Interesting to observe the Glenunga juggernaut - my question is how long will the strategy continue to work and when someone turns the $tap off where will they be? League is littered with clubs with the bodies of clubs such as Greenacres, Kilburn, Woody Sth, Eastern Park etc who rode the gravy train for a period who are now down in the depths of lower grades. I seem to recall when the tap was turned off in the pandemic ban on payments Glenunga were very uncompetitive. Money it seems does not buy you loyalty or culture. Purely an observation from afar.
I'm not sure 'gravy train' is the right terminology. Glenunga have a massive junior program, with close to 40 junior teams. This isn't a Ponzi scheme, used to fund quick Premierships in the senior program. It's an investment in the future of the Club and the players. A lot of work goes on behind the scenes, led by a very hard-working President and a dedicated committee. There are a lot of quality people (and footballers) involved in the coaching and development of the juniors, which has recently started bearing fruit in the senior teams. Like any Club, though, 'outside' players need to be brought in to keep the team competitive at the highest level. The best way to keep the junior talent at your Club is to provide a high level senior environment for them to progress through to. Kudos to the Club for making this happen. They now need to keep working hard to remain in Div 1 over the coming years.
MoP, I was just about to reply with the same thing. Those teams, Greenies, Kilburn, Woody Sth and Eastern Pk (to a lesser extent) had no junior programs in place. Glenunga is huge. As long as they don't disenfranchise their junior club, they'll be set to be a powerhouse for many years to come.