The Central Highlands Football League should welcome Smythesdale back with open arms and allow the club to play within its ranks in 2019.
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Yes, it’s mid-December and only a few months from the start of a new season, but the Bulldogs are on the verge of extinction.
They need help – and fast.
The Central Highlands board of management isn’t to blame for Smythesdale’s demise, however it can offer a solution that could help save the club.
Aside from some small logistical issues around changing the fixture, it’s surely not a great deal of effort to slide the Bulldogs back into the competition it competed in as recently as August this year.
The board can insist Smythesdale fields a senior football side – something it has not done for the past two seasons – and make whatever other stipulations it likes in order to protect the other 17 clubs in the competition.
So what if the Bulldogs continue to struggle on the football field and netball court? It’s so much better than seeing a community without a club.
It’s almost impossible to comprehend that there’s a club out there – one that is full of players and with good facilities – that wants to compete, but simply has nowhere to do so.
As it stands, it’s likely Smythesdale will go into recess throughout 2019. And from there, it’s easy to draw the conclusion that the club will suffer a painful death.
With a thriving football and netball community here in Ballarat – and Smythesdale located near a major growth area that could see things quickly change – we can’t let that happen.
If the Central Highlands won’t lend a hand, then AFL Goldfields or AFL Victoria should step in and find the Bulldogs a home.
The AFL Goldfields Commission had the chance to do that through Smythesdale’s appeal to join the Maryborough Castlemaine District ranks, but sided with that league’s member clubs, which didn’t want the Bulldogs in the competition.
That then led to the unsuccessful attempt at joining the Mininera and District league.
With the smell of death in the air, it’s time for everybody to stop looking after just their own interests and help a club in desperate need.