Smythesdale Football Netball Club’s bid to join the Maryborough Castlemaine District league will be either blocked or given the green light at a special meeting on Wednesday night.
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The Bulldogs have lodged a request to join the league from the Central Highlands competition, where they have struggled since arriving there in 2011.
And following a presentation to essentially plead their case for admittance earlier this month, the Bulldogs are now hoping the club vote goes their way.
Maryborough Castlemaine District league president Stephen Broad said the competition’s 14 clubs would each cast two votes at the meeting at Carisbrook on Wednesday night, with Smythesdale needing a majority to earn approval for a transfer.
Broad said the Bulldogs made a strong presentation to the league’s board and clubs in early September and argued their case well.
Smythesdale president John Cranny said he was “pretty optimistic” about how the vote would go.
“I guess from our point of view, we see it as the best move to keep our club viable and attractive,” Cranny said.
“If we came across and filled all teams then that helps their league as well.”
Cranny said if things didn’t go the way he hoped on Wednesday night, the club would continue to fight on and stay alive.
If denied entry into the MCDFNL, Smythesdale then has the option of taking the matter to the AFL Goldfields commission, which could grant the shift.
The Bulldogs did not field a senior football side for the second straight season in 2018. Their reserves team finished the year 12th on the ladder after a campaign that returned six wins.
Smythesdale has netball teams across all grades, but none were able to reach finals this year.
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