Best League/Association

[magpie in the 80's]

yes i did wishiwas. who did you play for and when

[robby]

Hills have a large amount of ex AFL SANFL players, Trent Ormad-Allen and Sudjai Cook have hardly been dominating. I think Rusty would find it harder as he was all Ironbank looked for, he got fed the ball as he was their only option. I think Hills Central is much stronger than it was 5 years ago. Where would hills Country come in on the list??

[PPLions]

Hills Country will be right down the bottom of the list I think Robby
I think the top sides like Meadows , Kangarilla and Torrens Valley are quite good sides, but would be no better than middle of the table in most leagues.
Players like Danielle, Carter and Dawe would be beter players in any Comp.
Bue Hills Country sides would not competitive at all in the top leagues like Hills Central, Western Border and Southern.

[Special K]

Great thread lads, I reckon Hills is the best, you dont see many players playing in the amateur league then going on to bigger and better stuff, where as in the Hills you do, i might be mistaken but it is just and observation i have picked up in my time.

[magpie in the 80's]

good judges are those players who have played in these leagues. ive played in 2 ; western border and hills and my comparison was that the western border was far better than hills even though it was a fair time ago. i still keep in touch with guys down there and every club (not just one or two) have ex AFL and SANFL players in them. can the same be said with hills

[heater31]

Great thread lads, I reckon Hills is the best, you dont see many players playing in the amateur league then going on to bigger and better stuff, where as in the Hills you do, i might be mistaken but it is just and observation i have picked up in my time.

this is why you dont see it Special K,

most good talent is snaffled by School footy then SANFL clubs before the SAAFL has a chance to even look at the talent. the ones who aren't good enough or commited end up in the SAAFL after the schools/SANFL has had their bites of the cherry

[Brad]

Who else plays in the North Eastern league? I'm surprised you guys rate them so high although i'm not saying you're wrong, i just dont know much about that league. Do they have many ex SANFL/AFL players?

North Eastern has:

North Clare - Ricky O'loughlin playing this year Eddie Hocking is coach
South Clare - Matt Manfield from AFL/Eagles/Bays also Brad Nordhauseen from west adelaide has kicked a couple century of goals in the past few seasons and had good seasons in Darwin, many other good players.
RSMU (Riverton/Saddleworth/Marrable) - Brian Leys is playing coach, it was Donald Dickie previously have won 3 flags since going to North Eastern.
Eudunda - Steven Carter and Brayden Lyle playing.
BSR (Brinkworth/Spalding/Redhill) - NO ex SANFL players but very strong in the past with the Stringer brothers, Damien Kitschke (Sturt/St Kilda) and Dennis Weckert (Bays/West) and Jason McKenzie from the Dogs played their in the past.
Min-Man (Mintaro-Manorra) - Strong club no stand out names.
Blyth/Snowtown - No big names but a top team.
BBH (Burra/Booborawie/Hallett) - A struggler of a club but has produced Daniel Schell.

Very strong league.

[PhilG]

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[magpie in the 80's]

JQ; phils right about western border , been there done that . far better than the hills whether it be this year or 25 years ago. not only do the clubs have money but they are promoted on t.v. , constantly talked about on the radio each week and read in the daily paper. most teams towns are bigger than hills towns and the backing from the businesses are second to none. it always surprises me why mt.barker businesses support other teams in other towns rather than their own.

[FlyingHigh]

When you're talking about the strength of leagues, think you need to also take into account the size of the populations. For example Mid-West has about 3500 that supplies 6 teams and very few paid players, compared to places like Kadina, Clare, the big Riverland towns, Mt barker, which have only one maybe two teams who also fork out quite a bit of dough. On that basis, I think you'd find the EP teams, and the Mallee as strong as anyone, esp in A's, probably drop off a bit in the B's.

I think you'd be surprised at the strength of the YP, Plains and NorthEastern leagues, but granted virtualyy all the teams have 3-4 paid players from Adelaide, generally fringe league players or those who have retired.

Ex-SANFL players, either reserves or league, on YP this year include: Andrew Crowell, Ben Watkins, Darren Holland, Ricky Butler, Josh Pearce, Spiro Darzonas (before injury), Brad Smith, Todd Winstanley, Adam Ugrinic, Greg Chapman, Jarrad Byrne, Troy Clements, Daniel Diesl-Federsson, as well as locals who have been there such as Ebert, Sam Mumford, Ben Gunning.

JQ - it happens everywhere that businesses support the teams surrounding the bigger towns. The people in the towns are going to shop or drink there anyway, whilst those in the small surrounding towns or farming communities/clubs are the swinging dollar they can attract by sponsoring those sort of teams.

[Barbara]

Who else plays in the North Eastern league? I'm surprised you guys rate them so high although i'm not saying you're wrong, i just dont know much about that league. Do they have many ex SANFL/AFL players?

Not that familiar with the league itself, but know that Mathew Manfield is playing up there ex Collingwood/ Glenelg.

[Barbara]

and ex Richmond and West Whyalla and Eagles

[thegossip]

hi phil, 1st of all no country club would get near the top 4 or 5 amateur clubs. I still think the top 4 southeren league clubs would beat or at least hold there own against western border, do know afew guys in both comps. but the hill people do think there league is alot stronger then it is.

[PhilG]

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[heater31]

or that other team that made the five (can't think off hand!)

You are thinking of Henley Phil.

[PhilG]

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[heater31]

yeah I work with a bloke who plays for goodwood and we were talking about it on last week

[Maddogmike]

Whose that heater?

[Justquietly]

hi phil, 1st of all no country club would get near the top 4 or 5 amateur clubs. I still think the top 4 southeren league clubs would beat or at least hold there own against western border, do know afew guys in both comps. but the hill people do think there league is alot stronger then it is.

Seen much hills footy then, Gossip? They did supply a few players for the association games, 3 of which made the 'state' team that didn't get to go anywhere.
Although this is a good topic, I don't think there'll be a consensus, because it really is difficult to judge, unless interleague games were teed up!

[PhilG]

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