Originally Posted by Footy Barista
I reckon if they won a spoon, it'd be sterling silver.
I reckon if they won a spoon, it'd be sterling silver.
They probably have, but not for a very long time.
Edit - Went through the records. Their last was in 1996.
Last edited by Norris Lurker; 3rd June 2015 at 11:45 AM.
Disappointing to be told that Balmain has pulled out of the Under 19 Div 2 competition as of this week. Leaves only 7 teams in the competition with most of them struggling to field full squads.
We only have 14 clubs fielding teams in Under 19 football in Sydney, (Penno have teams in both Divisions). Somewhere between 300 and 350 participants at this age in Australia's most populated city leaves a lot to be desired. The success of Swans and GWS is masking some real problems at grass roots level.
The transition from under 18s to under 19's has really hurt the competition. Who knows the reasoning for it initially however I suspect someone happy to point out KPIS in junior retention in justifying their existence may be to blame.
For clubs in areas that struggle with 18/19's the problem but raising the age has only accentuated the issue. How many kids in the last year of 19's have taken a trade and are now required to work Sat Mornings? If they had moved to senior footy in almost all grades the earliest they would play is 12 generally. I have lost a number of kids for the year due to this and every week its hit a miss depending on start times. Happy for people to say Im wrong if they use something to support their arguments.
I am sure a big part of it is the transistion from 18's to 19's.
First of year out of 17's a lot of kids are doing HSC etc.
But also if you track the fall off from 12's though the age groups the numbers decline each year.
I think you will see a pick up in 19's numbers next year as the kids who are in the "second" year of the age transition come back to the fold.
Also I have noticed the rugby clubs have dramatically raised their recruiting efforts for their colts (U/20's) teams, our clubs need to take leaf out of their books.
I suspect the change from u18s to u19s had something to do with the AFL draft. Back in the 90s the SydneyAFL played an u19s competition however if I recall correctly it was altered to the u18s to come in line with the other states and the national championships and thus the draft. I can only assume the AFL is considering lifting the draft age(rumours) and thus the change back to U19s.
Whilst it obviously affected Riverview's participation in the SydneyAFL I would have thought it would be a positive move for the game....it seems not though.
There's a real problem when a junior competition with 6 or 8 teams cannot funnel enough players into a single u19s team to field a team with plenty to spare.
The old u19s competition was viable....I suspect the forces at work hear are not all age related.
If I am correct and the AFL draft has something to do with it, there will be nothing to change it anytime soon.
I advocate an introduction of u20s or 21s. Give the young guys more time with others their own age before playing seniors.
I am sure the change from 19's to 18's back whenever was to tie the comp in with the draft and national champoinships.
Whilst I don't have a problem with going to 20's (or 21's) it has an impact on the juniors comp. If the next level is 20's you cant leave the oldest junior comp at U/17, gap between skinny 17 yo and bigger 20yo is too big.
One solution would be to make the juniors oldest age group U/18, (ties in with last year of school etc) but I suspect it won't happen as 18's is seen as "senior" footy.
Looking at rugby they have two grades of U/20's colts, 1 grade of U/19's colts and have just introduced this year 1 grade of U/18's colts, which I think is a perfect transition approach for kids coming out of school and out of juniors. Note: only about half of the senior Sydney rugby clubs have been able to get the numbers to field a 18's colts team. In fact prior to this year, which saw a lot of work on juniors recruiting, many of the teams struggled to field the full 3 existing colts requirement.
As I mentioned earlier the Sydney rugby clubs put lot of effort into Colts recruiting last year and I estimate there are 3-5 additional team (50 - 70 extra players) in the 20's/19's colts and 5 extra team in the 18's colts.
These additional boys have come from some where, I am sure many were lapsed rugby players but many must have come from the AFL ranks.
Was this to do with lack of numbers? That's a real shame if so.
Today's a draft of your epitaph
The lack of underage teams suggests all is not that well. Back in the 80s and 90s all SFA teams has U20s and the idea of a SFL club not having an underage team was ludicrous
Yes, the inner city Unis are going well but whilst the game is not going backwards unless you are at Sydney Uni it is hard to say the game is in better shape.
For whatever reasons the alleged explosion in junior development (I know the AFL fiddle the numbers but strong junior clubs like Manly and St Ives are very very strong at the moment) just isn't translating too senior players.
How you can argue the game has never been stronger probably reflects your background more than the facts as the game has probably never been weaker in Western Sydney than it is now, just as it has probably never been stronger at Sydney Uni, UNSW or on the North Shore or Eastern Suburbs. The fact this has all happened under the watch of GWS is an absolute disgrace
Is it cultural? - is AFL in Sydney the team sport that kids play because their mums don't want them getting them getting hurt playing league or union and then they just lose interest? It is seen as a "safe" contact sport, enough to allow a it of aggression but not "too" dangerous. Is AFL seen as junior sport but not a sport you play into adulthood? If so how do you address to drop off rate.Or is this a trend across all junior sport into senior sport with kids alleged lack of activity these days?
In terms of on field I haven't has the chance to assess the level personally this year but I'm hoping to have a report to lodge soon. I'd hope the Swans academy will start filtering through the kids coming through soon. It certainly can't hurt. And for all their pomposity and the fact no one cares about them and the fact they have done nothing to develop their playing squad, Sydney Uni in the NEAFL doesn't hurt either....
I think your point is valid there appears to be a real east vs west difference in all aspects of junior AFL, wether that is as a result of either Swans vs GWS being better at growing the game I don't think so.
The Greater Sydney JAFL run a well organised comp across the whole of Sydney, not just the east, so the difference cant be attributed to just organisation.
It has to be demographics.
Also agree with your comment about AfL being seen as a safer contact sport. I was discussing this with a friend recently (long time ex SFL player and RL player, who lives in the Hills District). His point on view was that many parents are reacting to growing influence of Polynesian boys playing RL and RU, and who typically grow bigger earlier than anglo boys, and pushing them into AFL as a result.
Also would agree that generally across most sports juniors just aren't progressing to seniors in the same numbers the they used to.
I tend to agree. I think we are going swimmingly at the moment.
Ah, the daily double - a shot at GWS and Uni in the same post! Must have felt good. Can you tell me what the Swans do for football in Sydney other than provide a product at AFL level?
I'll be waiting with bated breath.
Who is supposed to care about us? I'd be interested to know which other clubs hold any support outside of the usual players, families and old boys that every club has. Not sure what you mean about developing our squad either - we have seven teams and welcome anyone who is interested in playing to our club. Are you implying that we don't have an Under 13s side or something? Do other clubs have those? Again, you seem to think you know these things so I'd like an answer.
At the bottom end it all sounds a bit sicko for AFL in the west according to what you people are writing...kids not signing on, major drop-off in the late teens, lack of junior clubs. Perhaps, based on that, Sydney footy is in the doldrums.
But, at the top end, it looks pretty good to me. I was at the Rep game last weekend and couldn't help but be impressed by 'the best'...Brayden Fowler, Trent Stubbs, McConnell, Browning. And these are guys who aren't playing in Sydney because of the big bucks that are available - seriously quality footballers.
The other side of the Rep team is that it looked to me like we didn't have 22 top-liners available so the bottom few were in the team to make up the numbers.
I was at Henson the previous weekend to see Sydney Uni in the NEAFL - ok, so they're mostly out-of-towners with just a couple of local guns but, you know what, they are playing what might be the best standard of footy ever seen in Sydney below the AFL teams
Last edited by justabaraker; 12th June 2015 at 08:18 PM.
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