Bendigo Gold news

After seven straight games on the road, the Metricon Bendigo Bombers will play their first game of the season at the Queen Elizabeth Oval this Sunday when they take on the in-form Coburg Tigers in round eight of the VFL.

So far this season, the Bombers have played six games in Melbourne and one in Geelong because of the condition of the QEO surface, hence earning the name The Road Warriors, similar to the Mel Gibson movie character Mad Max.

The Bombers were also unable to play any of their practice matches, which began in late February, at their home ground because of its dry and unsafe surface.

However, with the QEO now in a satisfactory condition for football because of recycled water and recent rain, the Bombers are ready to host the third-placed Tigers in Bendigo.

"At times it has been a stretch for the players and staff to be travelling every week for the past three months," Bombers coach Matthew Knights said yesterday.

Allan yesterday announced his resignation as general manager of the Bombers, and will leave the club on June 30.

On the same day, Driscoll will end his tenure as Bombers chairman, which began in 2003.

Allan, who was appointed general manager in October, 2005, is leaving Bendigo's VFL club to join the Australian Traffic Network in a sales role based in Melbourne.

It's a job offer he says is too good to refuse.

"I've got a young family that I want to make sure grows up in Melbourne, where I'm from, and where my wife is from," Allan said.

"We have a large network of family and friends down there, and I guess that all comes into it as well."

Peter Lodewijks, who joined the Bombers board in January this year, will fill the role as stand-in general manager, before the club advertises the position at the end of the season.

Lodewijks will spend the next month working with Allan.

The board of the Bendigo Bombers Football Club today regrettably announced it has received the resignation of General Manager, Matthew Allan.

Matthew has been offered a position in Melbourne, outside Football, which is too good to refuse and will finish with the club on June 30th, 2007.

Bendigo Bombers Chairman, Mr Warren Driscoll said that Matthew's departure is unfortunate but understandable.

"Matthew has done an outstanding job during his two years with the Club and should be commended for his integrity and his strong desire to take the club to the next level - Bendigo will certainly miss his expertise," Mr Driscoll said.

“Matthew has contributed to the successful alignment with the Essendon Football Club for a further three years and has certainly helped the club progress in his time as General Manager.

“The timing of Matthew's resignation, if seen in combination with my resignation from the Chair, is unfortunate but simply coincidental.

"The club has recently embarked on a complete review of its organisational structure, roles and responsibilities and has also commenced the development of a new strategic plan. The club has also attracted some exciting new people with some fantastic, fresh ideas and I am confident they will continue the progress Matthew initiated."

Mr Driscoll said Director Peter Lodewijks has been appointed by the board to act as General Manager to the end of the 2007 season. The club will then commence a formal process to appoint a General Manager.

Peter has been working behind the scenes on possible future organisational structures for the club.

BENDIGO overcame a sluggish start yesterday to outclass the Dolphins by 23 points at Frankston Oval. Boosted by some quality talls, including Kepler Bradley, Courtney Johns and Jason Laycock, the Bombers didn't gel as a team until midway through the second quarter.

Goalless and trailing by 23 points at the first break, the inaccurate Bombers allowed the Dolphins to extend the margin to 28 points before finally clicking into gear.

Bendigo suddenly switched from frustrating to fantastic. It kicked seven goals in a row to take the lead, and was good enough to maintain a three-goal buffer for practically the rest of the match. On the other hand, Frankston, which had looked dangerous early, struggled to match the Bombers for height and was let down by some average delivery into its forward 50.

Bendigo captain Simon Rosa did a fantastic job containing Frankston livewire Justin Berry. The Dolphin forward has been in superb touch but struggled to make an impact as Rosa wore him like a glove. Berry finished with three goals, but two of those came in the final quarter when the contest was all but over.

The Bombers defeated Frankston 13.16 (94) to 10.11 (71) at Frankston as the side finally got some reward for its good month of football.

The win – just their second in five visits to Frankston – lifted the Bombers (2-5) into ninth position on the ladder after seven rounds.

"Today's win was huge, and it was one of the team's biggest since I have been coach," said Knights, who has coached the Bombers since 2005.

"If we had copped another loss, you start to go too far back in the pack and it's a long way back.

"What we have done today is given our group a belief that we're going to have a strong second half of the year.

"That is no more prevalent than in the fact our last month of footy has been pretty damn good, without getting our just rewards," he said.

He had surgery on a stress fracture in his left foot early in the club's pre-season, and wasn't able to train properly with his new team-mates until mid-February.

But the strong-marking forward has put those frustrations behind him, and is set to make his VFL senior debut for the Bombers against Frankston tomorrow.

'‘It's good to get an opportunity," said Weeks, who helped run a football clinic for Year Eight students at Eaglehawk Secondary College yesterday.

‘‘It's a relief to get the chance after having surgery at the start of the pre-season - not being able to hit the track with the boys and having to watch training was frustrating.

Rosa and star recruit Jason Cloke are the only two Bendigo players to make the training squad.

Rosa was rewarded for his consistent start to the season with the Bombers.

'‘It's a bit of a surprise," Rosa said after only hearing of his inclusion in the squad when contacted by The Advertiser yesterday.

‘‘It's not something I set as a goal or anything, but when something like this comes along it's nice to be picked.

‘‘If I'm lucky enough to make the final team it will be a great honour to represent the VFL." The squad will have its first training run tonight, but Rosa is unlikely to train after suffering a corked quadricep in Sunday's loss to Geelong.

‘‘I'm a bit sore, but I think I'll be right for this weekend's game (against Frankston)," Rosa said.

The VFL has named a powerful squad that includes a number of former AFL players.

The star-studded Cats won their fifth straight game, leading from start to finish in a 20.16 (136) to 16.8 (104) victory to leave the Bombers with just one win after six rounds.

Bendigo found itself behind the eight-ball from the outset as the Cats had kicked 3.3 inside the first 13 minutes before the Bombers had scored.

All six of Geelong's early scoring shots came from marks inside 50, while around the ground, Cats ruckman Steven King was giving his on-ballers an arm chair ride.

Like they would do all throughout the game though, the Bombers rallied, kicking three consecutive goals of their own, including two to Kyle Reimers, to draw within three points at the 25-minute mark.

However, Geelong answered with two late goals to King, who was resting at fullforward, to push the Cats' lead out to 15 points at quarter-time.

The Bombers would get no closer for the rest of the match, despite gaining control of the contest during periods in each of the second, third and final terms.