batmanbegins wrote:Should be a ripping competition this year with most teams improving, thought id do a review of each team to see how there lining up for the year, (bare in mind I dont know all ins and outs).
Echunga- My tip for the flag and to go back to back, highly talented and quick side plus the additions of guy, montgomery, wilson and as RD mentioned another midfielder they will be even better then last year. Going to be hard to beat and hopefully with those additions there B grade will improve, plus their juniors will continue to improve so hard to see a relegation battle this year.
Uraidla- Lost daniel ebert to kersbrook and vidic retired plus kluvanek to sturt but they still have a lot of class with ivens and delvins staying around so you can never rule them out. Also they have a lot of depth in their B grade which helps but i dont think their quick enough to keep up with the likes of echunga and lobethal now and will struggle to beat them but you never know what that grand final loss will do to a proud and highly competitive group. Cant wait for their first game against echunga this year will be a ripper!
Lobethal- Losing johnson hurts as he was a big key for them last year, Luccon will offset that loss if he decides to quit norwood and play for them. Either way though with baust returning they are my tip to play echunga in the GF as they are highly talented led by nitchske and the jenkin brothers. Im excited to see them play echunga also as there is plenty of bad blood between the two sides.
Mt Barker- Havent heard much out of the barker camp but its hard to imagine they havent been recruiting, to cover the loss of pope (out for most of the year with an ACL). Had a horrid run with injury last year with block, hughes and pope missing big chunks of the year, but with a fully fit side they are still one of the better sides in the comp and there is no doubt they will be up there again this year as they have a a lot of talented players.
Blackwood- Lost eagle, Karkouer and Ahmat-Watkins but have two big ins with Bricknell and Thompson. I can see them improving as there recruits are upgrades over last years especially bricknell who will be one of the best players in the comp, they also have so much depth with their b grade being miles better than any other B grade which helps offset injuries. I reckon another middle of the table finish for them though as they lack the class of the upper echelon of teams.
Ironbank- Kept Motlop and added Hitchcock and De Visser but lost Mcgahey who is an underated loss even though his football ability isnt what it once was, he added a lot of experience and composure to the midfield. In saying that though Hitchcock is a big pick up and will kick a lot of goals, giving more support to motlop which was lacked last year. Its about time they moved up from the constant 6-8 position and made a splash in the finals as they continuously under perform.
Torrens Valley- Gained Hanna from Gums and Boras from Broadview (I'd hate to see how much they paid Boras as that bloke asks for a lot of cash) but i believe they lost dale ellis and the Jordan Brothers. Keeping O'sullivan was key as once he arrived they improved significantly and were one of the better sides in the second half of the year. Boras will just take over Dale's spot and kick a lot of goals meaning they wont miss dale to much. Will be interesting to see if they play on the shit hole of an oval all year round also as that gave them a big advantage.
Onka Valley- Gained Grocke for the second half of the year and obviously Mcgahey will play as well as coach, not sure if they have lost any players but i reckon they will improve on last year as Mcgahey will get them super fit and even last year once they got all their players back from injury they improved significantly. Will be much better than last year but still middle of the road for mine.
Hahndorf- Gained hourigan and Wittwer whilst losing big Dan roberts with some older guys retiring. Will be better than last year as im assuming most of their players wont be travelling overseas again but hard to see them improving so much as to make the finals. They will just keep geting games into all their talented youngsters and will get better in the years to come. Hankin being back also helps and they will have a highly talented forward line but their lack of depth will hurt.
Mt Lofty- Lost Gordan and peterson-gray ( Hardly played last year tho) and have gained no one to my knowledge. If they havent gained anyone they will struggle as it will repeat of 2013 in central div where they just relied on miles, nielsen and burch. They have high class top end talent but there bottom few are weak and thats why they will struggle, also lack talls even though Oheril was really good last year and will be very important for them this year but need a few more Nielsens to be a genuine threat. I know people will say look at what echunga did last year but they had some high class talls in Carey, Edmonds and Cranna whilst added two guns in Lindsay and Aish, whereas lofty this year have lost players not gained any, so i find it hard to see them doing an Echunga of this year.
One of the best posts in a long time, great stuff, Batmanbegins!
As far as Lofty goes I think you're right on the money. I haven't heard anything re recruits & that is a concern. PG hardly played at all, that won't affect much but not adding depth will hurt.
Forgive my unwillingness to read back too far - Bridgey are to go down to Country?