SA Footy

Every year we have these same discussions about money in football. The simple fact is there are clubs out there such as Tailem Bend, Jervois, & Meningie Just in the RMFL who would be on the verge of folding if they could not lure players to their club with $$$ offers. Karoonda, Peake, Lameroo, Murrayville in the Mallee are in the same situation. Are you going to be the people who give these clubs the push over the edge

I agree some clubs go over board, and that is why the points system is such a great idea. It will take time to even itself out, but once it does it should work.

Some clubs HAVE TO IMPORT purely for their own exsistance. It is for some clubs their last lifeline if u will. Talking to Llyod Downs the President of Tailem Bend, & he said there were only 5 players in their A grade who actually lived in Tailem Bend. So recruiting was an absolute necessity.

Rural Towns are dying, Farms are getting bigger & bigger, with less families working them. It all equates to a smaller population in these areas. Lets face it, if you were a lad who has shifted to Adelaide & has mates 5 minutes down the road playing for a club in town, would you travel 2 hours to Lameroo/Peake/Jervois etc to play footy at your own expense now probably around $45 just to get there. You may do it for 1 maybe even 2 or 3 years. But eventually it will get the better of you.

Sorry for the rant guys, but there is always two sides to every story.

$$$ in football is a way of life now. Yes we would all love to go back to the good ole days, but with whats going on socially in rural area's its just not possible.

very good post goldberg and very true i travelled this year for football and even with the money it is very hard to motivate yourself to go that far twice a week to play football when there are so many clubs close to home

Goldberg wrote:Every year we have these same discussions about money in football. The simple fact is there are clubs out there such as Tailem Bend, Jervois, & Meningie Just in the RMFL who would be on the verge of folding if they could not lure players to their club with $$$ offers. Karoonda, Peake, Lameroo, Murrayville in the Mallee are in the same situation. Are you going to be the people who give these clubs the push over the edge

I agree some clubs go over board, and that is why the points system is such a great idea. It will take time to even itself out, but once it does it should work.

Some clubs HAVE TO IMPORT purely for their own exsistance. It is for some clubs their last lifeline if u will. Talking to Llyod Downs the President of Tailem Bend, & he said there were only 5 players in their A grade who actually lived in Tailem Bend. So recruiting was an absolute necessity.

Rural Towns are dying, Farms are getting bigger & bigger, with less families working them. It all equates to a smaller population in these areas. Lets face it, if you were a lad who has shifted to Adelaide & has mates 5 minutes down the road playing for a club in town, would you travel 2 hours to Lameroo/Peake/Jervois etc to play footy at your own expense now probably around $45 just to get there. You may do it for 1 maybe even 2 or 3 years. But eventually it will get the better of you.

Sorry for the rant guys, but there is always two sides to every story.

$$$ in football is a way of life now. Yes we would all love to go back to the good ole days, but with whats going on socially in rural area's its just not possible.

An absolutely "spot on" post, well said.
You need not look any further than Bute & Paskeville having to combine their juniors to enable those kids to have a game, country footy is nearly 'shot' so more clubs will have to either merge or fold, that's the reality, sad but true!

Great post Goldberg. At Murrayville this year, we had 6 kids in the senior colts (U/16), the rest of the numbers were made up by junior colts (U/13 and younger). Next year we're not sure if we are able to field a colts side.

My first year playing there in 2006 we forfeited a few B grade games because we only had 7 guys travelling from other areas (5 from Adelaide, 1 from Ouyen and 1 from Mildura) to play.

This year we had around 15 guys travelling from Adelaide, and for most of the games our bench in the A grade have already played B grade. Small town clubs don't choose to pay players, they have to pay players

Brock Landers wrote:=D>

Great post Goldberg. At Murrayville this year, we had 6 kids in the senior colts (U/16), the rest of the numbers were made up by junior colts (U/13 and younger). Next year we're not sure if we are able to field a colts side.

My first year playing there in 2006 we forfeited a few B grade games because we only had 7 guys travelling from other areas (5 from Adelaide, 1 from Ouyen and 1 from Mildura) to play.

This year we had around 15 guys travelling from Adelaide, and for most of the games our bench in the A grade have already played B grade. Small town clubs don't choose to pay players, they have to pay players

Brocky you have enjoyed your time up there whats happening next year still staying on or is there a move on the cards ?

I understand the predicament these sides face, it is extremely hard, and in a way they are lucky they can draw players from Adelaide to go and play.

Perhaps these comps need to scrap their B-Grade comps, and a set-up similar to the following...

A Grade
U21's
U17's
U15's (if they have a Junior Colts in their association already)

That way kids who come out of Senior Colts and normally dont make the cut for the A Grade wont be lost to footy, they will still have an age group to play against...

Liquid Confidence wrote:I understand the predicament these sides face, it is extremely hard, and in a way they are lucky they can draw players from Adelaide to go and play.

Perhaps these comps need to scrap their B-Grade comps, and a set-up similar to the following...

A Grade
U21's
U17's
U15's (if they have a Junior Colts in their association already)

That way kids who come out of Senior Colts and normally dont make the cut for the A Grade wont be lost to footy, they will still have an age group to play against...

LC very valid point that or maybe an under age 21s with provision for pheraps 5 over age players to guide these guys there are some late bloomers whose bodies need an extra year or 2 to mature

Jelom19 wrote:

Brock Landers wrote:=D>

Great post Goldberg. At Murrayville this year, we had 6 kids in the senior colts (U/16), the rest of the numbers were made up by junior colts (U/13 and younger). Next year we're not sure if we are able to field a colts side.

My first year playing there in 2006 we forfeited a few B grade games because we only had 7 guys travelling from other areas (5 from Adelaide, 1 from Ouyen and 1 from Mildura) to play.

This year we had around 15 guys travelling from Adelaide, and for most of the games our bench in the A grade have already played B grade. Small town clubs don't choose to pay players, they have to pay players

Brocky you have enjoyed your time up there whats happening next year still staying on or is there a move on the cards ?

Most likely staying up there for another season. I'll enjoy the next few months of drinking season and then make a definite decision.

great to hear brocky!!!!!!!

With all the chat about about $$$ in footy, I thought it might just be worthwhile re-visiting this thread, although the landscape has now changed with the points system

Yes it is!!! Its now tough to get a quality player over the rise that is the Adelaide ranges, for less then a weeks wages