VAFA General Discussion 2022-2023-2024

[Chief]

Hi all.

Aucklander and I have had a couple of runs through recent posts in this thread and removed a few unsavoury comments.

The usual griping and gossip is par for the course, but some posts go overboard.

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[The Defender]

It might be possible to say that 3rds and 19s might be cancelled for a round here and there and those players topping up firsts and 2nds etc

Agree some of u19’s, 3rds, 2nds games will be cancelled.

 

[eth-dog]

You don't need six on the bench. Players aren't going to collapse midfield from a sudden attack of covid.

What you do need is the ability to list extra names on the teamsheet to cover last-minute withdrawals to make up the 22.

You can already name 28 on a teamsheet, but I see your point.

 

[Gia77]

You don't need six on the bench. Players aren't going to collapse midfield from a sudden attack of covid.

What you do need is the ability to list extra names on the teamsheet to cover last-minute withdrawals to make up the 22.

No, they will not collapse from a sudden attack of Covid, I think that's pretty obvious. But there'll be a very real possibility that 1 or 2 players on any given day (from Friday to Saturday morning) that will wake up and not feel particularly well. If they withdraw from the match for safety reasons, then you would still have 3 to 4 players on the bench anyway as a minimum. More match day depth means teams will still be competitive.

 

[bedford]

Has Footy Vic done anything about Ian Aitkin ?

 

[Gia77]

Has Footy Vic done anything about Ian Aitkin ?

I think you (and all of us) already know the answer to that

 

[bedford]

I think you (and all of us) already know the answer to that

Nothing probably it's weak as piss

 

[HedgeFund]

Spitballin' here but is it time the VAFA looked at some extra contingency plans re the 2022 season. There is a reasonable chance that clubs will be hti the players having to isolate etc. Is it time to extend the bench of each side within a club (seniors, ressies and clubbies) to 6 players?

Genuine chance only St Kevin’s will survive in the competition if that were the case.

More likely they would REDUCE the number of players required to field a side.

 

[Hippster]

Has Footy Vic done anything about Ian Aitkin ?

Like giving the matchday magician an award? The Prince of promotion doesn’t need this type of accolade. He’s happy to just fly under the radar. Ripping guy!

 

[bedford]

Like giving the matchday magician an award? The Prince of promotion doesn’t need this type of accolade. He’s happy to just fly under the radar. Ripping guy!

If you think that , you have serious issues . Majority rules

 

[Over The Post]

facepalm.jpg

 

[Hippster]

If you think that , you have serious issues . Majority rules

What 6 people banging on about him on bigfooty?? Thousands adore the bloke. Like Lethal and Clarko…triple premiership coaches (in a row) dont grow on trees. And he entered all matches with weaker lists IMO. But the matchday magician….
Wowskees..
Cheers Hipp.

 

[Over The Post]

Enjoying the off season, are we Hippy?

 

[Hippster]

I had a mad moment of boredom. Thanks for pulling me out of it.
Bit worried about the season OTP. Fingers crossed. We all deserve some great Ammos footy and some footy tipping on here. Cheers.

 

[AM]

I had a mad moment of boredom. Thanks for pulling me out of it.
Bit worried about the season OTP. Fingers crossed. We all deserve some great Ammos footy and some footy tipping on here. Cheers.

Oh, the irony Hippy. I was so looking forward to hearing the redeeming features of the love of your VAFA life too. Sans his coaching of course which goes without speaking. Never mind, I'm sure it'll crop up again in time. Along with the heady mix of Claret and Stout goss. vandenBerg, Delany, and Ambrose should ensure your boys are the team to beat in 22. A Claret and Stout v Fields GF is where the informed cash is going according to my Canadian Hippbet source. Can't wait.

 

[Hippster]

Oh, the irony Hippy. I was so looking forward to hearing the redeeming features of the love of your VAFA life too. Sans his coaching of course which goes without speaking. Never mind, I'm sure it'll crop up again in time. Along with the heady mix of Claret and Stout goss. vandenBerg, Delany, and Ambrose should ensure your boys are the team to beat in 22. A Claret and Stout v Fields GF is where the informed cash is going according to my Canadian Hippbet source. Can't wait.

Cheers AM..Yes it would be silly to think it wouldn’t crop up yet again at some stage. Dandy of you to bring back memories of our old friend Canada. A real overlord of the odds that one!
Big early $ on Hippbet has been for Caulfield. Huge $. SKOBAFL and then the Xmen round out a dominant top 3. Should be a ripper.

 

[bedford]

Cheers AM..Yes it would be silly to think it wouldn’t crop up yet again at some stage. Dandy of you to bring back memories of our old friend Canada. A real overlord of the odds that one!
Big early $ on Hippbet has been for Caulfield. Huge $. SKOBAFL and then the Xmen round out a dominant top 3. Should be a ripper.

EPL

 

[Mike Olotripo]

EPL

Thanks for another totally un-original comment.

Blues fading early in the betting markets, they've gone from $11 out to $19
Scotch a big outsider at $101
OMs mid field with not much movement in their starting price of $34

 

[bedford]

Thanks for another totally un-original comment.

Blues fading early in the betting markets, they've gone from $11 out to $19
Scotch a big outsider at $101
OMs mid field with not much movement in their starting price of $34

The truth hurts , clubs lower down have no hope .

 

[Keano15]

The truth hurts , clubs lower down have no hope .

If you think there isn't any hope and convince other there isn't, then you'll probably find your right.

 

[bedford]

If you think there isn't any hope and convince other there isn't, then you'll probably find your right.

It seems to be the feeing around the traps , personally i'd never give up , but for local clubs it's so hard . Beaumaris is a perfect example , they got there but can't survive against the big school clubs networks . The only way is to limit how many teams a club can have .

 

[Jimmyjack]

It seems to be the feeing around the traps , personally i'd never give up , but for local clubs it's so hard . Beaumaris is a perfect example , they got there but can't survive against the big school clubs networks . The only way is to limit how many teams a club can have .

Hate to say it but Bedders is right and the chasm is growing larger every year. Clubs’ at the pointy end work incredibly hard to recruit but only a select few have those sort of networks or the capacity to recruit multiple ex AFL/VFL types to their clubs each year. When we moved away from relying primarily on school leavers or aligned juniors the comp changed forever. We can accept it. Even embrace it. But it doesn’t mean everyone has to like it. I know I don’t.

My own club has fought well about its weight division for decades. However in a few years we will be an entrenched mid-tier club. On occasions we might spend an uncompetitive year or two in the top grades but soon enough we will find our level and go the same way as Parade, Mazenod and Whitefriars. St Bedes will be heading south with us and had we gone the journey in 2021 were in peril of being relegated anyway. St Bernards, by virtue of location and school size will fight the fight for a bit longer but in time the same fate will befall them. In a few years A grade will be the APS schools plus the 2 Melbourne Uni clubs with the odd 'guest appearance' from an AGS or ACC aligned club.

In our case there are several reasons we will be a B-D club. Primarily the sheer number of students compared the big boys and the fact the elite talent gets picked off by the APS schools around years 8-10. But the biggest impediment is that we simply can’t compete with the networks of the elite schools or blue blood uni’s.

The latest iteration of Brian Speaking may point out that the St Kevin’s team that played the 2019 GF had 18 old boys. This is correct but they got hammered by a club with 10 or 11 ex AFL players, eligible through a compromised points system. Again using St Kevin’s as an example in recent times (and this is just off the top of my head) they have managed to recruit ex AFL players including Waite, Boyd, Gilham, Salopek, Gysberts, Arnot, Strauss, Bail, Jamar and Brown. There are probably more but my point is none of them attended St. Kevin’s. Not picking on SKOB. They have worked bloody hard and have turned their club around but only a handful of clubs have the connections to do this.

Of the current B grade crop only Uni Blacks and maybe Haileybury have any possibility of having a sustained run and competing in A grade. And in the case of OH they would need a lot to go right for this to happen.

So we might scoff at Bedders and his comparisons to the EPL but he is absolutely spot on.

 

[HedgeFund]

Hate to say it but Bedders is right and the chasm is growing larger every year. Clubs’ at the pointy end work incredibly hard to recruit but only a select few have those sort of networks or the capacity to recruit multiple ex AFL/VFL types to their clubs each year. When we moved away from relying primarily on school leavers or aligned juniors the comp changed forever. We can accept it. Even embrace it. But it doesn’t mean everyone has to like it. I know I don’t.

My own club has fought well about its weight division for decades. However in a few years we will be an entrenched mid-tier club. On occasions we might spend an uncompetitive year or two in the top grades but soon enough we will find our level and go the same way as Parade, Mazenod and Whitefriars. St Bedes will be heading south with us and had we gone the journey in 2021 were in peril of being relegated anyway. St Bernards, by virtue of location and school size will fight the fight for a bit longer but in time the same fate will befall them. In a few years A grade will be the APS schools plus the 2 Melbourne Uni clubs with the odd 'guest appearance' from an AGS or ACC aligned club.

In our case there are several reasons we will be a B-D club. Primarily the sheer number of students compared the big boys and the fact the elite talent gets picked off by the APS schools around years 8-10. But the biggest impediment is that we simply can’t compete with the networks of the elite schools or blue blood uni’s.

The latest iteration of Brian Speaking may point out that the St Kevin’s team that played the 2019 GF had 18 old boys. This is correct but they got hammered by a club with 10 or 11 ex AFL players, eligible through a compromised points system. Again using St Kevin’s as an example in recent times (and this is just off the top of my head) they have managed to recruit ex AFL players including Waite, Boyd, Gilham, Salopek, Gysberts, Arnot, Strauss, Bail, Jamar and Brown. There are probably more but my point is none of them attended St. Kevin’s. Not picking on SKOB. They have worked bloody hard and have turned their club around but only a handful of clubs have the connections to do this.

Of the current B grade crop only Uni Blacks and maybe Haileybury have any possibility of having a sustained run and competing in A grade. And in the case of OH they would need a lot to go right for this to happen.

So we might scoff at Bedders and his comparisons to the EPL but he is absolutely spot on.

Wait…..are you suggesting……

Brian Speaking returned to this board under…..a different alias?

 

[Over The Post]

No, he hasn't. No point flogging that particular dead horse.

I daresay if the lure of the VAFA board proves irresistible closer to the season opener, his return will be obvious to all.

 

[Jascave]

Hate to say it but Bedders is right and the chasm is growing larger every year. Clubs’ at the pointy end work incredibly hard to recruit but only a select few have those sort of networks or the capacity to recruit multiple ex AFL/VFL types to their clubs each year. When we moved away from relying primarily on school leavers or aligned juniors the comp changed forever. We can accept it. Even embrace it. But it doesn’t mean everyone has to like it. I know I don’t.

My own club has fought well about its weight division for decades. However in a few years we will be an entrenched mid-tier club. On occasions we might spend an uncompetitive year or two in the top grades but soon enough we will find our level and go the same way as Parade, Mazenod and Whitefriars. St Bedes will be heading south with us and had we gone the journey in 2021 were in peril of being relegated anyway. St Bernards, by virtue of location and school size will fight the fight for a bit longer but in time the same fate will befall them. In a few years A grade will be the APS schools plus the 2 Melbourne Uni clubs with the odd 'guest appearance' from an AGS or ACC aligned club.

In our case there are several reasons we will be a B-D club. Primarily the sheer number of students compared the big boys and the fact the elite talent gets picked off by the APS schools around years 8-10. But the biggest impediment is that we simply can’t compete with the networks of the elite schools or blue blood uni’s.

The latest iteration of Brian Speaking may point out that the St Kevin’s team that played the 2019 GF had 18 old boys. This is correct but they got hammered by a club with 10 or 11 ex AFL players, eligible through a compromised points system. Again using St Kevin’s as an example in recent times (and this is just off the top of my head) they have managed to recruit ex AFL players including Waite, Boyd, Gilham, Salopek, Gysberts, Arnot, Strauss, Bail, Jamar and Brown. There are probably more but my point is none of them attended St. Kevin’s. Not picking on SKOB. They have worked bloody hard and have turned their club around but only a handful of clubs have the connections to do this.

Of the current B grade crop only Uni Blacks and maybe Haileybury have any possibility of having a sustained run and competing in A grade. And in the case of OH they would need a lot to go right for this to happen.

So we might scoff at Bedders and his comparisons to the EPL but he is absolutely spot on.

So what are the odds of district clubs like Hampton Rovers, Ormond and Beaumaris ever getting into Premier/A Section in the future?

 

[Jimmyjack]

So what are the odds of district clubs like Hampton Rovers, Ormond and Beaumaris ever getting into Premier/A Section in the future?

By virtue of having one of the biggest junior clubs in the state and a good retention rate of juniors into seniors Beaumaris are a good chance to play Premier. They were one of 4 stand out B grade clubs this season and who knows, had the season run its course they may have got promoted this year. They have had a few tastes in recent years but never threatened and have only lasted a year, maybe two each time. The others you mentioned? In the current environment they have zero chance. Willy might be a smokey. Strong U19s who play in Premier division and plenty of juniors coming through but depth was poor from what I saw this season.