ECE Scholarships

[Sometimes]

Not sure whether a zoning system would help in this instance. No Sydney AFL club would be given the Upper Hunter as their zone.

Assuming the kid doesn't have his license yet, his parents must be keen for him to make it as a footballer to drive all that way every week. Must be costing them a fortune.

yeah his parents drive him down every weekend and at least one training session per week, if not two

[Jacks]

DLH it was not your response I was refering to (this is why I am not a fan of electronic media) and I am mindful of Penrith's problems in maintaining players. I am no longer directly involved with the Eagles and therefore do not know how things are done now. I was however coach of the U/18's when Josh came to the club and I can say that at that time he was not approached by myself to come over and was not made any promises to get him to stay.
I understand your situation and actually agree with most of your ideas. However good young players are always going to want to play at the highest level that they can and Premier clubs are always going to try and take advantage of it.
Lets hope that the push into Western Sydney can bring the boost in numbers that is being talked about and that the struggling grass roots clubs in the west can benefit from it. Time will tell.

[ShortHalfHead]

DLH it was not your response I was refering to (this is why I am not a fan of electronic media) and I am mindful of Penrith's problems in maintaining players. I am no longer directly involved with the Eagles and therefore do not know how things are done now. I was however coach of the U/18's when Josh came to the club and I can say that at that time he was not approached by myself to come over and was not made any promises to get him to stay.

Josh came to the first training run with the Rams 18's but was turned off when he only saw a handful of kids at training. He then went to ECE and saw they had a team and stayed there. Appreciate and know full well he wasn't poached. How things have changed in the last two years.
Josh kept on winning best and fairest at club and regional level but never got a start at rep level dominated by the Starz players, many of whom weren't worth a cracker, but had dads on the coaching/managing staff.
The year Josh joined ECE was when Penrith and Nor-West merged in the 18's a couple of weeks before the start of the comp.
Now it is open slather with the poachers nowadays which is pretty sad. Worse still they always seem to play their challenge cup games on another day to the Prems and stack the side to beat Penrith....and even encourage the Prem Cup players to play against their old teamates. On a happier note, Penrith have a 5-0 record against them in the last two years despite the stackings ! I am sure they will be at it again on June 26 with their Prems playing on the 25th.
I watched the 18's Grand Final last year and was very surprised when Josh S gave a finger to the crowd when he made a mistake. He certainly never acted like that when he was with the Mountain Lions. They must teach that kinda stuff over at East Poach.

[The Insider]

Shorthalfhead, that was a juvenile and ill-conceived reply. If you want to be spiteful and catty, save it for face-to-face contact.

In my humble opinion, this board has gone downhill in the last few months, when every tom, DICK and harry has tried to stir the pot by starting bitchy rumours and commenting with biased relpies. Have a think to yourself, if your comment doesn't add anything to Sydney footy or the Sydney footy public, (which needs every helping hand it can get) put it to rest. No one here gives a proverbial flying @@@@@@, how you have been hard done by in the Sydney AFL. Most, if not everyone, involved is trying to improve the standard of Sydney footy, so it is not the joke it has been for my entire existence as a player/supporter.

My two cents, whether you agree or disagree.

[ShortHalfHead]

Biggest load of dribble I have heard for a long time, Insider.
Gave you a background on someone, not a rumour! If you can't see that, seek help. Please point out any wrong facts I have stated.
And answer me one question. Do you think that clubs because of their financial status and full time employees, can improve the Sydney competition by continually hitting smaller clubs to knock off their talent?

PS. You talk about being spiteful and catty. What's is your problem with Balmain?

[Doormat]

Spot on SHH
They can continually try and deflect as much as they want. But history shows the standards they beam as a club aren?t to be followed. Remember they are paying a player under 18 to travel 3 hours & 241km ONE WAY to get to Rouse Hill. On top of that they poach kids at least 30-50km away from Rouse Hill a proven fact.

From Balmain website:-
Jarred Mobbs, a former Baulkham Hills junior , who only last month played in the Sydney Swans Reserve grade practice match is also a
youngster of great promise. FYI, he was also named as BOG in premier division v Campbelltown. Believe he is 17 playing senior football.
Now that is trying to better the standard of Sydney football & the player!

Isn?t Baulkham Hills one of the feeder clubs in the Norwest Alliance? Hypocrites!

Biggest load of dribble I have heard for a long time, Insider.
Gave you a background on someone, not a rumour! If you can't see that, seek help. Please point out any wrong facts I have stated.
And answer me one question. Do you think that clubs because of their financial status and full time employees, can improve the Sydney competition by continually hitting smaller clubs to knock off their talent?

PS. You talk about being spiteful and catty. What's is your problem with Balmain?