There were fewer people than you'd expect after a football match.

In fact, football was the furthest thing from the group's mind.

On an average Monday night in April 2010, with the season long over, cricket enthusiasts, board members and players filed into the war room to address their beloved sport's future.

One thing was clear to all: something had to change.

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Discussions centred around suggestions tabled by former Horsham Cricket Association vice-president Richard Emmerson in his paper 'Now and Beyond 2020'.

"Leave the association as it is and watch it become weaker," he warned in the paper written in December 2008.

Emmerson envisioned a streamlined structure, much like today's, where seniors competed across three grades, and the juniors played in under-17, under-14 and under-12 grades.

But, to the disliking of some, the veteran administrator also pictured another major shake-up.

Emmerson, along with a majority at the meeting that night, penned a proposal that involved small clubs forgoing their own identities and merging with their neighbours.

In the proposal, traditional powers Homers, Jung Tigers and the Horsham Saints would remain as standalone clubs.

Blackheath would merge with Dimboola, and Rup-Minyip and Lubeck-Murtoa would join forces.

Finally, Toolondo-Clear Lake would merge with Noradjuha, Miga Lake, Quantong, Goroke and Natimuk to form one or two clubs.

Nothing concrete eventuated from the meeting, and the dust was allowed to settle on the merger proposals.

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But, a few months later, sure enough, Blackheath and Dimboola combined, and Noradjuha aligned with Toolondo-Clear Lake to become the Noradjuha-Toolondo Bullants.

"We are struggling for numbers on our own," then Toolondo-Clear Lake secretary Rowan Scott told the Mail-Times at the time.

'"We want to be part of a strong club, and we are both in the south-west area, so not far from each other."

Declining population numbers, fewer juniors and a lack of volunteers are all too familiar problems for rural sports clubs.

Then Noradjuha secretary Justtin Combe said a merger had been long thought of.

"It's something that's been in the pipeline for four or five years now. It was a matter of the right time," he told the Mail-Times after the decision.

Combe's brother Matt - who returned to the club for the 2020-21 season - was handed the captaincy for the Bullants' inaugural campaign.

"We are all excited about it. It's like a new start," he said on the eve of the 2010-11 season.

"We have been getting anywhere from 20 to 30 people at training. At Noradjuha it was anywhere between five and 10. (It's) a bit of a difference actually."

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As if creating a new, shared identity wasn't a hard enough task, the club was handed one of the most unique starts to a season in HCA history.

Rain washed out two rounds, and the matches that were snuck in were affected by wet pitches and soggy outfields.

The Bullants entered the Christmas break on top of the ladder and were welcomed with more rain on the competition's return.

The first few rounds back were all affected by a once-in-200 year weather event that divided Horsham in two and sent the Wimmera River to record flood levels.

"Every other year we're complaining that it's too hot," then HCA assistant secretary Howard Schier joked at the time.

"I can't recall a (season) that's been interfered with so much.

"Weather is hard for us to predict and for clubs, it's not a true record of the year in terms of the ladder."

Cricket battled on, and the Bullants chipped away, racking up enough wins to finish third and secure a semi-final place.

The Bullants' first final in club history was a baptism by fire, coming up against reigning premiers Rup-Minyip.

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But, the plucky combine stood tall; edging home with two overs to spare to lock in a maiden grand final appearance against Homers.

"To make the grand final, we'd never thought that'd be possible at the start of the year," Matt Combe reflected before the game.

"(A premiership) would mean a lot to both clubs, now one club.

"It's been a fantastic year on and off the field. I think that is why we have been so strong.

Homers, possessing two multiple Cec Hopper medallists in Simon and Chris Hopper, entered the match heavy favourites.

Not that the Bullants cared.

A pair of Jock Heard (62) and Rowan Scott (50) half-centuries laid the foundations, before a Heath Lang (6-21) masterclass completed a 148-run thrashing.

"I'm proud of the boys. No one gave us a chance, and to our credit, we've come through with the goods," Matt Combe said after the game. "Eleven blokes believed in each we've come through with a win."

Adding to the occasion, Noradjuha-Toolondo's B Grade capped a memorable season with a grand final thriller.

Chasing 185, the Bullants were eight wickets down, needing 45 runs to win.

Led by opener Shane Oakley (124), the newcomers surpassed Laharum with one wicket to spare.

"It was fantastic," then Noradjuha-Toolondo president Rowan Scott said of the club's introduction in the Mail-Times year in review.

"It was our first year and really important for the future of the club to kick off on the right foot."

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