Is the Sydney Competition the strongest it has ever been?

[justabaraker]

Same with Balmain, paid for Zochling, Ash Reade, Ash Thompson etc and when the money dried up the players disappeared quickly and the club was rooted.

Trivia question...What was the name of the Balmain small forward, from the army I think, who starred in our comp and appeared as a personal trainer on one of those TV "biggest loser" programmes ? Would he have been on the money train too ?

[chatovadafloor]

And..... This has what to do with strongest comp? Balmain ain't in prems

[justabaraker]

Good point ! I got my threads mixed up.

Can you remember his name or not ?

[Mug Punter]

Good point ! I got my threads mixed up.

Can you remember his name or not ?

Lee Campbell was a very good small forward for the Tigers (think he followed Bird from Town) but not sure if he is your man

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The 3 teams mentioned were full of mercenaries who all disappeared as quickly as they came when the money disappeared. They were strong teams, the comp wasnt strong then.

I dispute there were many Campbeltown juniors bar McLaughlin and Kershaw . The year before Bird?Murphy and the chequebook came were hopeless. They were awful again for a few years when all the players left. Then the chequebook came again with Brunton and they were good for a couple of years again. We know whats happened since and there are plenty of rumours that plenty of the players were paid what they were promised.

Same with Balmain, paid for Zochling, Ash Reade, Ash Thompson etc and when the money dried up the players disappeared quickly and the club was rooted.

The comp was strongest early to mid 2000's when Penno, Baulko, East, North Shore and Stgeorge all had good teams and competition was even at a good level.

The Noacks were also Campbelltown juniors and Podbury played a long time there after winning the Phelan at Bankstown, think your are selling them short a bit

Agree re the early 00s though

[andreww1]

So why are Wests struggling this year? They picked up the better players from Campbelltown plus Paul Bevan, but have gone backwards.
Is it culture or coaching or skills or game plan or what?
What happens to them when the proceeds from the sale of their club runs out?

[Nuttsy]

The 3 teams mentioned were full of mercenaries who all disappeared as quickly as they came when the money disappeared. They were strong teams, the comp wasnt strong then.

I dispute there were many Campbeltown juniors bar McLaughlin and Kershaw . The year before Bird?Murphy and the chequebook came were hopeless. They were awful again for a few years when all the players left. Then the chequebook came again with Brunton and they were good for a couple of years again. We know whats happened since and there are plenty of rumours that plenty of the players were paid what they were promised.

Same with Balmain, paid for Zochling, Ash Reade, Ash Thompson etc and when the money dried up the players disappeared quickly and the club was rooted.

The comp was strongest early to mid 2000's when Penno, Baulko, East, North Shore and Stgeorge all had good teams and competition was even at a good level.

Not to let the facts get in the way but here goes. When we won in 94,95 there was a lot of juniors in the side including Kershaw, McLaughlin x2, Barrett, Campbell, Kelner, Upfield, Noack, Moller, Nichols, Guest, Underwood, Lucas, Brooks, Roberts. We also had a decent Army contingent then with Malseed, Turner, Brown and then Burnett, Mcbrien and Foye that travelled up from the Sth Coast. The only players who came in with the so called "Chequebook" were Mcgough(who was underwood's cousin), Sungalis(Rowles nephew), Pleming, Druce and obviously Murphy as coach. Id hardly say we were "Awful again" for a few years considering we played the next 3 years in the ACTAFL when it was much stronger than it is now and made finals and then came back to Sydney and won the Seniors and Reserves in 99. Through the late 80's to mid 90's there was 9 Junior clubs between Holsworthy and Bargo which all had Under 17's which dwindled in the early 2000's quickly down to 2 or 3 and up until this year there was only 1 Under 17's team in the same region for about the last 7-8 years.

And one thing I can assure you of is that EVERY player has always been paid what they were owed by Campbelltown. Even in my time we sent cheques to Service guys that had moved interstate before Presentation night that were owed money.

[justabaraker]

I hear what you're saying Nuttsy. But how has it all gone so wrong ? Was it when the McLaughlins moved on ?

[Nuttsy]

I hear what you're saying Nuttsy. But how has it all gone so wrong ? Was it when the McLaughlins moved on ?

Once the local junior comp diminished, so did the amount of kids coming through capable of playing Premier Division. The club always had good local talent coming through when there was 6-8 junior clubs in the area. 3RAR out of Holsworthy was always a good source also but in the early 2000's they transferred up to Darwin. The reality is there is a massive difference in getting people to play footy at the lower levels compared to trying to recruit players that are up to Premier Division standard. lets also not kid ourselves either if anyone moves to Sydney for work with an AFL background they generally move to either Inner City or the coast not to down town C'Town

[Mug Punter]

So why are Wests struggling this year? They picked up the better players from Campbelltown plus Paul Bevan, but have gone backwards.
Is it culture or coaching or skills or game plan or what?
What happens to them when the proceeds from the sale of their club runs out?

I'd say they are in a fair bit of strife.

No juniors to speak of really in a fairly multicultural area that is not well suited to producing Australian footballers.

Their current coaching set up can't be helping either

[The Student]

[QUOTE=Mug Punter;678070]Lee Campbell was a very good small forward for the Tigers (think he followed Bird from Town) but not sure if he is your man

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Lee fits that description pretty well - as far as I know he finished his career in Sydney with Uni in Div 2 in 2010, but only played a few games that year because he kept breaking down.

[Steamboat]

I'd say they are in a fair bit of strife.

No juniors to speak of really in a fairly multicultural area that is not well suited to producing Australian footballers.

Their current coaching set up can't be helping either

I have assisted in prems under several good coaches for the last 10 years and Kev is as thorough and prepared as any that are going around, Juniors are an issue and dwindling numbers are not just a problem for Wests but the entire Sydney League.

We have picked up some good players from C Town this year but apart from T Etto, they have not been able to get a consistent run of games on the board, whilst the wins have not been as frequent as we would have liked, we have started to play some decent football over the last 6 weeks.

Injuries have played a major part in our ladder position and whilst all clubs have injuries,player turnover due to those injuries have exceeded 45, this is always going to see you well down the ladder, whilst we are a fair bit behind the top 3, 5 losses by 3 goals or less,the Magpies position on the ladder could have been much different with a little bit of luck.

[Mug Punter]

I have assisted in prems under several good coaches for the last 10 years and Kev is as thorough and prepared as any that are going around, Juniors are an issue and dwindling numbers are not just a problem for Wests but the entire Sydney League.

We have picked up some good players from C Town this year but apart from T Etto, they have not been able to get a consistent run of games on the board, whilst the wins have not been as frequent as we would have liked, we have started to play some decent football over the last 6 weeks.

Injuries have played a major part in our ladder position and whilst all clubs have injuries,player turnover due to those injuries have exceeded 45, this is always going to see you well down the ladder, whilst we are a fair bit behind the top 3, 5 losses by 3 goals or less,the Magpies position on the ladder could have been much different with a little bit of luck.

Is it true the money pot has dried up out at the Wests licensed club?

How did you rate Kev's performance in the 2005 GF, never seen a man so out-coached in all my life.....

[Steamboat]

Is it true the money pot has dried up out at the Wests licensed club?

How did you rate Kev's performance in the 2005 GF, never seen a man so out-coached in all my life.....

MP, not privy to financial position of club as not on board and if i was, forums and blog sites not right avenue for disclosing any of that information.

Was with another club in 2005 and did not see the GF so not sure how he went, but there is not a coach at any level of any sport that does not get out coached from time to time, i would think there would be a good argument to say that 4 coaches in prems each week are out coached.

[Mug Punter]

MP, not privy to financial position of club as not on board and if i was, forums and blog sites not right avenue for disclosing any of that information.

Was with another club in 2005 and did not see the GF so not sure how he went, but there is not a coach at any level of any sport that does not get out coached from time to time, i would think there would be a good argument to say that 4 coaches in prems each week are out coached.

If only our Ashes batsmen could play such a straight bat....

[justabaraker]

If only our Ashes batsmen could play such a straight bat....

No, he just doesn't agree with your oft-expressed opinion that Kev is crap....a lot of us don't.