HFL Division 2 (Country)

[Toto]

Hmm not so sure.
Knowing a few blokes on the inner at Nairne, from what I’ve been told they’re still 5-6 away from a full strength side. Haven’t had close to a full team yet, that’s why their reserves are struggling after making the GF last year. And they pumped Bridgey 15 goal, Maccy 10 goal, kangarilla 15 goal, Birdwood 8 goal. Close one with Ironbank, got done comfortably by Kersbrook though. I’d say the top 3 are a fair bit ahead.

[Toto]

Think you’ll find it’s a similar story at Ironbank.

[batmanbegins]

Hmm not so sure.
Knowing a few blokes on the inner at Nairne, from what I’ve been told they’re still 5-6 away from a full strength side. Haven’t had close to a full team yet, that’s why their reserves are struggling after making the GF last year. And they pumped Bridgey 15 goal, Maccy 10 goal, kangarilla 15 goal, Birdwood 8 goal. Close one with Ironbank, got done comfortably by Kersbrook though. I’d say the top 3 are a fair bit ahead.

I agree with this. Nairne will be much better the second half of the year, they wont be as dominant as last year where they were the best team by a long way but they will be better. We expect to get better also with Blokes like Munn, Schneider, Philp and Paget only have played 2 or 3 games in the first part of the year and alot of other key players having missed time with injury. Kerbrook would be similar I assume. The gap is still wide from the top 3 to the rest.

[wonder_kid]

Injuries dont just stop tho so no gurantees that teams will be "better" in the 2nd half of the year just because they get a few back.. might lose some more to injuries..

[batmanbegins]

Injuries dont just stop tho so no gurantees that teams will be "better" in the 2nd half of the year just because they get a few back.. might lose some more to injuries..

Yeah agreed, didn't mean to make it sound it like an excuse as I know Kangy have certainly had a lot of players out in the first half of the year. Here is some stats though for the top 3 teams versus teams from 4-8, lets exclude the bottom two as they are obviously the bottom two by a margin:

Ironbank
V Bridgey Won by 54
V Maccy Won by 8
V Birdwood Lost by 47
V Kangy Won by 105
V Guns Won by 65 (Up by 70 at the Half)

Kersbrook
v Bridgey Won by 12
V Gums Won by 20
V Maccy Won by 54
V Birdwood Won by 50
V Kangy Won by 51

Nairne
V Kangy Won by 105
V Gums Won by 13
V Bridgey Won by 93
V Maccy Won by 54
V Birdwood Won by 43

It looks like all the teams in the 4-8 bracket started of very competitive but when a few injuries set in the greater depth of the top 3 seems to have taken over as since round 5 the closest game between a top 3 team and the 4-8 teams is 43 points between Nairne and Birdwood. Birdwood have a more depth as there B grade is always strong but they probably lack the top end talent the other top teams have.

[wonder_kid]

Kangy beat nairne by 2 goals

[BRaG]

Fantastic day at Kangarilla with a hard fought game.
Great atmosphere, but Christ it was fresh.

[batmanbegins]

Terrific win by Kangy. Massive for there finals chances!

Looked like a good game at birdwood also with the roosters coming from behind to win by a goal.

Was bloody freezing out at kersbrook yesterday, game was a good old fashioned slog with Levi Grigg kicking the winner with a few minutes to go. Kersbrook will rue some missed chances, particularly in the first half but it was a tough day for kicking.

[Banker]

It will be interesting to watch the clearances page with the Salisbury North boys on the move:

http://websites.sportstg.com/assoc_page ... -0&a=CLEAR


Bingos and Miller returning to Kersbook so far

[Cougar]

It will be interesting to watch the clearances page with the Salisbury North boys on the move:

http://websites.sportstg.com/assoc_page ... -0&a=CLEAR


Bingos and Miller returning to Kersbook so far

Bingos and Miller are the only two from Salisbury North with Kersbrook connections. Miller was coaching the twos at the Hawks.

[doubletrouble]

It will be interesting to watch the clearances page with the Salisbury North boys on the move:

http://websites.sportstg.com/assoc_page ... -0&a=CLEAR


Bingos and Miller returning to Kersbook so far

Bingos and Miller are the only two from Salisbury North with Kersbrook connections. Miller was coaching the twos at the

I think you will find that they won't be the only two guys making a second half of the year appearance at the brooks.

[Under_Scrutiny]

Elimination Finals come early in Hills Country

Bridgwater v Gumeracha and loser outs

Fair drop from Bridgewater from a couple of years ago. What's gone wrong and has the money dried up?

[TheBull]

Elimination Finals come early in Hills Country

Bridgwater v Gumeracha and loser outs

Fair drop from Bridgewater from a couple of years ago. What's gone wrong and has the money dried up?

Is it true they don't have an 18s team either? Maybe Cally players aren't pulling their weight?

Blow the club up and start again.

Wish they were still in Divy one though, was always good having someone to beat up on.

[Look Good In Leather]

Elimination Finals come early in Hills Country

Bridgwater v Gumeracha and loser outs

Fair drop from Bridgewater from a couple of years ago. What's gone wrong and has the money dried up?

Is it true they don't have an 18s team either? Maybe Cally players aren't pulling their weight?

Blow the club up and start again.

Wish they were still in Divy one though, was always good having someone to beat up on.

Were Cally players expected to "pull their weight"? It always appeared to be a land grab (ie access to Callington Oval) rather than a usual merger.

[B&F]

Current Ladder Has it....
5th Raiders 8 Wins - 8 Losses and 52.78%
6th Gumeracha 7 Wins - 9 Losses and 54.66%

Raiders Vs Gumeracha This weekend - If Raiders Win then they go through however if Gumeracha win it makes for an interesting last round with Gums Playing Maccy & Raiders playing Meadows (both would be expected win's but Raiders could still loose this weekend have a big win the following and make it in).

[samantic]

Hearing Nairne and Birdwood going to Div 1. I can't imagine how the junior comp will look in Div 2 next season if this is true

[cracka]

Hearing Nairne and Birdwood going to Div 1. I can't imagine how the junior comp will look in Div 2 next season if this is true

Nairne have posted on Facebook their intentions to join div 1 next year, not sure about Birdwood but wouldn't surprise me.

[Elmer J Thudpucker]

Hearing Nairne and Birdwood going to Div 1. I can't imagine how the junior comp will look in Div 2 next season if this is true

Nairne have posted on Facebook their intentions to join div 1 next year, not sure about Birdwood but wouldn't surprise me.

Hate to let facts get in the way of a good story, but neither Birdwood or Nairne will be eligible for promotion to Div 1 next year under the current HFL by-laws.

To be clear, to seek promotion your A grade must play off in the Div 2 Grand Final; and you must finish top in the Club Shield, and you must be able to field all 5 teams.

Nairne are only fielding 4 teams in 2018, they are a long way behind Kersbrook and Ironbank in the club shield (and cant make up the gap with 1 round left), and they will have to improve a lot in the next two weeks to play off in the GF. In short, unless the by-laws get amended at the AGM, they wont be eligible for promotion.

Similarly, Birdwood are only mid-table in the club shield, and will need everything to go right to make the GF . So they will also not be eligible for promotion.

Another factor that I'm sure Birdwood will consider (even if they were eligible) is that their junior teams are poor. Both their senior colts and mini colts are bottom of the ladder, while their junior colts are second bottom. It can break a club to seek promotion if it means their juniors get clobbered every week in Div 1. Just ask TV how their families felt when their junior teams were getting beaten by 20+ goals when they went up.

Both Kersbrook and Bridgewater have had the chance to go up to Div 1 in recent seasons and both clubs decided not to on the basis of junior participant numbers. You cant make the decision about what's best for your a-grade players, it has to be what's best for the whole club.

[batmanbegins]

Hearing Nairne and Birdwood going to Div 1. I can't imagine how the junior comp will look in Div 2 next season if this is true

Nairne have posted on Facebook their intentions to join div 1 next year, not sure about Birdwood but wouldn't surprise me.

Nairne doesn’t surprise me at all. They are a good club with extremely good juniors and a growing town, they will need to recruit well in seniors though to be competitive in Div 1. I can see a tough first few years for there seniors but in the long term it will be definitely be the right move.

I’d be very surprised if birdwood went up though. Don’t get me wrong they are a good club but there Juniors would get slaughtered in Div 1, they are bottom in most of the div 2 junior grades and I know there 18s are extremely low on numbers. They are one of the best Div 2 clubs but they would struggle big time in Div 1 in all grades. Obviously the issue of junior teams in div 2 is huge with most teams struggling to get 2 let alone all 3 teams. Personally I think it’s madness that the HFL changed the Div 2 junior grades to the same as the Div 1 grades. Look at the difference in the population size of all the towns in Div 2, I mean how are they meant to get 60 plus kids between the ages of 13 & 18. It’s a bloody hard ask, they should have gone 13s, 15.5s and 18s or something like that.

[TooNice]

Pretty confident that next year the age gap will be widened for Div 2 teams - maybe not exactly as mentioned above, but enough to give Div 2 clubs a chance to field complete set of junior teams. Links also to the issue of lots of junior players currently having to play down, and causing a bit of angst here and there at the moment. Would help to solve that issue in Div 2.