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.

But all that will be forgotten on Saturday when Thurley joins a select group of Tasmanians to play 100 VFL matches when the Devils clash with Port Melbourne.

Only three Devils before him -- Ian Callinan, Ben Atkin and current captain Brett Geappen -- have reached the magic three figures.

"Once you get over there (Melbourne) it's all exciting and it is great to play one game," Thurley said of his AFL experience.

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.

In three of those matches the side led at the final change only to be overrun, so the break allowed the playing group to sit down and reflect where the club's season stood.

A main training session was held last Thursday at Aurora Stadium, with all the players encouraged to speak out and discuss any problems before the side's big match against Port Melbourne on Saturday.

"We just haven't been able to finish games off, which is a learning thing with a young group," Cresswell said.

"Maybe we do have a loss of confidence in those situations.

"Basically, we assessed the season, where we need to improve and make sure there are actions not just words.

IT WAS elation for the VFL and humiliation for the WAFL as Saturday's state league match at Port Melbourne developed into an 119-point annihilation of the visitors.

The Victorians smothered WA on the tight oval, denying them the space and time they enjoy on the larger grounds in WA.

The Vics never relented: even  in the final quarter, with his side more than 100 points in front, captain James Byrne was applying crunching tackles.

The black swans were always under pressure and always making skill errors.

They also showed a lack of aggression that disappointed coach Ash Prescott.

 ``We were looking for someone to show some mongrel. We didn't see it,'' he said.

By half-time most of the interest centred on statistical points: how many goals would spearhead Nick Sautner finish with, and the final margin.

From Anthony Brady
Courtesy 97.7 Casey FM

In interstate action yesterday at Port Melbourne's TEAC Oval, the 97.7FM Casey Radio 3SER team saw the Victorian Football League (VFL) thrash the Western Australian Football League (WAFL) by 119 points in a record-breaking victory in the Herald Sun Cup before around 3,000-4,000 fans.

A sunny day greeted both teams, however a strong wind favouring the Williamstown Road end of the ground meant conditions were difficult for players, and made for a chilly afternoon for the sun-loving Sandgropers.

The toss was won by WAFL captain Shane Woewodin, who elected to kick with the wind.

The first quarter began at a cracking pace, with both sides proficient at getting the ball out of the centre and pumping it in long and direct to their forward lines. Victoria surprised many by kicking into the wind extremely well, with forwards such as VFL veteran Nick Sautner and Frankston's Justin Berry particularly good at negotiating shots on goal.

Both teams had seven shots on goal during the first term, but already the Big V had jumped to a 20-point lead, thanks to much more accurate kicking for goal. The stand-out performers early were Victorian defender John Baird, with nine possessions in the first quarter, while Woewodin had gathered eight for the Black Swans.