HFL Division 1 (Central)

[Tex]

looks like brad dubois & josh russell are off to onkas from meadows.

Yes they are and with their work ethic i'm sure they'll fit in well!!!!! But Josh may have to change the colour of that ridiculous helmet he wears

[ronburgandy]

hopefully steve does sign with medows coz he deserves a chance to show that he is a solid player aswell as playing for a club with the right attitude. have heard another local player along with s feijen speaking with medows also. would be as big a loss if not bigger than s feijen.

think u will find there are alot of players who wanted to play in div 2 but certain club members would not have a bar of it. beleived that raiders were good enough for div 1. yes they have some good local players but cann't get the 4 or 5 imported players with enough ability like the loftys and ironbank who would be the best examples. if the raiders had of dropped to div 2 last year or this year i would be certain the feijens and other players that have left or leaving the club would come back. the thought of div 2 didnt appeal to some high up members as they thought they would lose jnr. fair enough but the club wont be able to survive in div 1 as they are now untill these jnr come up.

unless raiders can pick up 3 absolute stars, they will be with birdwood and lobbey at the bottom for a very long year!

[bookie]

gotta agree with you there ron if bridgey can keep most of the locals and pick up 3 or 4 quality recruits like lofty did with trigger flash and rosco in 2003 success will come, last year the juniors showed some promising signs for bridgey if they can maintain these younger players they will become a handy side again soon.

dashin who are some of lobeys "young guns" they must have gone unoticed throughout the junior ranks because lobey havent been very successful in junior footy over the past 5 years

[bookie]

sorry meant 2005 not 2003

[Shanty Lad]

i think the attitude at bridgy will be on the improve this year and will be very competitve this season. Its the people at the club that just bag it and wander off to other places that have put us in the position we're in ron. If everyone kept at it and showed a bit of loyalty we'd eventually benefit from some very good and hard working juniors coming through. go you raiders!!

[Start]

Bridgewater have a good coach now anyway!

[Baron Greenback]

I hope the Ironbank boys have their drinking shoes on.
Renmark wants revenge for last year!
Bring it on!

[Dashin]

dashin who are some of lobeys "young guns" they must have gone unoticed throughout the junior ranks because lobey havent been very successful in junior footy over the past 5 years

Bookie, basically from what I know and have heard, Loby have about 7 or 8 guys playing jnuiors at league clubs and they are therefore hopeful these guys will eventually make there way back to the club. It's debatable whether or not they will, but if nothing else it would give the club a few leads regarding potential imports down the track. I also believe Loby's U10's & U12's have some serious talent running around. I think the Kings and Weeks kids + others are making their way through the juniors and are looking the goods. If nothing else I guess they can hope, you'd have to think one day Loby will come good. I believe Jeremy Aufderheid will play/coach next year, he'd bring a few with him. Could be a while before they become finals contenders once again.

[Mop Up]

I hope the Ironbank boys have their drinking shoes on.
Renmark wants revenge for last year!
Bring it on!

Well I hope you've improved ya drinking alot cos it was a trouncing last year!

[Baron Greenback]

It was level until our anchor stuffed up for us in A grade.
But you're right - Our B grade drinkers were pathetic and did get trounced.
That's why they're B graders.
We always drink better away from home anyway!

[boozehound]

i think the attitude at bridgy will be on the improve this year and will be very competitve this season. Its the people at the club that just bag it and wander off to other places that have put us in the position we're in ron. If everyone kept at it and showed a bit of loyalty we'd eventually benefit from some very good and hard working juniors coming through. go you raiders!!

Think in general the attitude at Bridgy is ok however they don't have the depth of cattle. They should be pushing through their juniors in the last year of senior colts to play A's (if they have the ability). Their best three locals would be good players anywhere but after that it drops off significantly. They don't have the money to top up the team with ten or more imports (like some other clubs) so they get four or five and struggle.

Two really good juniors that shouldn't have played colts at all last year were staniford and healey and would have been good for their development without two games every weekend.

The club needs to bite the bullet and go to div two or stick it out for the next two three years and play a heap of senior colts. Thats the way I see it anyway.....

[ronburgandy]

couldn't have put it better boozehound. they did however have a fare few young players playing last year that had just finished u 17's. cowley, smith and a few others. probably the most amount of younger players in a grade for some time. no that with a fair few younger players in the side was why healy and staniford didnt get a game. staniford however would probably still be a bit young. think he still has another year in u17's. they do however need to go to div 2 and i no alot of players in a grade wanted that.

[boozehound]

I know opinion was divided on the topic. Club was worried about the juniors and the weak junior comp in div 2 which is why the decision was made to stay up. I can see logic both sides but if you come to that decision start putting things in place to make your A's competitive in div 1.

Yes Staniford is young but is better than most i have seen at his age and older. Full of class and courage and best colt at the club by a long way. Yes they were young last year and would probably have lost another game or so with the younger ones in aswell but it would hold them in good stead in years to come. As i said before, make the decision and then do something about being competitive in the long term.

[tedbullpit]

Whats happening at some of the other Central Div clubs. Have heard Lofty have lost a few but will no doubt pick a few up with Coleman at the helm. Will we see some improvement from Bridgey? Sounds like Hahndorf will be one to keep an eye on. Have Uraidla retained and gained? And what are the ins and outs for Blackwood. I heard they picked up a big ruckman from Sturt.

Haven't heard much but heard recently that Blackwood have signed Kym Cobb. Will coach their B's and they expect him to play A's. Believe Bowen will play at the Woods as well. Also Blackwood's B grade will now play in the Central Division reserves comp and their C's in the Country Division A Grade comp.

Dont know if Uraidla have picked anyone up but I know they have lost Andrew Newland who is heading overseas for the year.

[Toughcall]

Waht is going on at Hahndorf. Heard they are very active in 2008 and will be the team to beat. Does anyone know who they have actually picked up?

[Tex]

Waht is going on at Hahndorf. Heard they are very active in 2008 and will be the team to beat. Does anyone know who they have actually picked up?

Cooper(Eagles and Sturt), Kaesler(North and Sturt), Tim Nicholas (Norwood) They are all definate starters this year. Two more big names are a chance as well, and if they do get them they will be really hard to beat.

[Dashin]

Waht is going on at Hahndorf. Heard they are very active in 2008 and will be the team to beat. Does anyone know who they have actually picked up?

Toughcall, I highly doubt Hahndorf will be the team to beat. I believe they have picked up 3 or 4 players of which 2 or 3 I believe are guns. matt Cooper from Eagles who's obviously a star, Tim Nicholls from Norwood who will obviously be probably the best ruckman in the comp besides Bawden from Lofty. Not sure of the names of the other guys, but when you're as bad as they were last year you'd need atleast 6 or 7 to start challenging Uraidla who will be the team to beat. They have only lost one player so they'd have to be the favourite at this stage. Although I hear Mt Barker have recruited well, can any one shed any light on their signings?

[tedbullpit]

Waht is going on at Hahndorf. Heard they are very active in 2008 and will be the team to beat. Does anyone know who they have actually picked up?

Toughcall, I highly doubt Hahndorf will be the team to beat. I believe they have picked up 3 or 4 players of which 2 or 3 I believe are guns. matt Cooper from Eagles who's obviously a star, Tim Nicholls from Norwood who will obviously be probably the best ruckman in the comp besides Bawden from Lofty. Not sure of the names of the other guys, but when you're as bad as they were last year you'd need atleast 6 or 7 to start challenging Uraidla who will be the team to beat. They have only lost one player so they'd have to be the favourite at this stage. Although I hear Mt Barker have recruited well, can any one shed any light on their signings?

Agree dashin'. Hahndorf may have as good a Top 6 as anyone in the comp but it teeters out significantly after that. They'll play finals but I cant see them challenging Lofty or Uri's. Hahndorf have always struggled to win away as well and given the small confines of their ground they struggle away on the bigger grounds. I can see this trend continuing. Interesting that everyone seems to be writing off Lofty at this stage. I still think they are the team to beat. They've got some very good juniors coming through and u'd expect most of the guys training out at Westies to come back at the club. Have heard that Bawden may be heading overseas this season and won't play. Can anyone confirm this?

[rock]

Waht is going on at Hahndorf. Heard they are very active in 2008 and will be the team to beat. Does anyone know who they have actually picked up?

Toughcall, I highly doubt Hahndorf will be the team to beat. I believe they have picked up 3 or 4 players of which 2 or 3 I believe are guns. matt Cooper from Eagles who's obviously a star, Tim Nicholls from Norwood who will obviously be probably the best ruckman in the comp besides Bawden from Lofty. Not sure of the names of the other guys, but when you're as bad as they were last year you'd need atleast 6 or 7 to start challenging Uraidla who will be the team to beat. They have only lost one player so they'd have to be the favourite at this stage. Although I hear Mt Barker have recruited well, can any one shed any light on their signings?

Interesting info you may have there mate. I heard Mt Barker haven't signed anyone of note. Perhaps someone out there knows a little more, fill us in.

[devilsadvocate]

Agree dashin'. Hahndorf may have as good a Top 6 as anyone in the comp but it teeters out significantly after that. They'll play finals but I cant see them challenging Lofty or Uri's. Hahndorf have always struggled to win away as well and given the small confines of their ground they struggle away on the bigger grounds. I can see this trend continuing. Interesting that everyone seems to be writing off Lofty at this stage. I still think they are the team to beat. They've got some very good juniors coming through and u'd expect most of the guys training out at Westies to come back at the club. Have heard that Bawden may be heading overseas this season and won't play. Can anyone confirm this?

How about Onkas? By all accounts they haven't lost any and have picked up 2 or 3. Enough for them to overcome the small gap they had behind the top 2 in 2006 and 2007?