Division 3 - 2015

[plums]

Division next year

Albert Park
Aquinas
Eley Park
Emmaus St Leos
Glen Eira
Hawthorn
Latrobe Uni
Powerhouse
St Francis Xavier
Swinburne Uni
UHS-VU
West Brunswick

Glen Eira comes down after a disappointing season, West Brunswick and Hawthorn come up after the Hawks grand final blunder to a fast finishing West Brunswick.


Some arch rivals returning to our division.

Can we expect Emmaus, Aquinas and Swinburne to be strong again?


Any gun players coming in?

 

[local footy fan]

I heard that alan ezard has been appointed as coach of Latrobe it will be interesting to see if he can attract some non uni boys to the side

 

[demonstrate]

I heard that alan ezard has been appointed as coach of Latrobe it will be interesting to see if he can attract some non uni boys to the side

Forget the non Uni Ones,get the blokes at the uni who currently play for other clubs first.

 

[TheDinosaur]

interested to see how hawthorn go back in d3

 

[local footy fan]

Forget the non Uni Ones,get the blokes at the uni who currently play for other clubs first.

That might be hard as talking to a past Latrobe player most of the good country players who could play in the ones go back home to play for good coin.
its hard to knock them for that when they can play footy and earn money and then not have to work a casual job and leave more time to study

 

[demonstrate]

That might be hard as talking to a past Latrobe player most of the good country players who could play in the ones go back home to play for good coin.
its hard to knock them for that when they can play footy and earn money and then not have to work a casual job and leave more time to study

Yes hard to knock back good money and going home to the country on weekends.But as a rough estimate I can think of at least 20 odd Div 3 senior ready(or shortly potentially)blokes playing U/19 or first year out of 19"s,currently playing vafa at other clubs and similar numbers from other metro leagues, attending Latrobe.With the new coaches credentials/experience wouldnt the club try to recruit these younger players firstly,as longer term prospects for moving up the div 3 ladder(try to maintain them as a group) then work their way up the divisions?

 

[local footy fan]

Yes hard to knock back good money and going home to the country on weekends.But as a rough estimate I can think of at least 20 odd Div 3 senior ready(or shortly potentially)blokes playing U/19 or first year out of 19"s,currently playing vafa at other clubs and similar numbers from other metro leagues, attending Latrobe.With the new coaches credentials/experience wouldnt the club try to recruit these younger players firstly,as longer term prospects for moving up the div 3 ladder(try to maintain them as a group) then work their way up the divisions?

you would hope so but most blokes are at uni for three years then move on and leave the club this has been a perpetual problem for Latrobe. boom or bust
they had a good group of players around 2010 where the went back to back premiers and were in div 2 the boys finished uni and left and the club dropped down grades again but with the new coach who knows he might attract some good player who want to hang around

 

[Canada]

Heard Dimitri Dimakopoulos has left STFX? Any truth to this?

 

[heslop]

Heard Dimitri Dimakopoulos has left STFX? Any truth to this?

huge news if true
would spell trouble for SFX

 

[Canada]

huge news if true
would spell trouble for SFX

Not sure how strong the mail was. Was told a bloke going by the name Dimma who had played Rep footy was going to an A Grade team. I looked up the rep sheet, thinking that a Dimmatina may be on it and this was the only name that could have a bloke being called Dimma. I guess someone involved at SFX can tell us if its correct or not.

 

[heslop]

Not sure how strong the mail was. Was told a bloke going by the name Dimma who had played Rep footy was going to an A Grade team. I looked up the rep sheet, thinking that a Dimmatina may be on it and this was the only name that could have a bloke being called Dimma. I guess someone involved at SFX can tell us if its correct or not.

Dimma is a great player, however, i do not see him cracking an A-grade midfield
in the one game i saw him play last year he ran one way and didnt run hard back in defense
harsh or true?

 

[Canada]

Don't know him. But agree a Div 3 gun unlikely to play Premier firsts unless he's a massive gun.

 

[Mounzer11]

Don't know him. But agree a Div 3 gun unlikely to play Premier firsts unless he's a massive gun.

Don't know him but a player, who I rate extremely highly, played against him in D3 for a year and said that he would be a handy A or B grade player.

 

[dougy58]

anybody else get an email from the VAFA regarding a potential change to region based divisions?? to me this would be a huge mistake, one of the great things about playing in the vafa is the competitive nature of most games, nobody wants to play in a league where 200 point margins are a regular occurrence. I'll cop three or four long road trips each season if even fair competition is the result any day.

 

[zeroseven]

anybody else get an email from the VAFA regarding a potential change to region based divisions?? to me this would be a huge mistake, one of the great things about playing in the vafa is the competitive nature of most games, nobody wants to play in a league where 200 point margins are a regular occurrence. I'll cop three or four long road trips each season if even fair competition is the result any day.

Believe our club got one. Our division would be a riot. Games would be CLOSER IN TRAVEL but uncompetitive. Can't imagine a top Div 1 team playing a bottom Div 2 or Better Div 3 for the sake of saving a 10 minute drive. We have voted NO. The VAFA tried 15 years ago and failed.

 

[heslop]

Believe our club got one. Our division would be a riot. Games would be CLOSER IN TRAVEL but uncompetitive. Can't imagine a top Div 1 team playing a bottom Div 2 or Better Div 3 for the sake of saving a 10 minute drive. We have voted NO. The VAFA tried 15 years ago and failed.

I agree, would be a huge mistake. We all want competitiveness. Everyone knows you expect to travel when you sign up to play in the VAFA

 

[bigwaz]

I voted yes... Change is interesting... We can always go back to the old system if it does't pay off.

 

[trucka]

I voted yes... Change is interesting... We can always go back to the old system if it does't pay off.

I'm interested to know why a club as central as yours has an issue with travel. You may be able to go back to the old system later, but some of the clubs may no longer be there.
To me it makes no sense. We know about the travel, yet are prepared to play in this comp for competitive games, otherwise, we might as well join the local comps.

 

[zeroseven]

I voted yes... Change is interesting... We can always go back to the old system if it does't pay off.

Voted on by someone with no understanding of the real issue. You obviously believe politicians as well. Dumfounded!

 

[bigwaz]

I'm interested to know why a club as central as yours has an issue with travel. You may be able to go back to the old system later, but some of the clubs may no longer be there.
To me it makes no sense. We know about the travel, yet are prepared to play in this comp for competitive games, otherwise, we might as well join the local comps.

No issue with Travel. I like the idea of local rivalries, and faster progression up/down the grades. When a new club enters the comp, its a long way from D4 up to the premier grades. This kind of structure would expedite that process, and in turn settle the divisions out faster. If you took the bottom clubs from each division, and made one, I reckon it would be pretty close to D4 as it stands now. Perhaps a little stronger at the top, but not a lot.

 

[bundles]

No issue with Travel. I like the idea of local rivalries, and faster progression up/down the grades. When a new club enters the comp, its a long way from D4 up to the premier grades. This kind of structure would expedite that process, and in turn settle the divisions out faster. If you took the bottom clubs from each division, and made one, I reckon it would be pretty close to D4 as it stands now. Perhaps a little stronger at the top, but not a lot.

It seems like you think your club would go straight to premier grades... Totally delusional. The bottom teams in d1 would be as good as the top teams in d3 and the teams in c would spank most. It's a big step up.

Teams losing by 200 points means all the talent that takes a long time to build will walk because it's not fun getting smacked every week, and then there is no more d4 at all.

It happened last time they tried this and it will happen again. I just can't believe they're suggesting it again. Short memories.

 

[table tennis]

No issue with Travel. I like the idea of local rivalries, and faster progression up/down the grades. When a new club enters the comp, its a long way from D4 up to the premier grades. This kind of structure would expedite that process, and in turn settle the divisions out faster. If you took the bottom clubs from each division, and made one, I reckon it would be pretty close to D4 as it stands now. Perhaps a little stronger at the top, but not a lot.

How exactly does a club at D4 standard compete, recruit and develop a club that is competitive enough to play against D1 clubs?
How do you retain players when they get beaten by 200 points every second week?
C'mon Waz, you have been around long enough to know how much this would kill the lower grades at the VAFA.

 

[Mounzer11]

No issue with Travel. I like the idea of local rivalries, and faster progression up/down the grades. When a new club enters the comp, its a long way from D4 up to the premier grades. This kind of structure would expedite that process, and in turn settle the divisions out faster. If you took the bottom clubs from each division, and made one, I reckon it would be pretty close to D4 as it stands now. Perhaps a little stronger at the top, but not a lot.

Why should clubs get a leg up? Why should they not have to do it the hard way like all the other clubs before them.
This could quite possibly the dumbest idea the VAFA have come up with for while.
It smells like an over reaction to Rupertswood, Werribee and Banyule leaving. I would say the number 1 reason for those clubs leaving wasn't the travel but losing players the paying comps/teams around them.
Geographical grading ain't going to stop that.....it will actually make it easier.

 

[oldtimer]

Why should clubs get a leg up? Why should they not have to do it the hard way like all the other clubs before them.
This could quite possibly the dumbest idea the VAFA have come up with for while.
It smells like an over reaction to Rupertswood, Werribee and Banyule leaving. I would say the number 1 reason for those clubs leaving wasn't the travel but losing players the paying comps/teams around them.
Geographical grading ain't going to stop that.....it will actually make it easier.

Having been involved with banyule in the VAFA for 25 years. The move to NFL had to be made. The main reason for moving was the loss of young players, however, in most cases this was due to players not wanting to travel. In 2014 we had 7 games more than 40 minutes away.
We have a very strong junior club with over 350 registered players, however, once the kids get to 17 - 18 the local clubs swarm on us as they know that the kids want to play locally.
Last year we would get 20 - 25 each night during pre season, this year we are averaging over 55 - 60. A number of players have come back and the juniors are now staying. In the long term if we hadn't of moved then we would have folded.

 

[Privateye]

No issue with Travel. I like the idea of local rivalries, and faster progression up/down the grades. When a new club enters the comp, its a long way from D4 up to the premier grades. This kind of structure would expedite that process, and in turn settle the divisions out faster. If you took the bottom clubs from each division, and made one, I reckon it would be pretty close to D4 as it stands now. Perhaps a little stronger at the top, but not a lot.

Waz, fair chance as a centrally located club you may find Richmond in the East Comp one year, the North the next, following season playing mostly Western Suburbs teams and so on. Instead of having continuity and building up rivalries, you could be filling the gaps to the Shizenhausen.