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Aucklander

Aucklander

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Essendon District Football League poised to establish a thirds competition for its biggest clubs in 201

THE Essendon District Football League is expected to confirm within weeks that it will establish a new senior competition for its existing clubs.

The move would mean some of the league’s biggest clubs would field three senior teams in 2015 with the addition of a thirds competition to the current seniors and reserves model.

While league general manager Marc Turri said the creation of a thirds competition was still just a concept, Leader understands one club is so confident the competition will be established that it plans to advertise for a coach as soon as this week.
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Link

Interesting.
 
ColeReserve said:
So how would it work ? Do they slot into Division 2 with no Reserves ?
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No, I don't think so.

I'm guessing the league will make a Division 3 competition, with the 2nd Reserves following the 2nd Under 18s and will follow the same match times as the others (ie; Under 18s @ 9:30am, Reserves @ 11:45am) and will play their own finals series.

So it could go like this:
Under 18.5 Division 3 - Aberfeldie vs. Greenvale
Reserves Division 3 - Aberfeldie vs. Greenvale
@ Clifton Park

Maybe they might even put the games when both Premier and Division 3 play the same clubs at the same time at a club that has two ovals such as Greenvale. With the Premier Division on the first oval, while Division 3 play on the second oval. So all Aberfeldie or whoever can see all teams play at once.

Years ago when the 2nd Under 18 competition started and since there was only about five teams in it the league played both games at the same venue (ie; Keilor) with Game 1 @ 9:30am and Game 2 @ 11:45am.
 
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I always thought thirds was for blokes who wanted to have a kick but then didnt want to commit to full time training, similar to the way superrules is... All i can see this doing is robbing some of the div 1 or div 2 clubs of potential reserves players as they would continue on at Abers/Greenvale etc.. But then i suppose the question, is would these guys give the game away all together and just drink cans on the sidelines rather than moving clubs to have a kick..
 

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I am a bit skeptical on how this can work. In theory, great but in practice a lot of lower div clubs are going to suffer, definitely not something to jump into just to raise more cash for the league. There needs to be some genuine consideration for this.
 
I do believe the concept will work and at our club, without wanting to sound arrogant, shouldn't have a drama fielding the three teams.

We have approximately 20 very talented footballers graduating to senior football in 2015 - last year there was 10 and about the same the year before.

We continue to have low attrition and retain the bulk of the senior list, we'll recruit a few players for the senior squad and then you have 20 juniors to fit in two sides.

There is the issue and the reason a third competitions, Club 18/warriors competition will really help this problem.

At the same time over the last few years several mature age, very loyal and talented footballers weren't afforded a consistent game of footy due to the direction on focusing on our junior talent.

By establishing a third team without setting the same training standards on the group you can still offer a group of guys a game of footy at your club.

Sides like us (Abers), Greenvale, Keilor, Strathmore and even Westmeadows and Roxburgh Park have indicated they'll be able to field a third team.

Clubs could really use it to their advantage because you have additional revenue, support, depth etc. you just need to manage expectations, training and volunteers to support.
 
puffpuffgivemo said:
I do believe the concept will work and at our club, without wanting to sound arrogant, shouldn't have a drama fielding the three teams.

We have approximately 20 very talented footballers graduating to senior football in 2015 - last year there was 10 and about the same the year before.

We continue to have low attrition and retain the bulk of the senior list, we'll recruit a few players for the senior squad and then you have 20 juniors to fit in two sides.

There is the issue and the reason a third competitions, Club 18/warriors competition will really help this problem.

At the same time over the last few years several mature age, very loyal and talented footballers weren't afforded a consistent game of footy due to the direction on focusing on our junior talent.

By establishing a third team without setting the same training standards on the group you can still offer a group of guys a game of footy at your club.

Sides like us (Abers), Greenvale, Keilor, Strathmore and even Westmeadows and Roxburgh Park have indicated they'll be able to field a third team.

Clubs could really use it to their advantage because you have additional revenue, support, depth etc. you just need to manage expectations, training and volunteers to support.
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Serious question, how many of your players who struggle to get a game in the 2s leave and go and play at other clubs?? If there is a lot then I agree this will kill the lower division clubs however if they simply give up playing footy then there may be merit in the idea.
 
ItsAllAboutMe said:
Serious question, how many of your players who struggle to get a game in the 2s leave and go and play at other clubs?? If there is a lot then I agree this will kill the lower division clubs however if they simply give up playing footy then there may be merit in the idea.
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That's a fair enough question but I think the majority of the "overflow" would generally walk away from footy altogether atm.
Clubs in lower divisions will still be able to recruit from these sides as they'll still be able to offer an increased likelihood of 1s footy, just as they do now. (I know Westy generally get a few from Greenvale this way)
 
My North said:
How many teams will there be in the "Thirds" competition to be a proper grade?
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Aberfeldie, Greenvale, Keilor, Strathmore, Westmeadows, Roxburgh Park have shown interest in committing to a 3rds competition. You'd think there might be a few more fringe sides, so there you have 6-8.

It was stated a decision would be made by early December if the league would go ahead with the idea. I don't think they could leave it much later as logistics, umpires, grounds, fixturing would all need to be in the works, and then the clubs would need to be contacted, in order for them to start gauging players, coaches, staff, etc.

If this does go ahead in 2015, proper planning and action needs to happen, as I don't think this is something that can just be started up in March, next year.
 
ItsAllAboutMe said:
Serious question, how many of your players who struggle to get a game in the 2s leave and go and play at other clubs?? If there is a lot then I agree this will kill the lower division clubs however if they simply give up playing footy then there may be merit in the idea.
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Honestly there's been a handful move to lower grade football and arguably for other reasons anyway.

There's several who still trained all year and had a crack, some who stepped away from playing footy all together and several who probably have the biggest bar tabs at the club!

I agree though it needs plenty of thought and appropriate planning so it doesn't turn into some Micky Mouse competition.
 

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ItsAllAboutMe said:
Serious question, how many of your players who struggle to get a game in the 2s leave and go and play at other clubs?? If there is a lot then I agree this will kill the lower division clubs however if they simply give up playing footy then there may be merit in the idea.
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I know at Westmeadows this year we had to clear 8 players by round 4, 5 to Jacana and 3 to Tullamarine. These were guys that were not getting a game in the 2s and just wanted to be playing every week. So cant blame them. Then we had another 4-5 players who may have only got 2-3 games and by mid way just dropped away and became supports. 3 of those 4 were from the under 18s the year before.

IF we had this competition in 2014 we probably would have retained all of those 12-13 players at the club as they would have been playing week in week out, and at the end of the day that's what its all about.
 
pieeater12 said:
I know at Westmeadows this year we had to clear 8 players by round 4, 5 to Jacana and 3 to Tullamarine. These were guys that were not getting a game in the 2s and just wanted to be playing every week. So cant blame them. Then we had another 4-5 players who may have only got 2-3 games and by mid way just dropped away and became supports. 3 of those 4 were from the under 18s the year before.

IF we had this competition in 2014 we probably would have retained all of those 12-13 players at the club as they would have been playing week in week out, and at the end of the day that's what its all about.
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And then Jacana would have struggled to field a reserves team, I would much rather have the players spread out across the 3 divisions and fielding seniors, reserves and u/18 than bring in a 3rds division.

Of the clubs that can't field u/18s do they think this might be different if EDFL moved to u/19 like VAFA
 
ItsAllAboutMe said:
And then Jacana would have struggled to field a reserves team, I would much rather have the players spread out across the 3 divisions and fielding seniors, reserves and u/18 than bring in a 3rds division.

Of the clubs that can't field u/18s do they think this might be different if EDFL moved to u/19 like VAFA
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The league are better off moving to Under 19 comp, a third senior side we impact the Div and Div 2 divisions, it will create an imbalance and skew towards the larger clubs like GV and Abers who would hold onto to players in a pool and buy in their recruits, I don't blame them in fact it is a very good strategy on their behalf to retain their home growns, but not great for the entire competition.
 
Looks like it will be going ahead.

Link

The Essendon District Football League will introduce a senior thirds division in 2015 (second reserves) and is seeking team applications from its clubs.

At present a two-year trial of the division has been approved. Currently seven teams have expressed an interest in fielding a team in the division.
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While i believe that clubs who are struggling for numbers need to take responsibility for improving their own situation, i can't help thinking that the creation of a senior thirds only makes it easier for the big clubs to grow, while making it harder for the smaller clubs to survive. I suspect that from an EDFL point of view, it is more important to keep the big clubs happy. Consequently, EDFL policy will more often that not be influenced by what the bigger clubs want. That is the way the world works. For the smaller clubs, the message is get your house in order.

Recently someone posted on bigfooty what they believed a club need to do to be successful, apologies as i cannot remember who posted this, but it was spot on so i kept a copy of it.

Being inclusive, with a strong passionate supporter base
. strong junior setup, developing kids to either play seniors or take the step to TAC/VFL/AFL
. Financially strong and not leveraged to one benefactor
. Strong female support and involvement within the club, and providing a very welcoming environment for wives, girlfriends, mums and kids to be part of the club
. Great coaching and a culture of winning.
. Up to date facilities
 

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Lethal Lee said:
The league are better off moving to Under 19 comp, a third senior side we impact the Div and Div 2 divisions, it will create an imbalance and skew towards the larger clubs like GV and Abers who would hold onto to players in a pool and buy in their recruits, I don't blame them in fact it is a very good strategy on their behalf to retain their home growns, but not great for the entire competition.
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I do agree, U19's is the way to go. Kids will stay around a lot longer and better opportunity for clubs to develop guys who take a little longer to develop, otherwise they will be lost to footy. Secondly, in a much better position to enter senior footy when their time comes.
 
So how does everyone think the thirds are going? For the first year, this seems to be going well. Clubs are getting the numbers, etc. Are there any other clubs that this could be an option for next year?
 
backtothefuture said:
Any assessment on how the competition has run this year.
Success or not ?
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Keilor really made it work for them as they shopped early with coach and arranging players.

We left our run a little late however still say it's been a great success and will continue to be in the future.

We look back at our second U18.5 team from a few years back and how much they've developed which has been a credit to the coaches involved and the support from the club. We see that as the benchmark and can really see the thirds competition being invaluable in future years.
 

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