Curious to ponder the 'excuses' that were kicking around on Mad Monday at the PD clubs who didn't make finals in 2012.
We read many cliched 'releases' from across the league in the first half of the year about 'club's on the rise' however as the reality of the season arises they tend to go very, very quiet on the press release front.
My guesses on the excuses are;
UTS - My personal favorite of the 'clubs on the rise' - 'we are too busy taking over the world and being the greatest club EVER to actually field a consistent 22 each and every week across the year in our top grade'. Wow, weren't they impressive when they were front runners against the lower half of the competition and didn't they love telling anyone who would listen. I'd heard from several sources that they were prepared to put themselves forward as premiership favorites as late as 4 weeks ago. Typical delusional eastern suburbs behavior!
Their favorite excuse 'we are an amateur club' and don't pay match payments is also getting a bit tired. The very large majority of players across the PD league do not get paid a cracker (I'd guess 85%+) and perform much better than the Bats. I believe they are keeping the 'amateur' tag simply to avoid facing the reality they aren't up to finals standard in PD. Unfortunately for the bats, it seems from their captain down, they are more focused on trying to make it into Sydney Confidential than a Sydney AFL finals series.
Sydney Hills - Simple, 'NEAFL stole our high quality players' - all respect to SHE, their club appears to be in strong shape and no doubt they will adapt quickly to their current challenges. These guys at PD have earned respect this year, although have a long way to go.
Sydney Uni - Again relatively simple, 'NEAFL stole our slightly better than average players.' But there appears to be a 'poor little old me' attitude developing in their club. Loads of excuses, not a lot of solutions. A long way back in comparison to SHE.
Illawarra - I really feel sorry for, they are a bunch of battlers who simply cannot make in roads into the competition. I admire them, but they are really struggling. Cannot see any solution on the horizon.
Campbelltown - With leaders like theirs (captain/coach), no wonder they are in the @@@@ and will be for a long, long time. Again very sad. Seem like they have a good bunch of volunteers but unfortunately not translating to on-field results.
Wests - Who knows what is going on with these guys, where do you start... Again, feel sorry for this once proud and strong club. Hopefully we see them bounce back before it is too late. This year most of their players seemed more interested in getting in a fight than an actual contest and the season results mirror that.
Best regards,
Roger Sterling.
Bookmarks