Afterthesiren from what I've been told by Brian Parker spoke well and was more concerned about the whole league re juniors so unless our president is way off - your post is way off the mark.

Brian Parker concerned about the whole league now that's funny. He's only concern is the one and only Uraidla.

Was in a meeting today with a number of country footy people. Some are playing by the CFL rules and a bucket load aren't, is what I learnt.
Some say they will stick to the rules, but it is already badly effecting their ability to recruit players and they blame the salary cap.
The other clubs, said they'll just do as they please and play by their own rules. It seems as if it's a 50/50 split as to who's doing what.

What do you think will happen next year and the year after, when these clubs who struggle to recruit and are playing by the rules finish last?

Got a fair idea after listening to people chattering today. Playing by the rules will only last a season or two judging by the mood of some people.
Clubs their members and supporters in parochial country towns won't let clubs sit at the bottom of the cellar for too long. The members and sponsors will only put up with finishing last for a few seasons, before they refuse to abide by ridiculous rules that are impossible to police.

There is no easy answer that will work for everyone. It would be nice if equalisation was simple but it isnt. I think the salary cap is irrelevant, it can not be policed and is a lame attempt at self preservation by the amateurs who cant keep up with the fund raising out in the country. The one thing for certain is that the big spending clubs who can raise the money will continue to raise it and spend it legally or pay under the table. This will happen and whether it be required just to put a team on the park each week or be successful and go after premierships its more about basic survival in the long run.

It is getting harder and harder to put a team on the park in country footy each week and therefore keep small towns alive. Only the strong will survive... possibly being those clubs with the most passion and ability to raise funds...these things are important for the future

We live in a ever changing landscape where rural populations are declining along with numbers at grass root level across the board going to other sports or not having time to play footy anymore etc. Unfortuneatly it appears there is a bidding war that has broken out between country and city/amateur football for the players available. I personally believe city/amateurs doesnt have the same level of community, passion, support and atmosphere in general that is evident out in the country with regard to footy and if they did they wouldnt be trying to implement bull#$%! rules and restrictions they would take country footy on head first and try and beat them fair and square in fundraising...but they cant as the pure fact is they dont have the same level of desire, passion and sense of community that sporting clubs posess out in the country.

Hopefully somehow these small rural towns and clubs keep fighting to survive. its such an australian thing to be having a kick out in the paddock in the middle of nowhere with your mates and I enjoy nothing more than driving down the rural highways on a saturday past a town with as little as a silo and a footy oval in it, pulling over to watch a game crack a tinnie and have a chat with the locals. Cant do that in the city! Its awesome to find hundreds of people enjoying a day out at our great game and whilst i wish them well ultimately i couldnt give two shits about city/amateur footy solely because of their attempt at self preservation to enforce rules on country clubs and leagues because they cant beat or compete with them fairly.

Despite the difficulties faced and tough times ahead I sincerely hope this great australian tradition of grass roots footy out in the country continues on for many many years to come and can only hope country clubs and leagues to do what they need to in order to survive regardless of whether thats playing by the rules or not....

Bit early to do a complete review of each team as not all the clearances are through but I'll give a ladder prediction;

Hahndorf- Hard to go past the reigning premiers, have added matsen, Nick Hankin and Wyld. Matsen in particular should be a star and there midfield depth is quite incredible with the likes of Paul, Tripodi, male brothers, Hankin brothers and a few others. I believe Jaryn Male and Sam Hayden are down at a SANFL club so they may be losses but they have a lot of depth and size all round the ground. They have 3 quality ruckman, best forward and one of the best backman in the competition to back up their quality middle.
Mt Barker- Form team of the comp in the second half of the year last year. Showed the difference that injuries make as once they got a full side they were smashing everyone. Lost the A-Z brothers and a couple of other solid players but a few players like James Hughes, Brooks, Higgs and lores who all had injury hit seasons last year should be good to go from round 1. If pope is able to come back at some stage this year it could make them the team to beat.
Lobethal- Don't appear to have changed much, lost Schild and Williams who were ok A graders but not going to hurt them to much. I was big on them last year but they had a disappointing season where they were very inconsistent. There best is very good as shown by the fact they smoked uraidla twice but then they lost to Onkas and Ironbank. There main issue is the bottom half of their side who can be let them down at time as there top dozen are all class led by the Jenkins, Baust and wills.
Uraidla- New coach will be interesting to see and whether a few have retired will also be interesting but they will be up there again as there just very good. Ebert is a nice in but to be honest they need pace not more inside players as shown in the past few GF's. Having Thomas and Tudor-sourtos all year round will be nice as they are all class and we know how good Delvins and Ivens are but I just think they may slip a bit unless they get some more outside runners.
Blackwood- Picked up Anderson and Djksman who will be very handy. They have missed the finals for a few years now which would annoy them but I think they will be back in this year. The two Westies recruits last year were very handy and add the two new ones this year and they will take another step forward. Atkinson will be a good in all year round and they have the best depth in the comp assuming none of the key players get injured, which no team can deal with. The loss of dundovic may hurt but personally I thought they were very one Dimensional with him.
TV- Probably should be higher with all their talent but having seen them last year I just found them to be a bit lazy and didn't really like it when it got hard as shown in the finals. Montgomery is a huge loss as he is all class and obviously the Ellis boys are gone but that is for the best to stop the infighting. Ex captain Thompson returns and he adds some defensive pressure, Ex Junior Walkley is an underrated pickup also and they have picked up ex tailem Bend ruckman Thursby. O'Sullivan and Boras will dominate again and Giadresco is very good but I think they may miss the finals.
Ironbank- Bit Biased as most people may have us lower but have picked up Yeomans, Wendleborn, Munn, Searle, Harradine, Pitson and Ottoway. Lost Hitchcock and De visser who will be missed obviously but not as much as others think (We were better the year before without them and only Motlop as a big name). An underrated loss is keeley who was very good down back last year. Played almost 50 players last year due to a horror run with injury and assuming everyone is fit we will be much better as we were 5 and 5 before collapsing after an embarrassing loss to Mt Lofty. Still lack size and probably depth to beat the other teams however but certainly not easy beats.
Echunga- Huge losses in Harland, Cranna, Liston and Lindsay. The loss of Cranna is huge as he was there only ruckman and obviously a very good one at that. Don't appear to have recruited much and don't have much depth in the B grade to offset the losses. Still have plenty of good players like Jennings, Guy, Maslin, Edwards and Fleet but they don't have much size at all now Aish may have to kick 80 goals for them to be in the 5. To much will be left too to few this year unless they gain some players soon.
Onkas- Picked up a few handy players like O'brien who should do alright. Personally I think there best recruit is the return of Damien green from injury as they missed him massively last year. I can't see them moving up the ladder to much even with their recruits as they were a long way behind the pack last year. There midfield will have improved as they were far to slow in their last year but Still lack some class in my opinion.
Mt Lofty- picked up a couple of OK players and young Radbone returning is very handy. Also the return of O'brien will be good as he is a tackling maching but unless Miles returns soon they will struggle. Lucky for them they play us in round 1 and considering that was their only wins last year they would be expecting a good start to the year. Will be competitive as they always are and Burch, Nielsen, van Paridon and Clements will be very good but they are relied on heavily. Unfortunately I can see another long year ahead for the Devs.

Can't wait to see how wrong I am this year :)

I can't believe this thread has not had any moderation given the litigious nature of what is being said about the guy. I must admit the circumstances don't add up to me, despite the full page story in the Courier, I am not sure I buy the "story" as it's been told to date. What we have here is a guy in his mid twenties, who after 7 years has got sick of his job, and chucked it in. But because he is a "footballer" he must have done something wrong, and illegal to boot. Maybe he did, maybe he didn't but until the full story comes out the speculation is just that... speculation.

I dont have enough fingers and toes to count the number of times that I have got sick of my job and felt like chucking it in. And there hasnt been any 'story' about it except that I have just got sick of it. Corona Man you are right, its all speculation and thats why these forums are 3/4 BS and 1/4 meaningful content. Cant wait to now read a purposeful post about footy this season. I havent heard much about Ironbank lately how are they shaping up..they must be hanging out for a great year after some promising glimpses.

I know for a fact clubs like Hahndorf and Lobethal have put ALOT of effort into the juniors in the previous years and i think you can see it is starting to pay off. Lobethal have a list of mostly local players and play with very few points each game and a lot of Hahndorfs current senior players all played there juniors there so credit to them. I know other clubs have started to try but I just think maybe a few other clubs should take a leaf out of there books and start focusing a lot more on juniors as they are important to a good club.

If I were Hahndorf would be disappointed at losing but would not want to go through the whole year undefeated.. May do the team well and dies the comp a favour. If it is true that a Uraidla player exposed himself then that is indefensible. Footy has moved on from foul behaviour like that and the HFL should be investigating without hesitation (HFL officials reading this?) and suspending the player and fining the club. It is actually exposing himself in public so the police could also be involved.

^ its a strange set of circumstances for sure. Consider an oval like Birdwood. The umpires rooms are a good distance away from the players rooms. So if a coach at say half time made a remark that could gave been deemed "offensive" to the umpires.... they would never know. However at Echunga, and by the sounds of it Mt Barker they are in earshot it would seem. I was discussing this scenario with a very experienced ex SANFL & country ump on the weekend. I couldn't understand how any coach could be charged with making a remark about the umps "if that is what happened" in the supposed sanctuary of his own change rooms. The explanation I was given is the officiating umpires have "full control" over all aspects of play that day, both on and off the field. Even from before the first siren of the day until past post match festivities. Makes sense too. Imagine if an umpy, who came into the club rooms for a beer post match was "set upon" by club officials or supporters.

I can't help but think that a little communication here goes a long way. Perhaps a chat after the game (when things have cooled down) with the coach is a better way to deal with it, than to file a report, and simply leave the ground?

Just thinking through this one a little further, the bigger issue is who is sharing facilities with who ? Moot point about the he said, she said stuff, the bigger issue is why the HFL appears to accept adults sharing bathroom facilities with minors ? (Cause this is what would happen when I assume an umpire would shower after a junior game).

This is a significant risk for not only the junior players, but also the umpires. Then there is the issue at Heathfield with the male umpires sharing the Showers with the females !!! Guess the umpires may enjoy the senior women's, but how's that gonna go with the u/18's, many of who would be minors.

Surprised this stuff hasn't been raised in the past ??

Now look I know I may be considered somewhat of a dinosaur in football terms having been out of the game in a playing capacity for a few decades now but ................ all this talk online, in the media and in the local Courier newspaper has goaded me to make my first post on this forum.

Nobody admits to liking the umpires, we all know this, and this is exacerbated by some pitiful grandstanding performances in the AFL most weekends which arcs us all up. But from where I sit in the comfort of my trusty stead at the footy in the hills most weekends, we are pretty blessed with, generally speaking, an honest bunch of hardworking officials who on most occasions go above and beyond their duties every Saturday during the season. The game is umpired like the SANFL used to be before this years weird rule changes. I personally know some of these blokes and they really do love their job. Yes it is a paid gig but I don’t think many of us would run around for about 6 - 8km’s in a morning game and then another 12 – 14km’s for an A grade game for the dollars on offer.

To read that an experienced A Grade coach had tee’d off at young ex SANFL umpire with a tirade of expletives during a half time break where the umpire apparently HAD to traverse this area to use the toilets, was very disappointing indeed. But to then have an article published in the Courier almost blaming the young umpire for the outburst is totally out of line. Basically inferring the umpires performance had goaded the coach to abuse him? I think the old Fossil who wrote that letter to the sports editor may still be stuck back 56 years ago if he thinks this kind of behaviour is OK in 2016.

Also this week it appears our excellent local rag has decided to get awfully personal with yet another very experienced ex SANFL umpire by naming and shaming him in the Hahndorf vs Uraidla write up for one, yep one, “ridiculous free kick”. Whilst I was not at the game I did share a cold one or two during the week with a couple of old Hahndorf players who were at the game (for past players day) and they assured me the performance of both umpires in the A Grade game for the day was pretty good in the view that they went mainly un-noticed for most of the day, and most certainly had no effect on Uraidla winning the game.

I thought I may be getting a little sensitive in my old age being a former club boundary umpire from many moons ago. So today I went back through the weekends footy reports in the Courier imagining I would see numerous references to “ridiculous” errors from players being personally noted also. As we see for ourselves clangers happen on a pretty regular basis to every player and every club. But to my astonishment poor old Kent Shillitoe from Mt Barker (sorry Kent) was the only footballer in the hills to make a mistake over the weekend worth mentioning in the Courier ?
Go figure, over 350 players mentioned in the reports and this poor bloke was the only one who had “a poor disposal”.
Not even a Red or Yellow card was a big enough "ridiculous" mistake to get a mention.
And likewise poor old Umpire Ross Wall was the only umpire to pay a “ridiculous free kick”.

Thank goodness the Uri lad didn’t allegedly flash his member at the Umpire, the poor old maggot would have been accused of goading him to do it !
Seriously?

Pretty safe to say that none of you are going to convince on of you to change their mind on their points of view. But surely the one thing we all must agree on here is what happens on field stays on field and when the last siren sounds it is all over. For any spectator or official or god help us a COACH to approach an opposition player is just not on. That is why the league (and Im sure Clubs) have processes in place to follow the appropriate protocols. Has a report been made to the league on this? If not, I hope that the officials from both clubs involved have sorted it out amongst themselves. Footy (and sport) creates a lot of emotion, lets hope whatever happened to who has calmed down after a good nights sleep!

Umpiring - you should have witnessed the circus at Mallala on the weekend. Poor young Clarkey (who umpired really well IMO) was paired up with an old bloke from the Hills FL who had an absolute stinker - the way he carried on at times, arguing with players, playing free kicks because of criticism from fans on the sidelines was laughable. He certainly got under the skin of players from both clubs, more so the Mallala boys.

Overall, I still feel the standard of umpiring this year has been up on previous years.

O'Brien is the best in the comp by a mile. Jaensch and Hourigan both fantastic players and play their positions brilliantly but i don't think you could over look O'Brien as the best in the comp.
O'Brien, Jaensch, Hourigan, Hughes and Thompson will all comfortably be in the team of the year either way

Well said wazz and herewegoagain. Too many people seem to work on the theory that good players only play
for teams if their is large sums of money in it for them. And this is just not true!!!
I am certain there is lots of outstanding footballers who just want to enjoy playing at their local club and to play in successful teams.

The blanket statement that Hahdorf have put this squad together on the back of a huge pile of money is just plain wrong.
No doubt they have guys who are being payed well for their services, but it is primarily made up of guys who played junior footy at the club
and have come back. Torrens Valley on the other hand struggle to get juniors through so they have to buy more talent. I say go for it, because
most of the guys they have brought in have stayed for a long time and become good contributors to the club.
There is more than one way to be successful!

It is probably fair to say that the two best teams made the grand final, and it should be an excellent contest.

What a Grand Final day. You have to love local footy. A big crowd, well behaved even! Well done to Lobey in hosting, what a great ground to view the game. And it wasn't as boggy as I thought it would be. As for the result wow what a last Qtr! I thought it was going to be nail biter in the last Qtr. It probably goes to show how good Hahndorf are, a dominating last Qtr performance. They had quality all over the ground and when some of TV quality players went missing they didn't have the answers. Congrats TV on a good effort and well done Hahndorf on a great effort. They also win the Bs, 17s and 15s. Gee what a day for them..