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FOUR senior premiership teams spanning two South Bendigo dynasties will be celebrated by the Bloods at the QEO on Saturday.
The 1950s and 1990s were both halcyon decades for the Bloods - they won five flags in seven years in the '50s (1950, 1951, 1954, 1955 and 1956) all under the legendary Alan 'The Fox' McDonald, and later four flags in five years in the '90s (1990, 1991, 1993 and 1994).
The Bloods will honour their 1951 (70 years), 1956 (65 years) and 1991 (30 years) senior premiership teams, as well as celebrating 1990 given a 30-year reunion couldn't be held in 2020 due to COVID.
Ahead of Saturday's big reunion day, here's a flashback to those four senior grand final victories:
1951
Having started the new decade in 1950 with the premiership, the Bloods went back-to-back, triumphing again in 1951.
The Bloods finished third on the ladder, before beating Rochester by 10 points in the first semi-final and Castlemaine by 18 points in the preliminary final, setting up a showdown with Eaglehawk for the flag.
And what unfolded was a grand final shootout, with the two sides putting on a 44-goal spectacle as the Bloods won 24.12 (156) to 20.8 (128).
Eaglehawk's score remains the highest losing total in a BFNL grand final.
"Highlights were the superb high marking and fast play by both teams, the excellent systematic devastating play by South Bendigo's rovers and the deadly accuracy of Eaglehawk's champion full-forward Harry Morgan with nine goals," the match report said.
1956
The third of a premiership trifecta for the Bloods, who followed up their 1954 and 1955 flags with a 10-point grand final win over Eaglehawk in 1956.
And they did it having come from fourth on the ladder and after surviving a two-point thriller against Sandhurst in the cut-throat first semi-final.
In front of what was at the time a record crowd of 15,000 at the QEO, the Bloods outlasted the Hawks by 10 points to win 10.19 (79) to 9.15 (69) after they had led by one point at the final change.
At the age of 40, the grand final win was also master coach McDonald's 200th game for the Bloods and the following year he was appointed coach of Richmond.
In a game where goals didn't come easily, four from Bob Allison was telling in victory for the Bloods.
1990
A season of dominance from not just its senior team, but also its reserves and under-18s for South Bendigo.
Between them the Bloods' three football teams won 51 of 54 home and away games with a combined percentage of 1112.4.
All three won premierships, with the seniors capping a memorable grand final day with a 22-point victory over Golden Square to kickstart the club's 1990s dynasty.
Coached by Peter Bradbury, a four-goal to one third quarter gave the Bloods the momentum on the way to their 15.24 (114) to 14.8 (92) victory.
Star rover Peter Tyack (two goals) and David Griffin led the Bloods' best players in their first senior grand final win since 1974.
1991
A bumper crowd that paid a gate of $29,450 watched the Bloods make it back-to-back premierships with a 22-point win over Castlemaine at the QEO to cap a 19-1 season for Bradbury's men.
The only loss the Bloods' suffered for the year was a 50-point defeat to Castlemaine in the final round.
They met again a month later for the flag, with the Bloods prevailing 14.14 (98) to 10.16 (76) after they had trailed by a goal at the grand final's final change.
Griffin again starred on the big stage to earn the Nalder Medal and VCFL Medal, while Bradbury was awarded the Kevin Curran Memorial Trophy.
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