SA Footy

Hi Guys,

Now that the 2011 season is finished I have a question for some of you and its subjective so the answers will be different for most people..

As someone that is more than likely going to be playing C grade next year, I was interested to know the difference between what most people would call their "A and B" Grades and their C grade.

I'm just curious as to any possible changes in areas such as

- Skill?
- Age?
- Quality of games?
- Is it as serious or do most C graders take it as some fun and a run around?
- Anything else you might want to add.

I'm just after the opinion of people who have played in both grades

Fitness base, the organized manner in which the club and committee operate, the way a club conducts itself on and off the field, the junior program, higher level football experience, game plan and structure, facilities and MONEY.

RedMagpie wrote:Fitness base, the organized manner in which the club and committee operate, the way a club conducts itself on and off the field, the junior program, higher level football experience, game plan and structure, facilities and MONEY.

This is the general difference between Div 1 & Div 7

RedMagpie wrote:

RedMagpie wrote:Fitness base, the organized manner in which the club and committee operate, the way a club conducts itself on and off the field, the junior program, higher level football experience, game plan and structure, facilities and MONEY.

This is the general difference between Div 1 & Div 7

Sorry, this was my fault for such a badly written question. (I have tried to word it better)

As someone that is more than likely going to be playing C grade next year, I was interested to know the difference between what most people would call their "A and B" Grades and there C grade.

As there are several people that play C grade now but have also played A and B grade footy was interested to note what changes they noticed?

I have played D7, D7R, D6, D6R, D2, D2R, and C2 in the last 3 years...
I would compare the C competition with D7R/D6R, probably a lower standard tbh than the good teams in D7R
Any good player at D7R/D6R level would play well in the C competition.

lutz wrote:I have played D7, D7R, D6, D6R, D2, D2R, and C2 in the last 3 years...
I would compare the C competition with D7R/D6R, probably a lower standard tbh than the good teams in D7R
Any good player at D7R/D6R level would play well in the C competition.

bit of a club sl?t lutz

Lot of youth in A grade sides makes the pace of the game much quicker.

I personally have played a bit of A and B grade ranging from D5-7 and D5R-D7R with a bit of D1R.

Skill difference is noticeable between A's and B's but hardness at the footy is the same.

Watching the C5 GF on the weekend there is still some fair players running around, but drop in skill level across the board is evident.

It varies for every club
div 1-3 clubs there A grade usually will have 21 quality players with a few stars in that 21.
As with the B's in higher div's they will still have some older blokes who have played plenty of A grade of young guys who will be future A graders.
I played C's for the first time this season, the biggest thing I noticed was the fitness level and committment levels. Blokes who had the skills or brains to play A grade but just not fit enough or cant commit. The other thing you will notice is the better few will be real good but the last 5 or 6 picked each week struggle.
Depending on the opposition I found it harder to get as much footy when playing a weaker side rather then a top side, think that has to do with the standard of footy dropping off and the game becoming scrappier!

Iron Fist wrote:It varies for every club
div 1-3 clubs there A grade usually will have 21 quality players with a few stars in that 21.
As with the B's in higher div's they will still have some older blokes who have played plenty of A grade of young guys who will be future A graders.
I played C's for the first time this season, the biggest thing I noticed was the fitness level and committment levels. Blokes who had the skills or brains to play A grade but just not fit enough or cant commit. The other thing you will notice is the better few will be real good but the last 5 or 6 picked each week struggle.
Depending on the opposition I found it harder to get as much footy when playing a weaker side rather then a top side, think that has to do with the standard of footy dropping off and the game becoming scrappier!

Pretty well summarised. I would add though that it will be hard to gauge as it really depends on the depth of the clubs.
I played mainly 2R this year after coming from div4 and would say the side I played in would compete with most A grade sides in lower levels. However I could not say the same for the bottom 5 or 6 sides of div 2R. Also I think you will find a lot of c grade sides will be very inconsistent as injuries and availability have a ripple effect down a clubs grades. Some weeks a c grade side will have an amazing team full of ex A grade players from a year or two back, back then the following week could look like a bunch of guys who don't know what to do with a footy when it falls in their laps.

Iron Fist wrote:It varies for every club
div 1-3 clubs there A grade usually will have 21 quality players with a few stars in that 21.
As with the B's in higher div's they will still have some older blokes who have played plenty of A grade of young guys who will be future A graders.
I played C's for the first time this season, the biggest thing I noticed was the fitness level and committment levels. Blokes who had the skills or brains to play A grade but just not fit enough or cant commit. The other thing you will notice is the better few will be real good but the last 5 or 6 picked each week struggle.
Depending on the opposition I found it harder to get as much footy when playing a weaker side rather then a top side, think that has to do with the standard of footy dropping off and the game becoming scrappier!

Absolutely spot on Fisty. Having played div4, and the last few years playing div3, div3r I reckon the top3 or 4 sides in div3r would beat A grade sides in lower divs. I thought the magoos this year the standard was really good and I would think they would push a grade sides in div 5 and lower.

hollywood7477 wrote:

Iron Fist wrote:It varies for every club
div 1-3 clubs there A grade usually will have 21 quality players with a few stars in that 21.
As with the B's in higher div's they will still have some older blokes who have played plenty of A grade of young guys who will be future A graders.
I played C's for the first time this season, the biggest thing I noticed was the fitness level and committment levels. Blokes who had the skills or brains to play A grade but just not fit enough or cant commit. The other thing you will notice is the better few will be real good but the last 5 or 6 picked each week struggle.
Depending on the opposition I found it harder to get as much footy when playing a weaker side rather then a top side, think that has to do with the standard of footy dropping off and the game becoming scrappier!

Absolutely spot on Fisty. Having played div4, and the last few years playing div3, div3r I reckon the top3 or 4 sides in div3r would beat A grade sides in lower divs. I thought the magoos this year the standard was really good and I would think they would push a grade sides in div 5 and lower.

No

hollywood7477 wrote:
Absolutely spot on Fisty. Having played div4, and the last few years playing div3, div3r I reckon the top3 or 4 sides in div3r would beat A grade sides in lower divs. I thought the magoos this year the standard was really good and I would think they would push a grade sides in div 5 and lower.

You're kidding yourself. I watched the D3R GF on the weekend, and dont think theyd beat a D6 side, let alone a D5 or D4 side.

Footy Follower wrote:Pretty well summarised. I would add though that it will be hard to gauge as it really depends on the depth of the clubs.
I played mainly 2R this year after coming from div4 and would say the side I played in would compete with most A grade sides in lower levels. However I could not say the same for the bottom 5 or 6 sides of div 2R. Also I think you will find a lot of c grade sides will be very inconsistent as injuries and availability have a ripple effect down a clubs grades. Some weeks a c grade side will have an amazing team full of ex A grade players from a year or two back, back then the following week could look like a bunch of guys who don't know what to do with a footy when it falls in their laps.

I played against every D2R side this year, and again, don't think any side in D2R would come close to a good side in D6 (and above)

Cash 123 wrote:bit of a club sl?t lutz

I don't think I'd consider someone who's played at two clubs as being a club slut

our 2 reserves side would comfortably beat our div 6 side by about 5 or 6 goals.
in turn, our div 6 side would beat our c1 side by about 3-6 goals.
in the c divisions, there are some very very good sides and some outright trash; generally the upper grades are fitter and have gameplans that enable them to take advantage of this level.

very interesting question
was suprised by the overall skill level and fitness in my first year at c level
the better clubs seem to have a policy that if a player in their Bgrade is not going to go on to A level they will put him down and try the younger guys up a level
this seemed to be the case when speaking to the coaches and clubs of the better clubs in the division
the level between the top 5 or 6 clubs seems to be pretty much on par and then their is big drop but in the c grades you are really never going to know because of injuries,form,unavailabilty of players in clubs higher grades
what i really did notice are the amount of younger guys in c grade
the days of it beingfor the lads in their last years having fun is slowly going out
the better clubs have a good spread of these guys playing with the younger lads and using them to teach the players the fundamentals of footy against men when they are coming up from under 18
all clubs have different approaches to the c grade but the discipline and sportsmanship in our division this season was exceptional and the days of the old thugs and cheap shots are nearly gone
you will really enjoy the c grade if that is where you are destined to play
i know of a club that would love to have you

Footy Follower wrote:Pretty well summarised. I would add though that it will be hard to gauge as it really depends on the depth of the clubs.
I played mainly 2R this year after coming from div4 and would say the side I played in would compete with most A grade sides in lower levels. However I could not say the same for the bottom 5 or 6 sides of div 2R. Also I think you will find a lot of c grade sides will be very inconsistent as injuries and availability have a ripple effect down a clubs grades. Some weeks a c grade side will have an amazing team full of ex A grade players from a year or two back, back then the following week could look like a bunch of guys who don't know what to do with a footy when it falls in their laps.

I played against every D2R side this year, and again, don't think any side in D2R would come close to a good side in D6 (and above)[quote="Cash 123"]

Like I was saying it depends on the depth of the club. I'm not sure who you played for this year but unless it was for one of the top 4 sides in div 2 then it would be hard to judge. The club I played for which won the div 2R comp this year had 13 players in the GF side that had played A grade footy this year. I would find it hard to believe that a Div 6 side would easily account for a Strong div 2R side that has 13 players that have played in a top 4 div 2 side.
Again I would not say the same for the bottom 5 sides in div 2R as there was a significant difference in skill level etc. These teams would probably be on par or worse than an a grade div 6 side. But at the end of the day that is why their side finished in the bottom 5.

Footy Follower wrote:The club I played for which won the div 2R comp this year had 13 players in the GF side that had played A grade footy this year. I would find it hard to believe that a Div 6 side would easily account for a Strong div 2R side that has 13 players that have played in a top 4 div 2 side.

I'd been told that the coaches at Adelaide University rate Div 6 on par, or even slightly better, in standard than Div 2R.

Thanks for the comments guys. Being a (very) average B grade player as it is, I was interested to find out what I might be up against next season.

Cheers

TheAussieBogan wrote:Thanks for the comments guys. Being a (very) average B grade player as it is, I was interested to find out what I might be up against next season.

Cheers

mate,is glenunga having a c grade side next year or are you moving on to another club

I heard that glenunga had good numbers all year and would be trying to form a c grade next year

Quichey wrote:

Footy Follower wrote:The club I played for which won the div 2R comp this year had 13 players in the GF side that had played A grade footy this year. I would find it hard to believe that a Div 6 side would easily account for a Strong div 2R side that has 13 players that have played in a top 4 div 2 side.

I'd been told that the coaches at Adelaide University rate Div 6 on par, or even slightly better, in standard than Div 2R.

Elements of it are rated higher. For example, 2 reserves is generally quicker and a tad more skillful but div 6 is considered more physical. The fact that div 6 quarters are 27 minutes long compared to 22 flat makes a large difference to this but conditions players to playing the same time as the a grade. The club would push known a grade players to come through the c grade (div 6) rather than through the b grade so that the younger, less known players could be observed by the a grade coach.

Having played or coached since the late eighties, most grades seem to be a better skill standard than twenty or even ten years ago (depending on the side) and c grade footballers are fitter than in the past.