10th Premier Division Spot

[Mug Punter]

In the long run the AFL need to have a team from Western Sydney in Prem Div if they are serious about growing the sport in this city. They should have a 5 year plan to get another club from Parramatta or anywhere further west up in the top comp. Give somewhere for the better players to aim for. Whether that is Parra, Camden, or Blacktown who knows but they need to expand their base rather than just keep the inner suburbs and coastal clubs at the top. It would be easy to do if they had the will to do it.

Yep, agree totally and it makes GWS's decision to throw $50,000 of AFL money to Manly instead of what they were created to do and that is grow the game in Western Sydney.

But part of the problem is that the game in Western Sydney is now so endemically weak that any SFL team would be so weak that it would even hurt the game there further. Each year clubs like Penno, Sydney Uni and even Norths (they will come good at somne tage) keep growing their number of teams and depth whilst the clubs in the west stagnate.

Blaming GWS is an easy target I know and I'm probably a bit harsh on them becuase really junior development, academy sadie, is really not their remit. Building a strong AL club is hard enough. It's the muppets at AFL HQ and the NSWAFL who need to do their jobs properly

[radar oreilly]

Having a gander at Camdens list at the moment (I am a Camden boy and probably biased) I am sure that they could at least be competitive in Prems.
Withers, Ayling, Maher, Van Leunen, Wharton, Yakimov, Bottin-Noonan, Doherty, Sommerville brothers, Kershaw, Hogan, Macrossen, Beveridge, Lecek, Edwins and a few youngsters coming up ie Brown, Jesson, Laws. Some of those names wouldn't be out of place in any prems side. Money and depth (biggy) would be a problem though.

[saviour01]

It would be funny to watch. I say go for it!

[Pekay]

I'd say a few more years of being competitive in Div 2 and then a repeat dose in Div 1 would be a better aim. Southern Power thought they'd be up there in PD around this time. Would be propping the ladder up methinks.

[Jupiter]

I'd say a few more years of being competitive in Div 2 and then a repeat dose in Div 1 would be a better aim. Southern Power thought they'd be up there in PD around this time. Would be propping the ladder up methinks.

Is the view by those who have a decent amount of info that Campbelltown is a lost cause? Promotion and relegation is there for the ups and downs of a Club's life. I would have thought a rebuild there and get them promoted again would be the goal of the league given their history. Are they too far gone for some reason? and/or is it the simple fact talked about on here about a lack of numbers/talent - i.e. Camden is on the up so they are a better bet?

[Mug Punter]

Would be insane to see Camden go up too early, in any event is seems they have really just attracted a lot of disaffected Campbelltown players so their increase in strength is probably a little bit overstated.

I don't know the story of Campbelltown but I do know that all sound SFL clubs with any shelf life have the following characteristics

(1) Decent juniors - don't need to be the strength of a Penno but strong enough to deliver a decent pathway
(2) Good Administration
(3) Financially Sound - benefactors, long term sponsors, local club tie up etc
(4) Strong cimmunity engagement

I really don't think that a team out there will be viable at SFL Level until they get their junior system genmerating senior players again. The other stuff like administration and some emergency funding can probably be delivered by the NSWAFL if they gave a stuff.

Ideally get three strong teams at Div 1 and Div 2 level (Camden, Campbelltown and Moorebank) and see which one stands out. In terms of locationa dn infrastructure Campbelltown does stand out and it has a proud history in the SFL of nearly 30 years so unless their position is terminal you'd think they should be backed to regenerate but I can't see it being 2-3 years, more like 6-8 years minimum if they come back up properly - set a target that the next group of U11s will be the U19s when they go back up and plan from there

[Pmcc2911]

Would be insane to see Camden go up too early, in any event is seems they have really just attracted a lot of disaffected Campbelltown players so their increase in strength is probably a little bit overstated.

I don't know the story of Campbelltown but I do know that all sound SFL clubs with any shelf life have the following characteristics

(1) Decent juniors - don't need to be the strength of a Penno but strong enough to deliver a decent pathway
(2) Good Administration
(3) Financially Sound - benefactors, long term sponsors, local club tie up etc
(4) Strong cimmunity engagement

I really don't think that a team out there will be viable at SFL Level until they get their junior system genmerating senior players again. The other stuff like administration and some emergency funding can probably be delivered by the NSWAFL if they gave a stuff.

Ideally get three strong teams at Div 1 and Div 2 level (Camden, Campbelltown and Moorebank) and see which one stands out. In terms of locationa dn infrastructure Campbelltown does stand out and it has a proud history in the SFL of nearly 30 years so unless their position is terminal you'd think they should be backed to regenerate but I can't see it being 2-3 years, more like 6-8 years minimum if they come back up properly - set a target that the next group of U11s will be the U19s when they go back up and plan from there

Absolutely spot on, without top admin nothing else works.

[Chicken Legs]

Is the view by those who have a decent amount of info that Campbelltown is a lost cause? Promotion and relegation is there for the ups and downs of a Club's life. I would have thought a rebuild there and get them promoted again would be the goal of the league given their history. Are they too far gone for some reason? and/or is it the simple fact talked about on here about a lack of numbers/talent - i.e. Camden is on the up so they are a better bet?

We played a round robin trial game out at Camden this year were very impressed with the entire day especially the facility.

What amazed me the most was the growth around that area it's outrageous the amount of new houses going in.

I think SydAFL should back them in for a 19's and support them and see what happens. Huge potential and a possible force to be reckoned with in years to come.

[Pekay]

I reckon Moorebank would be better set up off the field.

[Mug Punter]

I reckon Moorebank would be better set up off the field.

They have certainly come a long way andthey are very established

Here's an idea for the NSWAFL and AFL. Instead of trying to pick a winner and get a quick and easy result, how about an integrated approach to the game in this market. How about an apporach to build three strong clubs from the bottom up starting with juniors and just let the football law of the jungle determine which one becomes the SFL club, assuming at this stage there is only enough talent/money/support for one SFL team in that area

[Nuttsy]

Having a gander at Camdens list at the moment (I am a Camden boy and probably biased) I am sure that they could at least be competitive in Prems.
Withers, Ayling, Maher, Van Leunen, Wharton, Yakimov, Bottin-Noonan, Doherty, Sommerville brothers, Kershaw, Hogan, Macrossen, Beveridge, Lecek, Edwins and a few youngsters coming up ie Brown, Jesson, Laws. Some of those names wouldn't be out of place in any prems side. Money and depth (biggy) would be a problem though.

Money and Depth would definitely be an issue. There is a few of those above that would make most Prems sides(Ayling, Maher, Wharton, Bottin-N, Edwins) in Sydney but there is also 5-6 that have gone out to Camden because they didn't want the Commitment of playing Prems etc or are Getting on, Withers is 36-37 and I doubt he will go around again? Its a massive jump from Div2 to Prems so with what they have now I couldn't see them being competitive.

[Coastal Boy]

IMO if Campbelltown had any desire or possibility to rebuild they would have dropped out of PD but entered a Div 1 team.
It is a long haul from Div 4 to PD now.
It's a sad outcome, but Sydney footy across all codes is littered with clubs who no longer exist.

[Nuttsy]

IMO if Campbelltown had any desire or possibility to rebuild they would have dropped out of PD but entered a Div 1 team.
It is a long haul from Div 4 to PD now.
It's a sad outcome, but Sydney footy across all codes is littered with clubs who no longer exist.

From what im told that wasn't an option given to them by the AFL the only option was Div 2 due to Div 1 being a 10 team comp. Once they were told that the Majority of the players from the Premier Squad told them that they wanted to play Prems and wanted to pursue that elsewhere

[Jupiter]

From what im told that wasn't an option given to them by the AFL the only option was Div 2 due to Div 1 being a 10 team comp. Once they were told that the Majority of the players from the Premier Squad told them that they wanted to play Prems and wanted to pursue that elsewhere

If that is right then it was a very poor decision and you have to assume the league was not interested in/had no belief in a Campbelltown rebuild. Seems like a real shame. Why didn't the effort that went into forming Blacktown go into assisting C'town? Great to hear of the growth and strengthening of Camden and Moorebank though.

[andreww1]

Does the AFL have a criteria for deciding on who gets promoted to Prem Div? Is it subjective or objective? If not what should that criteria be?