NORTH EASTERN F/L

[Dutchy]

Hayes boys staying with WWT I hear

[whufc]

Hayes boys staying with WWT I hear

Yep looking that way.

[whufc]

Hearing a club has signed ex Power and North Adelaide bloke Paton.

[bandar]

Hearing a club has signed ex Power and North Adelaide bloke Paton.

Patmore?

[whufc]

Hearing a club has signed ex Power and North Adelaide bloke Paton.

Patmore?

Sorry yep Patmore

[whufc]

North Clare have signed 3 A Graders from division 1 PNU.

Not sure of names though.

[wenchbarwer]

North Clare have signed 3 A Graders from division 1 PNU.

Not sure of names though.

Is anyone left at PNU???

[whufc]

Rusca but at Min Man for about the 19th time.......will still be handy however. Good pick up.

Will Stockman to BBH along with another bunch of players as well. Should improve a bit this year.

[whufc]

Some more news around the traps....

Luke Hayes to Orroroo
The two Lange boys to South Clare.

[whufc]

Been a long time since posting, I've been away for 5 weeks so not as 'in the know' as i would normally be with the comp starting this week.

Based on recruiting it looks like the comp has got stronger with more teams than not looking better on paper.

BSR
Will be around the mark, not sure about being as strong as last year and maybe a tad less depth but still a lot of quality in the squad. One to watch is Jake Patmore ex Port Power/North Adelaide. Class act.

MIN MAN
Team to beat imo. Young list that will only improve from last years side which was 10 minutes away from winning the flag. From my understanding have recruited fairly well and only lost a couple. Their improvement will come from the age of the playing group and real solid depth.

SOUTHERN SAINTS
Playing their cards close to their chest which isnt a bad thing. Kept their best footballer from last year. Only concern would be they were still somewhat of an aging squad and didnt quite have the depth in their b grade they had in previous years. New B Grade coach may attract some blokes back. Expect them to still play finals, always a strong competitive side and will plenty of games at home.

RSMU
Have lost a few quality footballers and haven't heard much on the recruiting front. Wasn't a whole of depth in their b grade last year which finished second to bottom, i've probably got them dropping out the four but a much respected club who could have done really good things in the off season and may surprise.

BLYTH / SNOWTOWN
My tip to break into the finals, dont know heaps but on the belief that whilst they haven't recruited in huge quantity they have recruited quality and identified some gaps. Depth will be tested with their best b graders being over 30 type blokes but they have had a solid senior colts for a while now so that may start to come through. A good run with injuries will have them 100% playing finals imo.

NORTH CLARE
I believe recruited 4-5 A graders from Payenham / Norwood which should stand up really well in this comp. However im lead to believe thats more a case of replacing the 'city' recruits from last year rather than adding additional talent. With a new coach who is hugely respected in the club i expect the guys to improve. Personally think they may just miss finals. Will get a good indication first up vs min man

SOUTH CLARE
A bit of an unknown, have heard theyve recruited around 5 guys from Adelaide, the two Lange boys will go well. Not a whole lot of depth given their b grade went winless last year. Could do anything, have heard their back to being 'all in on the kids' and they may have a stacked b grade but could just be rumour.

BBH
Started the year off well recruiting the big Stockman lad from the Eagles who will be real good, also picked up a bunch from the Riverland. However, lost their captain this week to his third ACL playing basketball. 5-6 good recruits probably gets them on the low side of being competitive. No depth to speak of.

Predicted Ladder (this is heaps blind so take it with a pinch of salt)

1. Min Man
2. BSR
3. Blyth / Snowtown
4. Southern Saints

5. North Clare
6. RSMU
7. South Clare
8. BBH

[whufc]

Interesting first week of A Grade footy to start the year.

No big upsets with BSR, Min Man, RSMU, Southern Saints the winners but its clear teams have improved, and the competition will be a bit more even.

South Clare looked a better outfit, even outscoring BSR in the last quarter. First time they have won a quarter against BSR in roughly 5 years.
BBH led RSMU by 3 points at 3/4 time before being over-run. Look to be improved for sure.

B Grade footy saw the biggest upset of the week with last years premiers Min Man going down to North Clare by 22 points. South Clare look to have slightly improved IF they can keep numbers on the park.

[whufc]

The first of the mini upsets in the competition this week.

South Clare knocking of North Clare in the derby. South looked like they were on the improve in round 1 and that's clearly a thing beating North.

BBH are on the improve despite losing to BSR in the A Grade. The depth of recruiting has also improved their B Grade significantly defeating a very undermanned BSR.

In the B Grade we also saw last years premiers Min Man lose to the Southern Saints. The Saints have improved in depth whilst Min Man are missing a bunch of blokes.

A couple of good competitions in senior footy this year which is going to be exciting.