What's happening out West?

[red dragon]

My sources tell me that there is to be a meeting at Monarch oval tonight (Monarch by the way have pulled their 50k per year commitment to the club) between the playing group (all 28 of them) and committee (all 3) to decide the future direction of the club. My word is that if there is to be anything more than a div 4 side the majority of the playing group will walk away not wanting to lose every game it plays such is the parlous state of their playing list. Either way there will be some decent players looking for a run (hit the phones Moorebank and Camden). Also what is to be the future of the U/19's in the area now that there won't be a team at Campbelltown? Six or seven have already signed with Parramatta, certainly Sydney AFL and Town have decimated the area recently with some of the decisions both parties have made especially the head office idiots who have no idea of anything that happens west of their offices at Moore Park.
And GWS? Pffft. Dress some kids in orange promise them the world and piss them off when not of the standard required. No input in footy out west and they definitely don't want any input, the partnership with Manly tells you that. Why not partner with a club in their so called area?

[Keiran Buckley]

Well it seems everyone who is not involved with our club has been happy to throw accusations and rumours around so i guess its only fair that the President of the club has a say on where the club stands.

For starters unlike what has been portrayed on here CTown has not been "Propped Up" by the AFL in anyway in my 22 years associated with the club. We like many others out west are constantly in heated discussions over the future of the game and what is/isnt happening and trust me we are far from there best friends getting handouts.

Our club has a wonderful supporter base of sponsors as well as a working committee of 12 People(Dont know where 3 came from). Our Major Sponsor Monarch has reduced its contribution to the club but they are still completely supportive of us and what we are doing into the future. We have also established a great new working partner in the NSWGAA and we look forward to seeing this grow into the future.

As many on here have stated including Colesy and PK GWS have had no impact at all for us as a footy club or intitiated any assistance bar 1 or 2 gala nights for the juniors that were run at our club. We were contacted last year and told that one of the coaching staff had been alloacated to us as a mentor as we were in there area and that he would come out to some trainings. A few follow up Emails and calls from us later but we never saw him.

The club last September set up an Academy for AFL in the Macarthur area for 13-17 year olds in conjunction with South West Sydney Academy of Sport which saw 30 young AFL players attend clinics over a 10 week period from December through to the End of Febuary.

In terms of players numbers we have had over 70 players train with us since Xmas over the 3 grades. Our Premier Division squad is not as strong as we would like but the committee and coaching staff is working hard to try to add more depth here over the coming weeks. In Terms of the 19's for anyone who has been involved in football in our area this age group is always a battle to keep invloved and playing especially when you only have 1 Feeder Under 17 team in the whole area. There is 3 players that i am aware of that have gone to Parramatta from the 10 that came out of that 17's team. We are working night and day visiting local high schools, uni's etc trying to drum up players(If you know anyone keen please send them down ) and will continue to do so as part of our commitment to footy in our area.

We also have a wonderful Senior Coach who is talked about in glowing terms by anyone who has ever met him. It makes me wonder that if our club was so terribly ran and was such a rabble why he would be going into his 3rd year as coach, in his second stint with us.

As many of you are aware it is very easy for others to take pot shots from outside at other clubs without seeing what happens behind the sceens. Feel free to come down and and have a look yourself if you like or give me a call at anytime my number is on the club website im happy to answer any questions or give feedback.

Thanks Very Much for your time.

Keiran Buckley
President CFC

PS Unfortunately i wont be getting into slanging matches on here i prefer to argue face to face but Now go

[tara]

Keiran I heard rumours that clubs were appointed coaching mentors by GWS but again it appears the don't know we exist at least you and Penrith have had some contact. The only junior clinic they ran last year at Rosedale was on a Tuesday night when even though the juniors trained on a Wednesday. Again not one bit of correspondence from them to even ask would we mind them interrupting our training. I was promised that Dave Matthews would contact us by a prominent member of the Sydney AFL community but alas he must have lost my phone number.

[Norris Lurker]

Thanks Kieran. Don't know where these rumours come from, first I'd heard of it was Red Dragon's post.

Of course there's challenges, every club has them - but it looks like it's business as usual in Premier Division. Good luck for the season, I'll get down to Monarch at some stage of the season for a match report and to see first hand what's happening down there.

[Offal]

Oh yeah, I saw that on TV. Looks like the player's own families didn't even bother to show up.

It was weird.

As a paying member, I went to the game and was not allowed to sit in my member's chair as they closed off that half of the stadium. WTF?

Left a bitter taste in my mouth.

[Mug Punter]

Well it seems everyone who is not involved with our club has been happy to throw accusations and rumours around so i guess its only fair that the President of the club has a say on where the club stands.

For starters unlike what has been portrayed on here CTown has not been "Propped Up" by the AFL in anyway in my 22 years associated with the club. We like many others out west are constantly in heated discussions over the future of the game and what is/isnt happening and trust me we are far from there best friends getting handouts.

Our club has a wonderful supporter base of sponsors as well as a working committee of 12 People(Dont know where 3 came from). Our Major Sponsor Monarch has reduced its contribution to the club but they are still completely supportive of us and what we are doing into the future. We have also established a great new working partner in the NSWGAA and we look forward to seeing this grow into the future.

As many on here have stated including Colesy and PK GWS have had no impact at all for us as a footy club or intitiated any assistance bar 1 or 2 gala nights for the juniors that were run at our club. We were contacted last year and told that one of the coaching staff had been alloacated to us as a mentor as we were in there area and that he would come out to some trainings. A few follow up Emails and calls from us later but we never saw him.

The club last September set up an Academy for AFL in the Macarthur area for 13-17 year olds in conjunction with South West Sydney Academy of Sport which saw 30 young AFL players attend clinics over a 10 week period from December through to the End of Febuary.

In terms of players numbers we have had over 70 players train with us since Xmas over the 3 grades. Our Premier Division squad is not as strong as we would like but the committee and coaching staff is working hard to try to add more depth here over the coming weeks. In Terms of the 19's for anyone who has been involved in football in our area this age group is always a battle to keep invloved and playing especially when you only have 1 Feeder Under 17 team in the whole area. There is 3 players that i am aware of that have gone to Parramatta from the 10 that came out of that 17's team. We are working night and day visiting local high schools, uni's etc trying to drum up players(If you know anyone keen please send them down ) and will continue to do so as part of our commitment to footy in our area.

We also have a wonderful Senior Coach who is talked about in glowing terms by anyone who has ever met him. It makes me wonder that if our club was so terribly ran and was such a rabble why he would be going into his 3rd year as coach, in his second stint with us.

As many of you are aware it is very easy for others to take pot shots from outside at other clubs without seeing what happens behind the sceens. Feel free to come down and and have a look yourself if you like or give me a call at anytime my number is on the club website im happy to answer any questions or give feedback.

Thanks Very Much for your time.

Keiran Buckley
President CFC

PS Unfortunately i wont be getting into slanging matches on here i prefer to argue face to face but Now go

Keiran

Thank you for your post and I wish you all the very best for the season ahead.

I genuinely hope you can regroup and rebuild your once great club. Perhaps the Balmain model of dropping down the leagues, licking your wounds and concentrating on a bottom up model of community engagement is the answer.

I think that the lack of support you have received from GWS is nothing short of a disgrace but we should by now expect this of the AFL and NSWAFL, especially when you look at their Manly tie up. They should be backing all the clubs ion their catchment with coaching resources, equipment, junior development, administrative support and CASH - yes, cash because unlike the junior league clubs you don't have a pokie den to bankroll you and if the AFL is going to blow millions of dollars a year on this joke of a club then surely they can sling each club in their catchment $15-20,000 a year.

I believe this is real news. You should contact a rag like the Daily Telegraph and tell them of your plight while that mob at Cabarita claim to represent your area....

Again, all the best

[Footy Barista]

just a thought but why dont campbelltown and camden merge? would be a force to rekonned with if that was the case

[Mug Punter]

just a thought but why dont campbelltown and camden merge? would be a force to rekonned with if that was the case

Before I get shouted down by the usual suspects, all the comments below should be prefaced with "In my humble opinion"....

Mergers just don't work in football because in club land it is a brutal battle for survival and supremacy, especially in Sydney when you are fighting over a very small pie. And rightly so, within reason clubs should always look after themselves, it is the job of the NSWAFL to enforce the fairness and it is a job they are doing spectacularly badly over an extended period of time with a procession of ex-VFL/AFL old boys parachuted into enemy territory.

A merger is invariably really a takeover. Quite often both parties are weak but the less weak will win. The winner keeps their home ground, dominates the committee and the loser contributes a handful of players. There will usually be a new jumper and a new name but everyone knows who the team really is.

Liverpool were the senior partner in SWS/Moorebank, Parramatta over Blacktown in HBP, UNSW over East Sydney (hence UTS taking the Eastern Suburbs territory).

I'm not suggesting Camden want C'Town to fold but I bet they are not actively saving them either as they have their club to run. But I guarantee is they do fold the first thing Camden will do is try and pick up their better players. On that note don't be surprised how many Town players will simply be lost to the game. Know that when St Ives folded under their mismanagement in the 90s (a kind description to what was going on there) that very few players played AFL in Sydney again.

So, if Campbelltown and Camden "merge" it will involve a possible name change, guess they could keep the same jumpers but a team playing out of Camden run by Camden people.

If they can Campbelltown need to try and keep their own identity even if is as a Div 4 one team club for this season and try to rebuild.

If they NSWAFL and AFL are serious in having a strong presence in Western Sydney then there needs to be two teams in that areas.

[tara]

MP Liverpool seem the dominant partner in the Bankstown Liverpool merger however as a player involved at the time it wasn't the case. The club would have liked to split games between Rodedale and Kelso however elements prevented that but not from within the club, they were more due to the junior n bankstown sports aspect where there was a lot of bad feelings for want of a better word. We adopted the black n white as neither club could them claim some sort of superiority. The players from both clubs accepted it and formed a great new working relationship without any hang ups. When opposition players said well done Liverpool when shaking hands post game they were put in their place pretty quick.

I do though agree with you though most mergers don't really work. Over the years it probably appeared to a lot including former players the Liverpool aspect was prominent. The truth is though the former bankstown players and officials still involved were the driving force that kept the club alive at the end of 2006.

We have done a lot of work to engage both groups at past players day and whilst it took some time to get bankstown people back for the day last years past players day that had out jumpers list all the premierships and life members from both clubs on the front and every name of players male a female to represent the club since the merger n the back was a great success. All four teams on the day wore different strips. Thirds bankstown. Ressies Liverpool sthn districts. Seniors sws and the 19s the current strip. I know at the end of the day the bankstown people who attended will be back and bring more this year as the realise we genuinely honour the history of both clubs.

As a club we bow have past players from both aspects sons playing for us now.

For the record I did and still do love and identify as bankstown whilst also being just as passionate about us in the present.

[Pmcc2911]

I played juniors with Bankstown Sports in the early to mid seventies, I think there was no senior team and our next step was to play U/19 with Sth Districts.
I drifted away to another code but often followed the results in the paper.
Tara do you have a potted history of the clubs above, when they came and went etc.
(Have come back due to my son now playing junior AFL and loving it).
Thanks

[tara]

1947 Liverpool formed
1963 Liverpool and Bankstown combine
1964 Liverpool Bankstown and Parramatta form Southern Districts (dont have any information on as to how long parra remained involved)
1972 Bankstown Split and reform Liverpool retain the name Stn Districts
1981 Sth Districts reverts back to the name Liverpool
1996 Liverpool and Bankstown merge to form South West Sydney
2008 name changed to Moorebank sports to reflect alignment with Moorebank Sports Club
2012 Moorebank drop Sports from the name.


More detailed history below

The origins of the football club go back to 1947 when it was first established. Five foundation members at the time
were seen as critical to getting the club up and running, these members were Leo Sullivan, Karl Gallagher, Keith
Wilcoxin, Cliff Williamson and W Prigg. At this stage of the clubs history it had 175 junior players linked to it
across many junior clubs including Hammondville, Regents Park, Cabramatta, Fairfield, Bankstown, Mt Pritchard,
Villawood, Green Valley and Holsworthy Warwick Farm. Leo Sullivan a former VFL player with Richmond had
worked tirelessly to see the formation of the senior club. Karl Gallagher was instrumental in forming and organising
the large junior network. Gallagher and Sullivan first recruited converts to Australian Football, through a procession
through the streets of Liverpool using a large sign on his delivery truck. This vehicle played a greater role in the early
years as it was used to transport players to away games.
The Sullivan family holds a unique place in the history at the club as the only family to have had three generations of
players represent it. Keith Wilcoxin?s family still has involvement at Rosedale with his grandson playing first grade
cricket with the Fairfield Liverpool Lions.
The clubs first colours were believed to have been black and white and this is supported in documentation on the early
history of the club however of the years it has seen a number of changes in the colours and has worn Black and Gold,
Blue and White and Blue Black and White as well as the current Black, White and Gold strip.
1949 the club won its first premiership defeating Rosebery in what was then the Districts competition before in was
admitted into the Sydney AFL in 1951.
The clubs original home ground was the Liverpool Showgrounds however a sale of the land forced the club to look
elsewhere and the club was granted flat scrubland at Warwick Farm for their new oval. Leo Sullivan at this time
was an Alderman on the Liverpool Council. This land was flat however covered in tea trees and a working
committee was formed which saw the tea tees gradually removed and the ground cleared. As a result of this
voluntary work Rosedale Oval was developed and was set aside with Australian Rules Football to be the only sport
played upon it.
1959 saw the club win Sydney AFL?s first ?Lightning Premiership?.
In 1963 a combined Liverpool/Bankstown team won the Sydney AFL Under 19?s Premiership. This is the clubs
first premiership since admission into the Sydney AFL.
In 1964 with football flourishing in the area Parramatta Liverpool and Bankstown combined and formed Southern
Districts however the next ten years are said to be among the most turbulent in the clubs history. A new club room
at Rosedale that was a combined effort of volunteers and the council was opened.
In 1965 Southern Districts win the reserve grade Premiership. The competitions equivalent in 2012 is Division1.
1972 saw Bankstown AFC reform and split with Southern Districts who continue to play under the same name.
1981 Southern Districts AFC revert back to Liverpool AFC
1987 Liverpool Seniors Premiers and Reserves Runners up of the Sydney Football Association Division 2
competition.
Bankstown Under 20?s Premiers of the Sydney Football Association Division 1 Competition.
1988 Liverpool Seniors Premiers and Reserves runners up of the Sydney Football Association Division 2
competition
Bankstown Under 20?s Premiers of the Sydney football Association Division 1 Competition.
1989 Liverpool Under 20?s Premiers of the Sydney Football Association Division 1 Competition.
1992 Bankstown Seniors Premiers of the Sydney Football Association Division 2 competition.
Rosedale Oval Clubroom renovations and officially opened. The upgrade graded clubrooms are named the Leo
Sullivan Pavilion in honour of the clubs founder for his contributions to the club and the community of Liverpool.
1994 Liverpool Reserves Premiers of the Sydney Football Association Division 1 competition.
1996 Liverpool Eagles AFC and the Bankstown Sports Bombers merge to form the South West Sydney Magpies.
Reserves Minor Premiers and runners up of the Sydney AFL Division 1 competition.
1997 South West Sydney Reserves runners up of the Sydney AFL Division 1 competition.
2007 After a disastrous few years a meeting to determine the future of the club where a motion to fold the club
was not passed, it was decided to drop from the Division 1 Competition and field one senior team only in the
Division 2competition. This team reaches the preliminary final before being defeated by UNSW.
2008 South West Sydney AFC renamed to Moorebank Magpies AFC.
The Magpies continue their revival by adding an under 18?s team to the club. Seniors finish in fourth position
2009 The Sydney AFL restructures the competition into a division structure. The club continues to grow and a
reserves team is introduced into the fold to compete in the Division competition with the seniors in div 2. Neither
senior side make the finals in 2009 however the under 18?s team does in only their second year.
2010 Moorebank Magpies win the Sydney AFL Division 3 Premiership whilst the Reserves are runners up in
Division 4.
2011 A Third grade team is entered into the Sydney AFL Division 5 competition whilst the seniors have been
promoted to Division 2. Reserve Grade win the Division 4 Premiership whilst thirds bow out in the preliminary
final.
2012 Thirds are the only team to make finals and they bow out in the first week against UTS.
2013 First Grade, Reserve Grade and Under 18?s all made finals. First grade won their elimination final against
Camden before going down in the First Semi to eventual Premiers Sydney Uni. Reserves lost both their finals to
Pennant Hills and Sydney Uni respectively whilst the under 18?s lost their elimination final by the narrowest of
margins to Macquarie Uni.

[red dragon]

Campbelltown will have prems this year but no div four or u/19's.
Could be a long year. Headed down the M5 (haven't they done some work on that!! loved the 3 and 4 lanes) to watch them take on Penrith div 2 and they lost by 5 or 6 goals. u/19's game cancelled. (more on the 19's later in the week).
Town had about 28-30 blokes but apart from 3 or 4 nowhere near Prem Div quality.
They must be commended for all their hard work in getting an academy started (?????) and working with the GAA but it's not looking good for them. I blame Sydney AFL bunch of no idea nuffies.
My tip is 100 to 200 hundred point hidings for the first 5 rounds until they fold altogether.
Also congrats to Moorebank on their win in Div 2 and 4 over Randwick .

[Pekay]

If they can't hold their own against Penrith and Parramatta (strong teams, but not Premier Division) then I think trouble is brewing.

[DLH]

I didn't see the game, but there'd have to be some real concerns if we're beating Town by 7 goals.

Having said that, we've picked up a number of quality recruits. I have no doubts that this team would be very competitive in Div 1, so I'd predict we'll be at the pointy end in Div 2.

[Mug Punter]

MP Liverpool seem the dominant partner in the Bankstown Liverpool merger however as a player involved at the time it wasn't the case. The club would have liked to split games between Rodedale and Kelso however elements prevented that but not from within the club, they were more due to the junior n bankstown sports aspect where there was a lot of bad feelings for want of a better word. We adopted the black n white as neither club could them claim some sort of superiority. The players from both clubs accepted it and formed a great new working relationship without any hang ups. When opposition players said well done Liverpool when shaking hands post game they were put in their place pretty quick.

I do though agree with you though most mergers don't really work. Over the years it probably appeared to a lot including former players the Liverpool aspect was prominent. The truth is though the former bankstown players and officials still involved were the driving force that kept the club alive at the end of 2006.

We have done a lot of work to engage both groups at past players day and whilst it took some time to get bankstown people back for the day last years past players day that had out jumpers list all the premierships and life members from both clubs on the front and every name of players male a female to represent the club since the merger n the back was a great success. All four teams on the day wore different strips. Thirds bankstown. Ressies Liverpool sthn districts. Seniors sws and the 19s the current strip. I know at the end of the day the bankstown people who attended will be back and bring more this year as the realise we genuinely honour the history of both clubs.

As a club we bow have past players from both aspects sons playing for us now.

For the record I did and still do love and identify as bankstown whilst also being just as passionate about us in the present.

Cheers Tara

The merger at SWS does seem to have been quite successful.

The Campbelltown decision to only play in Prem Div seems like absolute madness.

It is a stark reminder of how fragile the game is in Sydney and it isn't helped by the apparent incompetence of GWS and their lack of community engagement. I still cannot believe their idiotic sponsorship of Manly whilst they let the Prem club that actually represents their area fold without a yelp.

Then again why should the club's invest money into local clubs when muppets like Eddie McGuire want to destroy any model that might be successful, such as the academies

- - - Updated - - -

Campbelltown will have prems this year but no div four or u/19's.
Could be a long year. Headed down the M5 (haven't they done some work on that!! loved the 3 and 4 lanes) to watch them take on Penrith div 2 and they lost by 5 or 6 goals. u/19's game cancelled. (more on the 19's later in the week).
Town had about 28-30 blokes but apart from 3 or 4 nowhere near Prem Div quality.
They must be commended for all their hard work in getting an academy started (?????) and working with the GAA but it's not looking good for them. I blame Sydney AFL bunch of no idea nuffies.
My tip is 100 to 200 hundred point hidings for the first 5 rounds until they fold altogether.
Also congrats to Moorebank on their win in Div 2 and 4 over Randwick .

Special commendation must also go to GWS for sponsoring Manly whilst their only real Prem Div Club withers and dies.