No-one posts here anymore...

[Mug Punter]

I hope I am wrong but I think this reflects the general mehhhh attitude towards the SFL this year as team's battle it out to determine who is the third best team in Sydney football.

I just love how the brainless bureacrats at the NSWAFL find ways to kill any remaining interest in the SFL. Sure, the Sheagles seem to be going well but do they actually get any more people to the NEAFL. I'd say no.

As for Sydney Uni, surely they aren't enjoying getting thumped every week in front of three men and a dog.

Lebanon Utd falling apart, Mac Uni looking shaky, Maroubra starting to struggle. Could we be starting to see a contraction of the local comp. If so then the lack of a decent top flight comp will in no small part responsible.

Norris, just out of interest how are the hits to this section comparing to last year?

[Norris Lurker]

MP, it has definately reduced - both in number of posts and hits to this forum. Posts are down by about a third, hits down by about a quarter. I'd put a lot of that down to East Coast/Sydney Hills going up to the NEAFL - quite a lot of the regulars on here who don't post much now were from the Eagles; and there's not the same talk about their reserves that there was about their seniors in seasons past.

[nugget]

It's not just on here. I've managed to get to a few games over the past few weeks, haven't been to many at all this year due to other commitments but no one seems to be showing up to games either.

The NEAFL was always going to drain some of the talent pool but the standard of games in Premier Div and even more so in Div 1 has been abysmal. If this keeps up no one is going to be interested sooner or later. How are we supposed to attract quality players and people to clubs when this is what is dished up each week?

[Mahatma]

mug.
how do you figure that saints afc are struggling we have div 3 and div 5 both in finals positions at the moment the under 18s have found it tough but its the first year they have had a crack at it. I agree with the AFL making poor decisions it seems there is one set of rules for some clubs and another set for the rest from prem div right down to div 5 and under 18s.

[Norris Lurker]

It's not just on here. I've managed to get to a few games over the past few weeks, haven't been to many at all this year due to other commitments but no one seems to be showing up to games either.

The NEAFL was always going to drain some of the talent pool but the standard of games in Premier Div and even more so in Div 1 has been abysmal. If this keeps up no one is going to be interested sooner or later. How are we supposed to attract quality players and people to clubs when this is what is dished up each week?

I'm not as pessimistic as some are about the state of Sydney footy. The top teams in Premier Division are playing some good footy, but the gap between the top five and the rest is enormous. With two weeks in a row where every game has been decided by more than 50 points, and more than half of them going off by over 100, I can understand why you'd feel that way.

I don't know what the answer is. This doesn't come from any club or the league, and they may not be supportive of it - but I wonder whether it's time to extend promotion and relegation to Premier Division.

[snow leopard]

I'm not as pessimistic as some are about the state of Sydney footy. The top teams in Premier Division are playing some good footy, but the gap between the top five and the rest is enormous. With two weeks in a row where every game has been decided by more than 50 points, and more than half of them going off by over 100, I can understand why you'd feel that way.

I don't know what the answer is. This doesn't come from any club or the league, and they may not be supportive of it - but I wonder whether it's time to extend promotion and relegation to Premier Division.

Agree with Norris. Both Manly and Southern Power are better than the bottom 4 Prem teams and should be given a chance

[ShortHalfHead]

Manly have to go up next year. They were sensational against Penrith on Saturday. Admittedly, the Rams made plenty of mistakes and were absolutely punished for each one but even the Wolves seemed apologetic about the class difference. On their display on the weekend, I reckon they would have been close to finals footy in PD if they were there. Southern Power stiil a fair bit behind them but it's a big gap to the rest !

[DLH]

Agree with Norris. Both Manly and Southern Power are better than the bottom 4 Prem teams and should be given a chance

Confirmed by a regular PD player at one of the top clubs who came back from injury through his Div 1 side a few weeks back against Manly.

Certainly considers them better than the bottom few anyway.

[Norris Lurker]

It's a tough one - there's arguments for and against it. Whether Weldon Oval is up to Premier Division standard is debatable; certainly Gwawley wouldn't be.
But the question would be how many teams can Premier Division sustain. In the last eight seasons, we've gone from 8 teams to 11. To have a club going up or down would eliminate the bye, which would be a good thing; but we no longer have everyone playing everyone else twice in Premier Division or Div 1.
Of course it's a lot easier to promote a team than relegate one. Promotion is a good news story, while relegation of a team that's been in the top division as long as anyone can remember is difficult. Although it becomes easier if there's an automatic promotion -relegation, so a club can drop down and play competitive games while they bottom out but have an automatic mechanism to go back up.
Also promotion and relegation from Premier Division would require a redistribution of the junior pathway clubs every year.

[tara]

Couple of things Norris there cant be any question that Weldon is up to the standards of Prem Div given Picken oval is.

And why would it require a redistribution of the Pathways - surely by doing that it would be an admission by the Sydney AFL that the current pathways are a mechanism to prop up the existing premier division clubs at the expense of clubs competing in lower divisions?

[Tim Freedman]

Having moved from a traditional footy state to NSW 5 or so years ago I can tell you the single biggest problem with AFL in Sydney is the divisionalisation of Sydney AFL.

Whilst the powers that be at HQ will argue about how many clubs played in finals and won premierships last year, I am of the firm opinion that there is now next to zero atmosphere at ANY game in Premier Divsion against ANY club. And this is regardless of ladder position. Sydney more than any other state struggles at the best of times to draw a crowd not to mention enough volunteers to keep the local clubs going. Now we are all split over multiple venues across multiple days which creates headaches and challenges to say the least. There is no tribalism in Sydney AFL and it is getting harder to maintain and promote a clubs culture.

The solution IMHO is to have a genuine promotion / relegation system in place. If your senior side is in Premier Division then your entire club (Reserves & U18s) are in Premier Division and you play against other Premier Division Clubs seniors, reserves and under 18s all at the same venue. If clubs (Unis etc) have more than 3 teams then they get to play off for the who cares cup in whatever division they choose to but there is no promotion / relegation for that division.

IMHO just because a club has been in premier division for upteen years shouldn't mean they have a god given right to stay in it. If they have a poor year then they drop down, regroup and have a crack at the flag in the lower division to try and get back up. I can tell you from experience that it creates great interest when you get towards the end of the year and clubs do everything they can to avoid relegation. It is surprising the kind of upsets that happen because of it. The same goes for the sides in Div 1 who are looking to win the flag and get a promotion. It is great for the comp and answers the age old question of if a certain team could compete at the next level ie: Manly & Sthn Power.

We also need to get rid of this ridiculous pathway system. Telling a kid where he can and can't play is detrimental to that players development and his morale. It is unheard of in traditional football states to have this system in place. Most clubs in lower divisions wish their players the best when they decide to have a crack at a higher standard of football. In fact it is encouraged. For some unknown reason it is frowned upon in Sydney footy when a higher club contacts a kid in a lower division to see if they are keen to have a crack at the next level.

NEAFL hasn't killed Sydney AFL. In fact in years to come it will enhance it as players start to come to NSW to play NEAFL once it starts to be recognised as a decent competition. We should also see more local talent stay in Sydney rather than move interstate to play in the VFL, WAFL or SANFL. What we really need is for a few kids to be drafted out of this competition so it can be used as an example to others. I tell all of my contacts in VIC to send their young talent up to Sydney as there would be a better chance for them to be drafted from here than in VIC where they are competing against 1000 other kids with the same talent. In NSW some of these kids or younger players are being used at the Swans & GWS as tops ups and if they happen to have a few good games then they may be looked at. Eugene Krueger is a PERFECT example of this. Topped up the Swans a few years ago, kicked 4 goals in a game and was identified because of it and rookied. If he was in VIC, WA, SA he may not have had that chance.

Long story short - get rid of the current divisionalisation and pathway system. Go back to CLUB divisions and implement a promotion / relegation system.

[Hard Times]

Spot on Tim Freedman. Volunteers are the heart of Footy and Supporters the Backbone, forcing them to go separate ways every weekends not only spreads things too thin but destroys the feeling of belonging that attracts people to Club Footy.

[Hard Times]

Spot on Tim Freedman. Volunteers are the heart of Footy and Supporters the Backbone, forcing them to go separate ways every weekend not only spreads things too thin but destroys the feeling of belonging that attracts people to Club Footy.

[Pekay]

But this isn't a traditional football state. If they hadn't gone the division path, you'd have next to nothing west of Parra.

[OLDMATE]

Best post i've read on this forum Tim... Well done!