NORTH EASTERN F/L

[whufc]

2021 NEFL program is live now on sportstg

Round 1 on April 24th

Blyth-Snowtown vs Southern Saints at Snowtown
BSR vs BBH at Spalding
South Clare vs North Clare at Clare
RSMU vs Min-Man at Riverton

Perfect!!!

Round 1 at Spalding, will make the one minute walk there, even better its against Burra, to which I play cricket with a few of their lads given we are Spalding/Booborowie in cricket.

[whufc]

Lachie Wilson debuting for North Adelaide league on Friday

[whufc]

Only a couple of weeks away......what is everyones predictions.

For mine this could be the tightest season in years with so many unknowns.

1. Southern Saints- Recruited heavily, have some big bodies, will beat a lot of teams through sheer size and power.
2. Min Man- Young side on the up, strategically recruited this year
3. BSR- Lost a couple, picked up a couple, enough quality to still be a dangerous side.
4. Riverton- Sam Milne is a massive in to an already solid squad.

5. Burra- Talking a big game, they have recruited well but are starting from a fair way back. Will improve imo
6. South Clare- Lost their coach and a couple of players, also lost the Balak boys, may see them slip a bit.
7. Blyth- Have talent but definitely an aging squad, haven't heard much about them in the off season, who knows really.
8. North Clare- Have always had talent but have struggled to put it together.

[whufc]

Round 1 is here. What are peoples tips.

South Clare vs North Clare
RSMU vs Min Man
Blyth vs Southern Saints
BSR vs Burra

[Lightning McQueen]

[fev]

North
Rsmu
Blyth
BSR

[23rd man]

North
Min Man
Saints
BSR

[DOC]

South
MinMan
Saints
BSR

Whuffer, Season preview?

All the best. Hope you enjoy it.

[whufc]

South
MinMan
Saints
BSR

Whuffer, Season preview?

All the best. Hope you enjoy it.

I'm probably not close enough to the comp to provide a real in depth look. My quick couple of sentences for each side is:

BSR- Lost a couple of 'covid' recruits from last year but have kept the core of the squad which won the flag last season. Captain and arguably one the best players in the comp Sam Martin is returning from injury this year. Definitely not going to be a walk in the park with a couple of other teams looking to have improved but should be very much around the mark.

South Clare- Lost the coach and a key couple of key players. Also lost their leading goal scorer last year as a Covid recruit. Haven't seemed to pick up a lot in the off season. The new coach was an assistant last year so you would expect he will implement the same standards, they were a very well drilled, structured side. Going to be around the mark come finals.

Southern Saints- Undisputed April flag favs, have recruited very heavily with both ex AFL and SANFL experience, names such as Schmidt, Hardy, Prior will run around with them. Finished 5th in 2019 but didn't participate in 2020. How that affects them no one knows. They have a land of giants feel about them so they will be hoping for a drier winter. Expect them to be extremely strong.

Min Man- Probably broke even in the recruiting stakes picking up a few, losing a few. Were a young side and would expect some natural improvement out of them. Finished 3rd last year but thinking that might be hard to replicate again given Saint and RSMU improving. They would be aiming for finals and should be in that discussion to late in the year.

RSMU- New coach and a couple of new gun recruits including Sam Milne. Knocked out in the elimination final last year but have improved their list and seemed to lose their way a bit last year. A bit of an unknown in my opinion. One of those teams that could be right in the mix or end up missing finals.

North Clare- The biggest town in the comp, the biggest name recruits in the comp but continuously seem to fail to deliver. For the last 3 years everyone has been looking at their list and thinking how can they not be making finals. This year they haven't recruited as well and are looking to give a few more locals a crack. Probably best for their long term success but it might mean a fair bit of small term pain. Cant see them making the finals, to be honest see them being a bottom side.

Blyth - A bit of an unknown. Won the flag in 2019(?), hired Lindsay Bassani as coach in 2020 missed the finals, sacked the coach and now have a coach taking a senior side for the first time. Havent heard a whole lot about them in the off season. They do have enough talent though to be a tough competitor, I don't see them making finals but there probably the hardest team to get a read on.

Burra - Were bang average in 2019, didn't play in 2020 and are now talking a big game in 2021. Have recruited heavily in quantity, not a lot of names I know of but that doesn't mean anything. I play cricket with a few lads who play for Burra and they have been talking a Burra/Saints final now for a while. Honesty I'm not convinced, there coming from a long way back and who knows what the year off does.

[Arry Gablett]

Sounds about right
A fairly accurate and succinct summation of the season ahead

[Angler]

South
MinMan
Saints
BSR

Whuffer, Season preview?

All the best. Hope you enjoy it.

I'm probably not close enough to the comp to provide a real in depth look. My quick couple of sentences for each side is:

BSR- Lost a couple of 'covid' recruits from last year but have kept the core of the squad which won the flag last season. Captain and arguably one the best players in the comp Sam Martin is returning from injury this year. Definitely not going to be a walk in the park with a couple of other teams looking to have improved but should be very much around the mark.

South Clare- Lost the coach and a key couple of key players. Also lost their leading goal scorer last year as a Covid recruit. Haven't seemed to pick up a lot in the off season. The new coach was an assistant last year so you would expect he will implement the same standards, they were a very well drilled, structured side. Going to be around the mark come finals.

Southern Saints- Undisputed April flag favs, have recruited very heavily with both ex AFL and SANFL experience, names such as Schmidt, Hardy, Prior will run around with them. Finished 5th in 2019 but didn't participate in 2020. How that affects them no one knows. They have a land of giants feel about them so they will be hoping for a drier winter. Expect them to be extremely strong.

Min Man- Probably broke even in the recruiting stakes picking up a few, losing a few. Were a young side and would expect some natural improvement out of them. Finished 3rd last year but thinking that might be hard to replicate again given Saint and RSMU improving. They would be aiming for finals and should be in that discussion to late in the year.

RSMU- New coach and a couple of new gun recruits including Sam Milne. Knocked out in the elimination final last year but have improved their list and seemed to lose their way a bit last year. A bit of an unknown in my opinion. One of those teams that could be right in the mix or end up missing finals.

North Clare- The biggest town in the comp, the biggest name recruits in the comp but continuously seem to fail to deliver. For the last 3 years everyone has been looking at their list and thinking how can they not be making finals. This year they haven't recruited as well and are looking to give a few more locals a crack. Probably best for their long term success but it might mean a fair bit of small term pain. Cant see them making the finals, to be honest see them being a bottom side.

Blyth - A bit of an unknown. Won the flag in 2019(?), hired Lindsay Bassani as coach in 2020 missed the finals, sacked the coach and now have a coach taking a senior side for the first time. Havent heard a whole lot about them in the off season. They do have enough talent though to be a tough competitor, I don't see them making finals but there probably the hardest team to get a read on.

Burra - Were bang average in 2019, didn't play in 2020 and are now talking a big game in 2021. Have recruited heavily in quantity, not a lot of names I know of but that doesn't mean anything. I play cricket with a few lads who play for Burra and they have been talking a Burra/Saints final now for a while. Honesty I'm not convinced, there coming from a long way back and who knows what the year off does.

Whufc you mentioned in the APFL forum that 3 clubs in this comp didn’t have colts teams this season. Besides BSR’s U17’s, who are the others?

[whufc]

South
MinMan
Saints
BSR

Whuffer, Season preview?

All the best. Hope you enjoy it.

I'm probably not close enough to the comp to provide a real in depth look. My quick couple of sentences for each side is:

BSR- Lost a couple of 'covid' recruits from last year but have kept the core of the squad which won the flag last season. Captain and arguably one the best players in the comp Sam Martin is returning from injury this year. Definitely not going to be a walk in the park with a couple of other teams looking to have improved but should be very much around the mark.

South Clare- Lost the coach and a key couple of key players. Also lost their leading goal scorer last year as a Covid recruit. Haven't seemed to pick up a lot in the off season. The new coach was an assistant last year so you would expect he will implement the same standards, they were a very well drilled, structured side. Going to be around the mark come finals.

Southern Saints- Undisputed April flag favs, have recruited very heavily with both ex AFL and SANFL experience, names such as Schmidt, Hardy, Prior will run around with them. Finished 5th in 2019 but didn't participate in 2020. How that affects them no one knows. They have a land of giants feel about them so they will be hoping for a drier winter. Expect them to be extremely strong.

Min Man- Probably broke even in the recruiting stakes picking up a few, losing a few. Were a young side and would expect some natural improvement out of them. Finished 3rd last year but thinking that might be hard to replicate again given Saint and RSMU improving. They would be aiming for finals and should be in that discussion to late in the year.

RSMU- New coach and a couple of new gun recruits including Sam Milne. Knocked out in the elimination final last year but have improved their list and seemed to lose their way a bit last year. A bit of an unknown in my opinion. One of those teams that could be right in the mix or end up missing finals.

North Clare- The biggest town in the comp, the biggest name recruits in the comp but continuously seem to fail to deliver. For the last 3 years everyone has been looking at their list and thinking how can they not be making finals. This year they haven't recruited as well and are looking to give a few more locals a crack. Probably best for their long term success but it might mean a fair bit of small term pain. Cant see them making the finals, to be honest see them being a bottom side.

Blyth - A bit of an unknown. Won the flag in 2019(?), hired Lindsay Bassani as coach in 2020 missed the finals, sacked the coach and now have a coach taking a senior side for the first time. Havent heard a whole lot about them in the off season. They do have enough talent though to be a tough competitor, I don't see them making finals but there probably the hardest team to get a read on.

Burra - Were bang average in 2019, didn't play in 2020 and are now talking a big game in 2021. Have recruited heavily in quantity, not a lot of names I know of but that doesn't mean anything. I play cricket with a few lads who play for Burra and they have been talking a Burra/Saints final now for a while. Honesty I'm not convinced, there coming from a long way back and who knows what the year off does.

Whufc you mentioned in the APFL forum that 3 clubs in this comp didn’t have colts teams this season. Besides BSR’s U17’s, who are the others?

I was told at work that Southern Saints don't and South Clare are likely to pull the pin on theirs, only had 12 actual colts available.

Could be incorrect though, im the first to admit im only a very casual follower of the comp and am not involved in any clubs.

[Arry Gablett]

Program has all clubs except BSR having under 17
Although I’m sure not all these games will involve 18 on 18 or clubs won’t call on under 14 players to help out

Junior numbers are a concern everywhere, but most notably in the smaller areas that at times just don’t have the demographic of these age groups

[whufc]

North Clare with the first upset of the year beating South by 35 points. Not sure what that means for either side, are North better than expected or are South on the way down like most people thought?

BSR had a very professional win on the weekend. Burra hung tough for 3 quarters but BSR kept them at arms length running out 8 goal winners. It was one of those days were BSR got to a 3 goal lead and managed to keep that until halftime but you weren't sure if Burra had done enough to have a late crack or BSR were just playing within themselves.

Riverton lived up to early season predications beating MinMan by a comfortable 39 points.

Southern Saints are clear early premiership favs destroying Blyth by 90 points. Think that might have been a case of the top and bottom sides.

[BPlumber]

North Clare with the first upset of the year beating South by 35 points. Not sure what that means for either side, are North better than expected or are South on the way down like most people thought?

BSR had a very professional win on the weekend. Burra hung tough for 3 quarters but BSR kept them at arms length running out 8 goal winners. It was one of those days were BSR got to a 3 goal lead and managed to keep that until halftime but you weren't sure if Burra had done enough to have a late crack or BSR were just playing within themselves.

Riverton lived up to early season predications beating MinMan by a comfortable 39 points.

Southern Saints are clear early premiership favs destroying Blyth by 90 points. Think that might have been a case of the top and bottom sides.

Saints were unbelievable on Saturday. Best team I’ve played against since the RSMU three peat era.
Midfield was seriously physically strong with the two Schmidt’s and voight.

Cats still have James Hunter, Tyson salter, Lachy summers, atkinsons x2, Reuben Ottens and Nick McCormack to come back in. 6 premiership players Might make up 5-7 goal but not 15.

[whufc]

North Clare with the first upset of the year beating South by 35 points. Not sure what that means for either side, are North better than expected or are South on the way down like most people thought?

BSR had a very professional win on the weekend. Burra hung tough for 3 quarters but BSR kept them at arms length running out 8 goal winners. It was one of those days were BSR got to a 3 goal lead and managed to keep that until halftime but you weren't sure if Burra had done enough to have a late crack or BSR were just playing within themselves.

Riverton lived up to early season predications beating MinMan by a comfortable 39 points.

Southern Saints are clear early premiership favs destroying Blyth by 90 points. Think that might have been a case of the top and bottom sides.

Saints were unbelievable on Saturday. Best team I’ve played against since the RSMU three peat era.
Midfield was seriously physically strong with the two Schmidt’s and voight.

Cats still have James Hunter, Tyson salter, Lachy summers, atkinsons x2, Reuben Ottens and Nick McCormack to come back in. 6 premiership players Might make up 5-7 goal but not 15.

That's a lot of talent to come back in.

What position did Justin Hardy play for the Saints...…..was surprised to see Matt Prior play up forward, all of his SANFL career was spent as an undersized tall defender who shitloads of guts and determination about him. Yeah going to be hard seeing anyone knocking of the Saints this year.

[daysofourlives]

North Clare with the first upset of the year beating South by 35 points. Not sure what that means for either side, are North better than expected or are South on the way down like most people thought?

BSR had a very professional win on the weekend. Burra hung tough for 3 quarters but BSR kept them at arms length running out 8 goal winners. It was one of those days were BSR got to a 3 goal lead and managed to keep that until halftime but you weren't sure if Burra had done enough to have a late crack or BSR were just playing within themselves.

Riverton lived up to early season predications beating MinMan by a comfortable 39 points.

Southern Saints are clear early premiership favs destroying Blyth by 90 points. Think that might have been a case of the top and bottom sides.

Saints were unbelievable on Saturday. Best team I’ve played against since the RSMU three peat era.
Midfield was seriously physically strong with the two Schmidt’s and voight.

Cats still have James Hunter, Tyson salter, Lachy summers, atkinsons x2, Reuben Ottens and Nick McCormack to come back in. 6 premiership players Might make up 5-7 goal but not 15.

That's a lot of talent to come back in.

What position did Justin Hardy play for the Saints...…..was surprised to see Matt Prior play up forward, all of his SANFL career was spent as an undersized tall defender who shitloads of guts and determination about him. Yeah going to be hard seeing anyone knocking of the Saints this year.

Played forward at Tanunda since he came back from Centrals

[whufc]

Reckon he will kick a fair few this year, think he will be a very awkward match up for most teams. A mid size who plays a foot taller in the air and is a hard nut beast at ground level.

[whufc]

Is there anywhere I could find out about a tribunal result. More just being nosey rather than needing to actually know.

[whufc]

Riverton causing a mini upset beating the Southern Saints despite Hardy kicking 6.

BSR roll on belting a disappointing South Clare

Min Man to good for North Clare and Burra beat Blyth. To mean 4 teams sit on 1-1.