The Bendigo Football Association (later to be renamed the Bendigo Football League) had already been in existence for thirteen seasons by the time South Bendigo entered the fray in 1893. Since then, the club has won twenty-four senior premierships, more than any of its rivals. (Eaglehawk and Sandhurst have both won more flags in total than the Bloods, but in both cases five of these triumphs came before 1893.)

South Bendigo took a while to find its feet but once it broke through for a premiership in 1899 it quickly established itself as the competition's pre-eminent team. By the time the BFL suspended operations because of the Great War in 1915 the club already had ten flags on the board, and promptly added an eleventh when competition was resumed in 1919. The Bloods continued as a force during the first half of the 1920s, adding further premierships in 1921 and 1925, but there then followed an unprecedented spell of twenty seasons (spread over twenty-four years, with a four season break during World War Two) 'in the outer'.

The Bloods teams which restored the club to its former pre-eminence were among the most powerful in its history. After losing the 1949 grand final to Sandhurst, South Bendigo went top in 1950, thanks to a 10.12 (72) to 6.10 (46) grand final defeat of Echuca, and 1951 against Eaglehawk after one of the most memorable premiership deciders on record. In an era when high scoring matches were at a premium, the Bloods won 24.12 (156) to the Two Blues' 20.8 (128) - a scoreline more typical of the 1970s or 1980s than the 1950s.