HFL Division 1 (Central)

[magpie in the 80's]

Assume most clubs would have had trials today, any reports?

Barker played Barossa districts, Onkas encounter bay that I know of.

Hahndorf went down by about 7 goals.14.2 to 6.8

[Toto]

Thanks mate. Mount Barker beat Barossa Districts pretty comfortably, Nairne the same over Mannum. Echunga played Kangarilla… Interesting trial.

[Dutchy]

Went and saw a bit of Echunga/Kangies, both teams with a lot out but both teams will improve this year from what I saw. Echunga have significantly more depth this year.

Echunga play Kilburn this week down there.

[scottroo]

Kilburn will pump them, they’ll be very strong again this year

[Toto]

What are Kilburn? D4? Hell Echunga aren’t flash but I’d say they should still deal with a D4 Ammo’s side Scottroo….HFL D1 is well above D4 ammos mate.

[scottroo]

We will see, I would say bottom end of hills Div 1 would be lucky to beat a good Div 4 side

[Toto]

Pretty hard to judge on trials as you’d agree mate. But Nairne absolutely smacked Broadview last year in a trial and they were D1. Nairne did end up taking the flag but I’m pretty confident HFL D1 as whole is probably D2 Ammo standard mostly with bottom sides probably D3. Guess we will never know!

[Dutchy]

End of the day its a trial and means very little other than a hitout, but I saw the D4 GF last year and also saw a heap of HFL, miles apart IMO.

[Toto]

Absolutely Dutchy, there’s always debate regarding strength of leagues.

In which way were they worlds apart?

[wenchbarwer]

End of the day its a trial and means very little other than a hitout, but I saw the D4 GF last year and also saw a heap of HFL, miles apart IMO.

I think the very top teams in the HFL, GSFL, BLGFL and SFL would be more than handy in the upper echelons of the Adelaide Footy League

[scottroo]

100% agree with you on that, but I would say the bottom teams in those leagues especially SFL would struggle in Div 4 or 5

[wenchbarwer]

100% agree with you on that, but I would say the bottom teams in those leagues especially SFL would struggle in Div 4 or 5

Yeah, no doubt about that at all, could apply that to all the leagues I mentioned, really. Watched some of the Flagstaff v Mclaren trial last week, even though a heap were rested or on limited minutes, it was still top notch footy. At full strength both those teams are a force.

[Toto]

How good would a “Best of” tournament be? 2 Grand finalist from GSFL, BLGFA, HFL D1, SFL and even RMFL in a round robin comp. 2x 20 minute halves.

[wenchbarwer]

How good would a “Best of” tournament be? 2 Grand finalist from GSFL, BLGFA, HFL D1, SFL and even RMFL in a round robin comp. 2x 20 minute halves.

It'd be brilliant, would sort out bragging rights too! I reckon it'd be as good as the Country Champs, if not better.

[Dutchy]

Absolutely Dutchy, there’s always debate regarding strength of leagues.

In which way were they worlds apart?

D4 GF was very open and attacking, very little physicality and defensive game plans - basically get it inside 50 and you score. HFL is the opposite, its a lot harder to move the ball and score and much more tactical.

[Dutchy]

100% agree with you on that, but I would say the bottom teams in those leagues especially SFL would struggle in Div 4 or 5

Agree with that, there are a couple of teams in SFL that are only Div 6 at best

[Yank Man]

Absolutely Dutchy, there’s always debate regarding strength of leagues.

In which way were they worlds apart?

D4 GF was very open and attacking, very little physicality and defensive game plans - basically get it inside 50 and you score. HFL is the opposite, its a lot harder to move the ball and score and much more tactical.

I watched Echunga a couple of times last year and they would have been mid table Div 4 Ammo’s. I also watched a fair bit of Div 4 footy.
They have recruited pretty well this year so I’d expect them to improve a fair bit.

[LaughingKookaburra]

People often look at amateurs and think the lower you go then it drops off massively. Realistically when you look at every competition in the State there are only 5 competitions in the entire state that are an overall a better standard than SAAFL D3 (SAAFL D1, D2, BLGFA, GSFL & HFL D1). D4 has some pretty decent teams and players and you could name at least 4-5 country comps across the state that overall are a similar standard to D4.

[Toto]

How good would a “Best of” tournament be? 2 Grand finalist from GSFL, BLGFA, HFL D1, SFL and even RMFL in a round robin comp. 2x 20 minute halves.

It'd be brilliant, would sort out bragging rights too! I reckon it'd be as good as the Country Champs, if not better.

I agree. Scrap the country champs, find a heap of sponsors so there’s decent prize money on offer to lure clubs into fielding their best sides, it’d be awesome! Use previous years standings as the next years rankings for fixtures etc. Could be on to something here!

[Aerie]

How good would a “Best of” tournament be? 2 Grand finalist from GSFL, BLGFA, HFL D1, SFL and even RMFL in a round robin comp. 2x 20 minute halves.

It'd be brilliant, would sort out bragging rights too! I reckon it'd be as good as the Country Champs, if not better.

I agree. Scrap the country champs, find a heap of sponsors so there’s decent prize money on offer to lure clubs into fielding their best sides, it’d be awesome! Use previous years standings as the next years rankings for fixtures etc. Could be on to something here!

It's a good idea.

All the Premiers of each competition to play in a knockout competition for the Premiers Cup-determining the best club outside the SANFL. Grand Final to be played on the weekend of Gather Round.

For the sake of the draw below, I'll have the highest seed go through as the winner , but there would be some pretty competitive games each week.

Qualifier Week 1
United Yeelanna (GFFL) vs Lincoln South (PLFL)*
Ports (EEFL) vs West Whyalla (WFL)*
Western United (WEFL) vs Kadina (YPFL)*
Orroroo (NAFA) vs BSR Tigers (NEFL)*
Kalangadoo (MSEFL) vs Millicent (WBFL)*
Miners (FNFL) vs Prop Risdon (SGFL)*
Finke (APYFL) vs South Broken Hill (BHFL)*
Kingscote (KIFL) vs Border Districts (KNTFL)*
Gumeracha (HFL Div 2) vs Jervois (RMFL)*
Sedan Cambrai (MVFL) vs Barmera Monash (RFL)*

Round of 16 Week 2
Prince Alfred OC (AdFL Div 1)* vs South Broken Hill (BHFL)
Two Wells (APFL)* vs Barmera Monash (RFL)
South Gawler (BLGFA)* vs Lincoln South (PLFL)
West Whyalla (WFL)* vs Prop Risdon (SGFL)
Millicent (WBFL)* vs Border Districts (KNTFL)
Nairne Bremer (HFL Div 1)* vs Jervois (RMFL)
Flagstaff Hill (SFL)* vs BSR Tigers (NEFL)
McLaren Districts (GSFL)* vs Kadina (YPFL)

Quarter Finals Week 3
Prince Alfred OC (AdFL Div 1)* vs Two Wells (APFL)
South Gawler (BLGFA)* vs West Whyalla (WFL)
Millicent (WBFL) vs Nairne Bremer (HFL Div 1)*
Flagstaff Hill (SFL) vs McLaren Districts (GSFL)*

Semi Finals Week 4
Prince Alfred OC (AdFL Div 1) vs South Gawler (BLGFA)
Nairne Bremer (HFL Div 1) vs McLaren Districts (GSFL)

Final Week 5 - Gather Round
? vs ?