by Moe » Wed Nov 14, 2018 6:26 pm
Here is my 10 cents worth.
Ive coached for the past 9 seasons, from Auskick right through to 13's.
I dont see a problem with scoring and a premiership table, just dont need finals really.
What the SANFL needs to do is change from having an age group for each grade Ie. 8's, 9's, 10's, 11's etc.
There needs to be a 2 year gap, 8's, 10's, 12's etc.
This way, one year a team may struggle a bit being younger, smaller and the next season they become the bigger, older kids.
The way we have it now, means if you struggle in say Under 10's, you are still playing a lot of the same team/kids the following season, and the trend continues.
There are divisions, but that only helps a fraction.
My under 13's played a side last season who had an A grade 13's, and B grade 13's (for want of a better phrase). Said team lost every game by a margin over 10 goals, except when they played us twice. Their top team (Div 1) had byes, so they dropped 8 players down.
It was a farce, and against the spirit of the game.
SANFL also allow too many "Play down" permits. There are equalization rules in place, so if a team has 15 players, the opposition plays the same.
Too many clubs say "We wont have a team if we cant get 14 year old Johnny to play under 13's".
The under 12 Div 3 Premiers from 2016 had 3 14 year olds playing, they dominated.
There is no silver bullet for this, unless we stop buying our kids console games and boot them outside like our parents did.
We are kind of responsible for the soft under belly kids have today.