HFL Division 1 (Central)

[lebron]

Anybody game enough to predict mail medallist? I'd say Nitschke from Lobey and Block from the Roos have polled nicely early, with C Smith and C Shee also!

[MONTE CRISTO]

Daniel Ebert (Uris), L Nitschke (Loby) S McCormick (Blackwood) L Block (Mt Barker) Maybe Neeley (TV)

Hell - think I've named every player in the competition!

[Trooper]

Daniel Ebert (Uris), L Nitschke (Loby) S McCormick (Blackwood) L Block (Mt Barker) Maybe Neeley (TV)

Hell - think I've named every player in the competition!

Don't rate Block. Super Noons far more important player and renowned umpire favourite.

Ebert and Uraidla at the moment are just doing enough to win. No standout players are dominating games for 4 quarters for them so can't see a winner from there.

Neely and Torrens Valley will need to hope the umpires see past the negative perceptions of their club, culture and GE Hughes factor to have a winner. Also i think their results will drop away as the season progresses.

Haven't seen lofty, hahndorf, onkas or blackwood yet but onkas will struggle to win enough games for Shee their only hope to come close.

I've seen Nitschke a couple of times and really like the way he plays. Will go close i reckon providing the tigers win enough games. Yet i'm not sure the umpires like the tigers given that during their dominance in the late 90's early 2000's favourite's like Jason Sziller and Damien King couldn't win the medal.

[overthehill]

Daniel Ebert (Uris), L Nitschke (Loby) S McCormick (Blackwood) L Block (Mt Barker) Maybe Neeley (TV)

Hell - think I've named every player in the competition!

Don't rate Block. Super Noons far more important player and renowned umpire favourite.

Ebert and Uraidla at the moment are just doing enough to win. No standout players are dominating games for 4 quarters for them so can't see a winner from there.

Neely and Torrens Valley will need to hope the umpires see past the negative perceptions of their club, culture and GE Hughes factor to have a winner. Also i think their results will drop away as the season progresses.

Haven't seen lofty, hahndorf, onkas or blackwood yet but onkas will struggle to win enough games for Shee their only hope to come close.

I've seen Nitschke a couple of times and really like the way he plays. Will go close i reckon providing the tigers win enough games. Yet i'm not sure the umpires like the tigers given that during their dominance in the late 90's early 2000's favourite's like Jason Sziller and Damien King couldn't win the medal.

I would say Blocky has a far better hope then Noons as he is getting on a bit now. Ebert and Nitschke would have to be strong chances also.
After playing Onkas and watching the papers i would say Shee has no chance as he has had a really quiet year and the only real hope Onkas have is S.Tanner. He hurt us a lot in the middle and seems to be doing a little bit of damage around the hills this year!

[McGovern]

Daniel Ebert (Uris), L Nitschke (Loby) S McCormick (Blackwood) L Block (Mt Barker) Maybe Neeley (TV)

Hell - think I've named every player in the competition!

Don't rate Block. Super Noons far more important player and renowned umpire favourite.

Ebert and Uraidla at the moment are just doing enough to win. No standout players are dominating games for 4 quarters for them so can't see a winner from there.

Neely and Torrens Valley will need to hope the umpires see past the negative perceptions of their club, culture and GE Hughes factor to have a winner. Also i think their results will drop away as the season progresses.

Haven't seen lofty, hahndorf, onkas or blackwood yet but onkas will struggle to win enough games for Shee their only hope to come close.

I've seen Nitschke a couple of times and really like the way he plays. Will go close i reckon providing the tigers win enough games. Yet i'm not sure the umpires like the tigers given that during their dominance in the late 90's early 2000's favourite's like Jason Sziller and Damien King couldn't win the medal.

TV have produced medallists recently so I don't see how this is an issue?

[jumbo20]

Great game on Sat at Blackwood in senior colts.Undefeated sides with some serious talent running around,

[Justquietly]

I know it's not halfway yet but thought I'd look at my ladder predictions from pre-season, seeing as not much else on here atm:

Mt Barker
Uraidla
Blackwood
Mt Lofty
Onkas
Hahndorf
Ironbank
TV
Lobethal
Bridgewater

be interesting to see if anyone's on the money! My top 4 is close, slight order re-shuffle and Bridgey in last. as it stands, I'm a bit off But I'll stand by my statement of injuries being more of a factor this year than in a long time. Keep your boys on the park! TV and IB seem a little unpredictable but on their day make it a group of about 7 vying for probably only 3 finals spots left.

[Kick'n Back]

Bit of a rough guess at the premiership table before the season kicks off
1st Mt Barker
2nd Blackwood
3rd Uraidla
4th Mt Lofty
5th Torrens Valley
6th Ironbank
7th Onkas
8th Lobethal
9th Hahndorf
10th Bridgewater

My pre season prediction is looking not too bad maybe Uraidla and Mt Barker swap

[Bat Pad]

Bit of a rough guess at the premiership table before the season kicks off
1st Mt Barker
2nd Blackwood
3rd Uraidla
4th Mt Lofty
5th Torrens Valley
6th Ironbank
7th Onkas
8th Lobethal
9th Hahndorf
10th Bridgewater

My pre season prediction is looking not too bad maybe Uraidla and Mt Barker swap

Based on current form I'd be swapping Hahndorf and TV at this stage too . Onkas and Loby aswell. Lofty and Blackwood too.

[Justquietly]

Looks like a few of us are in the same boat!
I haven't seen Lobey play this year. From someone that has - are they a top 5 team? With Roos, Uris, Blackwood & Lofty 'appearing' to be top 4 teams, perhaps it's only 1 spot to be fought out (although 4th isn't guaranteed by any means). I still think that hahndorf are by far the best prospect for fifth, but can Lobey, IB or TV (less likely) or a wobbly Onkas make it? 'Tis is a good season.

[Trooper]

Looks like a few of us are in the same boat!
I haven't seen Lobey play this year. From someone that has - are they a top 5 team? With Roos, Uris, Blackwood & Lofty 'appearing' to be top 4 teams, perhaps it's only 1 spot to be fought out (although 4th isn't guaranteed by any means). I still think that hahndorf are by far the best prospect for fifth, but can Lobey, IB or TV (less likely) or a wobbly Onkas make it? 'Tis is a good season.

On Loby i'm not sure if they're capable of 5th yet they should've come away with wins against Uraidla and Torrens Valley. Injuries have hit them the last few weeks, so i hope they can squeeze a couple more wins out over the next month. We should see a stronger second half of the season from them i would think.

[Bat Pad]

Tips:

Onkas vs Bridgewater

Blackwood v Lobethal

Hahndorf v Ironbank

Mt Lofty v Uraidla

Mt Barker v Torrens Valley

Home teams to all come out on top.

[atlantis]

Onkas vs Bridgewater

Blackwood v Lobethal

Hahndorf v Ironbank

Mt Lofty v Uraidla

Mt Barker v Torrens Valley

a few upsets. I think the Roos will need to bring their A game and find a way to disable the Ellis boys and Neely

[dangermouse]

Put a hard tag on Neely and game over.

On another point, as many posters have said, the comp does appear the most even i has in years, if not ever this season. How much credit should be given to the intorduction of the points system? The influx of recruits to Uraidla, Blackwood and Lofty has certainly slowed and poorer teams seem to be 'catching up'. The points system has had a marginal affect upon Lofty's recruiting drive as we had fairly low points to begin with. In saying that it made it all the more improtant to keep the lads who almost left, and regaining Ross Wait and Trav White have been coups, providing they get out on the track soon! I'd be interested to hear some thoughts from other clubs.

[cricketlad]

Put a hard tag on Neely and game over.

On another point, as many posters have said, the comp does appear the most even i has in years, if not ever this season. How much credit should be given to the intorduction of the points system? The influx of recruits to Uraidla, Blackwood and Lofty has certainly slowed and poorer teams seem to be 'catching up'. The points system has had a marginal affect upon Lofty's recruiting drive as we had fairly low points to begin with. In saying that it made it all the more improtant to keep the lads who almost left, and regaining Ross Wait and Trav White have been coups, providing they get out on the track soon! I'd be interested to hear some thoughts from other clubs.

Urailda are no where near their quota and im sure mt barker could go further too, they could have a few more names in. But it seems to be a case of the lower clubs starting to reap the benifits of recruiting over the las few years while the top few sides are happy with their squads and are just using the youngsters who deserve a crack when a spot opens. I think this was always going to happen. No team can afford to pay every player and maybe some clubs are slowing their spending while they have a good side and the lower clubs are just trying to get to the same level, but it does make for a close year.

[Justquietly]

Dangermouse - you seem to know more than me about the Devs, but I would have thought that our recruiting over the past say, 4 years hasn't been much more than most other teams. The premierships squads had some recruits but still a lot of locals, with a lot of them staying on. I must admit that I think the points system has helped. You just CANNOT beat smart recruiting and a good club vibe that people wanna be a part of.
When is Wait due on the park? It's almost halfway! And from a source at Raggies - White probably doesn't have heaps of footy left in him which is a shame because Lofty needed another goal kicker to go the next step.

[Justquietly]

Tips:

Onkas vs Bridgewater - 20 goals

Blackwood v Lobethal - good test to see if Lobey can make the 5. Woods by not much...27 points.

Hahndorf v Ironbank - the Maggies by 7 goals.

Mt Lofty v Uraidla - I think the Devs can cause the upset. 13 points in a low scoring affair.

Mt Barker v Torrens Valley - the Roos are back, by 43 points at home.

[Amateur Footy]

Put a hard tag on Neely and game over.

On another point, as many posters have said, the comp does appear the most even i has in years, if not ever this season. How much credit should be given to the intorduction of the points system? The influx of recruits to Uraidla, Blackwood and Lofty has certainly slowed and poorer teams seem to be 'catching up'. The points system has had a marginal affect upon Lofty's recruiting drive as we had fairly low points to begin with. In saying that it made it all the more improtant to keep the lads who almost left, and regaining Ross Wait and Trav White have been coups, providing they get out on the track soon! I'd be interested to hear some thoughts from other clubs.

I don't think the points system achieves anything at all except stops a club from mass recruiting over one or two seasons. Is there a club other than TV that has any issues with points? TV are only in that position because they had to replace players who had left. In the medium to longer term it is only $$$ and club culture that limit a teams potential, not points.

Will say that it is enjoyable playing footy at the moment knowing that each week you are in for a tough game and you need to play well to win (excl Bridgy).

[Bertie Beetle]

Tips:

Onkaparinga Valley vs Bridgewater – Not much needs to be said here, Onkas will be out for a percentage boosting win and get them back in with a chance of finals contention. Onkaparinga Valley by 25 goals.

Blackwood vs Lobethal – Blackwood have been struggling of late, whether it be playing consistent patch through-out games or not being able to get our best team on the park. Coming up against Lobethal this week, the woods shouldn’t underestimate them or it could come back to bite them on the asses. But I think the Woods should have too much classy for an improving Lobethal. Blackwood by 6 goals.

Hahndorf vs Ironbank– This should be a good game, these are 2 of the 4 teams that are inline for 5th spot so they should be putting everything on the line to win this one. After a slow start Hahndorf has found abit of form, with some young kids playing well and with a better defensive end. I’m going for Hahndorf in this one, not by much though. Hahndorf by 2 goals.

Mt Lofty vs Uraidla – This should be another good match, with both teams looking to set there spot in the top-3. Both teams have a mix of "in and under players" as well as "outside players" but I think Uraidla have more experience over the field and those players know how to win these games. Uraidla by 4 Goals.

Mt Barker vs Torrens Valley – Mt Barker seem to be back in some form, with 2 successive wins against top 3 contenders whereas on the other-hand the Torrens Valley seems to only be able to match it with the top teams for half a game. With home ground advantage Mt Barker should be too strong for Torrens Valley. Mt Barker by 6 Goals.

[lebron]

Was at work today, any results?