Wimmera Football League

[Sockit151]

I am sick of people lwho come from lower leagues bagging higher leagues and when they keep saying it has dropped! yeah the wimmera leage may have dropped but is head and shoulders above Mininera! Ararat would have given tatyoon a fair run for its money last year and i would have had my money on Ararat, how would have tatyoon matched up players like Bligh, Jackson, Turner, Antonio, Tucker, Gibson, Wearing, McLoughlan, Jon Jess, Wilson, Tatyoon don't have the fire power to keep players like above quiet!

I think everyone realises that the Wimmera is the #1 league in this area, but i agree the comment made by the Ararat GM did his cause no good!!
The wheel continues to turn and always will, he said he was happy to feed off these clubs when it suited them, but gave district clubs no respect at all in return..
I can see that they are worried about the health of their club and i'm not saying they shouldn't fight to keep their list intact, but he did it all the wrong way IMO!!

 

[Rat_attack]

I agree with magic! when you side is loosing so many players you don't come out in the papers and get stuck into them and the clubs they are going to, ararat does not have a good name around the traps and this wont help! when are they going to wake up to themselfs and pull there heads in? if they continue to do this no1 will want to play for them which is disappointing because young local footballers should head there to try play at the best standard but if they are going to cop all this flack when leaving why would they bother going there in the first place!

 

[MightyRoar]

I am sick of people lwho come from lower leagues bagging higher leagues and when they keep saying it has dropped! yeah the wimmera leage may have dropped but is head and shoulders above Mininera! Ararat would have given tatyoon a fair run for its money last year and i would have had my money on Ararat, how would have tatyoon matched up players like Bligh, Jackson, Turner, Antonio, Tucker, Gibson, Wearing, McLoughlan, Jon Jess, Wilson, Tatyoon don't have the fire power to keep players like above quiet!

I dont think people from lower leagues are bagging higher leagues, they are simply making a point that the standard appears to have dropped over the years. You do make a good point about the fact that Ararat would have given Tatyoon a fair run for its money last season, cause I dont think there is any doubt that Ararat would have won the battle, but Tatyoon and the better teams in lower leagues would be more than competitive against half the sides in the Wimmera League.

The same goes for a lot of the country type leagues around the state, over the past 10 or so years the standard of football has dropped and will no doubt continue to, due to the lack of numbers that there are.

 

[McCleanMagic]

Thats right i am just trying to say that kids leaving arent dropping that much in standard. Look at Tatyoon some players that played senior football for Ararat when they were stronger are: Jason James, Andrew Ward, Sonny Walton, Doug Walton, Chris Milne, Shane Hitchcock, Ash Bryant, Zander McDougall, Danny Patton, Rich King. Andrew Healy played years for Stawell in the Wimmera. Damian Cameron and Sean McDougall have both played football for North Ballarat. That just goes to show that the depth is there in the lower leagues.

 

[RAZZAMATAZZ]

Thats right i am just trying to say that kids leaving arent dropping that much in standard. Look at Tatyoon some players that played senior football for Ararat when they were stronger are: Jason James, Andrew Ward, Sonny Walton, Doug Walton, Chris Milne, Shane Hitchcock, Ash Bryant, Zander McDougall, Danny Patton, Rich King. Andrew Healy played years for Stawell in the Wimmera. Damian Cameron and Sean McDougall have both played football for North Ballarat. That just goes to show that the depth is there in the lower leagues.

That is because they are dropping from a Wimmera league team to the strongest team in the Mininera! is your above statement stand for playing going to moyston and the ararat eagles???

 

[McCleanMagic]

That is because they are dropping from a Wimmera league team to the strongest team in the Mininera! is your above statement stand for playing going to moyston and the ararat eagles???

Sorry, you are correct razzamataz. I am applying that the top half of lower leagues arent that bad. but the lower teams are that far off you wouldnt bother going to play them.

 

[RAZZAMATAZZ]

Sorry, you are correct razzamataz. I am applying that the top half of lower leagues arent that bad. but the lower teams are that far off you wouldnt bother going to play them.

Yeah but thats the thing, there is a lot of blokes leaving ararat for moyston for the cash being thrown around! i know of one player who was playing for anyone as long as they paid him the $200 he was asking for! and he isn't even worth $200! where is footy heading!

 

[Sockit151]

Yeah but thats the thing, there is a lot of blokes leaving ararat for moyston for the cash being thrown around! i know of one player who was playing for anyone as long as they paid him the $200 he was asking for! and he isn't even worth $200! where is footy heading!

Agree that money is screwing the game but what are Moyston supposed to do..
You guys have said in this discussion that if their on the bottom why would you bother playing for them? They are trying to get off the bottom and have a go and you still knock them? Maybe if players didn't just jump ship when things were down this situation wouldn't arise?

 

[MightyRoar]

Yeah but thats the thing, there is a lot of blokes leaving ararat for moyston for the cash being thrown around! i know of one player who was playing for anyone as long as they paid him the $200 he was asking for! and he isn't even worth $200! where is footy heading!

Totally true from what I have heard Razza. I believe players have gone to Moyston for money when really they aren't worth a pinch of Sh#t. Unfortunatley money is ruining footy nowadays, clubs are forking out the dollars just so they can survive, rather than paying a player because he is worth it. However not all the kids wishing to leave the Ararat Football Club r leaving for money, as I believe the kids wishing to move onto Great Western aren't going for money, as has been indicated in previous posts!!

You are also spot on Magic in that the players that r wishing to leave aren't dropping that much in standard which gets back to what has been said about the drop in standard in the Wimmera League over the past few years.

 

[BETON5]

Thats right i am just trying to say that kids leaving arent dropping that much in standard. Look at Tatyoon some players that played senior football for Ararat when they were stronger are: Jason James, Andrew Ward, Sonny Walton, Doug Walton, Chris Milne, Shane Hitchcock, Ash Bryant, Zander McDougall, Danny Patton, Rich King. Andrew Healy played years for Stawell in the Wimmera. Damian Cameron and Sean McDougall have both played football for North Ballarat. That just goes to show that the depth is there in the lower leagues.

The only players you named there that have any go in them are james,2 waltons,milne hitchy,healy and cameron the other 3 arent much chop.However you do have a point.

 

[Rat_attack]

Thats right i am just trying to say that kids leaving arent dropping that much in standard. Look at Tatyoon some players that played senior football for Ararat when they were stronger are: Jason James, Andrew Ward, Sonny Walton, Doug Walton, Chris Milne, Shane Hitchcock, Ash Bryant, Zander McDougall, Danny Patton, Rich King. Andrew Healy played years for Stawell in the Wimmera. Damian Cameron and Sean McDougall have both played football for North Ballarat. That just goes to show that the depth is there in the lower leagues.

Jame's Ward Hitchcock and the waltons cut it at senior level when ararat were strong but as for the others, milne, Mcdougall,Patton,King and bryant only played a hanful of senior games and spent most of there time in the ararat 2's! hence some of those blokes playing in a 2's flag for ararat! As for Cameron and Mcdougall cameron only played a couple ofgames for the rebels and same with Mcdougall who played later in the year, but he could make a name for himself signing with the VFL side Rooster this year! hope he gets over his ankle injury and has a good year

 

[RAZZAMATAZZ]

Did anyone happen to catch fridays Ararat Advertiser? what a load of rot that was put in the paper! who comes out and says all that stuff and more to the point who would write it in there in the first place! do they want to see there local footy side fold! this Henry Dalkin who writes in the paper is a fool! If only he would use his head before writing articles that help destroy clubs more! All this has done has made the club more unpopular which is what it doesn't need at the moment!!

 

[Leather Magnet]

Henry is no fan of Ararat.

 

[journeyman]

Did anyone happen to catch fridays Ararat Advertiser? what a load of rot that was put in the paper! who comes out and says all that stuff and more to the point who would write it in there in the first place! do they want to see there local footy side fold! this Henry Dalkin who writes in the paper is a fool! If only he would use his head before writing articles that help destroy clubs more! All this has done has made the club more unpopular which is what it doesn't need at the moment!!

What was said???

 

[RAZZAMATAZZ]

What was said???

Henry Interviewed a bloke from the ararat footy club that has been there 5min with no credibility at all, They went on to bag other local clubs around ararat and about how many players are leaving ararat, with some of the players that have been named to be leaving not even leaving at all! This henry bloke needs to leave his own opinion out of the paper and write the facts! he has done this for a while and it needs to stop! Give the club a break!

 

[McCleanMagic]

Jame's Ward Hitchcock and the waltons cut it at senior level when ararat were strong but as for the others, milne, Mcdougall,Patton,King and bryant only played a hanful of senior games and spent most of there time in the ararat 2's! hence some of those blokes playing in a 2's flag for ararat! As for Cameron and Mcdougall cameron only played a couple ofgames for the rebels and same with Mcdougall who played later in the year, but he could make a name for himself signing with the VFL side Rooster this year! hope he gets over his ankle injury and has a good year

Hey Rat Attack, hows thing goin!! Well mate you should know that Patton and McDougall both played more seniors than reserves and King would of been half and half. So you cant say that they only played a handful of ones games and mostly in the two's. I think you would of seen d. cameron run around and you could say he is one of the best young footballers in the region. Sean Mcdougall would of played rebels finals but an injury ruined that. I hope he has a good year too.

 

[Rat_attack]

Hey Rat Attack, hows thing goin!! Well mate you should know that Patton and McDougall both played more seniors than reserves and King would of been half and half. So you cant say that they only played a handful of ones games and mostly in the two's. I think you would of seen d. cameron run around and you could say he is one of the best young footballers in the region. Sean Mcdougall would of played rebels finals but an injury ruined that. I hope he has a good year too.

Patton played half and half cos he had alot of injuries and when he did play 1's he did spend a lot of time on the pine! good player though! and as for McDougall he wasnt at ararat when they were strong!

 

[Dalks]

Hi all, nice forum you’ve got here

Ararat Football Club has a few issues, the biggest one is that they seem to have trouble showing each player on their list the same respect they show their stars.
Ararat’s problems are the biggest sporting news in town at the moment, of course the paper is going to cover them.
The opinions about players leaving were that of Ararat general manager Graham Jones and the chairman Trevor McKinnis. Don’t shoot the messenger!!!
Yep, I’m the one who wrote the story but I was simply putting across the comments that the Ararat Football Club wanted in the paper.

" " quotation marks RAZZAMATAZZ - we use them to show that someone else is talking.

I’ll emphasize that again – THE CLUB WANTED TO PUT ITS OPINION IN THE PAPER.

To RAZZAMATAZZ – Which part of the story was my own opinion? None of it mate, I just quoted them on the things they said, right or wrong.
Just remember chairman Trevor McKinnis said some controversial stuff too and he’s been there for 40 years.
The Rats pay Mr Jones a lot of money to be GM so obviously the committee thinks he’s important.

Jones and McKinnis could have easily said "everything will sort itself out" and left it at that but instead they wanted to rant and rave about players leaving and blaming everyone else but themselves.
I have heard dozens of Ararat footballers over the past few years complain about how they don’t feel appreciated at Ararat. For example, several members of the Ararat reserve premiership side of 2006 have said president McKinnis and most of the committee never offered them any congratulations, I’ve heard the same from under-17 2006 premiers.
I know its small but these guys are a bit cut up now that McKinnis and co are telling them they can’t leave the club when last year they didn’t even know their names.
Its just an example, there’s 1001 other reasons for players wanting to leave, and as much as Ararat claims its about money - most of it isn’t from what I can gather.

Henry Dalkin isn’t a fan of Ararat?
I’ve held a club membership for the past three seasons, a lot of my family has played football with the club, and The Ararat Advertiser is one of the club’s biggest financial sponsors.
Like most other Ararat residents, I happen to be very proud of Ararat Football Club’s history and achievements,
I hope the backlash to Friday’s coverage will make Ararat FC think a bit harder about making life hard for players coming up through the ranks who decide to try their luck elsewhere.

Clubs don’t own players – Ararat officials decided they wanted to go on the record in the hope they could somehow dictate players’ decisions…They could have put things completely differently but that was the line they wanted to take and now the club is suffering.

I just hope the people around Ararat who actually care about the club will stand up and tell these officials to make some changes and tell them its not OK to sit at Alexandra Oval waving a big stick saying "you cant leave but players can leave other clubs to play here."

An interesting side note: Graham Jones’ son Ben has put in for a clearance from Moyston/Willaura to Ararat…I wonder if the Pumas will clear him?

RAZZAMATAZZ wrote: "Henry Interviewed a bloke from the ararat footy club that has been there 5min with no credibility at all, They went on to bag other local clubs around ararat and about how many players are leaving ararat, with some of the players that have been named to be leaving not even leaving at all! This henry bloke needs to leave his own opinion out of the paper and write the facts! he has done this for a while and it needs to stop! Give the club a break!"

Again, none of that story was my opinion, all I write is the info clubs give me.
The players who I said might be leaving were players Ararat confirmed might be leaving.
If they want to bag clubs, alienate players and annoy people that’s their problem…don’t get their opinion confused with mine. I personally think some of the things Graham Jones said were not really thought out and I urged him to reconsider a few of his comments but he wanted to do things his way – power to him, now he's in hot water.

Here’s a thought RAZZAMATAZZ – don’t attack me for relaying Ararat FCs comments to the public. You sound a bit like the Rats blaming everyone else when Ararat FC is who is doing the silly stuff.
Here’s another thought – Perhaps you could take on the role of Ararat president next year and come introduce yourself to me and see if you want to pay me out then.

 

[McCleanMagic]

Your right mate ararat has gone the wrong way about everything. Your only recognised when your playing seniors and their is a large part of their culture that needs changing now!!! Graham Jones is just adding wood to the fire by bagging the other teams. Maybe Ararat should take some notice of these smaller clubs and learn a thing or two. Ararat have some very hard working people that are great blokes it is just a pitty there are a few idiots that bring them all down

 

[Flick Pass]

Henry Interviewed a bloke from the ararat footy club that has been there 5min with no credibility at all, They went on to bag other local clubs around ararat and about how many players are leaving ararat, with some of the players that have been named to be leaving not even leaving at all! This henry bloke needs to leave his own opinion out of the paper and write the facts! he has done this for a while and it needs to stop! Give the club a break!

Interesting reading Henry's reply, the article and other information placed on the thread. If a club was to loose that number of players the club would need to have a good hard look at itself, for a club to be successful they need to get it right off field and with some of the comments in the Ararat Addy maybe the club have it wrong.But there is something very wrong.

 

[RAZZAMATAZZ]

Mr Dalkin, thanks for your input, if you are such a fan of ararat football club why would you put details in the article that are incorrect and make them look bad! i think we both no that a young footballer leaving ararat to go to tatyoon wont effect his chances of playing with the north ballarat rebels, You being the main sports journalist at the ararat advertiser should no that this is incorrect, why put it in if you know it is not true, thought you would have the power to edit comments to at least try and help the club out a little bit, all that has done has made the club look worse, Yes the club is in trouble at the moment and there needs to be some changes but why continue to kick them while they are down?? Take some responsibility for the articles you write instead of just saying you put what those people say! Use your head Mr Dalkin! Dont put it in there if it isn't true, just causes more trouble, as a result this time it has made the rebels come out and have a crack at the club!!!!

 

[McCleanMagic]

So after all that has been said about the club how are they moving forward? Who have they signed? They are playing against modewarre in a praccy match arent they? will they fill a two's side?

 

[Rat_attack]

Would have to agree with Razzamatazz here Dalks!

 

[Dalks]

Mr Dalkin, thanks for your input, if you are such a fan of ararat football club why would you put details in the article that are incorrect and make them look bad! i think we both no that a young footballer leaving ararat to go to tatyoon wont effect his chances of playing with the north ballarat rebels, You being the main sports journalist at the ararat advertiser should no that this is incorrect, why put it in if you know it is not true, thought you would have the power to edit comments to at least try and help the club out a little bit, all that has done has made the club look worse, Yes the club is in trouble at the moment and there needs to be some changes but why continue to kick them while they are down?? Take some responsibility for the articles you write instead of just saying you put what those people say! Use your head Mr Dalkin! Dont put it in there if it isn't true, just causes more trouble, as a result this time it has made the rebels come out and have a crack at the club!!!!

I had to do a story about the huge number of players who are considering leaving Ararat, like I said it is the most talked about thing in sport at the moment.
So how do you a do a story about it? I decided to ask AFC officials the reasons for the exodus, thats what they gave me. I can't make up reasons for them if their reasons suck.
I can't write a story saying "AFC is going great guns" when they're clearly not.
The article didn't make untrue statements, it made true statements about the feelings of Ararat officials.
I have a responsibility to report the news, it was Ararat's responsibility to handle the situation properly.
Yep the Rebels have come out and had a crack at the club. Are you going to tell me I shouldn't have published that too?

Again I'll say - The details of the story aren't incorrect, they are correct representations of what Ararat officials believed to be true.

I think people who didn't understand why players wanted to leave Ararat would now have a pretty good idea why after reading the officials' statements.
Why would I leave out comments that show Mr Jones and Mr McKinnis' true feelings? I don't see how that would help the club at all, it would just leave the club's problems there to fester instead of having light shone upon them for people to do something about.

 

[RAZZAMATAZZ]

If you hadn't of stated incorrect information about the young footballer leaving to tatyoon effecting his chances of playing with the rebels then the North Ballarat Football club wouldn't have to reply and have a crack at the club! But in reading your articles this is what you like to do, stir up trouble! Where did that McAloon bloke go?? Bring him back