B Section Premier B - 2024

[God Yeah]

Looks like both Garside boys have gone back to Euroa again.

As one St Bedes person said to me “we didn’t realise how hard it would be to get out of B grade”. They simply thought they would go straight back up to A grade and this will be their fifth season back in B grade next year.

I feel for clubs like this, as their top talent will always get looked at in B grade to go elsewhere. It’s one thing at Collegians we have done really well, which is by staying in A grade it becomes much easier to attract and retain high quality players and people.

The funny thing is, it's not often your best players when they get poached that hurt. It's the depth players and those you have developed in the 19's, when they get picked up by SFNL or EFNL to play lower grade footy for cash it just exposes the gap between the best player on your list and your 30th.

St Bedes not the only Prem B club to experience this.

 

[Mike Olotripo]

The funny thing is, it's not often your best players when they get poached that hurt. It's the depth players and those you have developed in the 19's, when they get picked up by SFNL or EFNL to play lower grade footy for cash it just exposes the gap between the best player on your list and your 30th.

St Bedes not the only Prem B club to experience this.

Yes, that's also very true. I know the same thing has been happening at De La for a while too. I am not sure there is a solution to it either. I know at Collegians we have had a real issue in the last 5-10 years in particular with a lot of our boys attending school at the Glen Waverley campus and living around that area not even considering Collegians due to the money offered by these EFNL clubs to these blokes at 18 years of age.

 

[Mounzer11]

Looks like both Garside boys have gone back to Euroa again.

As one St Bedes person said to me “we didn’t realise how hard it would be to get out of B grade”. They simply thought they would go straight back up to A grade and this will be their fifth season back in B grade next year.

I feel for clubs like this, as their top talent will always get looked at in B grade to go elsewhere. It’s one thing at Collegians we have done really well, which is by staying in A grade it becomes much easier to attract and retain high quality players and people.

Expectations....
I know my old club has come to terms with the fact that Premier A is probably out of their grasp so are content on being a Prem C/B club. They are a strong club with 4 mens, 2 womens, 2 FIDA and 1/2 U/19s.
By understanding their reality has enabled them to build a strong, sustainable club.
Sometimes selling unrealistic expectations can fast track a slide IMO.

 

[flat footy]

Expectations....
I know my old club has come to terms with the fact that Premier A is probably out of their grasp so are content on being a Prem C/B club. They are a strong club with 4 mens, 2 womens, 2 FIDA and 1/2 U/19s.
By understanding their reality has enabled them to build a strong, sustainable club.
Sometimes selling unrealistic expectations can fast track a slide IMO.

M11, You listed your Club's teams that you field week in week out. A question for all Posters...Is there one positive point/ return for your respective Club in fielding womens teams?

From our experince...None.

 

[Max Leader]

M11, You listed your Club's teams that you field week in week out. A question for all Posters...Is there one positive point/ return for your respective Club in fielding womens teams?

From our experince...None.

Women’s teams adds value if the women’s team buys into the club. We were lucky we had a coach, and 2 ass coaches who did everything and made the resourcing easy.

We had it for 2 years. It was fantastic. Unfortunately Covid killed off our program and it’s very hard to restart.

 

[flat footy]

Women’s teams adds value if the women’s team buys into the club. We were lucky we had a coach, and 2 ass coaches who did everything and made the resourcing easy.

We had it for 2 years. It was fantastic. Unfortunately Covid killed off our program and it’s very hard to restart.

Max, Glad it worked for you...That's the point, they need to "buy" in both financially and emotionally.

 

[Mike Olotripo]

M11, You listed your Club's teams that you field week in week out. A question for all Posters...Is there one positive point/ return for your respective Club in fielding womens teams?

From our experince...None.

The women at Collegians are a great football side FF, but I'm not sure they get the full club "buy in" at times, but that will take time as well. Remember, the majority of female VAFA sides have been around less than a decade, where as the male sides have been around for many many many decades, some like our club have been around for 130 years.

What is needed with women's teams that I have seen is similar to male sides, you need a good continuing and developing pipeline of talent. Women's footy does seem to be a lot more transient as well with players swapping clubs at a far higher rate than on the men's side of things.

 

[flat footy]

The women at Collegians are a great football side FF, but I'm not sure they get the full club "buy in" at times, but that will take time as well. Remember, the majority of female VAFA sides have been around less than a decade, where as the male sides have been around for many many many decades, some like our club have been around for 130 years.

What is needed with women's teams that I have seen is similar to male sides, you need a good continuing and developing pipeline of talent. Women's footy does seem to be a lot more transient as well with players swapping clubs at a far higher rate than on the men's side of things.

MO, you know as well as anyone, Footy Clubs dont run on "fresh air", they need to derive income. The womens' footy brings
in very few $$$ (if any) compared to the outgoings.

 

[bedford]

M11, You listed your Club's teams that you field week in week out. A question for all Posters...Is there one positive point/ return for your respective Club in fielding womens teams?

From our experince...None.

Agree totally

 

[bedford]

The women at Collegians are a great football side FF, but I'm not sure they get the full club "buy in" at times, but that will take time as well. Remember, the majority of female VAFA sides have been around less than a decade, where as the male sides have been around for many many many decades, some like our club have been around for 130 years.

What is needed with women's teams that I have seen is similar to male sides, you need a good continuing and developing pipeline of talent. Women's footy does seem to be a lot more transient as well with players swapping clubs at a far higher rate than on the men's side of things.

There is a big reason they swap teams even AFLW

 

[Mike Olotripo]

MO, you know as well as anyone, Footy Clubs dont run on "fresh air", they need to derive income. The womens' footy brings
in very few $$$ (if any) compared to the outgoings.

Agree FF, at present it isn't financially viable for a lot of clubs, let alone the added resources, I'm talking about volunteers, required to run a senior / reserve side, thirds side, unders side and female side. That's a lot of timekeepers, water carriers, boundary umpires etc.

However, the alternative is that you don't run a female side and that reduces the amount of people in and around footy clubs, which only seems to be getting smaller and smaller each year.

 

[flat footy]

Agree FF, at present it isn't financially viable for a lot of clubs, let alone the added resources, I'm talking about volunteers, required to run a senior / reserve side, thirds side, unders side and female side. That's a lot of timekeepers, water carriers, boundary umpires etc.

However, the alternative is that you don't run a female side and that reduces the amount of people in and around footy clubs, which only seems to be getting smaller and smaller each year.

MO....You flick the womens teams, reduce expenses appreciably and lose some hangers on who dont partake in the Club
anyway. Dont frequent after match (bar) activities or socialise generally. It is a "no brainer"..only a matter of time.

 

[Mounzer11]

Agree FF, at present it isn't financially viable for a lot of clubs, let alone the added resources, I'm talking about volunteers, required to run a senior / reserve side, thirds side, unders side and female side. That's a lot of timekeepers, water carriers, boundary umpires etc.

However, the alternative is that you don't run a female side and that reduces the amount of people in and around footy clubs, which only seems to be getting smaller and smaller each year.

The biggest issue for the clubs I speak to is finding suitable coaches. The consistent tone is that the girls are hard to manage from a coaching perspective.
But, the overall feedback I have been given is that the girls have been great for culture. Clubs are stretched thin for volunteers as Mike alluded to above but i feel that's just the landscape now and not limited to the girls.

 

[flat footy]

The biggest issue for the clubs I speak to is finding suitable coaches. The consistent tone is that the girls are hard to manage from a coaching perspective.
But, the overall feedback I have been given is that the girls have been great for culture. Clubs are stretched thin for volunteers as Mike alluded to above but i feel that's just the landscape now and not limited to the girls.

M11, hard to manage, full stop...

 

[bedford]

M11, hard to manage, full stop...

I know one recently promoted club that has had massive issues with some of theirs

 

[localfootylegend23]

MO....You flick the womens teams, reduce expenses appreciably and lose some hangers on who dont partake in the Club
anyway. Dont frequent after match (bar) activities or socialise generally. It is a "no brainer"..only a matter of time.

This is a fossil take FF, painting all womens footy with the same brush. No such problems around it at the clubs I know, A lot of them undertake roles of responsibility and assist in the day to day running of the club as well

 

[FWIW]

FWIW Willy CYs president is a current women’s player!
Sad to see coach of StBedes finish up. I’m sure the recent departures would be frustrating.

 

[flat footy]

This is a fossil take FF, painting all womens footy with the same brush. No such problems around it at the clubs I know, A lot of them undertake roles of responsibility and assist in the day to day running of the club as well

Local, you should patent your methodology and sell it.You would make a fortune, start with the AFL. Not talking about "all" Clubs and teams, just our experience..

 

[Longmire37]

Local, you should patent your methodology and sell it.You would make a fortune, start with the AFL. Not talking about "all" Clubs and teams, just our experience..

Hawthorn women's program saved the club, in my humble opinion, as it brought the club into the 21st century culture wise. Not many on this board would know much about the Citz, needless to say an inclusive environment wasn't high on the priority list. The women's team changed this which has helped lay the foundations of a club to have real ambitions to move up the grades. And put the club in a position to attract players which were formally out of reach with rumours floating around of who they are speaking to would have been unheard of even 5 years ago.
Its not unusual to see the girls helping run water, goal umpiring, or running the boundary for the mens team - all after playing a game in the morning. They support social events and were out in great numbers cheering on the mens team in their finals this year.

 

[Penski]

The combined football/netball clubs throughout the country leagues seem to run fairly well together. Could VAFA clubs with women's teams model themselves more in that regard (in terms of inclusivity, buy-in etc)?

I should preface this statement by saying that i know nothing about how these clubs are run compared to VAFA clubs. It's just a thought bubble i'm throwing out there.

 

[sainter01]

The funny thing is, it's not often your best players when they get poached that hurt. It's the depth players and those you have developed in the 19's, when they get picked up by SFNL or EFNL to play lower grade footy for cash it just exposes the gap between the best player on your list and your 30th.

St Bedes not the only Prem B club to experience this.

If it’s Eastern Premier Division that ain’t going to a lower grade of football

 

[bedford]

Word out of Brindisi street on Saturday was that Tom Brain is off as well and on his way to the Wicks .

 

[God Yeah]

If it’s Eastern Premier Division that ain’t going to a lower grade of football

It's certainly not premier, Div 3 for princely sums if I'm being honest.

 

[Blood Stained Angels]

Word out of Brindisi street on Saturday was that Tom Brain is off as well and on his way to the Wicks .

Tommy Jumping Ship !!!!!!! Mmmmmmmmmm

 

[Mr Platinum]

Tommy Jumping Ship !!!!!!! Mmmmmmmmmm

Ten club Tommy has had more clubs than Tiger Woods……