It feels like an annual song and dance at this point — will they or won’t they?
So far, Echuca has remained steadfast as a full-fledged member of the Goulburn Valley League — and, we’ll say, a reasonably successful one at that.
It’s no secret that the Murray Bombers are good. Very, very good.
It’s also no secret, though, that there remains a degree of outside interest in acquiring Echuca’s oh-so-potent services.
The previous edition of Premium Wednesdays put a footballing and netballing Champion of Champions system on the table, with Echuca the obvious presumed forerunner in both divisions.
While all of those merits still currently stand, there’s perhaps an even more intriguing question that could be lingering just around the corner.
If the Murray Bombers heed the call and decide to take their leave, be that for the Bendigo league or wherever else — who ought to become the Goulburn Valley’s next addition?
You could analyse the credentials of dozens of clubs from a handful of competitions throughout northern Victoria (not one mention of Broadford will be tolerated), but what criteria do you use?
Do you favour a club that’s performing exceptionally well elsewhere, perhaps starting to resemble a bit big of a fish for its pond?
Do you lean purely on geographical convenience, preferring to pull a team out of the immediate Shepparton-adjacent area rather than relying on another distant team like Echuca?
Of course, if you did, certain other previously discussed concepts might become just that touch easier.
Putting that aside, though, to avoid merging too many hypotheticals at once, here’s a shortlist of those who might consider themselves leading candidates if there should be a vacancy posted:
Congupna (Murray Football Netball League)
On the face of it, one would be reasonable enough concluding that Congupna ticks the most boxes of any potential replacement right now.
Containing a pretty ideal mix of current on-field strength and geographic convenience, The Road boasts a strong hand in potential negotiations as things currently stand.
As the Murray senior premiership favourites from virtually the moment Kyle Mueller put pen to paper following a sensational exit from Kyabram, with a current 2024 record which backs that up tremendously, there’s a lot to like about Congupna’s prospects.
Sure, though, everything looks rosy if you only take senior football into account, but there’s more to a club than the 22 guys who run out at 2pm.
The dent in The Road’s armour might be an underperforming A-grade side that sits 3-13 this season as one of three current Murray sides on a run of five or more consecutive losses.
There would almost certainly be some teething issues in making the switch to GVL competition on that front, by that token.
That aside, Congupna is surely one of the more likely outfits to receive the phone call — though a premiership or two in the meantime certainly wouldn’t hurt.
Shepparton East (Kyabram District League)
Shepparton East presents quite an imposing case, despite not hailing from what is considered by most to be the next league in line — specifically, the Murray.
The Eagles possess high-flying squads on both sides of the ledger, maintaining fearsome senior and A-grade sides who remain a serious threat of nabbing a potential double flag for the club in 2024.
Naturally, though, the prospect of adding a fourth club to the 12-team league with ‘Shepparton’ in its name will not sound appealing to 100 per cent of observers — particularly those whose addresses don’t contain that word.
The Eagles have certainly taken the scenic route around the regional competitions across the past two decades, and the GVL is the one yet to be scratched off the bingo card.
Competitiveness would surely not be a long-term concern, though, even if things might be rough for a season or two, and the geographical side of things wouldn’t be a hard sell on the recruiting front either.
Numurkah (Murray Football Netball League)
Numurkah presents a bit of a different case from most.
The Blues are by no means a current powerhouse in the Murray system, though the footballers have at least acquitted themselves well in the current season — albeit with the A-grade contingent sitting second from the bottom.
Granted, this isn’t so much about Numurkah presenting as a GVL-level premiership threat at the moment — but being anywhere close to Shepparton isn’t the crux of this argument either.
Instead, this is more a pick that fills a hole within a largely untapped market in the current GVL makeup.
Shepparton itself is well accounted for with Mooroopna immediately adjacent, there’s plenty happening out west with Tatura, Rochester and Kyabram involved and the south and east districts are covered off through Seymour, Euroa and Benalla.
Directly north of the Goulburn Valley’s central hub, though? Largely ignored at the top level, and short of pulling Cobram from its home division literally alongside the Murray, this would be the best selling point in the region.
Lancaster (Kyabram District League)
Arguably, this would be the toughest negotiation of the five to pull off from a GVL point of view.
With the news of Dookie United’s imminent departure from the KDL, it’s much harder to imagine Kyabram District officials being too pleased if one of their higher-ranking clubs from its own actual area should seek pastures anew as well.
Should the Wombats be interested, though, they’ve certainly earned the call with a two-time defending premiership football side and a netball squad with a firm grasp on 2024 flag favouritism.
One north-west side out, one north-west side in. Seems straightforward enough, right?
Whether the size of the town of Lancaster itself serves as a detriment would be as yet unknown, but there wouldn’t be too many other significant entries in the ‘cons’ column on this one.
Nathalia (Murray Football Netball League)
Nathalia represents another outfit from the valley’s north-western reaches that stands every chance of blending into whatever shadow Echuca would leave.
Rather than Nathalia being viable solely because it means slightly lesser road trips in that direction, though, there’s plenty of recent history on the Purples’ side.
One thinks, of course, towards Nathalia’s dominant stretch of five consecutive senior Murray flags in the second half of the last decade — a run that took a global pandemic in order to halt.
Of course, a changing of the guard has since taken place with Mulwala and Congupna providing the major threats at this current stage, though both sides of Nathalia’s club continue to fight on capably.
Regardless, it’s a proud establishment in a serviceable location — with an excellent bakery — and the only true Achilles heel for this side might, much like Lancaster, be the diminutive stature of the town.