HFL Division 1 (Central)

[The Panther]

Would it be a bad thing for Bridgewater to go down from a club perspective.

Bridgey's senior sides would play finals, something they haven't done a lot of recently. The juniors would be real premiership chances and if they won the A grade and came back up , it would hopefully be with some real momentum.

Ironbank certainly benefited from a couple premierships in country division before returning.

[running defender]

Look at the the 11 team bias draw thats come out three of the top 5 teams only play each other once from last year and its not Echunga or Blackwood.
Had their chance to rally all clubs for an 11 team comp but said they could"nt call a meeting to get them changed but now they want to suspend a by-law and change to an 11 team comp. If the dog had"nt stopped for a s**t he would have caught the rabbit. Yes J.Edwards was out last night looks fit and recovered from broken collarbone, a few of our boys have hit the weights too , Harland looking a lot fitter,. Get on board looking for 200 members this year

[cracka]

Every year someone gets on here and says Onkas will be a dark horse and they usually finish in the bottom 3. Onkas always seem to be able to match it with the top teams but hardly ever get the win. Then they will turn around and lose to the worse side in the comp. If they make the top 5 in 2015 i think that would definitely be a pass mark for MaGahey in his first season as a senior coach

I thought you didn't judge clubs by their A-Grade in the Hills. Onkas win plenty of games in the B-Grade and Juniors so that's all good.

We dont at Onkas.
It begs the question, define a succesful club. Is it the club who goes out & recruits for A grade success (give me $100k & I'll get A grade results) or is it a club like Hahndorf who have 12 or more junior teams or is it the club who get 150 people back to the club after an away game for meals & presentations & have a heap of non players stay for a couple of hours after.

Hence why Onkas are a mediocre club and have been for generations, they pay plenty of cash (don't pretend they don't) and get no reward for it. They just continue to make excuse after excuse and the sides are full of thugs who can't play the game!

Maybe we've been mediocre coz we only spend mediocre amounts on players. Coming from a Hahndorf supporter talking about clubs paying money, you obviously weren't there in the Richard Hill or Shane Grimm era or even back in the 60's.

[Legs Man]

I agree with your point Legs.
I didn't agree with the court’s ruling (meaning I didn't agree with Echunga’s interpretation of the constitution) because I don't think the rules should be bent for any club that includes Echunga or Bridgewater.
The HFL clubs decided the rules together and it is the HFL boards duty to enforce them. Had the board decided not to go to court and let Echunga do whatever they want it would have been wrong and they would not have been doing their job.
The court decided Echunga will stay up and so be it. The rules should continue to be enforced which means Bridgewater must go down and attempt the emulate the achievements of Mt Lofty in 2014.
In the last 4 months we have heard the words “common sense” chucked around quite a lot and the whole reason we have rules is because it seems most people have a VERY different opinion of what common sense is.
At the end of the day Echunga did nothing wrong except maybe annoying a few people and cost some people a few dollars but they did what they believed best for their club.
Sorry Bridgewater but I sincerely hope to see you in Div 1 in 2016

Agreed - I am simply saying that they can't change their view as they stood by what they believed were the interpretation of the rules.
Perhaps bias was a strong term but I felt - as stated on numerous occasions - that the clubs could have met a compromise due to Echunga winning the GF regardless of the ridiculous club points relegation system.
An expanded competition means that the draw has to be scrutinised and implemented in an acceptable manner taking into account the position each club finished in 2014. ( taking into consideration each team won't play each other twice )
If there is a decision to expand then Nairne , Kersbrook and any other club able to field the required teams must also be afforded the opportunity to come up to Central.
Why can Bridgewater stay up but the others cannot come in?
By not offering this opportunity there is another situation that arises of giving 1 club preference over others when the clubs implied this won't occur upon voting previously.
As you have said OTH the clubs showed they will enforce the rules as they understand them and have no option but to do this - even if it isn't in the best interest of footy in the hills IMO.

[redsox]

Look at the the 11 team bias draw thats come out three of the top 5 teams only play each other once from last year and its not Echunga or Blackwood.
Had their chance to rally all clubs for an 11 team comp but said they could"nt call a meeting to get them changed but now they want to suspend a by-law and change to an 11 team comp. If the dog had"nt stopped for a s**t he would have caught the rabbit. Yes J.Edwards was out last night looks fit and recovered from broken collarbone, a few of our boys have hit the weights too , Harland looking a lot fitter,. Get on board looking for 200 members this year

Echunga to play 4 of the top 5 teams from last season twice with Loby, Mt Barker and Uri only having to play one of the top 5 teams twice.

Court action should be taken as this is sure to upset the fine people of Echunga.

[The Sorce]

Be careful.... didn't the Judge warn the HFL against being unjust towards Echunga.......

[Justquietly]

A lot of posts from people concerned as to how the HFL looks to everyone in the way that this has been handled. Looking half a season ahead, IF Echunga had been relegated. Do you think it'd still be a talking point?

Also, due to the judges ruling what happens at the end of 2015? Is it now a definitive 'season ends when GF ends' approach? Why not have Mail Medal votes still going too?

[Kick'n Back]

Good to see me old mate chop chop is back, if you were at the grand final last year i got plenty of kicks and took a couple of beauty's in the 2nd half and kicked a lovely goal from around 45. Grocke coming up for a free snitzle and coke i suppose? T.V. picked up the other Ellis + a couple of North Adelaide seconds players but lost the jordans. Cam Hitchcock to I/B. The Southern Demons had 42 out at training tonight with 8 new recruits and lost no one albeit a top 5 club and bottom 5 club trying to lure 2 of our stars away for big money and you aunty chop chop reckon we pay plenty i think you live in a glass house cause i reckon your club pays out plenty.. thats got you thinking hey chop chop you had a look at the draw i think we play you in Rd 3

You must've been unlucky to miss out on the best on ground medal running defender its about time you performed on the big stage because you haven't impressed me much in your past grandfinal appearances

[Legs Man]

Look at the the 11 team bias draw thats come out three of the top 5 teams only play each other once from last year and its not Echunga or Blackwood.
Had their chance to rally all clubs for an 11 team comp but said they could"nt call a meeting to get them changed but now they want to suspend a by-law and change to an 11 team comp. If the dog had"nt stopped for a s**t he would have caught the rabbit. Yes J.Edwards was out last night looks fit and recovered from broken collarbone, a few of our boys have hit the weights too , Harland looking a lot fitter,. Get on board looking for 200 members this year

Echunga to play 4 of the top 5 teams from last season twice with Loby, Mt Barker and Uri only having to play one of the top 5 teams twice.

Court action should be taken as this is sure to upset the fine people of Echunga.

Surely not - the HFL would have to be implementing a fair draw to all involved regardless of it being Echunga.
The top 4 teams would be playing the top 4 teams twice ensuring an equitable draw.
Get an independent body to formulate the draw to ensure no bias is deemed and take away the onus on the HFL.
I would have thought that hindsight would be something that the governing body would use to their advantage by making sure they are seen to be taking the approach of neutrality - and engaging an outside body to formulate the draw would achieve this.

The only way forward for the HFL if the current board retains its position is to be seen as totally unbiased which means many of the decisions regarding points allocation., finals ground allocation and the draw need to be addressed in a manner different to what has previously occurred.
If it is the clubs who set these parameters then that is sufficient - but it must extend to all areas of the league so the HFL simply governs and doesn't actually make the above mentioned decisions - particularly " in season "

[chopper7]

Good to see me old mate chop chop is back, if you were at the grand final last year i got plenty of kicks and took a couple of beauty's in the 2nd half and kicked a lovely goal from around 45. Grocke coming up for a free snitzle and coke i suppose? T.V. picked up the other Ellis + a couple of North Adelaide seconds players but lost the jordans. Cam Hitchcock to I/B. The Southern Demons had 42 out at training tonight with 8 new recruits and lost no one albeit a top 5 club and bottom 5 club trying to lure 2 of our stars away for big money and you aunty chop chop reckon we pay plenty i think you live in a glass house cause i reckon your club pays out plenty.. thats got you thinking hey chop chop you had a look at the draw i think we play you in Rd 3

You must've been unlucky to miss out on the best on ground medal running defender its about time you performed on the big stage because you haven't impressed me much in your past grandfinal appearances

Kick Ins don't count as stats FYI.
You got some serious tickets on yourself by the sounds of it and it looks like Kick n Back definitely agrees with me.
8 recruits you reckon? Well that would come too 24 points, so not really sure where you are going to play them unless you are now recruiting B Graders.
Who are the two Stars you think clubs have been trying to poach? And name which clubs if you think you know your stuff?
Please spare me, unless you run the books at my club you wouldn't know shit even if it smacked you in the face!
Round 4 actually, can't wait be sitting on the hill on Loby oval watching you run around like a headless chook!!

[Legs Man]

A lot of posts from people concerned as to how the HFL looks to everyone in the way that this has been handled. Looking half a season ahead, IF Echunga had been relegated. Do you think it'd still be a talking point?

Also, due to the judges ruling what happens at the end of 2015? Is it now a definitive 'season ends when GF ends' approach? Why not have Mail Medal votes still going too?

Would you have to play for a Country club in the next season if you won it?

[R. White]

Silly statement JQ. I too was under the assumption that relegation points ended at the end of the minor round. Having said that I was very happy when the loosly worded rules allowed the challenge. Looking back at the judges ruling, I think it makes sense to include finals in relegation points. If a team is good enough to earn the right to play finals they deserve the advantage to earn extra points over teams that didn't make the finals. I understand there are some difficulties with this based on the finals system (a team finishing 4th has the possibility to play more finals that 1st) but I think the rules should be re written to include finals.

[cracka]

Silly statement JQ. I too was under the assumption that relegation points ended at the end of the minor round. Having said that I was very happy when the loosly worded rules allowed the challenge. Looking back at the judges ruling, I think it makes sense to include finals in relegation points. If a team is good enough to earn the right to play finals they deserve the advantage to earn extra points over teams that didn't make the finals. I understand there are some difficulties with this based on the finals system (a team finishing 4th has the possibility to play more finals that 1st) but I think the rules should be re written to include finals.

Would you have last season & will you & other Echunga supporters still feel the same way if this year another club has a couple of finals wins & it knocks Echunga out.

[Legs Man]

Silly statement JQ. I too was under the assumption that relegation points ended at the end of the minor round. Having said that I was very happy when the loosly worded rules allowed the challenge. Looking back at the judges ruling, I think it makes sense to include finals in relegation points. If a team is good enough to earn the right to play finals they deserve the advantage to earn extra points over teams that didn't make the finals. I understand there are some difficulties with this based on the finals system (a team finishing 4th has the possibility to play more finals that 1st) but I think the rules should be re written to include finals.

Would you have last season & will you & other Echunga supporters still feel the same way if this year another club has a couple of finals wins & it knocks Echunga out.

Unless the points system is overhauled also then there will continue to be problems.
The weighting is incorrect in my opinion and favours the clubs with particularly high numbers of juniors.
It should be A 10 , B 3, S/C 5, J/C 2 which means the junior totals are approx half senior totals.
This gets rid of the safety net the larger clubs have in place via their juniors and makes the A grade the pinnacle.
Personally I would like to see the points system scrapped totally and any side fielding all teams eligible for Central with natural attrition being the deciding influence.
An even allocation to all clubs for apps points must also be implemented to ensure an even opportunity if relegation is to occur.
Their is no room for bias or perceived favouritism within the HFL anymore or we are back where we started.

[cracka]

Silly statement JQ. I too was under the assumption that relegation points ended at the end of the minor round. Having said that I was very happy when the loosly worded rules allowed the challenge. Looking back at the judges ruling, I think it makes sense to include finals in relegation points. If a team is good enough to earn the right to play finals they deserve the advantage to earn extra points over teams that didn't make the finals. I understand there are some difficulties with this based on the finals system (a team finishing 4th has the possibility to play more finals that 1st) but I think the rules should be re written to include finals.

Would you have last season & will you & other Echunga supporters still feel the same way if this year another club has a couple of finals wins & it knocks Echunga out.

Unless the points system is overhauled also then there will continue to be problems.
The weighting is incorrect in my opinion and favours the clubs with particularly high numbers of juniors.
It should be A 10 , B 3, S/C 5, J/C 2 which means the junior totals are approx half senior totals.
This gets rid of the safety net the larger clubs have in place via their juniors and makes the A grade the pinnacle.
Personally I would like to see the points system scrapped totally and any side fielding all teams eligible for Central with natural attrition being the deciding influence.
An even allocation to all clubs for apps points must also be implemented to ensure an even opportunity if relegation is to occur.
Their is no room for bias or perceived favouritism within the HFL anymore or we are back where we started.

Is that a yes or a no.

[running defender]

We at Echunga recriut very carefully out of the 8 recruits 6 of them are zero pts, so by my calculations thats only 6pts if they play Agr.
So chop chop your wrong again, it was prob best we made the grand final cause us country thugs as we were called would have been the only ones to stand up to uriadla"s phsicality not like previous years when they just bashed and crashed there way to playing in the last 6 grand finals and winning 4.
I can remember the only chooks i saw were you guys after half time trying to stop the red & blue machine on our way to the GF.
See you in RD 4 might even slip down for a couple of sasuage rolls if needed. I/B & B/WOOD If you really want to know.

[R. White]

Silly statement JQ. I too was under the assumption that relegation points ended at the end of the minor round. Having said that I was very happy when the loosly worded rules allowed the challenge. Looking back at the judges ruling, I think it makes sense to include finals in relegation points. If a team is good enough to earn the right to play finals they deserve the advantage to earn extra points over teams that didn't make the finals. I understand there are some difficulties with this based on the finals system (a team finishing 4th has the possibility to play more finals that 1st) but I think the rules should be re written to include finals.

Would you have last season & will you & other Echunga supporters still feel the same way if this year another club has a couple of finals wins & it knocks Echunga out.

Had The situation be reversed this year and Echunga were facing relegation because another club had won the same court case I am sure the Echunga football club would do everything in their power to stay in central. Having said that it doesn't look like there would be many more options if the clubs still vote for a 10 team comp so whilst it would be very disappointing I am sure Echunga would have gone back to country with the intention of winning another flag and re applying for central.
This season coming should be completely different. I don't know if the judges decision means that finals are included forever or if the hfl will rewrite the rules. Which ever it is, the rules will be much clearer so if Echunga gets relegated because another team wins some finals then so be it (if the hfl decides to include finals that is)

[Yellow & Black]

So it seems the Echunga faithful on here have ZERO confidence in the entire board of HFL. Assuming a majority of the directors were originally involved or at least supported a HFL Club, can anyone list them and who they were aligned to? Are the Echunga folk claiming the alleged poor recommendations are 100% a result of the HFL directors or are these guys simply puppets being influenced by heavy hitters at the power clubs?

[chopper7]

We at Echunga recriut very carefully out of the 8 recruits 6 of them are zero pts, so by my calculations thats only 6pts if they play Agr.
So chop chop your wrong again, it was prob best we made the grand final cause us country thugs as we were called would have been the only ones to stand up to uriadla"s phsicality not like previous years when they just bashed and crashed there way to playing in the last 6 grand finals and winning 4.
I can remember the only chooks i saw were you guys after half time trying to stop the red & blue machine on our way to the GF.
See you in RD 4 might even slip down for a couple of sasuage rolls if needed. I/B & B/WOOD If you really want to know.

So they aren't recruits then they are locals??
When did I ever make mention of the Grand Final and you being country thugs who beat up Uris?? That's right I didn't, so stop making this entire forum simply about the Echunga Football club because quite simply everyone is sick of it. Last year is done now RD, let's see it your club and particularly your arrogant self can back up all the crap you talk up on here!
Btw the Tigs had 17 fit men playing in that prelim final..... Is pretty hard to stop a team when they got 4 extra players available.


And who were the players they were trying to poach then?

[R. White]

Alright, enough is enough. Lets talk some footy!
What are peoples thoughts on teams this year, looks like it will be another tight year with any number of teams capable of winning the flag.

Echunga- last year will fill them with confidence. With a few more class players added in they will be right up there.
Uraidla- Could go either way. Is their time up? Are they too old? i would think not. I would expect them to be in the top 3
Lobethal- Haven't heard much, nor do i know much about their team or recruiting. If they got to a prelim and only had 17 fit at the end i would suspect they would be confident in making it further this year
Mt Barker- have plenty of resources and vary rarely miss out on finals. Question will be if they can lure some players to help them get back to the top
Blackwood- Seem to always be around he mark but never really threatening. i dont expect big things from them this year either.
Ironbank- always seem to be on the brink of a finals appearance. I reckon that this year they might make it. Jars will know the team a little better and get a bit more out of them.
TV- Whilst the money man is still there they will always be competitive. May push for a top 5 spot based on the second half of last year.
Bridgewater- Maybe a county div flag or probably another bottom half finish. Which is not a bad thing as they are devolving a young and talented team.
Onkas- its been said before, they promise the world and deliver squat. I think Mcghey will have a positive impact but i just cant see them winning enough to make the five.
Hahndorf- Sounds like they lost Roberts, replaced by Grocke. One player can make a hell of a difference but the loss of Roberts will negate most of the impact Grocke will have. tough to see them getting off the bottom.
Mt Lofty- Stronger team than when last in central. Last year would give them confidence. Have lost Gordon though. 6th to 8th is my prediction.

to sum it up i dont think the top 4 will change much in terms of teams and would suspect that any one of them can win it. With that in mind footy is a strange game and you cant write any team off!
Sorry for the long winded post but i think its about time we got on with footy.