NSW-ACT State League?

[Sydneyfan]

A NSW-ACT State League has been mooted about before and I believe it would be beneficial in having the better players out of each respective region play in the State League.

If a State League were ever to start up, how many teams and from where would you like them based?

I'd pick 4 Sydney teams, though have separate entities to the SFL/SFA clubs: a North Sydney team representing north of the harbour, Sydney team representing eastern and southern suburbs and inner west, a West Sydney team representing everywhere west of Homebush, and a South West Sydney team representing everywhere from Canterbury/Bankstown to Camden.

6 Regional Teams: 1 Murray team based in Albury, 1 Riverina team based in Wagga Wagga, 1 South Coast team based in Wollongong, 1 North Coast team based in Newcastle, 1 Central West team based in Bathurst, and a Canberra team.

All up it would be a 10 team league and look like this:

North Sydney
Sydney
West Sydney
South West Sydney
South Coast
North Coast
Murray
Riverina
Canberra
Central West

I'd also like to see another Canberra side and, if money and logistics weren't a problem, a Far West (Broken Hill) side.

What sort of composition of teams would you like, if a State League were to start up?

[Charlie]

5 Sydney sides
3 Canberra sides
1 Riverina
1 Wollongong/South Coast
1 Newcastle
1 Central West
1 Murray
1 Central Coast

14 teams. Basically Canberra deserve it, it's a very high standard there. Apart from Newcastle, which to my knowledge doesn't have a football league, that also represents all the major leagues in the NSW/ACT area.

Charlie

[TheMase]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Charlie
Apart from Newcastle, which to my knowledge doesn't have a football league[QUOTE]

Thats funny. I swore that I played in the Black Diamond Football League for about 4 years. I am also sure that the Black Diamond Football Shield is the longest contested shield in history.

Perhaps I was mistaken

[Charlie]

My apologies Masey... I thought that was a Central Coast league. Is it both???

[TheMase]

Originally posted by Charlie
My apologies Masey... I thought that was a Central Coast league. Is it both???

They used to be seperate leagues.
There was the Central Coast Australian Football League.
And the Black Diamond Australian Football League. Unfortunately the Newcastle comp was struggling, so they basically took over the Central Coast competition (apparent merger).

The juniors still have their seperate competitions (Central Coast Junior Australian Football League, Newcastle Australian Junior Football League).

The seniors though have sides from the Central Coast (Woy Woy, Gosford, Terrigal-Avoca, Wyong-Lakes, Kilarney Vale) and Newcastle/Hunter (Newcastle City, Cardiff, Nelsons Bay, West Newcastle/Wallsend and Warners Bay).

The seniors contest the Black Diamond Shield, which I believe goes back to something like 1876 IIRC. (something like that).

[Charlie]

In your opinion then, is there enough talent in the area to support 2 teams??

Bearing in mind they have to compete with the best of Sydney, Canberra and Southern NSW.

[TheMase]

Originally posted by Charlie
In your opinion then, is there enough talent in the area to support 2 teams??

Bearing in mind they have to compete with the best of Sydney, Canberra and Southern NSW.

Definetely NOT.

1 team to cover Hunter/Central Coast regions would suffice.

[Charlie]

Hmm. In that case, another team is required. How about the Swans reserves? Can't believe I forgot them.

[TheMase]

Originally posted by Charlie
Hmm. In that case, another team is required. How about the Swans reserves? Can't believe I forgot them.

Swans reserves should definetely be in the competition.

The Hunter side won't have THAT much talent, and will probably struggle at first. But eventually it would benifit them and football in NSW.

Central West side similarly, but we do have some talented players out this way ..

[robbieando]

Look a state league is a must but it must be of the following

5 Sydney Based Teams (4 merged SFL teams and the Swans reserves)
4 Canberra Teams (The 4 Best ACTAFL Teams)
Wagga Tigers
A Central Coast Team (Which includes Newcastle)
A Illawarra Team (Maybe St George of the SFL move down there)

Thats a 12 team comp. I wouldn't have a Murray based team because most teams down there compete in the Victoria leagues and have been in the past unwilling to leave these comps.

The SFL would continue but as a feeder league to the State League with each club merging to form a State League club but the orginal club acts as a form of reserves.

[TheMase]

Originally posted by robbieando
Look a state league is a must but it must be of the following

5 Sydney Based Teams (4 merged SFL teams and the Swans reserves)
4 Canberra Teams (The 4 Best ACTAFL Teams)
Wagga Tigers
A Central Coast Team (Which includes Newcastle)
A Illawarra Team (Maybe St George of the SFL move down there)

Thats a 12 team comp. I wouldn't have a Murray based team because most teams down there compete in the Victoria leagues and have been in the past unwilling to leave these comps.

The SFL would continue but as a feeder league to the State League with each club merging to form a State League club but the orginal club acts as a form of reserves.

I like this plan. I would call the CC team a Hunter team though, covers a wider area.

[TheMase]

Originally posted by TheMase
I like this plan. I would call the CC team a Hunter team though, covers a wider area.

Rather than have the Wagga Tigers, have a Riverina side, a new team. The Riverina League can then feed into that.


In Reality, there should be a team where there are a couple of Leagues.

Ie. Central West, Riverina etc Representing their areas. Then the players of these Leagues feed into that side.

[Charlie]

Rob, why the need to merge SFL teams? How about taking the best team from each region of Sydney (South, North, Central, Inner West/NorthWest, South West) and putting the remaining SFL teams in a combined SFL/SFA? There's no real need for two comps there anyway, and it will cut down on costs. It also means the State League teams actually have a soul to go along with the jumper and song.

Do the same thing in Canberra with 3 teams (4 is overkill, it simply isn't THAT big). Probably Ainslie, Tuggeranong and Belconnen. Put Quenbeyan, Weston Creek and Eastlake into the Canberra District league. Let the Wagga Tigers represent Riverina, feeding from the Riverina league. They are the top team in the state, they deserve to be there. It's important that Albury is included, otherwise you are you conceding from the get-go that the NSWAFL is lower than the Ovens and Murray league, when it is actually aspiring to be on the same level as the VFL/SANFL/WAFL.

No need for St George to move to Wollongong. I'm sure the Wollongong SFA club could team up with the South Coast AFL and be competitive. I agree with one team in the Hunter/CC area, based on what Mase said, however the Bathurst/Orange/Dubbo region also needs a team.

[robbieando]

Charlie a Murray team would be very hard to start. Because the local teams will not be willing to leave the Victorian leagues there are in now. Most of these places cannot support a second team as it is. Trust me I know.

[Charlie]

You know how?

I have no doubt that between the 3 Albury based O&M teams, the Hume league, and the Murray FL, there is enough down there to put a team together.