Cohuna’s motivation behind its attempted moves to the HDFNL have centred around retaining junior players, who often leave and play closer to Melbourne or Bendigo once they start university.
“People coming from Melbourne have to come three hours to us and then another two and a half to go and play a game of football on a weekend, so that's pretty hard to try and entice your young juniors back to do that,” Mathers said.
The Kangas’ latest application saw them denied 6-3, falling short of the required number of votes in favour, which must be two thirds of the members present.
“Definitely a kick in the guts,” Mathers said of the rejection.
“But clubs are within their own right to vote how they think, so we can’t hold it against anyone.
“The way that footy’s sort of projecting over the next two to three years, I just hope that they vote wisely, as in to benefit the Heathcote league, because there’s a lot of uncertain times ahead I think, for not just Heathcote but a lot of leagues.”
Mathers feels travel is a big factor as to why Cohuna’s bid was denied, as a trip to Cohuna Recreation Reserve would be the longest for most HDFNL clubs, many of which are based closer to Bendigo.
He also understands that the competition’s nine-team structure works well with byes, and a 10th side joining would lead to potentially substantial change to its scheduling.
On the field, Cohuna has been tracking well, with both of its first-grade sides currently competing in the Central Murray Football Netball League finals series.
The senior footballers won their qualifying final against Nyah-Nyah West United 86-71 on Saturday, booking their spot in the preliminary finals.
Meanwhile, the A-grade netball outfit defeated Ultima 48-41 in an elimination final, now facing Murrabit in the semi-finals this weekend.
The Kangas also recently saw one of their most prominent exports, Josh Treacy, earn his maiden All-Australian blazer after a stellar year with Fremantle in the AFL.
Mathers was a player at the club when Treacy was coming through its ranks, with the Dockers forward’s brother Mitchell currently playing for the seniors.
The Treacy family is also always present at Kangas matches.
“Definitely a massive achievement,” Mathers said on Treacy’s All-Australian nod.
“He's put in a lot of hard work to get where he is, and everyone’s very happy for him.”
Mathers added that the club had not received any compensation for Treacy’s accolade, and was unsure of what the process was should it be eligible for a monetary reward.
Tongala received a boost of $10,000 when Harley Reid was named the AFL’s goal of the year winner in 2024.
