The season may not be over yet, but the “hot stove” of decisions on club futures and movements is already in full swing.
Picola District Football Netball League has made the first move, announcing on Wednesday the impending arrival of Dookie United Football Netball Club from Kyabram District League.
The Thunder will be no strangers to the competition, having competed in the Picola District league during its previous geographical split era before departing at the end of the 2017 season.
The process, which wrapped up with a Picola District board meeting on Monday night to ratify the Thunder’s inclusion, seemingly could not have gone much smoother.
The swift nature of the announcement, coming well before Kyabram District finals get started, was to the logistical benefit of all parties, according to league operations manager Shane Railton.
“The club had expressed interest and was keen to get things sorted,” Railton said.
“Things can drag on during finals and before you know it the end of the season is upon you and clubs are wanting to recruit, et cetera.
“It gives the opportunity to do some forward planning and allows them to start working with our player points system.
“We can now move forward and so can Dookie in planning for next year.”
The highlight of Dookie’s six-season tenure outside the Picola District, which was marred by two seasons ruinously affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, would have been its A-grade squad making the 2022 decider in defeat to powerhouse Tallygaroopna.
The netballers are set for another crack at finals in the current campaign as well, despite an administrative penalty handed down early in the season that involved a loss of premiership points.
While the town of Dookie itself was quite geographically disparate from its KDL rivals, and looks a similar way on paper in the Picola District competition, there were zero concerns raised by member clubs.
“The clubs have had a couple of weeks to consider it and they gave feedback before it was ratified on Monday night,” Railton said.
“It was the first time in my 15 years in charge that there was no opposition at all; everything was totally unanimous.
“It’s no secret that the league met during the season to vote on splitting due to the outside interest from other clubs, but Dookie got support from probably the two clubs furthest from them, Mathoura and Deni Rovers.
“They joined us after the Central Goulburn league disbanded (in 2005) and we’re well aware of what they have to offer.”
The decision, of course, was made just as comfortably on the club’s end as well.
Thunder president Chris Ludeman said it was a family-oriented, whole of club approach that made the move appealing.
“The primary reason is for our club to play as one every Saturday,” Ludeman said.
“Under the KDL banner, we can’t do that as our junior footballers have to play make-up games due to the lack of teams fielding a side.
“Dookie’s netball might play at Dookie while our under-15 footballers go to Nagambie or wherever else, so we don’t get those kids and parents back to our club.
“The Picola can offer that for us and the KDL can’t. We’re a family, and we’re all about keeping our families together.”
With that in mind, there was plenty of time to determine without question that this was the best path for Dookie, despite the expedited nature of the announcement.
“We’re a town of similar population to a lot of clubs in that league and, similarly to a lot of them, we’re from a farming community,” Ludeman said.
“It hasn’t been a split-moment decision as we’ve had information nights for our members to talk about the pros and cons.
“We held a club vote four weeks ago and there was overwhelming support to apply to join.
“You feel like you’re making the right decision for the club when that happens and it’ll be great to get back to playing as one.
“Having an answer now gives everyone direction. Everyone’s really excited about the move and it puts us in good stead for next year.”