SA Footy

Tony Clifton wrote:

Arch44 wrote:Dgrade cricket at Grade level is a farce and has been for a while. I have said this before my son (22) now, in his 1st year at senior level straight out of 16s one his clubs Dgrade bowling trophy, the following year he couldn't get a game because of older blokes in there 40s and 50s were being selected first. Surely grade cricket is about prepping guys coming through with the hope of playing shield cricket?

Again though, what do you think the problem with the scenario you described is?

Is it the existence of a 4th Grade?

Or is it a club choosing not to select a young cricketer doing well in preference to 40 and 50 year olds?

Higher subs for an adult?

The Hound wrote:

Arch44 wrote:Dgrade cricket at Grade level is a farce and has been for a while. I have said this before my son (22) now, in his 1st year at senior level straight out of 16s one his clubs Dgrade bowling trophy, the following year he couldn't get a game because of older blokes in there 40s and 50s were being selected first. Surely grade cricket is about prepping guys coming through with the hope of playing shield cricket?

Arch44 - is he still playing with that club?

No mate, he got disinterested and played community cricket with myself and his mates. He wanted the fun brought back.

Tony Clifton wrote:

Arch44 wrote:Dgrade cricket at Grade level is a farce and has been for a while. I have said this before my son (22) now, in his 1st year at senior level straight out of 16s one his clubs Dgrade bowling trophy, the following year he couldn't get a game because of older blokes in there 40s and 50s were being selected first. Surely grade cricket is about prepping guys coming through with the hope of playing shield cricket?

Again though, what do you think the problem with the scenario you described is?

Is it the existence of a 4th Grade?

Or is it a club choosing not to select a young cricketer doing well in preference to 40 and 50 year olds?

I know other clubs have the same age group in some of their dgrades too. For me its the existence of it.

Arch44 wrote:

Tony Clifton wrote:

Arch44 wrote:Dgrade cricket at Grade level is a farce and has been for a while. I have said this before my son (22) now, in his 1st year at senior level straight out of 16s one his clubs Dgrade bowling trophy, the following year he couldn't get a game because of older blokes in there 40s and 50s were being selected first. Surely grade cricket is about prepping guys coming through with the hope of playing shield cricket?

Again though, what do you think the problem with the scenario you described is?

Is it the existence of a 4th Grade?

Or is it a club choosing not to select a young cricketer doing well in preference to 40 and 50 year olds?

I know other clubs have the same age group in some of their dgrades too. For me its the existence of it.

Well it's those clubs that are doing it wrong. The age balance is the wrong way. Should be mostly young kids with some experience around them. Must have appointed a captain who would just select his mates. This kills any sort of club.

There is no prestige in relation to playing grade cricket at the moment - there still is at the A grade level but it falls away very quickly after that.
the bottom 2 or 3 sides in B grade are poor in 3rd grade the bottom 4 or 5 sides are poor and at D grade level the bottom 5 or 6 are really really poor.

i know in all competitions there are good sides and bad but this is supposed to be an elite level cricket competition which means the overall standard needs to be better. By removing the 4th-grade comp it would have allowed for clubs to get rid of some players that are never going to play A-grade cricket or help others develop.

It then would have forced grade clubs to work with their other community/ATCA clubs a lot more which would have been win-win for everyone.

This means there would be less poor cricket played at grade level and starting the process of bringing prestige back to Grade Cricket.

Now the majority of clubs will go through the same process they have done for the last 10-15 years and nothing will change!

Seems to me that there's three options to improve the standard of grade cricket:

1) Run clubs better. Retain players, develop players. Foster a depth of talent.

Too hard basket. Too much work.

2) Have fewer clubs. Make it truly elite. Hard to get a spot all the way through the grades.

Much, much too hard basket.

3) Have fewer grades at each club.

Bullseye! That way we can keep all our clubs and they don't need to run themselves any better than they do now.

Tony Clifton wrote:Seems to me that there's three options to improve the standard of grade cricket:

1) Run clubs better. Retain players, develop players. Foster a depth of talent.

Too hard basket. Too much work.

2) Have fewer clubs. Make it truly elite. Hard to get a spot all the way through the grades.

Much, much too hard basket.

3) Have fewer grades at each club.

Bullseye! That way we can keep all our clubs and they don't need to run themselves any better than they do now.

#2 is the only way to make it work properly, but will never happen and I think we all know that now.

the smokey wrote:

Tony Clifton wrote:Seems to me that there's three options to improve the standard of grade cricket:

1) Run clubs better. Retain players, develop players. Foster a depth of talent.

Too hard basket. Too much work.

2) Have fewer clubs. Make it truly elite. Hard to get a spot all the way through the grades.

Much, much too hard basket.

3) Have fewer grades at each club.

Bullseye! That way we can keep all our clubs and they don't need to run themselves any better than they do now.

#2 is the only way to make it work properly, but will never happen and I think we all know that now.

Hussey report just released. Lots mentioned about Grade cricket comp, he suggests getting down to 8-10 clubs. This has been mentioned in that many reports so an easy thing to say, why does he not recommend how to do this??

Mergers have failed, maybe a "new" comp where Clubs have to apply to play in, or bit like amateur footy where you have relegation/promotion for top/bottom 2, not sure.

Think it has to happen somehow!

Did hear strong rumour from high up SACA official who said Adelaide and Sturt have already commenced preliminary discussions which is interesting.

Eagles2014 wrote:
Did hear strong rumour from high up SACA official who said Adelaide and Sturt have already commenced preliminary discussions which is interesting.

The merged club to play out of Goodwood Oval I guess too???

Hope KG is leading the mediation talks.....don't think the wounds have healed from 1974!

heater31 wrote:

Eagles2014 wrote:
Did hear strong rumour from high up SACA official who said Adelaide and Sturt have already commenced preliminary discussions which is interesting.

The merged club to play out of Goodwood Oval I guess too???

Hope KG is leading the mediation talks.....don't think the wounds have healed from 1974!

What happened in 1974?

Tony Clifton wrote:

heater31 wrote:

Eagles2014 wrote:
Did hear strong rumour from high up SACA official who said Adelaide and Sturt have already commenced preliminary discussions which is interesting.

The merged club to play out of Goodwood Oval I guess too???

Hope KG is leading the mediation talks.....don't think the wounds have healed from 1974!

What happened in 1974?

Mid 70's KG crossed from Adelaide to Sturt and a couple of others went with him. Might not have been 74 but around that time.

the smokey wrote:

Tony Clifton wrote:Seems to me that there's three options to improve the standard of grade cricket:

1) Run clubs better. Retain players, develop players. Foster a depth of talent.

Too hard basket. Too much work.

2) Have fewer clubs. Make it truly elite. Hard to get a spot all the way through the grades.

Much, much too hard basket.

3) Have fewer grades at each club.

Bullseye! That way we can keep all our clubs and they don't need to run themselves any better than they do now.

#2 is the only way to make it work properly, but will never happen and I think we all know that now.

Lets put history and club ego's aside for a laugh and see what it could look like with geographical mergers..

1. North Eastern Bulls- TTG and East Torrens
2. Adelaide Blues - Adelaide and Sturt
3. Kensington Browns
4. Western Districts Eagles - Port and West Torrens
5. Southern Districts Seahorses - Glenelg and Southern
6. Northern Jets
7. North Adelaide Pirates - Prospect and Uni
8. Woodville Peckers

Will leave the home grounds to be debated..

88 of the best available players playing each week...
Got to be better for breeding players to perform at the next level.. !!!

No kidding wrote:

the smokey wrote:

Tony Clifton wrote:Seems to me that there's three options to improve the standard of grade cricket:

1) Run clubs better. Retain players, develop players. Foster a depth of talent.

Too hard basket. Too much work.

2) Have fewer clubs. Make it truly elite. Hard to get a spot all the way through the grades.

Much, much too hard basket.

3) Have fewer grades at each club.

Bullseye! That way we can keep all our clubs and they don't need to run themselves any better than they do now.

#2 is the only way to make it work properly, but will never happen and I think we all know that now.

Lets put history and club ego's aside for a laugh and see what it could look like with geographical mergers..

1. North Eastern Bulls- TTG and East Torrens
2. Adelaide Blues - Adelaide and Sturt
3. Kensington Browns
4. Western Districts Eagles - Port and West Torrens
5. Southern Districts Seahorses - Glenelg and Southern
6. Northern Jets
7. North Adelaide Pirates - Prospect and Uni
8. Woodville Peckers

Will leave the home grounds to be debated..

88 of the best available players playing each week...
Got to be better for breeding players to perform at the next level.. !!!

Eagles 2014 would have just spat out his afternoon tea

Hearing Adelaide is likely to go with no coach this season but rather just a senior co ordinator

Brodlach wrote:Hearing Adelaide is likely to go with no coach this season but rather just a senior co ordinator

AGM should be interesting in a couple of weeks then!

Arch44 wrote:

No kidding wrote:

the smokey wrote:

Tony Clifton wrote:Seems to me that there's three options to improve the standard of grade cricket:

1) Run clubs better. Retain players, develop players. Foster a depth of talent.

Too hard basket. Too much work.

2) Have fewer clubs. Make it truly elite. Hard to get a spot all the way through the grades.

Much, much too hard basket.

3) Have fewer grades at each club.

Bullseye! That way we can keep all our clubs and they don't need to run themselves any better than they do now.

#2 is the only way to make it work properly, but will never happen and I think we all know that now.

Lets put history and club ego's aside for a laugh and see what it could look like with geographical mergers..

1. North Eastern Bulls- TTG and East Torrens
2. Adelaide Blues - Adelaide and Sturt
3. Kensington Browns
4. Western Districts Eagles - Port and West Torrens
5. Southern Districts Seahorses - Glenelg and Southern
6. Northern Jets
7. North Adelaide Pirates - Prospect and Uni
8. Woodville Peckers

Will leave the home grounds to be debated..

88 of the best available players playing each week...
Got to be better for breeding players to perform at the next level.. !!!

Eagles 2014 would have just spat out his afternoon tea

Not really. Actually was in support of the merger with Woodville four years ago. We voted yes and looked like full steam ahead. Was going to be a “Super club” with brand new club rooms, etc. Then at the last minute SACA halved the money on offer from $1m to $500k and Woodville went cold on the idea and pulled the pin.

We then went on and won the Triple Premiership the following season. I just don’t think Port is the right merge for us. Has to be Woodville like the SANFL. Do all the volunteers have the energy and fight like last time, was very draining on everybody. Might see the writing is on the wall, merge or watch you Club disappear forever!

Tony Clifton wrote:

Aerie wrote:The main issue with numbers and 4th Grade (or whichever Grade is the last one) is when you have a mix of college players, state players and injuries. It’s not easy having the extra 4-5 players (or however many it is) in a squad who are there to make up the numbers when the above players are absent, but then won’t get a game if a full squad is available. Often a number might get told to go play for their turf club if numbers are good in pre-season, only to have a shortage of players if injuries hit.

If this is a problem for the last grade won't the problem just get transferred up a grade if 4th Grade was removed?

Yes, exactly.

I’ve mentioned this a few times, but still think it is worth pursuing.

Have a Premier Grade of 8 clubs.

Have a District Grade of all 13 clubs, which would contain the 2nd Grade of each Premier Club and the 1st Grade of the rest.

If one of the 1st Grade teams wins the District Grade they replace the wooden spooner of Premier Grade.

Some clubs may fall away, some clubs may merge and that’s fine if it’s necessary. Forcing a merger isn’t right. There is nothing to suggest a merged club will be any stronger down the track - especially if a club already has a good program and good people running the club.

Aerie wrote:I’ve mentioned this a few times, but still think it is worth pursuing.

Have a Premier Grade of 8 clubs.

Have a District Grade of all 13 clubs, which would contain the 2nd Grade of each Premier Club and the 1st Grade of the rest.

If one of the 1st Grade teams wins the District Grade they replace the wooden spooner of Premier Grade.

Some clubs may fall away, some clubs may merge and that’s fine if it’s necessary. Forcing a merger isn’t right. There is nothing to suggest a merged club will be any stronger down the track - especially if a club already has a good program and good people running the club.

Great idea!