The Annual Player & Coach Merry-Go-Round

[Norris Lurker]

The teams in each division have been announced. Overall we've got a net increase of three open-age teams - Illawarra are out of Div 1; but Blacktown, Camden & Balmain are fielding a thirds team and Penno a fourths.
Penno also have a second Under 19s team - to field two new teams, they must be having some seriously good numbers at pre-season training.
Blacktown fielding a womens team. Balmain's Under 19s are back, and a new South Coast Under 19s team.

Overall, more teams than ever before; and that's got to be a good thing.

[justabaraker]

Tell you what's NOT a good thing... poor old Campbelltown can't seem to take a trick. They are the epicentre for the AFL's grand push into Greater Western Sydney but they just seem to get worse and worse.
Last year they had PD and Div4 teams and that's a helluva gulf when you're trying to promote players and bring them back from injury and form slumps. Now we read that three of their PD players have jumped ship, preferring to play Div2 for Camden.

If only they could get Geoffrey Edelston to set up another local medical practice then they could rewind the clock and have it ALL happen again for them.

[muddybulldog]

St.George nominated a second under 19's side and it was rejected!

[Nuttsy]

Tell you what's NOT a good thing... poor old Campbelltown can't seem to take a trick. They are the epicentre for the AFL's grand push into Greater Western Sydney but they just seem to get worse and worse.
Last year they had PD and Div4 teams and that's a helluva gulf when you're trying to promote players and bring them back from injury and form slumps. Now we read that three of their PD players have jumped ship, preferring to play Div2 for Camden.

If only they could get Geoffrey Edelston to set up another local medical practice then they could rewind the clock and have it ALL happen again for them.

Dont believe everything you read or hear justa. One of the guys that left is a Prems player the other 2 are Reserves players. One played the last game of the season and the other played half a dozen when they had injuries etc. Still a loss but not a disaster by any stretch

[Chicken Legs]

Dont believe everything you read or hear justa. One of the guys that left is a Prems player the other 2 are Reserves players. One played the last game of the season and the other played half a dozen when they had injuries etc. Still a loss but not a disaster by any stretch

Rumour is that this is the first three to leave with many more to follow suit. Regardless of skill level the culture out at Camden seems to be on track for bigger and better things ahead.

They have picked up possibly the best Coach in Western Sydney, were unlucky not to get the 19's (again) and have a hard working committe that is building a culture.

That area is the fastest growing area in Australia ATM and I have heard talk of another Bruce Purser out at Camden.

Is there room for two Premier Division clubs in the MacArthur Region in years to come??

[DLH]

They have picked up possibly the best Coach in Western Sydney, were unlucky not to get the 19's (again) and have a hard working committe that is building a culture.

Isn't this the same bloke who took Manly and Balmain to wooden spoons?

[Footy Barista]

The way i see it is Camden are looking to take over Campbelltown however i hear campbelltown on an annual basis have a significant amount of money keeping them alive.....i dont think there is enough room for two premier division clubs in the macarthur region however who knows things do change quickly look at Manly ....i think camden should focus on winning div 2 first before they think about premier division but they seem to be doing the right things...

[Footy Barista]

Isn't this the same bloke who took Manly and Balmain to wooden spoons?

correct.....i also heard he got the sack from nth shore ressies after winning the premiership

[radar oreilly]

Dont believe everything you read or hear justa. One of the guys that left is a Prems player the other 2 are Reserves players. One played the last game of the season and the other played half a dozen when they had injuries etc. Still a loss but not a disaster by any stretch

Don't believe everything you read? You contradict yourself Nuttsy. When is a Premier Division player not a Premier Division player? When they play for Campbelltown? or if they play because of injuries or lack of players? You say yourself that they all played premier division and the article that I assume justa is referring to mentions that all 3 had premier div experience. I'd say any game in prems is something to aspire to even it is for The Mighty Campbelltown. Or is it just that whoever runs Campbelltown always seems to insult the players that leave the club (and lets be honest there has been a mountain of em in the last couple of years)

[saviour01]

How come penno got to add another 19s team and St George didn't?

[The Student]

Student, dow does the mechanism for the players that don't make the neafl squad each week function? Does each player nominate a team? Does this also include the rookie listed players?

Any players new to the club in 2015 and moving forward will be assigned to a club - how that is done I don't know. Any players who are already at the club are allowed to play PD. There are a few other qualifiers for new players being able to play PD, one of them is that if you are a current student at USyd or have a degree from USyd. Can't remember the others but they're in the document on the AFL website.

As for Academy kids I think it goes Swans, Rams, Uni, Syd AFL club. But I could have misinterpreted that.

[hug7559]

correct.....i also heard he got the sack from nth shore ressies after winning the premiership

Thanks for the kinds words guys, this being my first post on the forum. Just a few corrections to previous posts.

As for coaches in Western Sydney, there are a number of really good coaches and some that are applying their trade within the junior ranks before hopefully taking the senior step, I've worked with some over the last two years at the GWS Academy. As for wooden spoons, definitely not for those two clubs, but I have had a wooden spoon for a club that was the precursor to the Penrith U/18's. And yes, you are correct in that I was sacked after North Shore Ressies won the GF, technically I was sacked the day before, but they needed a coach on the day. I have also been the Sydney U23's coach for the last three years, which was fantastic to be a part of and showed the talents of a number of young footballers from some fantastic clubs within our fantastic league.

As for Camden, you are definitely correct in saying that we need to focus on Div 2 before we can do anything else. Is it not true that all clubs want to expand, we do and being in the part of NSW that is the biggest growing of anywhere in Australia, we are going to try and tap into that market, without a doubt.

We definitely have a good culture at Camden and we will be endeavouring to make our mark during 2015 on field, as our off field presence now is. Will we succeed? who knows but we will give it a shake just as every other team in the league will be doing, thats one of the reasons we play footy.

As for Campbelltown, we are not specifically poaching players off of them, we have opted to talk with players from a number of clubs with the mindset of expanding our depth and providing players with an alternative within their football careers. As you are all aware, Campbelltown have an U19's team and we have directed players to that team if they are of the right age, so we are not against them.

Thanks