Gaelic Football in South Australia

[wristwatcher]

I can see Na Fianna folding, particularly if they fall behind early. Too much youth/inexperience in their side. Na Fianna will be a strong contender for the Hannigan Cup, particularly if they get a decent Goalkeeper. That said I think the comp is very even. Sorry Wristy, it's not ilinformed, it's just informed differently to you, and to be honest that makes me very comfortable.

As for the girls. you are spot on. Blues by 10+. Onkas by the same. Western and Rovers relying on 2 or 3 good players each and fall away very, very quickly after that.

Refereeing will be a factor in all of these games too. Especially the Onkas/Na F game. If it is anything like the W.I v Na F game I saw recently we might see a number of red cards.

Do we know the Refs for the weekends games?

There has been no official confirmation on ref,s. I wouldnt have a clue for the womens side and as for the men its a safe bet that NAF v ONK has to be Adrian and the W.I v FON game is either Anto or TJ. I have not heard yet but will be at the game whether im the Ref or not. Hopefully Anto as it will be a real tough game to ref. Should have good intensity and both teams certainly didnt seem to show each other much love and effection in their round 2 clash.

[wristwatcher]

Ok i'm all for opinions, but Na Fianna having no defence? I think that a defence with Delvins, Gav O'Rielly, Bryant & one of either Matt Hill or Jnr is well, pretty solid since all of them have played state footy. The goal keeper will be something that we can work on for Betty.
I think we're a good chance against Onka's as we match up pretty well against them. No Janetski either is a blow. Will be a great game either way.

Anto refed the WI v Na Fi game, he'll be playing. I guess that only leaves Adrian?

Well said Milko, statistically the 2nd best defence in the league. Experienced and settled. It will be interesting to see the matchups at the other end in my opinion. Thats where i see the game being won and lost. Who will they matchup on "The MotorBoat and The Mentor" with the likes of K.Fay,"Dingo" Dave Aston, Cian "County" Shiely and Alex "The Hammer" Stamatakis also in the mix.

[Major Gun]

I hope Adrian is up to it. There is a big difference between his best and worst but he is certainly improving and I hope he, and hopefully Gags take the pressure off Keogh and Javor.

As for you milky bar kid, the names you mentioned...Delvins and Bryant; young, inexperienced and can't kick (I think Bryant is the bloodnut and Delvins the beserker). State or not, they will be up against state standard players and they have never won a trophy in Gaelic. Would I be right there? Not saying they are bad players just inexperienced. Thankyou for validating my point.

Gav o Reilly is back but who is a worse kick..him or the bloodnut?

Junior and Matty, two of the best players in the comp....two years ago. Now they rely on smarts. One of them will take goalkicks leaving Na Fianna short a player on the field. Besides neither are fit and Junior is not a natural defender. One of them will try to stay spare too so how is that a defender?

Milky, you are all for opinions? As long as they agree with yours hey. I know the two teams well and I still say onkas by at least three goals. I look forward to posting Monday morning.

Thanks for the ref update Wristy.

[wristwatcher]

I hope Adrian is up to it. There is a big difference between his best and worst but he is certainly improving and I hope he, and hopefully Gags take the pressure off Keogh and Javor.

As for you milky bar kid, the names you mentioned...Delvins and Bryant; young, inexperienced and can't kick (I think Bryant is the bloodnut and Delvins the beserker). State or not, they will be up against state standard players and they have never won a trophy in Gaelic. Would I be right there? Not saying they are bad players just inexperienced. Thankyou for validating my point.

Gav o Reilly is back but who is a worse kick..him or the bloodnut?

Junior and Matty, two of the best players in the comp....two years ago. Now they rely on smarts. One of them will take goalkicks leaving Na Fianna short a player on the field. Besides neither are fit and Junior is not a natural defender. One of them will try to stay spare too so how is that a defender?

Milky, you are all for opinions? As long as they agree with yours hey. I know the two teams well and I still say onkas by at least three goals. I look forward to posting Monday morning.

Thanks for the ref update Wristy.

Gags has been banned from reffing as he didnt attend the course. Dont get me started on that.
Are you a playing member of Onkas possibly involved in the admin side by any chance???

[Major Gun]

No. Not affiliated with Onkas.

[wristwatcher]

No. Not affiliated with Onkas.

My powers of deduction tell me your affiliation is either 1. FON or St Brendans or 2.you are infact someone with an identity on this site going with a second identity or 3. Your our first female poster.... I notice you have no affiliations in your box which is a touch odd. Its great to have opinions and share them, thats what this is all about but no-one else on this site tends to conceal their identity except for the one post made by Batman. It will be more than fair for you to tell us all about it on Monday if your results theoreys are correct but Im certain my little Milky Bar mate would be very keen to recipricate the gesture if in fact you are wrong about the individuals you have named from the NA F backline in your previous post.

[Cheese Twisties]

I think Na Fianna are better than you give them credit for Major Gun! Almost every team has taken them lightly and paid for it in this pre-christmas comp. Im still tipping Onkas/Gabe -but if they/he doesnt play at their/his best then Na Fianna are certainly capable of pinching it! Onkas dont have matchup for former St Brendans junior Nick Jolly, perhaps string bean and State MVP Matty Whitford goes back there.

Will go for Western Ireland in the other semi, but will be interested to see how the fast finishing soccer players of Flinders O'Neills go against them. Having seen him move on the footy field - will be interested to see how Western Ireland and Willunga footballer Brad Haskett goes at the hybird game! Is 7 feet tall, built like the proverbial brick $hithouse, and lightning fast IIRC, pretty handy attributes for any sport really!

Yep Irish Blues and Onkas to win in the ladies games.

[Major Gun]

I do not underrate Na Fianna at all. Was just giving a tip and my reasons why. Na Fianna very capable of an upset if Coach Lawler get's the balance right. Onkas are very predictable and 1 dimensional in terms of how they play. Mick keeps his rotations tight and match ups right and Na Fianna win. A coach on the sideline is vastly underrated.

As for my identity wristy, you wouldn't know me if I told you who I was. I am not affiliated and rarely leave my car at St Mary's. A few old school fans will pop by the car and have a chat. I keep an eye on the website, this forum (decided to post only recently but have read from near the beginning) and have some well informed contacts.

My last game was at Klemzig in the royal blue and gold of....can you remember wristy?

[wristwatcher]

I do not underrate Na Fianna at all. Was just giving a tip and my reasons why. Na Fianna very capable of an upset if Coach Lawler get's the balance right. Onkas are very predictable and 1 dimensional in terms of how they play. Mick keeps his rotations tight and match ups right and Na Fianna win. A coach on the sideline is vastly underrated.

As for my identity wristy, you wouldn't know me if I told you who I was. I am not affiliated and rarely leave my car at St Mary's. A few old school fans will pop by the car and have a chat. I keep an eye on the website, this forum (decided to post only recently but have read from near the beginning) and have some well informed contacts.

My last game was at Klemzig in the royal blue and gold of....can you remember wristy?

I was given a blue and gold guernsey for training as a state minor in 91 but in my many moves in the last 18 years its been lost. the last 5 teams at Klemzig were...
Gaels - mainly green
Paringa Woolfhounds- marone...Who were a Kelps and Hounds amalgimation
Flinders - red
St. Pats - blue and white i think
ST.Brendans - i think they have always been green and gold...
I remember there were a couple of teams that disbanded just b4 i started such as BlackRock and the Blue and gold im probably thinking of. I might have to rack my brain for a day or two but it will come to me.

[wristwatcher]

Let me throw Wolf tonnes and Pearses names in the mix. If its not one of them you have got me stumped on the team but your identity is becoming much clearer to me. Good to have you on the site and good to see a gentleman of your age is still so handy on a keyboard. lol

[Major Gun]

If I could be serious for a minute...the Blue and Gold were Irish Rovers and essentially merged with who ? to form St Pats.

Not that old!

[Swooper16]

Good on you for entering the debate Major Gun. The more people on here with their own opinions the better i say.

The Gaelic thread is going from strength to strength..!!

My tips this week:

W.I 1-5: Could easily be the grand final. FON finish games better then anyone but what the W.I backline lack in hair they make up for in brains and i think they will hold on for a very hard fought victory. Expecting a few cards (and not of the christmas variety) to be handed out in this one..!!

NaFin 1-5: Onkas will be hellbent on reversing their semi final loss in the Hannigan Cup but i think the smarts of Na Fianna will get them over the line again. Onkas have had a few games where they have struggled in the second half. If you can keep the ball down their end then you can often get a few scores off their goal kicks. Na Fianna are the sort of unit who can sieze on these mistakes and i think this will be the difference.

[Neville Bartoss]

Im hoping we can cause an upset against WI, we have a number of players back this week but also 2 key players out.......not going to say who though! I think the winner of this match will win the pre christmas comp.

Im tipping Na Fianna to beat Onkas by 1-3 points, will be another tight one!

[the milky bar kid]

Major gun, i'm happy with any opinions being added & just put my opinion up as well.
Although i still believe that it is extremely unlikely we will allow Onka's to get up by more than 3 goals. Although wouldn't mind there players rocking up with that attitude again...
A key factor to this is definitely Mark O'Driscall v Gabe.
I will predict gaelic football to be the winner on the day...

Swooper, i'm loving those one liners, fantastic stuff. Will DFlo hair jokes ever get old?

This thread is growing like a wild fire, but the man we really need to see on here is definitely the might MOOSE!

[Major Gun]

Milky Bar Kid,

No response to my detailed argument in rebuttal to your Na Fianna/State team defence theory?

You mentioned Moose too. Now he was a backman. Best full back in the history of SA Gaelic when he was in his prime. Na Fianna really miss him at full back. They just havn't been able to replace him. I remember standing him at Klemzig when he was just a kid and I did not get near the ball. He took on some gun full forwards in his day (going back a bit I know) and was never beaten. How Na Fianna could do with that sort of presence at full back.

[the milky bar kid]

Major Gun,

Here is my rebutal.
a - Micky Lawlor definitely knows what he is doing & knows who to match up on who & knows when & who to put loose in defence (although knowing mick he still probably has an ace up the sleeve for Betty)
b - the lack of experience of Bryant & Delvins is often countered by the presence of the loose man in defence being either Jnr or Matty Hill, it is also helped by the return of Gav O' Rielly. Yes neither of Delvins or Bryant have won a premiership trophy, i think Bryant does have a B&F trophy tho & a team of the year medal
c - having Jnr or Matt kick out is not a major problem as they can hit a target 4 out of 5 times, unlike most keepers who just hit & hope
d - I think Bryant hit a target last week (Jolly albeit), which makes him slightly better kick than Gav, maybe the trick is knowing when to handball...

I hope that's enough responce.
We all hope that the new Na Fianna full back can grow into the same stature as the great moose. (Not in the same shape) As you said he's still inexperienced.
I'd also like to ad that the Delvins Anto match up could be over in about 5 minutes with a full on fist fight possibly scheduled for the firey duo.

[Major Gun]

M.B.K,

Your response to my argument essentially agrees with me. Your just seeing the glass half full. Fair enough though. I like the cut of your jib youngster.

As for Moose. The current Na Fianna full back isn't too far off Moose's current body shape from what I see. He's not exactly light if you get my drift...

Anto v Delvins is worth paying to see. Will be over quicker than Green v Jones jr. The beserker will stand tall.

You will notice I agree about the role of Micky. He is the only true coach out there at the moment. (Rest all player coaches??). He will definitely come up with something for Na Fianna to over come a portly full back who cannot kick and the lack of a goalkeeper.

Keep the posts coming M.B.K. I like your style.

[the milky bar kid]

Never thought i'd be the brunt of the 'big' person jokes in the same team as N Jolly & T Javor....

No resting for the player coaches, Micky Lawlor is a fantastic asset, he'd still out coach normal sideline coaches tho!

[Neville Bartoss]

Might be a bit bias but I have to say that Flinders have the best back line at the moment with plenty of run and a really good balance

There has been lots of talk about Onkas v Na Fianna but the Flinders v Western Ireland has the potential to be game of the year so far. The two best teams so far and there should be a bit of feeling too. Pretty sure Western Ireland would have much prefered to be playing onkas or na fianna. I wouldnt read too much into last weeks performance, 5 experienced players to come back this week

In my opinion Western Ireland have the best midfield in the comp and our only chance of winning is if we can stop their midfield from dominating too much, tough job!

[wristwatcher]

What a day on the Gaelic site. Reminds me of the day we broke a 16 year national drought and you yourself Major Gunn presented Tommy Javor, Tommy Greenshields and your favourite the one armed Timmy Williams with the Betty Hannigan Cup for The Australasian Championship. Correct me if im wrong.
If I am wrong judging by your comments on Damien "Moose" Emery you are either Moose himself, his Mum or his dead dog Cindy re-incarnated.