Southern Football League

[leftpeg]

Heard today Despott is also leaving the $hoes, can anyone confirm?
If true, that is a big departure.

Why the mass exodus at the $hoe?

Yes, can confirm. Not sure about the reasoning though.

[finals fever]

Heard today Despott is also leaving the $hoes, can anyone confirm?
If true, that is a big departure.

Why the mass exodus at the $hoe?

Yes, can confirm. Not sure about the reasoning though.

With Despott and Thompson both long term players and leaving the club, something must be going down at the $hoe!

[afc9798]

Heard today Despott is also leaving the $hoes, can anyone confirm?
If true, that is a big departure.

Why the mass exodus at the $hoe?

Yes, can confirm. Not sure about the reasoning though.

With Despott and Thompson both long term players and leaving the club, something must be going down at the $hoe!

Or could be like many clubs, going through a transition. Millions of reasons that players leave clubs, from just wanting a change in a new environment to deciding to play a couple of years as 'mercenaries' for the $. It shouldn't simply be assumed that there's an issue at their club. In many cases also coincides with a change of coaching staff or personality clashes. Don't know a single successful club where these things don't happen in one way or another every year.

[the observer]

What about Fry and J.Smart more on the move

[finals fever]

What about Fry and J.Smart more on the move

Spoke with the old B Grade Assistant this morning and Ridley and Landorf are also OUTS for the $hoe and off to Blackwood.

[marbles]

My attempt to stimulate some online conversation regarding the upcoming season.

All is fairly quite on here as to recruiting activities, retirements etc but here is my ladder for the end of the minor round

Reynella - Toss up between HV and the Flies. Flies will be better than last year. HV to stay about the same or even drop off a touch
HV - Quality
Morphett Vale - Always around the mark. Some of the other teams who pushed into and around the top four last year will drop off, leaving Morphies 3rd
MV Park - Will drop down the ladder a touch but still a fair amount of quality all over the ground
Brighton - Still reasonable quality throughout senior squad and will have benefit from last year
Christies - my big improver
Cove - Whisper is that a few quality guys have left. Early should still be able to get something out of the guys who stayed
Edwardstown - know nothing about them, so mid table seems fair
Porties - Will follow similar path to most years. Middle of the table team who will easily beat the lower teams and shark a win or two against a top 6 team but won't do any damage to the top 4
Flaggies - a lot like Porties
Hawks - will continue to improve
Noarlunga - if Christies bolt up the table, the Shoes are my pick to go the other way
Marion - better than last year but still terrible
Lonsdale - only just better than Aldinga. Hard to see them beating anyone higher on the ladder
Aldinga - will battle with Lonsdale for spoon and will succeed

well there it is u mighty Marion RAMS, your great 2014 season ahead is already f#&ked and it aint even started yet

all the volunteers set to bust their balls for the club, all the boys training their gutz out right now at preseason, all the families & friends set to support the mighty rams across this season, all the purchases and hard earned money going into footy gear and merchandise..... every effort u make this year and all the pride you standby is gonna bring you nothing but a terrible year

congrats, just remember this every time when you drive through the gates of your football club (like an electric shock thats zaps you & reminds u what a sh#t wicket your on)

good times ahead... but thanks for paying your fees... we love your money

You're an oxygen thief.

Go play in traffic muppet

so lets look ahead to last week of september....

"Congratulations to the Marion Rams on making their first A-Grade grand final in many many years, it is great to see the club flourishing to enormous heights and the elation on people's faces around the club was certainly tremendous to see on my visit to the semi final victory last week. Well done to the players on their performances this season, they are certainly up & about, as your efforts seem to be infectious, with all grades at your club making the finals this year. Even to hear so many sponsors have returned to drive the mighty Rams bus is even more encouraging, it looks to be a powerhouse season in Div 6 next season"

oh wait hang on the Rams didnt affiliate to the SAAFL's Div 7, they stayed in the SFL (again), let me reword the above.....

"Well bad luck to the crew at Marion this season once again, 2 wins for the whole season was probably not the results your loyal supporters were hoping for, especially the 180 point thrashing to the top side in late May. I was there that day and well ive never seen such long faces and it was certainly a dark day for the club. to not win a game after that means it could be another long preseason coming up, lets hope you can attract a few more players next year and the club can stay afloat for many years to come. Finals will come, 3 or 4 years the dream will come true.

this aint fictional folks, this is the inevitable. maybe one day someone on that committee will have the balls to draw a line in the sand, and put their players and supporters ahead of their dwindling gates fee revenue

makes no difference to me, im just a football purist wanting good times for all that play football. The hot tip is there is a vacancy in Div 7 right now with central united returning to Div 6, so if anyone got any brains they might put theyre players first for a change & bite the **** bullet.

[MatteeG]

Oh dear marbles, you really are losing it.

The 'quotes' above really are flawed. How about this:

"The Marion lads are all really enjoying the road trips to Houghton, Wingfield, Smithfield and Modbury. Particularly the A grade who enjoy having the presentations at the newly appointed time of 8.30pm. In fact the large distances travelled every second week really has attracted players from other nearby clubs without even needing to reach into the war chest. In addition, the legions of Rams fans seen at the away games really has boosted gate takings and Canteen takings at all clubs"

Also, while browsing the Divvy 7 forum I noted some pearls of absolute wisdom from your good self:

why you think half the old boys refused to play c-grade ya tool

half of the dgrade premiership side were easily capable of playing cgrade but instead chose your 'mediocrity' theory and smashed out a flag just for 'fun'

now being thrashed by 160 points by an ingle farm outfit who train as hard as our div 1 agrade side certainly isnt 'fun'

So apparently thrashings do happen in Div 6/7. Wow time to move to div 8 or another league.

And admitting you sandbagged a D grade flag says a lot too.

Go back to your Gen Y mindset of wanting everything easy and instantly mate.

[woodublieve12]

Oh dear marbles, you really are losing it.

The 'quotes' above really are flawed. How about this:

"The Marion lads are all really enjoying the road trips to Houghton, Wingfield, Smithfield and Modbury. Particularly the A grade who enjoy having the presentations at the newly appointed time of 8.30pm. In fact the large distances travelled every second week really has attracted players from other nearby clubs without even needing to reach into the war chest. In addition, the legions of Rams fans seen at the away games really has boosted gate takings and Canteen takings at all clubs"

Also, while browsing the Divvy 7 forum I noted some pearls of absolute wisdom from your good self:

why you think half the old boys refused to play c-grade ya tool

half of the dgrade premiership side were easily capable of playing cgrade but instead chose your 'mediocrity' theory and smashed out a flag just for 'fun'

now being thrashed by 160 points by an ingle farm outfit who train as hard as our div 1 agrade side certainly isnt 'fun'

So apparently thrashings do happen in Div 6/7. Wow time to move to div 8 or another league.

And admitting you sandbagged a D grade flag says a lot too.

Go back to your Gen Y mindset of wanting everything easy and instantly mate.

8:30pm??? Are they getting a horse and cart back to the club???

[Numbers]

My attempt to stimulate some online conversation regarding the upcoming season.

All is fairly quite on here as to recruiting activities, retirements etc but here is my ladder for the end of the minor round

Reynella - Toss up between HV and the Flies. Flies will be better than last year. HV to stay about the same or even drop off a touch
HV - Quality
Morphett Vale - Always around the mark. Some of the other teams who pushed into and around the top four last year will drop off, leaving Morphies 3rd
MV Park - Will drop down the ladder a touch but still a fair amount of quality all over the ground
Brighton - Still reasonable quality throughout senior squad and will have benefit from last year
Christies - my big improver
Cove - Whisper is that a few quality guys have left. Early should still be able to get something out of the guys who stayed
Edwardstown - know nothing about them, so mid table seems fair
Porties - Will follow similar path to most years. Middle of the table team who will easily beat the lower teams and shark a win or two against a top 6 team but won't do any damage to the top 4
Flaggies - a lot like Porties
Hawks - will continue to improve
Noarlunga - if Christies bolt up the table, the Shoes are my pick to go the other way
Marion - better than last year but still terrible
Lonsdale - only just better than Aldinga. Hard to see them beating anyone higher on the ladder
Aldinga - will battle with Lonsdale for spoon and will succeed

well there it is u mighty Marion RAMS, your great 2014 season ahead is already f#&ked and it aint even started yet

all the volunteers set to bust their balls for the club, all the boys training their gutz out right now at preseason, all the families & friends set to support the mighty rams across this season, all the purchases and hard earned money going into footy gear and merchandise..... every effort u make this year and all the pride you standby is gonna bring you nothing but a terrible year

congrats, just remember this every time when you drive through the gates of your football club (like an electric shock thats zaps you & reminds u what a sh#t wicket your on)

good times ahead... but thanks for paying your fees... we love your money

You're an oxygen thief.

Go play in traffic muppet

so lets look ahead to last week of september....

"Congratulations to the Marion Rams on making their first A-Grade grand final in many many years, it is great to see the club flourishing to enormous heights and the elation on people's faces around the club was certainly tremendous to see on my visit to the semi final victory last week. Well done to the players on their performances this season, they are certainly up & about, as your efforts seem to be infectious, with all grades at your club making the finals this year. Even to hear so many sponsors have returned to drive the mighty Rams bus is even more encouraging, it looks to be a powerhouse season in Div 6 next season"

oh wait hang on the Rams didnt affiliate to the SAAFL's Div 7, they stayed in the SFL (again), let me reword the above.....

"Well bad luck to the crew at Marion this season once again, 2 wins for the whole season was probably not the results your loyal supporters were hoping for, especially the 180 point thrashing to the top side in late May. I was there that day and well ive never seen such long faces and it was certainly a dark day for the club. to not win a game after that means it could be another long preseason coming up, lets hope you can attract a few more players next year and the club can stay afloat for many years to come. Finals will come, 3 or 4 years the dream will come true.

this aint fictional folks, this is the inevitable. maybe one day someone on that committee will have the balls to draw a line in the sand, and put their players and supporters ahead of their dwindling gates fee revenue

makes no difference to me, im just a football purist wanting good times for all that play football. The hot tip is there is a vacancy in Div 7 right now with central united returning to Div 6, so if anyone got any brains they might put theyre players first for a change & bite the **** bullet.

This is where your agrument is flawed, you consider Div 7 to be A Grade. Adelaide Uni play their D Grade in a higher Div than Div 7.

[Mr Beefy]

Don't get me wrong, I am not backing marbles up on any of his rants...but Adel Uni D grade are on D7R this year....

[Numbers]

Sorry, Adelaide Uni played their D Grade in a higher Div than Div 7.

[marbles]

Sorry, Adelaide Uni played their D Grade in a higher Div than Div 7.

yes Uni's D-Grade played div 6 reserves last year

This is where your agrument is flawed, you consider Div 7 to be A Grade. Adelaide Uni play their D Grade in a higher Div than Div 7.

I totally agree, the current situation in div 7 does require C-Grades having to play against A-Grade clubs. Most know im totally against this and wish it wasnt the case. the c-grade players themselves im sure at all clubs would prefer to play against C-Graders from other clubs only, which is why ive put massive efforts into pushing for a C-Grade Super League!!!!! (no agrade clubs permitted).

Oh dear marbles, you really are losing it.

The 'quotes' above really are flawed. How about this:

"The Marion lads are all really enjoying the road trips to Houghton, Wingfield, Smithfield and Modbury. Particularly the A grade who enjoy having the presentations at the newly appointed time of 8.30pm. In fact the large distances travelled every second week really has attracted players from other nearby clubs without even needing to reach into the war chest. In addition, the legions of Rams fans seen at the away games really has boosted gate takings and Canteen takings at all clubs"

So apparently thrashings do happen in Div 6/7. Wow time to move to div 8 or another league.

And admitting you sandbagged a D grade flag says a lot too.

Go back to your Gen Y mindset of wanting everything easy and instantly mate.

the same travelling occurs for clubs such as Flinders Uni, Mitchell Park, Sacred Heart and even Colonel Light Gardens. dunno what you smoking there

at know point did i sandbag a d-grade flag, and neither did my club. That decision is made up by the individual, by NOT making himself available to the C-Grade coach. No one can be accused of sandbagging but the individual himself.

At no point so far can anyone say that my projection of the future is wrong, its the inevitable, and if its not, someone please tell me why?

Marion and a few other clubs are about to have another rotten season, and you blokes dont want them to leave because it will mean 2 less wins for you

I cannot be accused of selfishness by trying to attract another a-grade club to play my c-grade unit, but you guys have selfishness written all over you, cos you couldnt give a damn about those players at marion recieving nothing but misery for all their week in week out magnificent efforts

makes no difference to me what path is chosen. well actually it might because marion could pump us out of a semifinal.

[reppoh_eht]

Think you will find there are a few at Marion receiving more than nothing for their mi$ery each week Marbles...

Also have you heard the saying that the Club is bigger than the Individual - if so those players that do not want to put in the hard years to at least TRY and get the club up the ladder may as well leave. If the Club decided to move leagues because the A Grade Players (Who get paid to do what they do) wanted to win a Div7 Premiership, then it would have far bigger implications than what you think. Sure you have made a few blokes happy by giving them a lower standard of football to play against, but what about all the local supporters, junior families etc...

As I said the Club is bigger than the Individual/Team, so if the entire club wanted to move into the SAAFL then I would say it would be a smart move, but doing so only to get short term success is a very narrow minded decision...

[marbles]

Think you will find there are a few at Marion receiving more than nothing for their mi$ery each week Marbles...

Also have you heard the saying that the Club is bigger than the Individual - if so those players that do not want to put in the hard years to at least TRY and get the club up the ladder may as well leave. If the Club decided to move leagues because the A Grade Players (Who get paid to do what they do) wanted to win a Div7 Premiership, then it would have far bigger implications than what you think. Sure you have made a few blokes happy by giving them a lower standard of football to play against, but what about all the local supporters, junior families etc...

As I said the Club is bigger than the Individual/Team, so if the entire club wanted to move into the SAAFL then I would say it would be a smart move, but doing so only to get short term success is a very narrow minded decision...

haha finally someone sensible and rational replies

basis of my argument is to the players, f##k going all season & knowing at best you might win 4 games, the rest miserable losses

these lower clubs are div 7 level & are being asked to play against div 1 or 2 level teams. Yes theyre being paid so does that extinguish the pain and heart felt suffering inflicted by another heavy loss? it ridiculous.

you wouldnt ask a Metro West Div 2 under 16s juniors side to play in a SANFL under 16 league. its ridiculous asking players to play against a caliber miles out of your league.

revenue is the only thing stopping this cos if anyone put the players & supporters first, the SFL would have no teams "down the hill"

its a win-win for everyone

# the saafl gets closer to an all A-Grade div 7
# marion win more matches than they lose the club begins to flourish & theres actually smiling faces in the joint for a change
# the SFL get to drop the BYE

instead theyll stick to the SFL with a plan to win the 2024 premiership

bad luck for everyone involved until then

[Off The Wall]

What about Fry and J.Smart more on the move

So thats now a total of 15 players out for the Shoe from the last season

[the milky bar kid]

Think you will find there are a few at Marion receiving more than nothing for their mi$ery each week Marbles...

Also have you heard the saying that the Club is bigger than the Individual - if so those players that do not want to put in the hard years to at least TRY and get the club up the ladder may as well leave. If the Club decided to move leagues because the A Grade Players (Who get paid to do what they do) wanted to win a Div7 Premiership, then it would have far bigger implications than what you think. Sure you have made a few blokes happy by giving them a lower standard of football to play against, but what about all the local supporters, junior families etc...

As I said the Club is bigger than the Individual/Team, so if the entire club wanted to move into the SAAFL then I would say it would be a smart move, but doing so only to get short term success is a very narrow minded decision...

haha finally someone sensible and rational replies

basis of my argument is to the players, f##k going all season & knowing at best you might win 4 games, the rest miserable losses

these lower clubs are div 7 level & are being asked to play against div 1 or 2 level teams. Yes theyre being paid so does that extinguish the pain and heart felt suffering inflicted by another heavy loss? it ridiculous.

you wouldnt ask a Metro West Div 2 under 16s juniors side to play in a SANFL under 16 league. its ridiculous asking players to play against a caliber miles out of your league.

revenue is the only thing stopping this cos if anyone put the players & supporters first, the SFL would have no teams "down the hill"

its a win-win for everyone

# the saafl gets closer to an all A-Grade div 7
# marion win more matches than they lose the club begins to flourish & theres actually smiling faces in the joint for a change
# the SFL get to drop the BYE

instead theyll stick to the SFL with a plan to win the 2024 premiership

bad luck for everyone involved until then

I'll save you Marbles. There is certainly some advantages that some SFL clubs prefer over the SAAFL (ie. Saturday juniors). I think his mentality is more pointing out to the fact that this league has been screaming for 2 divisions for a long time. Why it hasn't bitten the bullet & hoped that they could drag a Kangarilla or another club to the league to make 2x8 team comps defies some comprehension. Bottom line, if you haven't been able to make the 8 in the last 3 years with the dodgy SFL draw, then you don't deserve to be in division 1 & need to prove that you are by taking out division 2.
I know there is some other small factors, but hell, I'd say that this makes sense to at least 75-90% of the SFL.

[norwood8]

Going in every week and knowing you are going to get smashed is all part of the depressing cycle the smaller clubs face. What recruit would want to come into this environment, never mind the parents that are looking to get their kids into our great game. Very few people truly understand how bad this is for a club, it really annoys me when people from the bigger clubs pretend to understand what it's like. Every club has a group of dedicated and hard working people, so the 'need to work harder' ideology is often thrown around too lightly IMHO. I'm sure the volunteers at most clubs work as hard as their opposition, but the struggle for the smaller clubs just gets harder and harder. It's these guys that the 'one div bs' hurts the most. Sure going back to two divisions will have its teething problems, but anyone who thinks the cons outweigh the pros must have rocks in their heads. Having come from other sporting backgrounds, the SFL board is easily the most incompetent bunch of fools I have ever experienced. End of rant.

[MatteeG]

Marion and a few other clubs are about to have another rotten season, and you blokes dont want them to leave because it will mean 2 less wins for you.

LMAO. I played against a Marion team that torched us by 30 goals back in about 2002 (From memory Rowan Waugh kicked a lazy dozen). Guess we should have just changed leagues.

Swings and roundabouts marbles.

[leftpeg]

Does anyone know the outcome of the vote regarding whether or not the SFL will adopt the FDC recommendations?
I believe this vote took place at the SFL Committee meeting last night.

[jet-airport]

Can anyone point me to or attach the link for the clearences for 2014 in SFL.
Cheers