HFL Division 1 (Central)

[Dutchy]

Lofty spoke with Sudjai Cook - interview was simply Sudjai demanding $500 per game and not prepared to move on the amount - told where to go - Lobethal obviously will be $500 lighter every saturday this year!

[Sherrin]

Hills Country Division will definitely be interesting this year...

Birdwood with new coach and players coming back,
Torrens Valley out with the cheque book again,
Maccy on the up,
Kersbrook always competitive,
Meadows to regain Dawe and Maidment...[/i]

[spiderk]

In Central, would expect Bridgewater to struggle this year for a few reasons - lack of coach the highest on list. Suspect wooden spoon looms. Expect about 4th or 5th for Ironbank.

Am tipping Kangarilla to make a real impact in first year in Country Division, with top 4 a reality. Would pick Birdwood to fall this year, losing a couple of real prime movers, but will be interesting to see how they adjust without Johnno coaching. Meadows will surely rise, and with Dawe, Maidment and a few others returning, should give the finals a shake. Torrens Valley will be around the mark with a pretty heavy cheque book, while Kersbrook rumoured to be unveiling some prime recruits shortly. Will be a very competitive season in Country - at this stage, I'd tip Nairne for the flag. A possibility of some big news being announced in this Division in the next couple of weeks, that will be unfortunate in many ways for long-time followers of the league.

[ORDoubleBlues]

Lofty spoke with Sudjai Cook - interview was simply Sudjai demanding $500 per game and not prepared to move on the amount - told where to go - Lobethal obviously will be $500 lighter every saturday this year!

No doubt that was the same amount that he told Onka Valley as well.
No doubt Kersbrook would have spoken to him as well but the only team in Country Division paying that sort of money would be Torrens Valley.
Spider, the news you've heard is probably the same I hinted at in a recent post. Yes it will be unfortunate but is probably inevitable given their circumstance.

[petoe]

spiderk, I dont think Ironbank will be in the top 5, Who out of Blackwood, mt lofty, mt barker, uraidla and onk valley wont make the 5? and Lobethal and Handorf should be in the improve with recruits.

[spiderk]

ORD - I hope it is not correct and yes, we are on the same wavelength. If anyone is interested in getting a game of country footy for a passionate club, with some real hard-working individuals who, if passion could be bottled, would corner the market, please send me a PM and I will forward it on to the relevant people. Serious replies only, thanks.

[spiderk]

petoe - I'll make a massive call here and will be prepared for this one to come back and haunt me - the one out of that lot to miss the finals? Mt Barker.

[ORDoubleBlues]

Looks like Maccy stalwart Scott Heinicke will no longer be playing.
Still a very capable player but it looks like his family situation is what will be stopping him.
A situation that is becoming more and more prevalent in these modern times where not being able to work is a real issue.

[petoe]

What is the latest news on Milang? wiil they have a team this year or not?

[stan]

What is the latest news on Milang? wiil they have a team this year or not?

I thought they were fielding teams this year. I might be mistaken but at this stage im pretty sure there in.

[ORDoubleBlues]

What is the latest news on Milang? wiil they have a team this year or not?

I thought they were fielding teams this year. I might be mistaken but at this stage im pretty sure there in.

This is what Spider and I were hinting at in posts in the middle of this page.
Spider would know more about the situation than myself but from what I can gather, the actions of their committee don't bode well for them seeing on field action this year.
Apparently Maccy beat Tailem Bend in a trial match on Saturday and despite the fact that both sides would have had players still finishing off summer sport commitments, it is no mean feat for a country division club to beat a RMFL side.

[spiderk]

My understanding, from speaking to those involved, is that Milang will field at least an A-grade team this year, with Todd Schulz as coach. Hopefully they will have the numbers for a reserves team also, but this is still to be confirmed.

[petoe]

Well good luck to them. You never like to see any club dissapear into the wilderness.

[ORDoubleBlues]

As reported in Wednesday's Courier, Kane Paues back playing for Kersbrook this year.
Must be about 31 or 32 but he did play for the Barossa League association side recently, so he must still have the goods.
Once again I'll say that this season in Hills Country Division is shaping up as one of the highest standards for years.

[PPLions]

Quality player Paues
Works hard
And is hard at it
He's a big addition for Kersbrook

[ORDoubleBlues]

Interesting rumour I heard, Bridgewater have had their A grade coach leave for a job somewhere in the SANFL. Can anyone confirm?

By the sound of things, the departure of coach John Zantvoort is actually the least of their problems at Bridgewater. In a real pickle at the moment with the club apparently only being able to guarantee to field 30 senior players. While I don't doubt the reason's for Zantvoort's departure, the ensuing predicament would have iced the cake for him. Apparently some real scrambling going on behind the scenes to see whether a few different options can be worked out along the lines of ...................
Milang fielding a side in the reserves comp of division 1 in a sort of quasi-merger with Bridgewater or Bridgewater dropping down to Division 2 for a similar setup. Will be very interesting to see the outcome of this situation given that the start of the Country Division comp is only 3 weeks away.
Macclesfield have picked up four players to give them extra depth in former club stalwart Paul Searl , Brad Heading (Interesting to see if they will be cleared immediately given that numbers out at Nairne aren't as good as they'd hoped at the moment and with some possible bad taste still lingering from the Tarasenko situation of 4 years ago) Rick Clayton and his son Adam Scamoni. Clayton would be over 40 now but will still be able to cut the mustard in B grade and could in A grade as well for that matter and Scamoni is a quality player but may only want to play B grade.
Former on baller David Mills is also likely to rejoin the club and Searl's brother Adam is seriously considering pulling on the boots if his body can stand up.
In a sort of answer to a question I was asked a couple of pages back, let's just say that some people should cut back on their alcohol consumption when they start having major brain explosions.
Sorry to hear about Mt Barker player Clint Rogers being involved in a nasty incident in a city nightspot a couple of weekends ago that required him to have immediate surgery to his face. Really must be some true imbeciles running around and it makes you wonder if someone is so brazen as to start chatting up your missus in front of you, whether or not you should even say anything as they must have something in store for when you retaliate. Hopefully the morons are caught up with so Clint has some comeback. Not sure how it is going to effect his immediate playing future.

[stan]

Kersbrook have a trail against Elizabeth on the 17th of march apparently. This was posted on the trial game thread by duncs7 who is a Elizabeth bloke. So if anyones interested they should head up and have a look. Kersbrook had a trial last friday and went pretty well apparently, but i believe that was a SAAFL lower grade team so thats probably to be expected. Elizabeth are a Div 5 club that are probably going to be around the mark in Div 5 so this will probably be a better hit out for the Kersi boys.

[maccymangel]

gday footy fans...ive been doing my home work and have a few nice little "tit bits" for hills footy people

hows this for starters...milang fielding a "b" grade team for the bridgewater raiders as they r struggling to come up with a side...Country or Central??..thats yet to be decided.
lil whisper around the traps that not 1 but 2 former A grade captains for the maccy footy club are looking at a return...one a key position player returning from injury..and the other a robust pack busting playmaker with tremendous skills on a return from interstate...looking at moving back into the district and certainly will be a big impact player..any guesses??

also some brothers look to be recruited by Coach dolman for the B grade at Nairne..but they need some help...with some key players leaving Ram park....just a few names...B and F winner Mark Habner..returning to the family farm..2 big guys worth their weight in gold..leaving early season..to play county cricket in england..one getting tips from his older brother on how to play the game, and the loss of james may will be a major factor to their chase for a flag.

Now ..echunga...will the playing coach greg mullins look back to the home "nest" for some players...david ridge?? glen highett and gun forward anthony nykamp have been mentioned around the water cooler

[maccymangel]

Have heard that with the return of a couple of past club stalwarts in Mike Bottroff,the Searls and Clayton that all of a sudden Maccy B grade coach Wallace has a plethora of players to choose from. This will only be good for the club as it seemed to lack depth last year. I wonder if there is any chance of that 200 kg full forward pulling his boots out from under the bed and making a cameo or 2?

[PPLions]

Is that big Ian Willmott you are referring to there??