THE Essendon District Football League has a new northern outpost with the recruitment of East Sunbury into its junior ranks for the coming season.
Aspiring to field a senior team in the EDFL's third division by next year, the club, formerly known as Rolling Meadows, is the first Sunbury presence in the metropolitan competition.
Rolling Meadows first took to the field in Riddell District Football League in 2000, but after an application to leave last season and two appeals to AFL Victoria, it was cleared to join the EDFL. The Weekly caught up with Rolling Meadows president Peter Methven, football operations manager Peter Abdilla and junior coach Mick Gardener to shed some light on the EDFL's new arrival.
History
Rolling Meadows Football Club was established in 2000 after a number of successful years holding Auskick clinics at the Goonawarra Primary School.
Rather than see players leave and try their luck at established clubs such as Rupertswood, Sunbury Lions or Sunbury Kangaroos, the administration decided to form a club.
"We had a good nucleus of kids at that stage that all wanted to keep playing together," Abdilla said.
"We came in at under-9s ... one of the biggest hurdles we had was finding a venue to be our home."
Relocation
Growth in the junior numbers peaked about three years ago, while the introduction of under-18s at the start of the 2010 season did not lead to realistic prospects of Rolling Meadows fielding a senior side in the RDFL.
Rolling Meadows took a vote on the club's future and had an 88 per cent return on a move to the EDFL.
From the latter stages of last season until the week before Christmas, a process to switch leagues took place with a number of appeals and counter appeals.
"The final appeals board [three members] was unanimous in saying it was the best decision for our club to go to the EDFL," Methven said.
"It was a long and drawn-out process with a lot riding on it.
"The appeals board said it wasn't going to be a major impact on the RDFL with one club leaving ... I don't know that there is any one thing that made the difference in the appeal, it was a combination of things."
New teams
East Sunbury will have juniors from under-10s up to under-18s in its first EDFL season.
"There's certainly a few [ex-EDFL players] in the club who say there is a difference in the standard," Methven said.
"But we've been fairly competitive in the second division in RDFL so we'll be all right in the third division of EDFL.
"It's going to be one of those great unknowns."
Abdilla said: "Based on what the EDFL has told us, we're best placed within that third division to be competitive."
Gardener said he doubted the players would find the changes difficult to adjust to.
"Travel-wise it's about the same. These are kids who just want to play the game and get out there and play.
"Regardless of the opposition, I don't think there will be any problems adjusting to the new teams.
"I did take the time to go and watch some EDFL juniors last season. They have some bigger and stronger boys playing and that might take some adjustment."
Playing in the RDFL as the Rolling Meadows Thunder, the club will be known as East Sunbury in line with the cricket club that plays out of the same facility at Goonawarra.
"I don't know that we have that big an identity," Methven said.
"I don't think that any RDFL club thought they would be a walk-up start to beat any of our sides.
"We'd like to be known as being a competitive club, and a growing club.
"We have to aspire to become a division 1 EDFL club."
The Rolling Meadows name was originally given to the club due to a sponsorship link with the housing estate of the same name.
"Changing the name certainly wasn't an easy choice to make.
"The vote to move to the EDFL was 88 per cent in favour.
"At that same vote it was only around 60 per cent for the name change. A lot more people were connected to the name than they were to the RDFL."
Seniors
Methven said East Sunbury had every intention of fielding a senior side in the EDFL's third division by next year.
"We've got the start of seniors with 15 players that go to open age next year.
"We hope that the move to EDFL will attract players that want to play firsts footy.
"The EDFL has given us an entry point to establish ourselves, and I'm fairly confident we can be competitive in that third division.
"We need to grow from a junior club into that senior club mentality, and we'll be working hand-in-hand with the EDFL to make that happen."
Further growth
East Sunbury's administration is optimistic about its long-term prospects as an EDFL club.
"We've got that point of difference. If [Sunbury Lions juniors] had also come across to EDFL with us we wouldn't have had that," Methven said.
"The population in our immediate area is set to explode and we're ready to tap into that."
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