Looks Like an Even Season Ahead

[Pace To Burn]

From the results from the fist two weeks it looks like it could be a fairly even season ahead in Prem Div with an impovement from Easts, Syd Uni and a few at the top in St George and Norths maybe coming back to the pack and with the final 5 it looks like a good saeson ahead.

[The Duck]

Taken from the St George Website:

"Our first grade went down by 33 points after losing focus after some incidents that saw 2 players from both clubs, including former Crows coach and now Eagles coach Glen Garner being sent from the field."

Can anyone shed some more light on this subject from the weekends game?

Reading between the lines it sounded as though St George were a little bit upset with the weekends game.

[Norris Lurker]

Early days yet, but there's been some signs that this year's comp will be closely fought out.
Campbelltown have been a surprise packet so far. They'd lost a lot of players over the off-season, but really fought it out against Penno and showed plenty of character to hang on against Wests on Sunday.
Pennant Hills look like they'll be there at the business end of the season again. They were impressive in demolishing North Shore on Saturday. UNSW-ES are looking good as well - another big bag from Abbott the other day.
Sydney Uni are also undefeated, but we'll probably have more of an idea where they are at after they've played the top sides.

Didn't see the game at Olds Park on Sunday, but there must have been some fireworks there.

[BeeEmmAre]

Taken from the St George Website:

"Our first grade went down by 33 points after losing focus after some incidents that saw 2 players from both clubs, including former Crows coach and now Eagles coach Glen Garner being sent from the field."

Can anyone shed some more light on this subject from the weekends game?

Reading between the lines it sounded as though St George were a little bit upset with the weekends game.

I turned up for the last quarter when the scores were level and didn't see or hear anything about untoward.
The Eagles played an outstanding last quarter and ran over top of the Crows after the score was level at three quarter time.
I think St George only had three inside 50s that I saw in the last quarter for their 1.2.
Again, it was only 25-30 minutes, but it makes the Bulldogs' win of the week before look even more impressive.

[YoungKanga]

Bulldogs definitly the team to beat this year..
but wats the go with the new guernsesys?...

[Monty Burns2]

Bulldogs definitly the team to beat this year..
but wats the go with the new guernsesys?...

The Uni wanted 1 brand across all of their sporting clubs. As such, we had to have black and yellow in there. We also wanted to keep in touch with the East Sydney Bulldogs' roots, so wanted some blue to remain. I reckon they came up alright with what there was to work with.

[burley]

Great to see early indications of a fantastically competitve competition this year. A couple of views:
- Ctown have secured the best Coach in the competition. A proven performer who will extract every drop of talent & ability from his young squad. Great to see them gain victory over Wests.
- What is going on with Balmain, I thought they went on a recruitment rampage over the off season to dramatically improve & rectify their on field performance?
- Good to see Syd Uni get off to a good start. Seem to be a good club with a solid structure & culture.
- Good to see EastsUNSW strong again, cant believe Super & Luffy are still playing & dominating in games. Super would be due for 10yrs long service leave & possible retirement?

To everyone involved, enjoy the year!

[mountainsofpain]

Meanwhile, the First Division competition will once again be the completely mismatched farce it has been for many a year.

Camden, Nor-West and Penrith will compete among each other for wins and occupy the bottom three places on the ladder. Mac Uni seem to have improved, so they will take Parra's place in the four, while the Goannas will finish fifth and provide the occasional nuisance value to the top four sides.

The Kookaburras will be competitive in the finals, but will not win the flag. The winner will come out of UTS, Manly and the Sharks. I haven't bothered looking at the situation in Reserve Grade, but it wouldn't surprise me if it was a similar scenario.

So the four western suburbs clubs will occupy the bottom four positions on the ladder. In addition to that of course we have the once strong South-West Sydney languishing in Second Division. You would think that would say something to the powers that be about the state of the senior game in outer west - but apparently not.

Camden in particular must be wondering why on earth they returned to Sydney football.

[T-Rock]

So the four western suburbs clubs will occupy the bottom four positions on the ladder. In addition to that of course we have the once strong South-West Sydney languishing in Second Division. You would think that would say something to the powers that be about the state of the senior game in outer west - but apparently not.

Camden in particular must be wondering why on earth they returned to Sydney football. [/QUOTE]

Thanks for those "pearls of wisdom" Mountain....I agree that the first division comp is being dominated by the top four clubs while the others seem to be making up the numbers. But if clubs don't step up (like Camden) to first division then you will never get any improvement in the competition. Camden could have palyed another season in the South Coast league and done very well, but this doesn't help to grow the game in the south west sydney area....funnily enough.

[tara]

Meanwhile, the First Division competition will once again be the completely mismatched farce it has been for many a year.

Camden, Nor-West and Penrith will compete among each other for wins and occupy the bottom three places on the ladder. Mac Uni seem to have improved, so they will take Parra's place in the four, while the Goannas will finish fifth and provide the occasional nuisance value to the top four sides.

The Kookaburras will be competitive in the finals, but will not win the flag. The winner will come out of UTS, Manly and the Sharks. I haven't bothered looking at the situation in Reserve Grade, but it wouldn't surprise me if it was a similar scenario.

So the four western suburbs clubs will occupy the bottom four positions on the ladder. In addition to that of course we have the once strong South-West Sydney languishing in Second Division. You would think that would say something to the powers that be about the state of the senior game in outer west - but apparently not.

Camden in particular must be wondering why on earth they returned to Sydney football.

Camden should be congratulated for returning to Sydney footy. They may be facing a tough time at the moment but I would expect they knew they would and would look at this year as one to lay foundations for the future.

Years ago Cronulla used to be reasonably easy to beat yet now they are travelling along very nicely and have an under 18's in place which managed right should see them continue this was.

Mac Uni now also have an under 18's as do Penrith which should also if managed correctly see improvement at both clubs in the future. Norwest have an alliance with East Coast that should ion the long run bear fruit for both teams.

South West dont exist anymore under that title but have changed name to Moorebank Sports to reflect their alliance with Moorebank Sports Club. Moorebank Sports Club has traditionally been very pro rugby league but that is fast changing and is reflected in the club officially recognising AFL as one of their codes. In addition we have an under 18's competing for the first time in 2008 which will aid in the club returning to first division unreliant upon the Army as it has been in years gone by.

All the clubs mentioned above have decided to take matters into their own hands rather than rely upon the AFL to prop them up and over the coming years I think you will see a change for the better in the competition in general.

[Pekay]

Tara and T-Rock have hit it on the head.
We had a great hit-out against Camden on the weekend, great bunch of blokes. Sure, we'll probably share the points with them in the next two games, Penriff are a little bit better at this stage but are certainly beatable for both teams, but footy isn't about winning every week.
Its funny you posted this, there was a similar rant on Penrith's website preceding their match report. We're actually looking forward to playing Manly UTS and Mac Uni, to see how we are against the top guns. Had we stayed in Div 2 we'd be turning away players in their droves, it wouldn't matter that we were winning or not, some don't wish to play at that level.
Moorebank should be (and are) concentrating on coming back up to Div 1 next year, Sydney Uni and UNSW/ES should be forced back up as well, making a stronger competition, but its not going to happen i don't think.
We were dominant in Div 2, but knew we couldn't stay, so put things in place to secure our future. Our alliance with East Coast and the local juniors will set our club up for the future, givivng players of all levels the chance to play at their desired level. Its no good resting on your laurels, thats how clubs disappear.

[mountainsofpain]

The nature First Division competition has been lopsided for years. It is fundamentally flawed in that it is a set of clubs drawing from player rich bases competing against clubs doing the exact opposite.

The clubs from the outer west in particular have only ever made up the numbers in the competition for years. You can tell me Pekay - how many times has Nor-West made the finals in First Division in either grade? Or Penrith for that matter? I don't know, but I doubt if it is many at all.

The belief that Under 18s teams are the answer I believe is flawed - certainly if history is any guide. I recall both Penrith and Nor-West having gun Under 18 sides at some stage yet what happened to all these players? Why aren't both clubs strong now? Conversely, Parramatta won the flag one year without having the benefit of an Under 18 side at any time prior to that.

At the end of the day, I am not trying to present myself as being pessimistic. However, look at the results this year when the any of the four Western Sydney sides have played the non Western Sydney sides. They are not pretty reading - and that is I guess what prompted my post initially. The First Division final four is already decided three rounds in.

My criticism I guess stems from the basic fact that this competition has never been a level playing field. Before UTS and Manly it was clubs like Sydney Uni and Uni of NSW that dominated. S-W Sydney were competitive, but I don't recall them ever being serious contenders for a premiership. As I said, I recall Parra winning one but apart from that has any Western Sydney club won a First Division Senior Grade flag? Or even gone close?

As I said, I don't believe that Under 18s alone is the answer to evening up the competition - based on precedent. If I am correct in saying that (allowing me that leeway), then what is the answer? It seems to me that currently the Western Sydney clubs are as far away as ever from any degree of success and could still be years away from challenging the strong clubs in this competition. How can this process be accelerated and will the clubs continue to survive until competitiveness is somehow achieved? (Credit to all of them for surviving this long I must say, some of the beatings I remember seeing dished out to various clubs out there would be enough for most sane people to turn away from the game!).

regards


mountains

[Hawknik]

Well, credit too. For Clubs to get smashed every week only turns people away from the game. Also, it is not an easy task trying to develop/attract players when also not in the top league. Obviously the better/more talented players want to play in the higher levels and you see them come through your club and then move to Prem League Clubs. In the current format, that is totally understandable.

I believe that a "grading system" should be seriously investigated. And yes, before people answer "this has been considered before", I pose "has it been seriously considered?".

Even the Prem League is significantly lopsided, just take a look at the results from last weekend in Reserve Grade Premier League - of the 6 games, 4 were wone by 20+ and 1 by 10+. Seriously lopsided.

So, why can not a 5 graded (eg Div 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) comp be set up (similar to English Premier League)? With maybe 1 side (to be investgated) going up and down every 2 years. For example Sharks may have a team in Div 2 and also Div 4 with U18 Div 2. If the Div 4 side performed well (eg won flag) and hit certain benchmarks off field then they would qualify to move to Div 3 should a side in Div 3 not meet the criteria. Even maybe with a 12 month "warning" period for Clubs to prepare for the change such as what Syd Uni had to go through in 2007 to prepare for their great start to 2008.

It does work in the EPL and whilst I acknowledge we don't have the bazillions $$$ etc to throw around like the EPL and it is a significantly smaller degree, the system seems to work.

The major concern I see is having teams playing at different venues thus 2 things - not having enough volunteers to cover all needs AND clubs not being able to play together at same venue.

In all honesty, that sort of happens now. This weekend we have 4 teams playing at 3 different venues. So you just manage that process. If the trade off is a closer competition, potential for growth for your Club, then surely that is better.

There are many more points to this but as a stand alone statement that is enough for now..

Just a thought.......

[Sasha]

Mountains,
In regards to western sydney teams you are correct. The only recent dominant / competitive team from the west has been parramatta. Since 2000, they have won one premiership, been in 3 preliminary fianls, taken part in finals footy in another two campaigns. I wouldn't call this dominant, but is easily the best performed western sydney side in this period. As you said, this year the finals may have well & truly been decided after three rounds which is not a good thing for the 1st division!

[T-Rock]

Hawknik, it's a pretty good idea I think...but what if the Sharks (from your example) division 2 side was relegated the same year its div 4 side was promoted, leaving the club with two sides in div 3? Since no club has a premier and first division side, the idea of promotion and relegation should work pretty well, but the reserve grade and second div would need to be thought about a bit more.

I still think there will be issues in attracting quality players to clubs, particularly out west. Is a good player living in the city or north shore going to travel to Penrith to player in the premier division rather than play first division locally? Or play for a weaker premier league side or for a potential finals team in first division? (We are seeing that in Mac Uni this year with their influx of players from Balmain).

I think everyone is on the same page here: for clubs that are getting belted every week to survive and keep players interested the league has to do something about the inequality that is in both the premier reserves comp and the first division comp. Otherwise there will be a drop in player numbers and possibly an increase in the number of teams in second division just to be competitive.