The Bendigo Pioneers is an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

team in the statewide Victorian under-18s league, the

NAB League The NAB League Boys (also referred to as simply the NAB League and formerly known as the TAC Cup) is an under-19 Australian rules football representative competition held in Australia. It is based on geographic regions throughout country Victo ...

Synopsis

The Bendigo Pioneers is an Australian rules football team playing in

since 1993 based in

Bendigo Bendigo ( ) is a city in Victoria, Australia, located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2019, Bendigo had an urban population of 100,991, makin ...

, Victoria, Australia. The idea behind the Bendigo Pioneers is to train its players and condition them for professional football. The team is divided into under-15s, under-16s, and under-18s. The Pioneers train at Epsom/Huntly Oval,

Epsom Epsom is the principal town of the Borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Saxon landowner. The ...

. Their jersey colors are blue, white and yellow with blue, white and yellow socks and blue (home) or white (away) shorts. They are within the largest geographical region, from

to Broken Hill, therefore having the largest area to recruit from; but have been the least successful club in the competition, winning no premierships and finishing last on ten occasions as of 2021.

Notable players and coaches

Some notable players from the Bendigo Pioneers are record holders for most games played and most goals scored within the team, which are David Favelaiki and Stephen Reaper. Favelaiki played a record 49 games with the Pioneers, and Reaper scored 132 goals.

Honours

*Runners-up (1): 2001 *Wooden Spoons (10): 1993, 1994, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018

Grand Finals

Draftees

Many notable players in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

have been recruited from Bendigo. These players include: *

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: Rowan Warfe, Ashley Thompson *

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: Nick Carter, Brent Frewen *

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: Nathan Brown,

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, Michael Braun *

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: Mark Alvey, Matt Blake, Jordan Doering, Paul McMahon,

Dean Solomon Dean Solomon (born 9 January 1980) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon Football Club and the Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Solomon served as caretaker senior coach ...

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, Nathan Thompson *

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: Michael O'Brien *

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Kane Munro Kane Munro (born 11 March 1982) is an Australian rules footballer who played with the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL). Munro grew up in Walpeup but completed his schooling in Bendigo, where he played for the Pion ...

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, Daniel Elstone, Hugh Foott, Rick Ladson, Ashley Watson *

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: Andrew Walker,

Colin Sylvia Colin Martin Sylvia (8 November 1985 – 28 October 2018) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Melbourne Football Club and Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Football career At 15 years of age, ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

: N/A *

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

: Travis Baird *

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

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, Daniel Connors, Andrew Collins *

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: Eljay Connors,

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, Toby Thoolen *

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: N/A *

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, Jordan Williams *

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: Ariel Steinberg *

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

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2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

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2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

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, Jaden McGrath *

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

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, Aidyn Johnson *

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, Kayle Kirby, Fergus Greene *

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Brent Daniels Brent Daniels (born 9 March 1999) is a professional Australian rules football, Australian rules footballer playing for the Greater Western Sydney Giants in the Australian Football League (AFL). He made his debut in round 16 of the 2018 AFL season ...

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, Brady Rowles *

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, Will Shaw *

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External links

Official Bendigo Pioneers websiteSporting Pulse summary
NAB League clubs Sport in Bendigo 1993 establishments in Australia NAB League Girls clubs Australian rules football clubs established in 1993 {{AFL-team-stub