RWO Game Day Thread - Round 2 - April 13-14

[justabaraker]

The Sydney AFL Strategic plan 2013-2016 clearly states

" 2015/16
The New world

8. All senior divisions now stabilised as ten team competitions with conventional promotion and relegation processes. "

This is the direction we are heading and it is definitely the right way to go IMO.. long over due.
The new acadamy aligned under 16 and under 18 competitions for aspirational players is a fantastic intiiative as well.
Just need to sort out the NEAFL structure i reckon . The current SHE/SUSS doesnt work .

It seems to me that Sydney footy has some very positive changes ahead .
And good on the Sydney AFL for that.



I agree with you too BW...good days to come. Not sure how the SHE/SUSS thing is not working in NEAFL....they have the same structure as the Canberra/Qbn teams, Eagles are powering along in NEAFL and SydUni is still a work in progress

[ShortHalfHead]

.
Good luck to the students though, they are doing well down through the grades and a far, far better job than the Hillsong mob.

[Noodle]

The NEAFL agreement, for SU at least, is for four years. I am not sure about SHH.
I agree with what seems the consensus the SU/SHH reserves appear somewhere in the middle between PD and Div 1. Four years should give an indication about whether the current model is sustainable.
Personally, from what I have seen fixtures involving SU's PD side lack the atmosphere of other clubs as they essentially remain a reserves side and hence not the focus of the club's attention. Also logistically, SU have never been particularly well supported for off field functions, e.g canteen, officials, crowd numbers etc. and this is particularly notable when SU are the home side at stand alone PD matches.
Similarly, the NEAFL fixture last week at Drummoyne, where only the NEAFL played with all the club's other sides at Henson, lacked any atmosphere which is a shame given it was an entertaining fixture albeit without the result we were looking for.

[justabaraker]

Similarly, the NEAFL fixture last week at Drummoyne, where only the NEAFL played with all the club's other sides at Henson, lacked any atmosphere which is a shame given it was an entertaining fixture albeit without the result we were looking for.

Funny, Noodle, I was at Drummoyne on Saturday with you, and I actually thought the atmos was the best I've seen at a NEAFL game (without SHEagles being involved). Go figure !!
And, yes, it was an entertaining fixture - we had a good day.
NEAFL games in Sydney are not well supported at the best of times - I went to a final last year at BISP involving Swans Reserves and a Canberra team and I head-counted at the start of the game.....83 people in the stand, on the boundary plus on the surrounding grass. Bit hollow for a 10,0000 capacity stadium on a sunny afternoon !

You're right in saying that SydUni isn't very well supported (certainly not in NEAFL and PD that I have seen) but maybe that's not the purpose anyway. Seems to me that they are positioning themselves to be the main feeder to the Swans (as SHEagles are doing re GWS) and, as a longterm strategy, I expect that the benefits will flow down to the lower grades...sound feasible ?

But, ringing in my ears are the words of one of the Balmain execs from last year who told me that Balmain made a strategic decision to pass up on NEAFL because they are gearing up for the new "Super NEAFL" to come.
Who knows, perhaps there is more yet to be told in that story. You'd have to have your doubts though !