HFL Division 1 (Central)

[dangermouse]

Keeping Fleety wasn't an option. Echunga threw big coin at him, way out of the league of what lofty would pay anyone, particularly a B grader. THis season will be a great test for the young lads at lofty- lets be honest they had a pretty cruisy start to their A grade careers, winning premierships and flogging more than half the competition regularly. Those sorts of runs in footy are rare and are great but now that many of the big guns have left or are injured it is time for the young guys to show what that experience has taught them- I have a lot of confidence in the young lads at lofty (Weeks, Radbone, Ingram, K Artis, Pistola, Miribella, O'Brien etc)- so even if we don't set the league on fire this year I am sure we will give every team a tough day out regardless of the score line.

[jumbo20]

Hey BALLHOG you have plenty to say about Bridgewater, what would you do to improve things on and off the field at your ex club?

[robby]

People who think country div Aka division 2 is a good comp are pure and simply deluded human beings.. It is a horrible standard comp, that's why no central div (div 1) team wants to get relegated!

[dangermouse]

I guess it is noble to claim you'll be dead before bridgy play in country div- gold star for your blind stoicness Vaughn. But would bridgy people rather see their club be six feet under than play country div? Is there anyone in Bridgy's A grade that have payed a Hills A Grade final? Imagine playing 15 years of footy and never playing in a final, yet alone a premiership! IHow many years of below standard performance can one club endure? What do IB think about spending a few years in Country? What did it do for your club? Only a few years after re-promtion you were playing central div finals so it couldn't have been as disastrous as some would have you believe.

[Bat Pad]

I guess it is noble to claim you'll be dead before bridgy play in country div- gold star for your blind stoicness Vaughn. But would bridgy people rather see their club be six feet under than play country div? Is there anyone in Bridgy's A grade that have payed a Hills A Grade final? Imagine playing 15 years of footy and never playing in a final, yet alone a premiership! IHow many years of below standard performance can one club endure? What do IB think about spending a few years in Country? What did it do for your club? Only a few years after re-promtion you were playing central div finals so it couldn't have been as disastrous as some would have you believe.

And the country division comp is streets ahead of where it was at last time Ironbank played in it.

[overthehill]

Some good quality posts there guys. I think some of the young lads at Mt lofty probably do need to take that next step and become the leaders of the club and i do believe they have the tallent. Fleety going to Echunga isnt a real loss as you said but i meant his height would be handy about now.
As for the Div 2 comp maybe the standard of footy isnt up there with Div 1 but its not to say it's bad, its just a little "slower" shall we say. Div 2 would IMO be harder to play as you see harder knocks and generally guys chase bodies instead of the ball. I think out if the current group (in div 1) id hate to see anyone go down but bridgwater is the stand out not only for their results but their oval is simply just not up to scratch. For them paying players is to some extent a waste as you cannot get the best out of your players on that field. Every club comes away from bridgewater oval with higher then usual injuries and their gun players (usually on-ballers) never seem to fire. Brad Devires is a quallity player and i bet the main reason he is not playing would have something to do with frustration.

[BALLHOG]

The only option is to go to country the club is average in all grades. I always thought that I would finish back as Bridgewater one day but never again. Have found a good club with great people and players that are all on the same page.

[BALLHOG]

People who think country div Aka division 2 is a good comp are pure and simply deluded human beings.. It is a horrible standard comp, that's why no central div (div 1) team wants to get relegated!

Mate it will be good when Torrens valley come up and finish in the five in there first season. Not bad for a country division club.

[Vaughan]

The only option is to go to country the club is average in all grades. I always thought that I would finish back as Bridgewater one day but never again. Have found a good club with great people and players that are all on the same page.

hi ballhog
thanks for the advice you big hero
those 10 long years must have been so hard on you. excuse me while i get out my violin.
move on mate we have
the div 2 thread is back a couple of pages <<<< you must of got lost
have fun helping your good club slide further down the ladder.

only option my a$$
V.

[BALLHOG]

Yep you've moved on a long way second to bottom last year and winless so far this season good to see you don't set the standards to high. You club has been the laughing stock of the Hills for at least the past 10 years. It wasn't until I left that I realised how shit the club was. As for my new club pretty confident we will win more games than your mob.

[flanker]

People who think country div Aka division 2 is a good comp are pure and simply deluded human beings.. It is a horrible standard comp, that's why no central div (div 1) team wants to get relegated!

Mate it will be good when Torrens valley come up and finish in the five in there first season. Not bad for a country division club.

Torrens Valley don't represent the strength of the Country Division, it purely represents the strength of Gary Hughes' wallet, so it wouldn't suprise me if they did happen to make the 5.

[Bat Pad]

The only option is to go to country the club is average in all grades. I always thought that I would finish back as Bridgewater one day but never again. Have found a good club with great people and players that are all on the same page.

hi ballhog
thanks for the advice you big hero
those 10 long years must have been so hard on you. excuse me while i get out my violin.
move on mate we have
the div 2 thread is back a couple of pages <<<< you must of got lost
have fun helping your good club slide further down the ladder.

only option my a$$
V.

Hi Vaughan

You are the dumbest poster on SA Footy. Ever

BP.

[toot toot]

speaking of heros Vaughan. it's easy to sit there & say going to div 2 isn't the option, so what is the best option for bridgewater? because spending $70k - $100k on recruits doesn't seem to be working.

did you ever think that if bridgewater played div 2 they would have a chance of playing finals footy?

[Tanka]

People who think country div Aka division 2 is a good comp are pure and simply deluded human beings.. It is a horrible standard comp, that's why no central div (div 1) team wants to get relegated!

Mate it will be good when Torrens valley come up and finish in the five in there first season. Not bad for a country division club.

Dumb statement

[the big fella]

u central div posters need to get alife!!

[overthehill]

u central div posters need to get alife!!

i think most would agree......... footy is life.

[fly]

Vaughan you are so one eyed is isn't funny, Bridgewater are way out of there league in Central division. For the last 15 years the A grade have been pathetic and the last 4 or 5 years the club in all grades have been a joke. As a past player at the club for 10 long years the club didn't change at all if anything it went backwards. Let's put things in perspective you gave Loby there first A grade win in two and a half years and they certainly aren't a top five side. Onkas may possibly sneek in to the five but will be no threat to the top sides. Birdwood on the weekend will probably take the points aswell, it that's the case where do the club go. Country A grade level is a very good comp apart from Callington and sedan. Yeah the juniors and B grade comp may not be as strong but that should suit a club such as Bridgewater that have been poor in all grades in recent years.

Have you watched all the teams you have pidgeon holed or is it natural poetic licence???????????

[Amateur Footy]

People who think country div Aka division 2 is a good comp are pure and simply deluded human beings.. It is a horrible standard comp, that's why no central div (div 1) team wants to get relegated!

Mate it will be good when Torrens valley come up and finish in the five in there first season. Not bad for a country division club.

Torrens Valley don't represent the strength of the Country Division, it purely represents the strength of Gary Hughes' wallet, so it wouldn't suprise me if they did happen to make the 5.

I think flankers' point is a good one. TV are not representative of Country Div becuase that comp has never seen a club spend that sort of coin on players before. I wouldn't be surprised if they made the 5 in Central, but I don't expect them to. All clubs in central spend plenty compared to Country so they lose much of their advantage there. I think Kersbrook had a good few years while the James boys were there, but it seems like the comp has settled back to a more long term standard again.

Having played senior footy with IB in Div 1, Div 2 & then Div 1 again the biggest problem I see with going to Country Div is the loss of many senior players and the difficulty in retaining Juniors who want to play Central. IB never chose to go to Country, it was forced by HFL due to lack of juniors. I believe that we were not ready as a club the first time we were in Div 1 and while we pulled together a very good A Grade, the rest of the club struggled and we needed to go back and come back prepared. We were also very lucky that a core 4 or 5 very good players stayed with us when we lost most of the Div 1 side. This was all we needed to play 4 GFs in a row while rebuilding the juniors so that we could move back up. Many of us were sick of Country Div after 4 years because so many games were on sided and we were bored with footy after previoulsy having a taste of Div 1. I would say that I enjoyed the social scene more in Div 2 as they were all good blokes who weren't chasing coin. On going back up we again had to recruit 6-10 Div 1 quality players just to compete and we finished middle of the road for the next couple of years.

IMO Country Div would not help Bridgewater unless it frees up funds to either build a new oval with council/govt support or better facilities and improve their social scene. They would lose many payers and likely to lose some juniors. It is not a step in the right direction unless they have a plan to better use funds with a goal of returning to Central stronger and with a club that players enjoy being involved with.

[Justquietly]

Cheers, AF, interesting to hear the point of view of someone that's been there. The point about funds to upgrade facilities is valid, however couldn't they have done that with the 'reported' player payments from the last few years?
Bigfella - thanks for your input, very constructive. can't be too bad on this thread if you grace us with your presence.

[Justquietly]

Onkas - 7 goals, still yet to be tested.
Birdwood - 25 points.
Lofty - 27 points, lacking up forward but will grind out a low-scoring win.
Mt Barker - 40 pts, Hahndorf won't be ready for a team that I reckon is genuinely threatening.
Uraidla - sleeping giant awoken - good game, 16 points.