Eastern Conference - 2011

[bolton24]

Haven't heard the rumour about Horney, you may have got it mixed up with Rhyse McCalister who has left the club and gone back to Wagga Tigers. I didnt think the game was too bad yesterday, was one of our better performances for the year, I thought it was good to see two local clubs going at it with relatively young squads. Most clubs will need to look at topping up their lists with quality recruits in order to compete with the Swans and Giants going forward with the NEAFL competition.

 

[Watcher 22]

With all due respect, the Swans are being pretty damn accomodating allowing their player game time and numbers to be restricted as they are. It limits what our coaches can do, and hurts our player development.

The NEAFL benefits from the Swans' (and Giant's) presence, the players get to play against some of the elite players of the code, and we're allowing special and highly inconvenient limitations to be imposed upon us, so I wouldn't complain if I were you. The set-up benefits everybody, which is why it still exists.

Nobody denies the fact of benefits to a country League, the Swans have proven that by ditching the Sydney comp, and I might say by the Canberra based Clubs accepting them. The problem is continually using Academy kids as top-ups, that wasn't the aim of the top up program, nor originally of the Academy, it is extending the Swans NEAFL list to take away the "evening up" process that the top ups were designed for.

 

[Watcher 22]

Anyone out North able to confirm or squash the rumour that Horne may be about to leave Belconnen to go out to Wagga.

Don't know how reliable the rumour is or what Horne would be doing out that way (i'd guess that it would be with the Swans in a regional development role) but maybe someone has heard similar??

Now it's funny you say that ABH, in the Riverina on the weekend and read the Wagga papers story about McAlister (??) being cleared back to Wagga Tigers, the Tiges are happy and I'd suggest Mr McAlister is too.

But at the footy (Mangoplah vs Turvey Park) I struck up a conversation with an old foe, who is in the know, about new positions for 2012 in the Riverina and Farrer Leagues, he mentioned no names amongst the candidates for the job but said two Canberra people were highly considered; "one currently non playing with a club" and the other "just retired." I thought he was teasing me, but ............. . Jobs were Development and a Coaching Co-ordinator.

And as a bye-note, aren't the Turvey Bullies in a bit of strife? Players leaving left right and centre, and a crisis meeting was also repoted in the paper taking place there mid last week. Shame, good club losing its way for a little while.

Also, the quote of the weekend; "we'd love a Riverina/Farrer based side in the NEAFL, but how do you get this lot (clubs) to talk to each other, they won't shake hands at a game!!!"

 

[AFC2]

Now it's funny you say that ABH, in the Riverina on the weekend and read the Wagga papers story about McAlister (??) being cleared back to Wagga Tigers, the Tiges are happy and I'd suggest Mr McAlister is too.

But at the footy (Mangoplah vs Turvey Park) I struck up a conversation with an old foe, who is in the know, about new positions for 2012 in the Riverina and Farrer Leagues, he mentioned no names amongst the candidates for the job but said two Canberra people were highly considered; "one currently non playing with a club" and the other "just retired." I thought he was teasing me, but ............. . Jobs were Development and a Coaching Co-ordinator.

And as a bye-note, aren't the Turvey Bullies in a bit of strife? Players leaving left right and centre, and a crisis meeting was also repoted in the paper taking place there mid last week. Shame, good club losing its way for a little while.

Also, the quote of the weekend; "we'd love a Riverina/Farrer based side in the NEAFL, but how do you get this lot (clubs) to talk to each other, they won't shake hands at a game!!!"

funnily enough i heard the same rumour with a client yesterday. when i enquired about the Riverina being a GWS recruitment zone, i was told that if the swans can develop kids out of that area, send them to Riverveiw (school in sydney) prior to age 17, then they are available as priority for Sydney Swans. i think this is the swans way of using the new system to their advantage similar to the "swans academy" kids now playing in our comp, effectively enhancing the standard of the swans reserves again.

 

[AFC2]

Tigers from memory won 3 reserve premierships (07, 09, 10) during Merv's reign and a good reserve side does not equate to good first grade depth or a great reserve player a great first grader.

Comparing reserves sides to first grade is chalk and cheese.

A first grade side IMO is only as good as its bottom 6 players and I believe that this seasons side has a better bottom 6 than in previous years.

For me the gulf between Mervs top 10 - 15 players and his bottom 6 was very large. I dont believe the gap is as great with this current squad.

I can say that from experience in 07, Belconnen had by far the best list in the reserves competition but for one reason or another they choked in both finals particularly the Preliminary against Tuggeranong (another team who usually have good reserves sides and we know they have struggled at the top level)

I seem to remember when your club were struggling at the top level (late 90's early 2000's) your reserves were winning premierships and that did not translate into first grade success.

Lets also look at 2 great reserves players from your club. Andrew Wainright (apologies for spelling) and the big fella who kicked mountains of goals in Read. Great reserve players who never reached the same level at first or anywhere near it for that matter. Gap was far to great.

The gap is extremely wide between first grade and reserves and it will only get wider with the new competition format IMO.

So please in the future don't for one second think or suggest that I am having a go at Mark Armstrong. For me it was a pleasure playing in the same era as him either as team mates or having him as my coach and you will never hear a bad word come from my mouth about him....I love the guy!

Wainers and Ready were very good players for our club and very good at reserve grade level, and your arguement is sound in regards to that.

would you consider that its the best 6 players in your 22 that win you games of football and not the bottom 6 that always get the blame. Rourkey definately thinks its the top 6 and perhaps if the coaches of today filled the bottom 6 players with confidence rather then disgarding them, then that is how you might get the best improvement. have a look at our team from 2010, we had about 3 changes in personel from round 1 to our grandfinal team, success breeds confidence.

Your original post you were comparing QBN now having players earning their spot and that not being the case in the recent past. surely you cant say that the new coach Rod O'Reilly and Mark have significantly differing problems.
Perhaps the new coach isnt as close to his mates as the previous coach therefore is able to recycle the appropriate players? how many times was Davis, Ioppi, Neison, Gilbert, Elias, dropped when their form suffered over the later years in their career?
i wouldnt have thought the young kid from Marist in your best 22, however i see he did well against Tuggers so maybe QBN are able to remove the right players under the new coach. they definately played a good brand of football against us in the first half a few weeks ago.

 

[A Bit High]

AFC2 I can definitely say that in the later years I was dropped in 2004 for 3 matches, Davis played a fair bit of ressies, Ioppi was up and down due to injury, Ellias played alot of ressies due to injury and I don't recall Gilbert ever being dropped or warranted it to be hoenest.

You also need to consider that back when we were playing the Tigers were still making GF's (winning does change things hence your side having 3 changes from round 1) and I dont believe any of them including myself played poorly for lengthy periods to warrant being dropped.

But this is my main point, maybe these players did not get pushed back to reserves as much as you think they should have because they were still considered in the best 22.

The depth that Merv had, possibly forced these players and others to still be considered the best available. If players were pushing hard from the reserves then maybe things may have changed.

As for your top 6 theory, I think most top clubs do have an elite top 6, for me its the bottom 6 that other clubs can expose, hence when the ACT sides had played the Swans in the past you tried to play through the guys who were on their tops ups (their bottom 6 or so)

 

[Carrot lamp]

No upsets in this weeks footy. Ainslie put tuggeranong back in their place with an 80 point win out at ainslie. The usual crew were good for ainslie; Holmes, I lawless, crook, Andrews and Hughes kicked 6 and took some strong marks. Zeke lamb looks like he will be a gun in the future, and smith and cleaver tried hard all day.

It still remains to be seen if eastlake have turned around their bad form, a win over belconnen isn't really much to get excited about this season.

I was surprised to see that qbn were four goals down at the scg at 3 qtr time against a very strong swans side. The swans must have kicked away in the last, but qbn would have been very happy with the game I would have thought. If you look at the swans list it looks like it was close to their best side. Did anyone see the game?

 

[Michael Goiser]

I was surprised to see that qbn were four goals down at the scg at 3 qtr time against a very strong swans side. The swans must have kicked away in the last, but qbn would have been very happy with the game I would have thought. If you look at the swans list it looks like it was close to their best side. Did anyone see the game?

Hi Carrot, Due to persistent rain the game got moved across the road to Lakeside Oval about an hour before start time. Was a shame that some of our young boys didn't get a chance to experience the SCG. Our boys battled very hard and played well for a large part of the game. Just a couple of lapses just when we didn't need them really cost us. We were a point up at quarter time but they got a couple of easy ones in the second quarter to go in to the long break 3 goals up. We'd played pretty well for the first half and were well in the game but straight after the break they got the first goal (very quickly and far too easily!!) to go four goals up and then it was an arm wrestle until three-quarter time. We were still well in it going in to the last quarter but once again I think they got the first two goals and then skipped away. It was definitely one of those days where the scoreboard at the end of the game doesn't really tell the story. It was a much closer game than the 8 goal margin suggests. They definitely did have a very strong side in. Jesse White kicked six (a couple of easy ones where the ball got over the top) but both of our guys who played on him would have been in our top three so they weren't out played as much as out sized. Paul Bevan was a class above everyone, with very clean hands in the conditions and they had a number of others who made some very important and classy contributions just when we'd been able to keep them down for long periods. There were certainly a lot of positives for us to take away from the game. Gois

 

[A Bit High]

Disappointing result if your a Tiger fan yesterday.

Combination of a few reasons - Poor kicking at goal (Tigers kicked 4-13 to the club end), not enough players willing to work for each other (Tigers had a pathetic 12 tackles for the match and not 1 shepherd) and the lack of urgency combined with the Hawks wanting it more than their opponents.

The game never reached great heights in windy conditions but the tight scores kept it entertaining enough with neither side dominating.

Tigers had a lot of ball in their forward half but really struggled to convert where as Tuggers when they broke free on the counter used the ball quite well and on several occasions went coast to coast. They seemed to get their goals easier than Queanbeyan.

To many times Tiger players were on back of their heels waiting for something to happen, hoping someone else would give them a spark and a couple of times some of the players just did not go at the ball hard enough.

Best for Qbn was Conroy, worked his butt off and collected 41 possessions and then honestly, there was daylight. Sam Daniel did well, the lad looks very composed and has a bright future as does Walsh and Jolliffe. Heaslip battled manfully as always but not enough players pulled their weight out there yesterday and many will hopefully be taking a good, honest, hard look at the performance.

For the plucky Hawks they were excellent. They just had a red hot go and used clean skills to get out of trouble. They wanted this win more than the Tigers and should be well proud of their efforts.

Smith and Lamb got plenty of it. Ghirardello (4 goals) proved the 2nd half spark, Masters was excellent early and kicked 4 goals, Cleaver was his usual busy self and Pocock kicked 4 goals and looked dangerous all day. McCabe, Robinson and Murch also did well.

Coach Gorman has done a fantastic job down South and he and his players should be congratulated on their season thus far.

Half the games gone and they are in the 4. Well done Hawks!

 

[Carrot lamp]

Thanks abh, that would have been a pretty disappointing result given it was at qbn and for a spot in the 4. Tuggers are definitely headed in the right direction.

Was anyone at the ainslie v belco game on Saturday who can give a report? Seems asthough it's always pretty tight between those two teams, regardless of the position on the ladder. The swans v GWS game was as expected - swans are just way too good at the moment.

 

[elong]

Who is the early favourite for the Mulrooney? We are at the halfway point so I think it may be a good talking point. I see the Northern Conference put their leader board up and it creates a lot of interest. It will be interesting but any club could have a winner I think.

Sydney - Currie would poll a lot of votes, a long with Gordon and Johnston down back. You would think someone from Sydney would be leading at this point.

GWS - You would think some of their midfielders in Clifton, Giles and Shiel would be polling well.

Ainslie - Haven't heard too much about Ainslie but the usual candidates would be polling well in Shirley and Crook. Expect to see Andrews poll well.

Eastlake - You would think Gibson would have polled well, dominating the ruck all year. New player in Wiles gathers a lot of possessions and might pick up a few votes.

QBN - Seems as though Quade and Conroy are the stand outs at QBN, a long with Kavanagh. Daniher has been a bit quiet but you would expect him to still pick up a few votes.

Belco - Probably only Love stands out for me. He is their best ball winner. I would think Turnbull would pick up a few votes but will find it tough to win it if Belco continue to lose and given that he was injured early in the year it makes it a bit tough.

Tuggers - Ellis started on fire but is now out with a broken arm. Some of their youngsters in Smith, Lamb and Cleaver will pick up votes. But I think Dave Smith might be a real suprise if he can keep up his current form.

What are everyone elses thoughts?

 

[Carrot lamp]

Maybe bevan or merideth from the swans, depending on whether they finish the year in the reserves. Haven't seen much of GWS, but Clifton would be favourite. I agree with the rest of your picks, maybe add Holmes and I. Lawless in with the other three from ainslie. Andrews has had an awesome year so far.

Gibson from eastlake, love from belco, conroy from qbn, maybe add Robinson in your picks from tuggers. They would be my picks at this stage.

 

[bolton24]

Belconnen v Ainslie was a tight contest up until half time, I think Ainslie were not expecting Belconnen to come out of the blocks with such intensity which enabled Belco to put a few goals on the board early and take a 15 point lead into the break. ryan turnball was causing all sorts of headaches with four goals and they were on top in the midfield. Ainslie started the 2nd quickly and had erased the deficit by about the 10 minute mark and were on top, but Belco were able to hold their own and took a 2 point lead at the half. Hopes of an upset though were quickly dashed in a 5 minute cameo by Nick Paine who marked everything and posted 4 goals on his own and Ainslie never let Belconnen back into the game. Ainslie's more mature bodies in and around the stoppages were too much for the young magpies. Costly turnovers in the back half were also taken advantage of on the scoreboard. Notable performances by the magpies were Simon Curtis not letting Hughes have any influence on the game and Brendan Dess who had the better of Crook. Things also didn't start well when we lost one of our onballers to friendly fire in the first two minutes of the game which nowadays really hampers the team rotations.

 

[grimlock]

Who is the early favourite for the Mulrooney? We are at the halfway point so I think it may be a good talking point. I see the Northern Conference put their leader board up and it creates a lot of interest. It will be interesting but any club could have a winner I think.

Sydney - Currie would poll a lot of votes, a long with Gordon and Johnston down back. You would think someone from Sydney would be leading at this point.

GWS - You would think some of their midfielders in Clifton, Giles and Shiel would be polling well.

Ainslie - Haven't heard too much about Ainslie but the usual candidates would be polling well in Shirley and Crook. Expect to see Andrews poll well.

Eastlake - You would think Gibson would have polled well, dominating the ruck all year. New player in Wiles gathers a lot of possessions and might pick up a few votes.

QBN - Seems as though Quade and Conroy are the stand outs at QBN, a long with Kavanagh. Daniher has been a bit quiet but you would expect him to still pick up a few votes.

Belco - Probably only Love stands out for me. He is their best ball winner. I would think Turnbull would pick up a few votes but will find it tough to win it if Belco continue to lose and given that he was injured early in the year it makes it a bit tough.

Tuggers - Ellis started on fire but is now out with a broken arm. Some of their youngsters in Smith, Lamb and Cleaver will pick up votes. But I think Dave Smith might be a real suprise if he can keep up his current form.

What are everyone elses thoughts?

It's been a pretty even spread so far this year, so I'm not sure a Swan would be leading as they'll be taking votes off each other.

 

[elong]

O'Reily?

 

[Carrot lamp]

Looks like the qbn boys will get the chance to play at the scg afterall. Does anyone know why it was moved? Because they missed out last time? Unlucky having to play the swans 2 times in 3 weeks, both in Sydney. The draw has been a bit weird like that.

What are peoples thoughts on the cross-conference games? It would seem as though the standard of the northern conference has been a bit better so far - from the cross-conference games already played. Ainslie v southport should be a good game even though southport are last up there, they are still a quality side. Eastlake v broadbeach will also be interesting. Maybe we will see if eastlake are back on the right track.

I would expect sydney and GWS to win comfortably, no disrespect to qbn or belco. I had a look at the swans injury list today - Jed lamb was the only one who will miss this week through injury - for the whole squad. That's a pretty good position to be in for them. There is probably 4-5 players running around in the seconds who would usually be playing firsts.

 

[Michael Goiser]

Hey Carrot,

Not exactly sure why the game was moved back to the SCG but understand that it was requested by the Swans. I believe it has something to do with a growing rivalry between the Swans and GWS and the fact the Swans didn't want to play at Blacktown Olympic Park as a curtain raiser to the GWS v Belco game.

I agree, it has been an odd draw this year - especially for Qbn. We've had Belco three times already, and as you say, get the Swans in Sydney twice in three weeks. We've played everyone else but have't seen Eastlake yet.

Re the cross-over games, I think you might have an error there. Qbn, rather than Ainslie plays Southport up on the Gold Coast.

Cheers,
Gois

 

[elong]

O'Reilly... Gone?

 

[A Bit High]

Not gone but due to health issues has been forced to step aside.

Its for his own benefit.

The club will be well served by Pav who has won the last 2 reserves flags and congratulations to him on the call up.


It is only football after all and everyone who knows Rod wishes him the very best and the speediest of recoveries.

 

[swan45]

He is a big loss for the Tigers but one's health is more important than football. Good luck to him and to Pav.

 

[elong]

Great game between broady and Eastlake.. Great for the neafl!! What happened in the other games? Swans untouchable and gws must have played their best game for the year.

 

[FootyFullOn]

AFL – Sydney clubs join NEAFL.

The AFL today announced East Coast Eagles and Sydney University have been invited to join the North East Australian Football League (NEAFL) next season. The two AFL Sydney clubs have been through an extensive application process over the last two months and will now each seek the formal approval of their members before accepting the invitation.

If successful, East Coast and Sydney University will become the first AFL Sydney clubs to join NEAFL’s Eastern Conference, making it a nine-team competition in 2012. The Eastern Conference currently includes the Sydney Swans reserves and GWS GIANTS (next year their reserves as they join the AFL) as well as five Canberra-based clubs.

The pre-eminent second tier football competition in NSW/ACT will provide players with national exposure with cross-conference games between some of the ten Queensland and Northern Territory teams making up NEAFL’s Northern Conference.
General Manager – International and National Development David Matthews said the possible addition of Sydney University and East Coast to NEAFL’s Eastern Conference is a significant step in the development of AFL in Sydney. “For NEAFL to be truly representative of all northern markets it must have state league club representation from Sydney,” Matthews said.

“Both clubs have not only had success on the field in recent years but are very well structured off it and have a progressive attitude that will enable them to be successful in taking the step up to NEAFL. “The entry of Sydney University and East Coast will not only help boost the profile of AFL in Sydney but it also gives up and coming footballers a clear talent pathway and enhances their prospects of being drafted.”

Currently in its first year, NEAFL is providing home grown footballers with an opportunity to experience a more professional competition which has elevated the standard and profile of AFL in the northern markets.

Eagles president Gus Seebeck said the club’s probable elevation will have a positive effect on the entire community. “East Coast Eagles are delighted to be extended an invitation to compete in NEAFL Eastern Conference,” Seebeck said. “As an aspirational club, it’s something we’ve been striving for and we see it as being a major factor in driving the future success of the club both on and off the field.

“The NEAFL represents an enormous opportunity not only for the Eagles but for the continued development of AFL at all levels in the Sydney Hills and also for the entire Sydney Hills community to have a team involved in an elite sporting competition that everyone can get involved in.”

Sydney University president Chas Wilkinson is delighted the club has been given an opportunity to join NEAFL’s Eastern Conference next season. NEAFL is an excellent opportunity not only for our club and Sydney University, but also for the wider AFL community in Sydney,” Wilkinson said.

“It will provide more young and talented footballers the possibility to play a higher standard of the game without moving interstate, which can only enhance the talent, participation and fan pool across Sydney. “With the support of Sydney University Sport and Fitness and other major partners, we have built a successful under-18 and senior football high performance program over the past five years. “NEAFL now presents Sydney University the opportunity to provide a clear talent pathway for players looking to play AFL at the highest possible level.”

East Coast and Sydney University played in last year’s AFL Sydney premier division grand final which was won by East Coast – their second premiership in a row.

 

[A Bit High]

How will they go?

Cant say I know much about the Sydney comp other than Campbeltown trying its hand in Canberra over a decade ago and falling well short of their expectations.

 

[2010premier]

How will they go?

Cant say I know much about the Sydney comp other than Campbeltown trying its hand in Canberra over a decade ago and falling well short of their expectations.

Both Sydney clubs are a fair bit behind at the moment but they are well resourced clubs and will know that they will need to bolster their playing stocks for next year. Good luck to them but I think it will be a couple of years before they can push for finals. Good for footy putting them up though.

 

[GiantForce]

More teams the better! But those Sydney clubs will struggle