Edwardstown still looking

[KEYDEFENDER]

Were pt districts in div 1 this year as I do believe brighton defeated them in a trial at the start of the year 1 week b4 the saafl started. Can we take this as a guide?

correct go the punt except Brighton only had half their side in.. so maybe not a true reflection.. could have been a much bigger win for bombers.

[Esteban Vihaio]

Just remember while clubs like Cove, Brighton, M/vale, Reynella have quite populated areas, other parts of the SFL region aren't, hence why the SFL couldn't have a grade for every year level of kids (u/11, u/12, u/13). Country leagues have 3 year agaps in their juniors, SFL have a 2 year gap and SAAFL 1, it all works on how populated the areas are.

Secondly, most games i attend for juniors i am slugged admission fees so it's not just Reynella and Christies, it's just how it works, admission is a big money spinner for clubs.

Firstly, there are easily enough juniors playing football in the SFL for every team to field a side in each junior grade, some clubs, for what ever reason, are more attractive than others. That is why we have second sides, even though there is always another struggling side close by.

Secondly, m/vale, reynella, happy valley, cove, and brighton could probably field sides in each age level.

Unless things have changed in the last few years, most clubs don't charge before 11am.

And finally, with less than half the parents attending games, the last thing you want to do is give them another reason not to show up. If you ever see a kid wave to the old man who made his once and only appearance at the footy for the year and then turn in a blinder, you'll understand why charging parents to watch u/14 and u/16 football is a disgrace.

EV you will find that there is a ruling that you can not man your gate b4 11am

Excellent. Must have changed in the last two years;

[The Big Shrek]

Were pt districts in div 1 this year as I do believe brighton defeated them in a trial at the start of the year 1 week b4 the saafl started. Can we take this as a guide?

correct go the punt except Brighton only had half their side in.. so maybe not a true reflection.. could have been a much bigger win for bombers.

And of course Pt Districts were at full strength. Apart from the fact they had their 5 top players out for the first few weeks of the season so maybe they didn't play in the trial.

I serioulsy don't know how you expect a league with less of a population base and less teams to be up to div 1 standard. MV alone may have made it into div 1 and that is a big maybe.

[Zelezny Chucks]

Were pt districts in div 1 this year as I do believe brighton defeated them in a trial at the start of the year 1 week b4 the saafl started. Can we take this as a guide?

correct go the punt except Brighton only had half their side in.. so maybe not a true reflection.. could have been a much bigger win for bombers.

And of course Pt Districts were at full strength. Apart from the fact they had their 5 top players out for the first few weeks of the season so maybe they didn't play in the trial.

I serioulsy don't know how you expect a league with less of a population base and less teams to be up to div 1 standard. MV alone may have made it into div 1 and that is a big maybe.

Compare books TBS I'm sure that most Div 1 clubs are forking out twice the amount of money that the strong SFL clubs are and they aren't twice as good.

The Wilson brothers left Morphett Vale as fringe A Graders and went to play at Goodwood in some of their A Grade premiership sides.

[damian]

I saw a bit of Seaton play this year, M/vale, Cove and Brighton would have beaten them on most given days. ROCS and Broadview would be about par with the top southern clubs.

The Wilsons also played in the SAAFL association side, maybe it was just a change they needed to reach their full potential, they are good players when they are on!

[The Big Shrek]

I can't come up with an example of a player going from div 1 to the SFL because no-one is that stupid!

Well done Edwardstown you've gone from a comp with 10 div 2 teams, to a comp with 4 div 2 teams a few div 3 teams and who knows what for the rest of the no-hopers! Ha ha ha.

That's why everyone is laughing about the Townies being sooks.

The SFL rep side can't even beat an U23 SAAFL side. I don't think they have ever done it either!

Seaton lost half their side and their coach and Broadview were terrible. They were not div 1 standard clubs this year. ROCS were a heap better than both of them.

[Zelezny Chucks]

The SFL rep side was no where near an open age side. So when choosing a side of U23's out of 20 teams of course you're going to be more competitive than a side picked out of 14.

Add to that the Amateur side is playing for spots in the state games.

No question that Div 1 Football is more competitive, with the amount of money it should be, but to say Cove, MV and Brighton would not be competitive in Div 1 is just arrogance.

[bandar]

Compare books TBS I'm sure that most Div 1 clubs are forking out twice the amount of money that the strong SFL clubs are and they aren't twice as good.

The Wilson brothers left Morphett Vale as fringe A Graders and went to play at Goodwood in some of their A Grade premiership sides.

I wouldn't get in to the money spent issue as I am pretty sure there would be large paying clubs in both comps having been privvy to some negotiations with players that have gone to SFL clubs.

There will be times when some DIV2 clubs would be very competetive in SFL and times they wouldn't. Div 2 always ends up being quite a competetive grade as you always have 2 clubs on the down desperate to go up and 2 clubs on the up desperate to keep going. The other six are usually strong clubs that can't quite crack the next level.

Edwardstown this year would have made the 8 in SFL where I don't know. The big issue for them is what they will be like next year if they are in SFL. Already heard a story SHOCs have signed 5 of their players don't know if they are seniors or guys from their 17's but they have hard work ahead of them.

[Esteban Vihaio]

The SFL rep side was no where near an open age side. So when choosing a side of U23's out of 20 teams of course you're going to be more competitive than a side picked out of 14.

Add to that the Amateur side is playing for spots in the state games.

No question that Div 1 Football is more competitive, with the amount of money it should be, but to say Cove, MV and Brighton would not be competitive in Div 1 is just arrogance.

Think both camps in this argument show a fair amount of arrogance looking at past posts.

[The Big Shrek]

No question that Div 1 Football is more competitive, with the amount of money it should be, but to say Cove, MV and Brighton would not be competitive in Div 1 is just arrogance.

No, it's arrogant to suggest they'd even get there. Brighton were a div 4 club. Cove would have been in div 6 a few years ago. Just face it the SFL is a good comp but nowhere near div 1.

[Zelezny Chucks]

You're basing this on the past. Cove were, Brighton were...

I have already said Div 1 is a more competitive comp we aren't debating that.

[The Big Shrek]

Yeah, but clubs don't go from divs 4 and 6 to div 1 in a hurry.

[Zelezny Chucks]

Brighton have been in the SFL for 10 or more years? You don't think a team could go from Div 4 to 1 in that time?

Cove have undergone a massive increase in housing in the area and are seeing the benefit of that. I doubt that they would have been a Div 6 level to begin with and where they are now they would be of minimum GF in Div 2, which as you know would mean promotion so they would be good enough to be a Div 1 club.

[Cheese Twisties]

Seems like it is veering in to two different arguments now:

1) Could Eg Cobras/Morphies/Willunga's 2008 teams played in Div 1 and be competitive? Call me biased (which I am) but I think the answer would be yes to maybe.

2) Would a Cobras/Morphies/Willunga have the organisation/structure/population/funds to enter the SAAFL in Div 6 or whatever and then work there way in to Div 1 in 6-8 years time... much less likely, very few SFL clubs remain powerhouses over this sort of period of time.

Mind you tho - TBS are there many/any teams in the SAAFL Div 4-8 (or whatever it goes up to) now who will realistically be in Div 1 in 10 years time? Do many teams go on 5 year runs that culminate in entry to Div 1, or is it always the same sort of teams going up and down?

[The Big Shrek]

Brighton have been in the SFL for 10 or more years? You don't think a team could go from Div 4 to 1 in that time?

Cove have undergone a massive increase in housing in the area and are seeing the benefit of that. I doubt that they would have been a Div 6 level to begin with and where they are now they would be of minimum GF in Div 2, which as you know would mean promotion so they would be good enough to be a Div 1 club.

I don't think an SFL GF is equivalent to a div 2 GF. Sometimes it might be, sometimes not.

[The Big Shrek]

Seems like it is veering in to two different arguments now:

1) Could Eg Cobras/Morphies/Willunga's 2008 teams played in Div 1 and be competitive? Call me biased (which I am) but I think the answer would be yes to maybe.

2) Would a Cobras/Morphies/Willunga have the organisation/structure/population/funds to enter the SAAFL in Div 6 or whatever and then work there way in to Div 1 in 6-8 years time... much less likely, very few SFL clubs remain powerhouses over this sort of period of time.

Mind you tho - TBS are there many/any teams in the SAAFL Div 4-8 (or whatever it goes up to) now who will realistically be in Div 1 in 10 years time? Do many teams go on 5 year runs that culminate in entry to Div 1, or is it always the same sort of teams going up and down?

It's very difficult to move up the divs in that period of time. Mainly because it's hard to recruit a lot of high quality players to a lower div. If a team was in div 4 it would be near on impossible to get a team capable of being a contender in div 2 or even div 3. So clubs who want to rise up that rapidly have to basically have a gun div 4 team, get promoted, rebuild a new team, get promoted etc. From div 4 up the rule of thumb is you generally need about 5 players of the division you are playing in to be competitive. Every time a club goes up they recruit heavily so it means there is a decent gap between the bottom teams of one div and the top teams in the div below.

IMO it's easier for an SFL team to rise meteorically because everyone is starting from scratch and contending for the same prize.

[shoe boy]

Seems like it is veering in to two different arguments now:

1) Could Eg Cobras/Morphies/Willunga's 2008 teams played in Div 1 and be competitive? Call me biased (which I am) but I think the answer would be yes to maybe.

2) Would a Cobras/Morphies/Willunga have the organisation/structure/population/funds to enter the SAAFL in Div 6 or whatever and then work there way in to Div 1 in 6-8 years time... much less likely, very few SFL clubs remain powerhouses over this sort of period of time.

Mind you tho - TBS are there many/any teams in the SAAFL Div 4-8 (or whatever it goes up to) now who will realistically be in Div 1 in 10 years time? Do many teams go on 5 year runs that culminate in entry to Div 1, or is it always the same sort of teams going up and down?

It's very difficult to move up the divs in that period of time. Mainly because it's hard to recruit a lot of high quality players to a lower div. If a team was in div 4 it would be near on impossible to get a team capable of being a contender in div 2 or even div 3. So clubs who want to rise up that rapidly have to basically have a gun div 4 team, get promoted, rebuild a new team, get promoted etc. From div 4 up the rule of thumb is you generally need about 5 players of the division you are playing in to be competitive. Every time a club goes up they recruit heavily so it means there is a decent gap between the bottom teams of one div and the top teams in the div below.

IMO it's easier for an SFL team to rise meteorically because everyone is starting from scratch and contending for the same prize.

TBS,do you have a junior set up like we do in SAAFL or is it just your senior list?and if so do the juniors come up and down

[Cheese Twisties]

Seems like it is veering in to two different arguments now:

1) Could Eg Cobras/Morphies/Willunga's 2008 teams played in Div 1 and be competitive? Call me biased (which I am) but I think the answer would be yes to maybe.

2) Would a Cobras/Morphies/Willunga have the organisation/structure/population/funds to enter the SAAFL in Div 6 or whatever and then work there way in to Div 1 in 6-8 years time... much less likely, very few SFL clubs remain powerhouses over this sort of period of time.

Mind you tho - TBS are there many/any teams in the SAAFL Div 4-8 (or whatever it goes up to) now who will realistically be in Div 1 in 10 years time? Do many teams go on 5 year runs that culminate in entry to Div 1, or is it always the same sort of teams going up and down?

It's very difficult to move up the divs in that period of time. Mainly because it's hard to recruit a lot of high quality players to a lower div. If a team was in div 4 it would be near on impossible to get a team capable of being a contender in div 2 or even div 3. So clubs who want to rise up that rapidly have to basically have a gun div 4 team, get promoted, rebuild a new team, get promoted etc. From div 4 up the rule of thumb is you generally need about 5 players of the division you are playing in to be competitive. Every time a club goes up they recruit heavily so it means there is a decent gap between the bottom teams of one div and the top teams in the div below.

IMO it's easier for an SFL team to rise meteorically because everyone is starting from scratch and contending for the same prize.

Damien's comments above seem the most valid, as he is one of the rare people who saw both Div1 and SFL teams play this year.

But my closing points to this argument would be:

Would the best SFL teams at their strongest be competitive in Div 1? I say YES.

Would the best SFL teams be able to work their way from Div 6 to Div 1 within 10 years? DOUBTFUL, but by the sounds of it i dont think any/many SAAFL teams are likely to do this either.

Could the better players in the SFL/GSFL make the grade in Div 1 footy? I again say YES.

[Down the Hill]

Interesting reading guys. Good to be back from some holidays. Firstly BS, as I've corrected others on here before. Brighton were in A1 in 1995 and A1 again in 1996 (which was effectively A2 due to the season or 2 of the M1, M2, M3 concept when amateurs sold its soul to player payments). We finished 5th with 11 wins in 1996 and then entered SFL in 1997 and only won 7 games. We did lose some players but were genuinely surprised about the SFL standard back then and that standard has steadily improved in the stronger clubs over the last 10 years. We did beat Port Dist in a trial this year by 8 goals one week before SAAFL season started and 2 weeks before our season started. Both clubs had some key players missing so any excuses from either club were levelled out. We played them at identical time last year and PD won by 3 or 4 goals. The one major issue with SAAFL Div 1 and Div 2 clubs compared to the stringer SFL clubs is game style and age. SAAFL teams would have an average age of 2 or 3 years older than SFL teams. SAAFL have older bigger bodies but I don't believe fitness and speed is at the same level compared to the younger squads of the Brightons, Emus, Cove, Vikings. I'm sure the top 4 or 5 SAAFL Div1 clubs are the strongest teams outside the SANFL but the top 5 or 6 SFL clubs could mix it with anyone else in any league in SA. Its like comparing SANFL and WAFL. On a given day Subiaco may beat Centrals but overall Centrals would probably win more than they lose. Don't forget BS the SFL has seen many guys with SANFL experience return to SFL clubs in recent years (some still at their playing peak). Drapers, Reavills, McKeough, Genovese, Moore, just to name a few that spring to mind.

[White Unicorn]

Were pt districts in div 1 this year as I do believe brighton defeated them in a trial at the start of the year 1 week b4 the saafl started. Can we take this as a guide?

correct go the punt except Brighton only had half their side in.. so maybe not a true reflection.. could have been a much bigger win for bombers.

And of course Pt Districts were at full strength. Apart from the fact they had their 5 top players out for the first few weeks of the season so maybe they didn't play in the trial.

I serioulsy don't know how you expect a league with less of a population base and less teams to be up to div 1 standard. MV alone may have made it into div 1 and that is a big maybe.

Brighton were defeated by SHOCs in a trial by a fair bit the week before the Port D game. Dont think trials are a very good reflection.