Best SA Country Footy Leagues.

[pushing forward]

Level 1
Barossa Light & Gawler
Great Southern
Hills Central
Southern

Level 2
Yorke Peninsula
Kowree Naracoorte Tatiara
Riverland
Spencer Gulf
Western Border

Level 3
Mid South East
Port Lincoln
North Eastern
Adelaide Plains
Hills Country

Level 4
Eastern Eyre
River Murray
Northern Areas
Great Flinders
Mallee
Mid West
Whyalla

Level 5
Kangaroo Island
Broken Hill
Far West
Riverland Independent
Far Northern (Woomera)

That list looks pretty accurate to me. I would probably have Yorke Peninsula down a level or 2, and probably River Murray up to level 3.

Agree, top teams from river murray and hills country would beat any YP teams by 10 goal.

[mighty hounds]

Extremely difficult to name them in a numerical order from best to worst. Maybe easier to group them from best to worst.
I have seen games, finals or the rep team from about 80% of these leagues but that would be over 25 years. Powerhouse leagues like SGFL, WBFL and Broken Hill are not as strong as they once were and dont attract the crowds they did. While Hills Country, APFL and NEFL have all improved markedly.

Level 1
Barossa Light & Gawler
Great Southern
Hills Central
Southern

Level 2
Yorke Peninsula
Kowree Naracoorte Tatiara
Riverland
Spencer Gulf
Western Border

Level 3
Mid South East
Port Lincoln
North Eastern
Adelaide Plains
Hills Country

Level 4
Eastern Eyre
River Murray
Northern Areas
Great Flinders
Mallee
Mid West
Whyalla

Level 5
Kangaroo Island
Broken Hill
Far West
Riverland Independent
Far Northern (Woomera)

Well done for having a go 200 KW.Have had involvement in or against a number of comps and spectated for a couple although most of these comps I have never seen and can only summise but can I suggest a couple of changes. SGL came from behind to beat Whyalla by a goal (?) last year so I think so on that basis I would drop the SGL 1 place and put Whyalla up 1. Northern Areas should join them. NEFL could be in level 2 and Adelaide Plains would be only a Killer Wasps whisker away from going into the same level and YP would be close to dropping down 1.

I think the carnivals are a good reflection within the qualitiy of the leagues, in saying that I think APFL is on pr or higher then YPFL. APFL won the carnival out of the 4 associations and before they made it out of the four leagus APFL won majority of the associaiton matches against YPFL.

[AKA]

have to agree with MH for a change Adelaide plains is a better comp than Yorke Peninsula

[threestars]

In terms of SGL, NAFA and Whyalla. SGL is better as a whole association but in saying that Roopena and Southern Flinders would do very well in SGL and could quite possibly win it.

Hills Country best league IMO followed by Barossa followed by GSFL.

[200 Killer Wasps]

I umpired a Cowell - Southern Flinders game about 4 years ago and while SF had a few out Cowell won fairly comfortably. SF had good players in Brand, Edson and Woolford as their best that day. In all my years of football I have never seen a team whinge to the umpires so much, even the Cowell players commented on it.

I have also seen Whyalla beaten by the EEFL but I dont see Whyalla as a league that enjoys playing rep matches. The team Roopena had last year is deserved of a higher level but are they good enough to drag the whole league up to that next level.

If that theory was used Callington would have to drag Hills Country down, and Hackham & Aldinga bring down Southern.

[Poultry in Motion]

I umpired a Cowell - Southern Flinders game about 4 years ago and while SF had a few out Cowell won fairly comfortably. SF had good players in Brand, Edson and Woolford as their best that day. In all my years of football I have never seen a team whinge to the umpires so much, even the Cowell players commented on it.

I have also seen Whyalla beaten by the EEFL but I dont see Whyalla as a league that enjoys playing rep matches. The team Roopena had last year is deserved of a higher level but are they good enough to drag the whole league up to that next level.

If that theory was used Callington would have to drag Hills Country down, and Hackham & Aldinga bring down Southern.

Some valid points there.(Especially the first one! ). Trial games are hard to gauge. Depends on whos available and what each club is after. Some teams want to play their best players for a hit out prior to round 1 while the other might experiment or trial a heap of kids if they have a couple of weeks up their sleeve. Crystal Brook smashed Central Augusta last year in a trial game and I believe Centrals started pre season in December and had most players available. Centrals won the flag that year. I think BMW beat Blyth last year but lost to West a week earlier. West didnt trouble the scorers too much, Blyth won the NEFL and BMW were runners up.

In terms of SGL, NAFA and Whyalla. SGL is better as a whole association but in saying that Roopena and Southern Flinders would do very well in SGL and could quite possibly win it.

Agree to disagree-If you look at overall competition strength I think I would still give NAFA the nod (just) over SGL at the moment.Very even comp all the way through. SGL has been for years a battle between 3 or 4 teams. Always difficult to compare these things though.Most wouldnt have seen other comps play too often and rarely from an impartial point of view.

Hills Country best league IMO followed by Barossa followed by GSFL.

I have never seen either Hills comp but from what I read on here Hills Central is the stronger comp isnt it? Hasnt Torrens Valley just gone "up" to Hills Central?

[GWW]

Hills Central definitely the stronger league of the 2.

[Bat Pad]

I also think hills country should be top 10. A couple of guys i have spoken to who have played hills country and yorke pen say top teams from yp would come around middle of table in hills country. Hills country get a bad name because they have to carry Callington and Sedan/Cambrai.
I think a toss of the coin for number 1 between Hills Central and BLG it shows in recent interleague games that they are pretty even with i think hills slightly ahead. Hills do have more clubs to choose from and do play hills country players in the team also which helps them be stronger in these games.

Only because they still couldn't get a full compiment of Central Players even after making it compulsory. In the last interleague game they had to use Country ruckman because no Central ruckman were available, the likes of Bradley, Down, Nicholas and Bowen who have all played league footy. In my opinion the Country players don't make it any stronger than it would have been. You could have named close to an entire side of players who had played league from the Central comp who did not play interleague that year.

[The Low Down]

Level 1
Barossa Light & Gawler
Great Southern
Hills Central
Southern

Level 2
Yorke Peninsula
Kowree Naracoorte Tatiara
Riverland
Spencer Gulf
Western Border

Level 3
Mid South East
Port Lincoln
North Eastern
Adelaide Plains
Hills Country

Level 4
Eastern Eyre
River Murray
Northern Areas
Great Flinders
Mallee
Mid West
Whyalla

Level 5
Kangaroo Island
Broken Hill
Far West
Riverland Independent
Far Northern (Woomera)

That list looks pretty accurate to me. I would probably have Yorke Peninsula down a level or 2, and probably River Murray up to level 3.

A great list! Finally something we can all seriously debate etc.
I'd agree dropping yorkey's and MAYBE SGL.
Promote North Eastern.
Maybe swap Hills Country AND/OR Adelaide Plains for Northern Areas and River Murray?

[Goldberg]

I think the RMFL is not getting the respect it deserves here. We have gone down to the GSFL by 1,2 & 7 points respectively in the last 3 seasons in our annual association match, & have approx, 21 blokes running around in our comp who have played at league level or better. Plus many more who have played reserves. Add to that Div 1 blokes (which is a stronger comp then any Country comp) & a compliment of some VERY good locals who have made state country sides, & i cant see why we are so far down that list.

The only thing against us, but I think this happens in EVERY COMP ACROSS THE STATE, is that there is a marked difference between top & bottom upwards of 15 goals on a regular basis

I think in the last 5 years the comp has gone forward 3 fold after dropping off considerably through the earlier naughtys, after the 90's when we were possibly considered a Level 1 league!

We would quite comfortably beat any of the Level 3 association sides IMHO & also level 2 ones aswell

But is this the criteria for what makes a strong comp??? Not sure, but its what I'm using, because if your using eveness or something similar then SFL should be Div 5 yet we all know thats rediculous

[westcoastpanther]

A comp needs to be measured based on the last 6-8 players that are getting an A grade game in a certain League. There are good players everywhere and it's easy to pull the top 3 from each club (on average) to put together a good team of 21 to represent at Association level.

Using EP as an example, some of the guys getting an A grade game outside of Port Lincoln would only be average B graders in PL. This lack of depth reduces the quality of footy considerably, and makes some players look a lot better than they are!!

[The Low Down]

I think the RMFL is not getting the respect it deserves here. We have gone down to the GSFL by 1,2 & 7 points respectively in the last 3 seasons in our annual association match, & have approx, 21 blokes running around in our comp who have played at league level or better. Plus many more who have played reserves. Add to that Div 1 blokes (which is a stronger comp then any Country comp) & a compliment of some VERY good locals who have made state country sides, & i cant see why we are so far down that list.

The only thing against us, but I think this happens in EVERY COMP ACROSS THE STATE, is that there is a marked difference between top & bottom upwards of 15 goals on a regular basis

I think in the last 5 years the comp has gone forward 3 fold after dropping off considerably through the earlier naughtys, after the 90's when we were possibly considered a Level 1 league!

We would quite comfortably beat any of the Level 3 association sides IMHO & also level 2 ones aswell

But is this the criteria for what makes a strong comp??? Not sure, but its what I'm using, because if your using eveness or something similar then SFL should be Div 5 yet we all know thats rediculous

Goldberg all great points however the GSFL has featured only 1 or 2 players from its powerhouse club Willunga in the past few seasons of assocaition football.
A lot of talent has left the RMFL however yes its not a bad league, just not a grade 1 or 2.
Thanks for bringing my attention to the SFL in grade one, I didnt even look for them and firstly they are not a country assoc IMSO and they are certinaly not a grade one at any point.

Perhaps we need to split clubs in the grade table in order to for ppl to be happy? Biggish job but and it takes away from the overall point maybe.

[Goldberg]

That would be too hard for anyone to get correct! I guess every league has a soft spot for their own, but 1 last thing. I'm fairly sure that pre-seaon (& yes I know that it doesn't mean much) games between Imps(RMFL) & Lofty (HILLS CENTAL) have been very close with 1 each in the last 2 seasons, Mannum(RMFL) beat Barmera(RFL) Mypolonga beat Nairne(Hills Country), but the Tailem(RMFL) lost to Peake(Mallee).

So i guess what I'm saying is our club standard appears to be more the competitive with other clubs in leagues 2-3 catorgories above us, aswell as being beaten by those on equal terms, so who really knows

[Grape Ape]

Goldberg all great points however the GSFL has featured only 1 or 2 players from its powerhouse club Willunga in the past few seasons of assocaition football.
A lot of talent.

That is because these matches have been U25 plus a few to make up the numbers. Very Mickey Mouse unfortunately. I've never understood why you wouldn't want the best available side playing in interleague matches.

[Goldberg]

Goldberg all great points however the GSFL has featured only 1 or 2 players from its powerhouse club Willunga in the past few seasons of assocaition football.
A lot of talent.

That is because these matches have been U25 plus a few to make up the numbers. Very Mickey Mouse unfortunately. I've never understood why you wouldn't want the best available side playing in interleague matches.

That goes both ways, with blokes like Hall, Waterhouse, White, Coulter, Sayers, Kay, Lynne, Martin, Fitsgerald, Bell, Honner just to name a few who dont play

[LuvsFooty]

There is a way/s to solve this once and for all, but I reckon it would be a long process. The way I would do it is to match up every club from every league in their respective finishing positions at the end of the minor round. Obviously there would be hundreds of combinations but someone may have a spare week on their hands. Then arises the question, how do you match up form lines??

Example: GSFL v Barossa (Who would win the following matches, most points wins)

Strath v Tanunda
Victor Harbor v Barossa District
Yankalilla v Gawler Central
Willunga v Angaston
Langhorne Creek v Nurioopta
Mt Compass v Freeling
McLaren v Kapunda
Myponga v South Gawler
Encounter Bay v Williston

[flanker]

That would be too hard for anyone to get correct! I guess every league has a soft spot for their own, but 1 last thing. I'm fairly sure that pre-seaon (& yes I know that it doesn't mean much) games between Imps(RMFL) & Lofty (HILLS CENTAL) have been very close with 1 each in the last 2 seasons, Mannum(RMFL) beat Barmera(RFL) Mypolonga beat Nairne(Hills Country), but the Tailem(RMFL) lost to Peake(Mallee).

So i guess what I'm saying is our club standard appears to be more the competitive with other clubs in leagues 2-3 catorgories above us, aswell as being beaten by those on equal terms, so who really knows

When did Imps ever play Mt Lofty? certainly don't remeber it happening in the last 10 years....

[The Low Down]

Goldberg all great points however the GSFL has featured only 1 or 2 players from its powerhouse club Willunga in the past few seasons of assocaition football.
A lot of talent.

That is because these matches have been U25 plus a few to make up the numbers. Very Mickey Mouse unfortunately. I've never understood why you wouldn't want the best available side playing in interleague matches.

That goes both ways, with blokes like Hall, Waterhouse, White, Coulter, Sayers, Kay, Lynne, Martin, Fitsgerald, Bell, Honner just to name a few who dont play

You two could go back and forth all day... GA names from your league?

[The Low Down]

There is a way/s to solve this once and for all, but I reckon it would be a long process. The way I would do it is to match up every club from every league in their respective finishing positions at the end of the minor round. Obviously there would be hundreds of combinations but someone may have a spare week on their hands. Then arises the question, how do you match up form lines??

Example: GSFL v Barossa (Who would win the following matches, most points wins)

Strath v Tanunda
Victor Harbor v Barossa District
Yankalilla v Gawler Central
Willunga v Angaston
Langhorne Creek v Nurioopta DRAW
Mt Compass v Freeling DRAW
McLaren v Kapunda
Myponga v South Gawler
Encounter Bay v Williston

[Goldberg]

That would be too hard for anyone to get correct! I guess every league has a soft spot for their own, but 1 last thing. I'm fairly sure that pre-seaon (& yes I know that it doesn't mean much) games between Imps(RMFL) & Lofty (HILLS CENTAL) have been very close with 1 each in the last 2 seasons, Mannum(RMFL) beat Barmera(RFL) Mypolonga beat Nairne(Hills Country), but the Tailem(RMFL) lost to Peake(Mallee).

So i guess what I'm saying is our club standard appears to be more the competitive with other clubs in leagues 2-3 catorgories above us, aswell as being beaten by those on equal terms, so who really knows

When did Imps ever play Mt Lofty? certainly don't remeber it happening in the last 10 years....

Sorry Barker at the college oval