1996 VFL season

115th season of the Victorian Football League December 2017 December 2017 1996 6 April – 22 September 1996 vfl 18 3 1 2 Paul Dooley( – 19 votes) Jack Aziz( – 74 goals) white 1995 VFA season 1995 (VFA) white 1997 VFL season 1997 The 1996 VFL season was the 115th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), an Australian rules football competition played in the state of Victoria. The season began on 6 April and concluded on 22 September, comprising an 18-match home-and-away season over 20 rounds, followed by a four-week finals series.1996 VFL Men's Premiership Season https://australianfootball.com/seasons/season/vfl/126/men%2527s%2Bpremiership%2Bseason/9/9/1996/advanced Australian Football 9 April 2025 https://web.archive.org/web/20250409190927/https://australianfootball.com/seasons/season/vfl/126/men%2527s%2Bpremiership%2Bseason/9/9/1996/advanced 9 April 2025 won the premiership for the second consecutive season and the third time overall, defeating Frankston by three points in the 1996 VFL Grand Final. The 1996 season was first season in which the competition was known as the "Victorian Football League", after having previously been known as the "Victorian Football Association" (VFA) – although it was the second season contested after the VFA's board of management was dissolved and administration of the competition was turned over to the Victorian State Football League (VSFL). Under the VSFL, the competition was restructured as a state league to serve as a supporting and developmental competition for the Victorian clubs in the Australian Football League (AFL), with the league beginning a new expansion into regional Victoria from this season. League membership Background At the end of the 1994 season, the administration of the former Victorian Football Association was merged into the Victorian State Football League – an administrative body which administered football in Victoria and served as the Australian Football League's Victorian arm. The VSFL intended to transform the VFA into a state-level football league which could serve as a developmental and minor grade system for Victoria's AFL teams, in the same manner that the South Australian National Football League and West Australian Football League supported their AFL teams' interests.The Age Melbourne 32 Jason Koutsoukis 11 March 1995 Pre-season cup marks the start of new era for VFA Under the VSFL's vision, the state league would comprise:The Age Melbourne 20 April 1994 32 Charles Heppell New state footy league mooted Twelve clubs: eight in Melbourne and four in regional Victoria Each club would field a senior and reserves team in the state league Each club would be affiliated with its local team from the VSFL's Under-18s competition to provide development and a pathway to senior football for players not drafted to the AFL Reserves players from the Victorian AFL clubs would play in the state league, rather than in a dedicated reserves competition. In 1995, the VSFL began transitioning towards this vision by abolishing the VFA's Under-19s competition and reducing the number of clubs from twelve to nine.Herald Sun Melbourne 73 Adrian Dunn 13 October 1994 Plan a 'victory' for VFA identity Afternoon Changes made for 1996 The first announcements about the composition of the league for the 1996 season were made in August 1995, when two powerhouse teams from regional Victoria confirmed they would be joining the VFL as part of the regional expansion. These clubs were:The Age Melbourne 35 Patrick Donovan 18 August 1995 VFA, bush in a new league Traralgon: from the Gippsland Latrobe Valley Football League, the Traralgon Maroons had been Gippsland's dominant team through the early 1990s, winning premierships in 1990, 1991, 1992 and 1994. Traralgon was to be affiliated with the Gippsland Power under-18s club. North Ballarat: from the Ballarat Football League, North Ballarat Roosters had been dominant over a period of two decades, having won eleven of the past eighteen premierships. North Ballarat was to be affiliated with the Ballarat Rebels under-18s club. The VSFL indicated that it would phase in teams from its other two regional zones – Bendigo and Ovens & Murray – from 1997 or later, depending on the success of Traralgon and North Ballarat. It also confirmed that it would reduce the number of Melbourne-based teams from nine to eight, but did not at this stage nominate which club would be expelled or merged. The remainder of the changes to be made for 1996 were announced in early October 1995. The changes were:Herald Sun Melbourne 86 Adrian Dunn 5 October 1995 Willy and the Bees merge order Afternoon The name of the competition was changed from Victorian Football Association to Victorian Football League. Despite the name change, the competition is considered continuous across both names, with the VSFL confirming that records and history from the VFA would be recognised in the VFL.The Age (Sports Liftout) Melbourne 8 Scott Spits 4 April 1996 VFL closer to a state league The struggling Preston Football Club was formally merged with its Under-18 club the Northern Knights, rather than remaining as distinct clubs with an affiliation as was the case for all other pairings. Under the arrangement, the club changed its nickname from Bullants to Knights, and changed its playing guernsey to match the white, navy and black worn by the Under-18 Knights. The Geelong Falcons Under-18 team, which had been aligned with Werribee in 1995, was re-allocated to Port Melbourne. Werribee and Williamstown were ordered to merge to form a single western suburban club to be affiliated with the Western Jets Under-18 team. Werribee and Williamstown Werribee and Williamstown were given an ultimatum of 31 October to agree to merger terms. If they could agree to terms for a merger, they would be compensated by having their competition fees waived in the near term; if they could not agree to terms for a merger, one would face expulsion. The VSFL provided the clubs with a copy of the SANFL's Woodville-West Torrens merger agreement, widely considered at the time to be Australian rules football's most successful top level merger, as a guide.Herald Sun Melbourne 101 Adrian Dunn 6 October 1995 Merger talks begin Afternoon The clubs entered merger negotiations in good faith, but talks ultimately reached an impasse over the choice of home ground: neither club would accept the other's as a permanent home; and Werribee would not accept a solution in which matches were divided in the long-term between Point Gellibrand Oval and Chirnside Park, arguing that it would become an eternal cause of infighting within the merged committee if a binding decision on long-term home ground were not made at the time of the merger.Herald Sun Melbourne 78 Adrian Dunn 25 October 1995 Clubs cool on merger plan Afternoon The closest the clubs came to a merger agreement was a proposal to name the club the Williamstown-Werribee Football Club, compete in a blue and gold guernsey as the Western Seagulls, and split games between the two home grounds for two years before moving permanently to Chirnside Park in 1998 – but Williamstown still refused to acquiesce on the issue of home ground.Herald Sun Melbourne 85 Adrian Dunn 18 October 1995 Merger talks break down Afternoon During the merger talks, rallies were held at Williamstown to protest the merger, attracting high-profile supporters including former Premier of Victoria and member for Williamstown Joan Kirner; and club members made it known that they would prefer to see the club wound up than merged.Herald Sun Melbourne 94 Adrian Dunn 23 October 1995 Williamstown may die with its boots on Afternoon On 26 October, following the failure of merger talks, the VSFL announced that the eighth licence would be awarded to Williamstown, and that Werribee would be expelled from the VFL.Herald Sun Melbourne 126 Adrian Dunn 27 October 1995 VSFL votes to axe Tigers Morning The announcement was met with considerable surprise, as most had expected Williamstown to be the club expelled: Williamstown, while historically strong, was in a weak position both on-field (winless in 1995) and off-field; while Werribee, historically weak but enjoying the benefits of population growth in the outer west, was thriving in the most successful period of its existence.Herald Sun Melbourne 31 Mike Sheahan 31 October 1995 Numbers don't add up over Werribee axing Afternoon Werribee president Bruce Montgomery believed his club to be stronger than Williamstown, and suspected political influences had contributed to the decision; and that although Werribee was $200,000 in debt at the time, it was solvent provided it was competing in the VFL.Herald Sun Melbourne 70 Adrian Dunn 30 October 1995 Bees to rally in bid for survival Afternoon Werribee fought back over the following two weeks to secure re-admission to the competition, and a rally in support of the club drew 2,500 fans.Herald Sun Melbourne 102 4 November 1995 Bees' rally draws 2500 Afternoon It put forward a proposal to compete stand-alone, with no affiliation to any Under-18 club, and with the support of the Wyndham Council for a $500,000 upgrade of Chirnside Park,Herald Sun Melbourne 81 Adrian Dunn 2 November 1995 Bees buzz VSFL board Afternoon but the VSFL board voted against the proposal on 5 November.Herald Sun Melbourne 94 Adrian Dunn 6 November 1995 Werribee plan to AFL Afternoon Finally, the club considered its legal options, planning to argue that the VSFL had distributed its eight metropolitan licences irresponsibly, and that the changed nature of the merged Preston Bullants–Northern Knights club meant that it might not necessarily count amongst those eight metropolitan licences;Herald Sun Melbourne 76 Adrian Dunn 8 November 1995 Werribee talks to AFL Afternoon after receiving advice that Werribee's challenge could be successful, the VSFL relented and agreed to grant Werribee re-admission. The terms of the re-admission were similar to Werribee's initial proposal, and it became the only club with no affiliation with any Under-18s team, nor any structure of local feeder teams.The Age Melbourne 31 Ashley Browne 10 November 1995 Werribee survival all but certain Ladder main WDL 5 Ladder true points y 4 2 FRA Frankston WER Werribee SPR Springvale WIL Williamstown PMB Port Melbourne SAN Sandringham COB Coburg NBR North Ballarat NBU Preston BOX Box Hill TRA Traralgon 16 2 0 2111 1059 13 5 0 1602 1217 12 6 0 1548 1124 P 11 6 1 1591 1482 11 6 1 1543 1453 9 9 0 1433 1630 7 11 0 1656 1846 6 12 0 1246 1430 6 12 0 1283 1501 6 12 0 1355 1784 1 17 0 1235 2077 #CCFFCC Finals series QF QF QF QF QF 1) points; 2) percentage; 3) number of points for Premiers Qualification complete Finals Qualifying and elimination finals Qualifying final Saturday, 31 August(2:00 pm) Werribee 8.7 (55) A Springvale 13.16 (94) North Port Oval 1,192 Elimination final Sunday, 1 September(2:00 pm) Williamstown 19.19 (133) H Port Melbourne 18.13 (121) North Port Oval 3,771 Semi-finals First semi-final Saturday, 7 September(2:00pm) Werribee 13.19 (97) H Williamstown 9.5 (59) North Port Oval Second semi-final Sunday, 8 September(2:00pm) Springvale 17.11 (113) H Frankston 9.10 (64) North Port Oval Preliminary final Preliminary final Saturday, 14 September(2:00pm) Frankston 9.5 (59) H Werribee 5.3 (33) North Port Oval 2,883 Grand Final 1996 VFL Grand Final Sunday, 22 September (2:00 pm) Springvale 3.2 (20) 7.6 (48) 10.7 (67) 11.7 (73) H Frankston 5.4 (34) 9.6 (60) 9.7 (61) 10.10 (70) Optus Oval 8,183 Herald Sun 52 23 September 1996 Adrian Dunn Gotcha – with 47sec to go A. Malcolm, M. Sexton, T. Shearer Norm Goss Memorial Medal Kain Taylor (Springvale) K. Taylor 3, Baldwin 2, Evans 2, Davison, Delarue, Smith, Yeats Damien Clarke 2, Millane 2, S. Ryan 2, Atkinson, Daniel Clarke, Mackay, Mead Yeats (cut head) Yeats, for striking Moore in the first quarter *Graeme Yeats (Springvale) kicked the winning goal with 47 seconds remaining, after marking on the goal-line and kicking from a tight angle. Awards The leading goalkicker for the season was Jack Aziz (Werribee), who kicked 74 goals. The J. J. Liston Trophy was won by Paul Dooley (Williamstown), who polled 19 votes. Dooley finished ahead of Greg Cox (North Ballarat), who was second with 17 votes.The Age (Sports section) Melbourne Ruck rookie wins Liston 10 Scott Spits The Fothergill–Round Medal was also won by Paul Dooley (Williamstown).http://www.foxsportspulse.com/assoc_page.cgi?client=0-118-0-0-0&sID=54554&&news_task=DETAIL&articleID=4834467 Fothergill–Round Medallists 20 December 2014 29 October 2014 Sportingpulse Port Melbourne won the reserves premiership. Port Melbourne 12.8 (80) defeated Frankston 8.12 (60) in the Grand Final, held as a curtain-raiser to the Seniors Grand Final on 22 September. Notable events The Round 11 match between Springvale and Traralgon, originally scheduled for Sunday, 23 June at Springvale Reserve, was postponed after rain flooded the ground. The match was rescheduled to the evening of Tuesday, 6 August at the Traralgon Recreation Reserve. To help to mitigate the shorter break between matches, each quarter was played five minutes shorter than regulation and an extra interchange player was allowed.The Age (Sports section) Melbourne 14 Scott Spits 6 August 1996 Secong leg of treble to Scorpions See also 1996 AFL season References Category:Victorian Football League seasons VFL