Results 1 to 6 of 6

Thread: What's the go with Nor-West this year... what happened over Summer

  1. #1

    What's the go with Nor-West this year... what happened over Summer

    Pekay... what is the go with Nor-West this year.
    Not only the top of the Ladder in both Div 3 and Div 5, but also belting the opposition.

    Is it an influx of AirForce players, locals returning or the flow through of local kids from the Under 18s a few year back?

    What ever it is a great outcome, from only 1 side last year I was worried about the future of the AFL in the Hawkesbury, but it now it looks fine.

    Would love to hear the feedback from both Pekay and those who have played Nor-West.

  2. #2
    Quote Originally Posted by Tom Wills View Post
    Pekay... what is the go with Nor-West this year.
    Not only the top of the Ladder in both Div 3 and Div 5, but also belting the opposition.

    Is it an influx of AirForce players, locals returning or the flow through of local kids from the Under 18s a few year back?

    What ever it is a great outcome, from only 1 side last year I was worried about the future of the AFL in the Hawkesbury, but it now it looks fine.

    Would love to hear the feedback from both Pekay and those who have played Nor-West.
    Would suspect it's a services influx.

    Hawkesbury have always been a cyclical club despite having a good junior setup. From time to time they get a real injection of quality from the RAAF and then they'll all be away for a full season and they struggle again. It's a demographic situation I am sure Pekay acknowledges though I guess over time as more young families move into the area the junior pathway could perhaps provide more stability

    Off all the clubs divisionalisation helps, Hawkesbury benefits the most. They are a great bunch of blokes, real battlers who love the game and their club. For nothing more than as a reward for keeping their club afloat through the hard times I'd love to see thenm win a pair of flags this year. How good would that be?

  3. #3
    Well retired, still sore Pekay's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2004
    Location
    In The Goalsquare
    Posts
    2,134
    Not so much a Services influx to be honest, we have a list of 62 for this season, and broken down as follows...

    - 35 are either returning players, or new to the club..
    broken down further, 17 are returning to Bensons Lane, from season 2012 and as far back as 2004. By returning, I mean they didn't play in 2013.

    - 18 are new to the club, with 4 of them being first year players. 3 are local juniors, one of which (Josh Edwards) is only 16 and completely fearless, just like his late brother Nick. Liam Veigel is only 18 but went over to Penrith to play 18s last year and gained some 'opens' experience with Riff's Div 5 side. Ben Jennison returns to footy after a few years off, last played under Johno at Parra 18s in 2010ish. 7 of those new to the club are ADF.

    - only 17 on our list are from Defence, be it a RAAF Squadron or Army unit on base here. Of the 40 we've used in Div 3 in the first 6 rounds, only 9 have been from the ADF (We have now lost 2 for the season as well) and 27 of those 40 have played local footy at either Nor-West, Penrith or Parra Seniors, and/or products of Quakers Hill and Hawkesbury juniors. Something we've been aiming for for many years!

    We are starting to become a bit more functional without relying on the Defence players, which is what has killed us in the past. At the end of 2012, we lost 70 odd players, mainly ADF pers being posted, deployed, on exercise etc. At the end of 2004, it was nearly 100 off our lists. They were bloody hard days to deal with, I can tell you.

    While it's only early, and with various injuries/work commitments/family commitments etc testing our depth, we're doing alright so far, giving the young blokes experience. And considering our Division 3 squad has an average age of about 23 (the 4 blokes over 30 pushing it up higher than it should be!) and mostly local blokes, it looks reasonable for the future years ahead. But......I learn not to hold my breath!

    As for new developments, there's not much going up in the Hawkesbury, so there's no new families apart from ADF pers that move to the area. We can only hope for a repeat of this year, where a lot of the new blokes are mates of existing players that thought they'd give it a crack. If they bring a mate along next year it'll make life easier. The junior part of the club, while functional, isn't as strong as you'd think, and as always, once it gets to U15/16/17/18 level, the numbers shrink. Thankfully we did have U18s in 2012, as 11 of that squad make up this years numbers. There's 2 from the RamJets days, and before that, myself from the 97-99 days.

    We'll see how the season pans out, but thanks for the wrap, much appreciated.

  4. #4
    Norris Lurker and I predicted this last summer......have a look at these two quotes.........


    Quote :--Originally Posted by Norris Lurker
    The guest list for Pekay's upcoming nuptials seems to have grown considerably - enough for NorWest to field a magoos team.

    ME--This is how it worked:-
    1. bugger all players at Norwest - Army has cleared out, no juniors, guys leaving to play at other clubs
    2. Pekay puts it out that if you sign up to play then you get invited to his wedding/pigout.
    3. stampede
    4. Norwest lodges to play a magoos team.

    Go figure......................

  5. #5
    I was at the Hawkesbury Show last weekend.

    I saw the Norwest corporate carpark full of salary-packaged Massey Fergusons;
    I saw the woodchoppers preparing the frames for the new clubroom renovations;
    I saw the pig-on-the-spit getting the feast ready for Pekay's wedding;
    I saw the stall in the Commercial Pavilion that was full of dietary supplements to soup-up the players;
    I saw the ferris wheel that they are installing on the outer wing so the spectators and corporates get the best possible view
    and I saw the young blokes buying showbags full of the five food groups (sugars, salts, cholesterols, fats and free radicals).

    It's all happening out at Norwest but Pekay's just playing a straight bat.
    Last edited by justabaraker; 14th May 2014 at 07:58 PM.

  6. #6
    Well retired, still sore Pekay's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2004
    Location
    In The Goalsquare
    Posts
    2,134
    You aren't coming...

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Single Sign On provided by vBSSO