Southern Football League

[Cheese Twisties]

Getting back quickly to the m/vale b-grade i think that they would make the top 8 in the a-grade comp...

It took a lot of hard work for the Emus to get where they are today, which is why you will usually get a rise out of us if you try and say we are only where we are because of being a big suburb/so many juniors etc etc. It wasn’t always this good for us, and i know im not the only Emu who goes to a ground like Reynella/Brighton/Porties and still remembers being laughed of the ground feeling humiliated.

Anyhow, i have to remember what it is i actually do at work, play on....

Now those were the good old days!

Ha ha righto Beetlejuice!

So perhaps you could give us a local insight in to whats going wrong with the Cockledivers at the moment?

[KEYDEFENDER]

Getting back quickly to the m/vale b-grade i think that they would make the top 8 in the a-grade comp...

Just a question for the morphies fella's on here, how many teams would Morphett Vale club have all up including all their 1st and 2nd sides, sub juniors plus c's etc?
And i know it's a generous total so my next questions is how can other clubs close to M/Vale survive and/or compete? And lastly, how well is a league run when a club is Allowed to have so many teams while other's nearby struggle?

Fair enough you can't make kids play else where but is it really a suprise that M/Vale spank the comp when they have more players/supporters/helpers etc etc than most clubs in SA? That last bit could be wrong but i'm assuming they'd be right up there..

Its not like Morphies have been "spanking the comp" for decades Junior, before this run the last premiership was in the early 80s and the Emus had been making up the numbers (just barely) for many a season. It wasn’t having lots of teams or being the biggest suburb that turned the Emus fortunes around, call it good planning or good luck, but it was having Trevor Potts and Steve Hill as A & B grade coaches, Greg Wilson as president (think he is around Goolwa Saints at the moment, Goolwa would do well to put him in some kind of role ASAP!) and we were lucky enough to get Jason Gaskin back as Captain of the club from his trip OS and time at South. This leadership group was the biggest factor in our turn around IMHO. Pottsy brought a game plan that was religiously drilled thru both the As and Bs, and the predominantly young playing group (we did benefit from a good group of juniors coming thru) went about a slow process of getting it right. Its not like it happened over night, that first season with Potts there were still 20 goal floggings to Brighton and Reynella, i remember losing to Kangarilla and Lonsdale the year they came up, and i remember watching a game of B grade were Steve Hill actually had to pull on a guernsey we were so short of players! But even in these tough times the Prez and committee stuck with the coaches and playing staff, and things gradually improved. We eventually made the finals but bowed out at the first hurdle to Reynella, next season we truly arrived as a force but lost to Noarlunga in a prelim to a heartbreaking kick after the siren, the next year we finally took out the flag.

It took a lot of hard work for the Emus to get where they are today, which is why you will usually get a rise out of us if you try and say we are only where we are because of being a big suburb/so many juniors etc etc. It wasn’t always this good for us, and i know im not the only Emu who goes to a ground like Reynella/Brighton/Porties and still remembers being laughed of the ground feeling humiliated.

Anyhow, i have to remember what it is i actually do at work, play on....

Thats brilliant. Its all about support not the players when the club is down. Players will eventually come and a culture can be created. People will come and go but if you have a good core like Mvale, eventuall it will work out.

I agree with all of the comments above regarding how MV have handled themselfs since 2002. However I also think they have been able to consolidate on generation of players at a certain age that want to stick around that are actually good footballers. I see other clubs struggle to keep quality players at there club after a certain age due to work or university commitments.

[Numbers]

KD, Every player at M/Vale also has work commitments and alot of people are also having success outside of football. To blame work commitments and University commitments indicates that you don't really understand the culture created at MV. People want to be there and will make sacrifices or as others have suggested work harded to stay involved.

[Bag The Points]

Think you'll find the big "i" word is the major worry at the Port right now. They can't take a trick with injuries -- get Manhood back and he goes down after one quarter. They only have to make the Eight to get a chance for a respectable finish like last year. Watch for them to be very dangerous again later in the season.

[KEYDEFENDER]

Numbers, your comments are what I meant on my intial sentence and agree with MV's culture. But do you think that in 5 years they have turned average players into great players? or the current crop was always going to be good. I reckon if you look over at Happy Valley for instance they have a pool of players coming through the system that are not up to Morphett Vale's standard no matter how much coaching and support you give them. It was not that long ago at Happy Valley when they did have a similar situation to MV has now and they dominated the league for a long time. Maybe all the stars have aligned - good talent, coaches, support coming through and making the most of it is what is actually happening. I wouldnt expect it to last forever.

Happy valley have also had a lot of juniors go onto higher levels, maybe if they werent that good they would still be playing at SFL level and the vikings would be the team.

[Specky McGee]

Happy valley have also had a lot of juniors go onto higher levels, maybe if they werent that good they would still be playing at SFL level and the vikings would be the team.

Talking about players from clubs going onto higher levels, who are some players that started in the SFL and have gone onto play AFL or end up on an AFL list?

At Flaggies we have had: Adam Cooney, Brad Sugars, Ben Marsh, Josh Krueger and Danny Meyer.

And I know Happy Valley have had at least Nathan Eagleton and Beau Waters.

Porties: Ryan Fitzgerald
Morphies: Clay Sampson

Who are some of the others?

[Swooper16]

rutten was originally from Valleys Was nigel smart from christies?

[Zelezny Chucks]

Morphies also have Rod Jameson and Jason Torney.

[BJ Ernest]

Mark Viska and Craig Mcrae from Sullies

[Specky McGee]

I always thought Rutten was from Blackwood but did go to Flaggy Primary so could have played early juniors at Valleys.

Nigel Smart from Christies aswell as Chris Groom (I think) and Tony Modra.

[Leg Rope]

Christies - Chris Groom & Nigel Smart definitely
Valley- Matt Rogers over 200 games for Richmond
Reynella - Moore, Golding, Doughty & Bevan (2 games)
Flaggies done well lately especially with Cooney and Danny Meyer.

Southern a good breading area....

[Shake 'n Bake]

Recently drafted Tom McNamara from Valleys to Melbourne yet to debut

[Numbers]

No it hasn't been turning average players into great players, it's been keeping as many as possible around the place, this builds a culture of hard work. Some players have had to work extremely hard to get where they are, Blokes have played years of 2's footy with plenty of offers to go elsewhere and have stayed either playing 2's or eventually getting their chance in the 1's. Yes MV have lost a few here and there and have also had some return. What MV has at the moment wasn't handed on a silver platter, there's no alternative for HARD WORK & persistance.

[scottroo]

Recently drafted Tom McNamara from Valleys to Melbourne yet to debut

played most of his juniors at colonel light, went to valleys as we didnt have a under17s...he'd say hes a colonel light lad

[cyclops]

Colonel who?.... aren't they about a7 and filled with thugs.

[magic_man]

Heard news from the lions den they have had to order in an extra 150kg of sausages and an extra 100 cartons of beer due to the pre match tickets that have been sold for this weeks game. Yes thats right ladies and gentleman the magic man plays his first game of the year and the excitment is definately growing in the southern area.

[Zelezny Chucks]

That's a bit risky are you sure you will get through 150kg of sausages on your own?

[Hills]

Heard news from the lions den they have had to order in an extra 150kg of sausages and an extra 100 cartons of beer due to the pre match tickets that have been sold for this weeks game. Yes thats right ladies and gentleman the magic man plays his first game of the year and the excitment is definately growing in the southern area.

well lets hope your boot is on the right foot. (No pun intendid)

Im tipping 2 goal 6. Ha ha ha

[bass_player]

Heard news from the lions den they have had to order in an extra 150kg of sausages and an extra 100 cartons of beer due to the pre match tickets that have been sold for this weeks game. Yes thats right ladies and gentleman the magic man plays his first game of the year and the excitment is definately growing in the southern area.

well lets hope your boot is on the right foot. (No pun intendid)

Im tipping 2 goal 6. Ha ha ha

2.6? Thats generous hills.

[Hills]

Heard news from the lions den they have had to order in an extra 150kg of sausages and an extra 100 cartons of beer due to the pre match tickets that have been sold for this weeks game. Yes thats right ladies and gentleman the magic man plays his first game of the year and the excitment is definately growing in the southern area.

well lets hope your boot is on the right foot. (No pun intendid)

Im tipping 2 goal 6. Ha ha ha

2.6? Thats generous hills.

no thats the whole team. Only kidding

For Lonsdale to get a respectable score this week there will be alot of pressure on the MM to kick a few goals, he cant afford to miss to many this week.