term blow when Tyrone Downie broke his collarbone in a marking collision, while the Blue and Gold was also left to rue hitting the post four times.

Grant Weeks kicked seven goals for Bendigo, while down the other end, former Melbourne high-flyer Russell Robertson, who was matched-up by Tim Hill, slotted four for Geelong.

In what was the year when it went through the season undefeated, Golden Square provided four of Bendigo's best players on the day - captain Simon Rosa, Weeks, Travis Baird and Adam Baird.

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2012 - Bendigo 18.12 (120) def Gippsland 15.7 (97).

Bendigo's 2012 encounter against Gippsland at the QEO went the same way as their tussle two years ago, with Bendigo again winning.

Only this time it was by 23 points and it didn't require Bendigo to overcome a last quarter deficit.

Instead, Bendigo had the game well in hand from time-on of the second quarter when it kicked four unanswered goals to lead by 36 points at half-time and maintained control for the remainder of the match.

Bendigo's speed was a telling factor during its game-breaking run, with the 10-minute burst before half-time becoming all the more decisive when rain fell after the break.

Star forwards Grant Weeks (six) and Sam Mildren (five) combined for 11 goals for Bendigo, while tenacious defender Clayton Anderson earned the Derrick Filo Medal for best-on-ground.

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2013 - Bendigo 8.17 (65) lt Ballarat 13.10 (88).

Bendigo has only got itself to blame for this squandered chance against Ballarat at the Eastern Oval.

In what was inter-league coach Jeff Brennan's swansong, Bendigo had two more scoring shots, yet lost by 23 points after kicking a wasteful 8.17, plagued by inaccuracy from the outset with a 2.7 first quarter.

The Blue and Gold let Ballarat off the hook early, with its nine scoring shots to one in the opening term only translating to an 18-point lead at quarter-time.

By half-time, though, Ballarat was eight points in front; Bendigo wrested back a six-point advantage at the final change; before Ballarat regained control in the final term to take the win.

Brodie Filo played with his customary flair to win Bendigo's best-on-ground medal named after his dad; Ollie Messaoudi, who copped a heavy bump at the first bounce, was also a strong midfield performer, but as the saying goes - bad kicking is bad football.

"For the amount of footy that went in, we probably should have kicked eight goals in that first quarter. Instead it was just two. It's a very disappointing result," Brennan lamented.

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2014 - Bendigo 19.14 (128) def Gippsland 13.16 (94).

What had become a familiar inter-league match-up featured chapter three in 2014 - another Bendigo v Gippsland clash at the QEO.

This is the game best remembered for the show put on by Stephen Milne, who lit up the QEO with a nine-goal haul in Bendigo's 34-point victory.

Just one season out of the AFL, Milne proved the difference, with the Gippsland defence having no answer to his bag of tricks.

It was Milne's first senior game of representative football and he revelled, kicking two goals in the first quarter, three in the second, two in the third and two in the last, while also producing the highlight of the game with a soaring pack mark in the final term.

"I was lucky enough to get on the end of a few with the quality midfielders we had," Milne said.

Milne was one of three former AFL players part of the victorious day, with ex-North Melbourne player Corey Jones kicking four goals and 2008 Hawthorn premiership player Rick Ladson coaching the side for the first time.

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2015 - Bendigo 4.12 (36) lt Ballarat 17.11 (113).

Bendigo's 2015 return trip to Ballarat's Eastern Oval was certainly a forgettable day, with the Blue and Gold handed a 77-point hiding in the 5 v 6 match-up.

The damage was done in the second quarter when Ballarat piled on 7.2 to 0.1 to lead by 41 points at half-time and kill off the contest.

Just like two years earlier at the same venue, Bendigo had also failed to capitalise on the chance to apply scoreboard heat to Ballarat, kicking 2.5 in the first term.

Bendigo's only two other goals were kicked in the third quarter, with the Blue and Gold's day made all the more worse with captain Jack Geary suffering a concussion, while Brodie Filo hurt a shoulder.

"It's a shattering result today... the boys are extremely disappointed," coach Rick Ladson said.

"We all brought into a process that we believed in, but we didn't execute."

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2016 - Bendigo 17.8 (110) def Gippsland 12.7 (79).

A 260km road trip for Bendigo to Warragul to take on Gippsland for the fourth time in seven years.

With new coach Brett Fitzpatrick at the helm of an inexperienced inter-league side, Bendigo again had the measure of Gippsland, winning this time by 31 points.

Fitzpatrick described the performance as a complete team effort with not one passenger. Centreman Trent Donnan earned the Derrick Filo Medal as Bendigo's best and stepped up his stoppage work once Kristan Height - who would win the Michelsen Medal later that year - went off with a hamstring injury. Dylan Johnstone was Bendigo's leading goalkicker with four.

"To come down here with such a youthful group and win is a fantastic result for the league. The playing group should be very proud of themselves," Fitzpatrick said.

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2017 - Bendigo 14.10 (94) lt Ballarat 16.9 (105).

This was a pulsating QEO contest between the two arch-rivals, but again Bendigo couldn't get over the Ballarat hurdle.

Although, it looked like it could be Bendigo's night when it led by 14 points during the final quarter having earlier trailed by 26 points during the third term.

However, Ballarat refused to lie down and in a late burst kicked five of the last six goals to turn their deficit into an 11-point victory.

"It looked like we could have been one goal away from breaking it open in the last quarter, but full credit to Ballarat with the way they were able to finish the game off," coach Brett Fitzpatrick said.

Matt Thornton and Kaiden Antonowicz combined for eight of Bendigo's 16 goals.

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2018 - Bendigo 10.13 (73) lt Hampden 11.16 (82).

A fresh rival for Bendigo, with Hampden the Blue and Gold's 2018 opponent at Warrnambool in what would be Brett Fitzpatrick's final game as inter-league coach.

Bendigo swiftly jumped out of the blocks to lead by 17 points at the first break, but Hampden kicked nine goals to five over the final three quarters to grind out a nine-point victory, with the Blue and Gold eventually worn down by the bigger bodies of the home side.

Although, Bendigo didn't help its cause when it kicked 2.8 with the aid of the breeze in the third quarter. Then again, Hampden - which was coached by Brisbane Lions' legend Jonathan Brown - had kicked an off-target 2.9 when it had the wind during the second term.

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2019 - Bendigo 18.17 (125) def Outer East 3.8 (26).

This was Bendigo at its best - its run-and-gun brand of football on the QEO blowing Outer East off the park.

With new coach Darryl Wilson at the helm Bendigo's meticulous preparation paid the ultimate dividend - a 99-point thrashing to round out the decade in style.

The margin was already 60 points at half-time and by the final siren 12 players had hit the scoreboard for Bendigo in what was its biggest inter-league win since 2002.

"The reality is Bendigo put in more preparation than we did. They had far more buy-in, and even just the little things you saw before the game in their unity, you could tell there was a real want and as a coach you know 'geez, they're on," Outer East coach Nick Rutley said of Bendigo.

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