Lalor will play in Northern Football League’s division 2 next season, despite rumours to the contrary.
Since the end of the NFL season, there had been talk that the club was in trouble and was considering dropping a division or may even fold.
But new president Benjamin Charles said the club was not in the position that a lot of people believed it to be.
Charles is in his second stint as president of the club and brings a sports background to the role. One of his two businesses provides support to local sporting clubs.
“I don’t think we’re hiding away from the fact that we need extra support,” he said. “But that is every club in Australia.”
“We have identified that and are putting in some really strong strategies in place.
“I have a lot of knowledge what makes clubs successful, on and off the field.
“We don’t just want to be okay for next year and the year after. We want to be okay for decades to come.”
Charles said they had 80 people at the club’s annual general meeting and there was 15 people on the executive committee.
The club will announce at least five new sponsors in the coming weeks with other positives in the works.
“We’ve got a lot of things bubbling away,” he said. “We had 80 people at the meeting and everyone is on the same page. That’s a huge amount of people.
“A lot of the players attended wanting to hear about the direction of the club.”
On the field, the Bloods have struggled the last two seasons. This year they finished seventh with three wins in division 2.
Charles said the club would not be asking to drop a division.
“We’re in a better position than eight other clubs [the division 3 clubs]. They have to win a grand final to come up,” he said. “There’s zero chance we’ll be relinquishing our position.
“Dropping down doesn’t give you more governance, structures and committee members. Maybe it gives you a few more wins.”
Charles said they were expecting to start announcing player re-signings in the coming weeks.
The Bloods announced Dean Grainger as coach on Thursday.
