D4 Division 4 2023

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A surprising result especially given the Lee brothers didn't play. Well done AP.

Great win by Box Hill in very heavy conditions vs St Johns.

The margin in the NB vs EP game was as expected.
Big 3rd quarter for NB 😮

Albert Park surprising given no Lee brothers.

Looks like the double is in the cards for the Bulls.

Wonder if the league has thought about promotion and relegation situations for next year?

If Westbourne(and a big if) come back through D4 do they go with 1 up 1 down or 2 up 1 down?
 

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Big 3rd quarter for NB

Albert Park surprising given no Lee brothers.

Looks like the double is in the cards for the Bulls.

Wonder if the league has thought about promotion and relegation situations for next year?

If Westbourne(and a big if) come back through D4 do they go with 1 up 1 down or 2 up 1 down?

old mentonians football club are returning in 2024 if they don’t get the quality players back they may start off in Div 3 or even 4


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old mentonians football club are returning in 2024 if they don’t get the quality players back they may start off in Div 3 or even 4


On iPhone using BigFooty.com mobile
old mentonians football club are returning in 2024 if they don’t get the quality players back they may start off in Div 3 or even 4


On iPhone using BigFooty.com mobile app
It would be a massive ask for them to field two teams considering participation was down there as it was last year.. most of their senior team won’t come back especially to play d4.
 
Is there a chance they could merge div 3 and 4 or will there be too much of a talent difference between the 2 divisions?
In theory fantastic idea, but no the talent between them is excess of 150 points unfortunately, La Trobe we’re top dogs in div 4 and they’ve won 1 game for context, it’s time clubs made the move, the only team the Vafa div 4 structure suits is boxhill north. If they went into the eastern it would be a disaster, southern clubs are further away, so Vafa works well for them, everyone else it’s acruallt just silly to keep competing in it, makes 0 sense, as someone involved in a division 4 club, I won’t be continuing if their not in the Sfnl next year.
 
In theory fantastic idea, but no the talent between them is excess of 150 points unfortunately, La Trobe we’re top dogs in div 4 and they’ve won 1 game for context, it’s time clubs made the move, the only team the Vafa div 4 structure suits is boxhill north. If they went into the eastern it would be a disaster, southern clubs are further away, so Vafa works well for them, everyone else it’s acruallt just silly to keep competing in it, makes 0 sense, as someone involved in a division 4 club, I won’t be continuing if their not in the Sfnl next year.
I 100% agree with your comments Johnny, previously I thought that the gap between D3 & D4 wasn't great but judging by the scores I doubt there would be many wins for the teams promoted at the end of this season.
It would be great to get the thoughts from people still involved at clubs that have left recently such as St Francis and South Mornington, has recruiting become easier or are they competitive, what have been the pro's and cons for them ?
Banyule who were in the Ammo's forever are doing well in the top division of the NFL and Eltham Collegians are more than competitive in Division 3, interestingly I've heard that Reservoir and Lalor who struggle to beat anyone other than each other may consider moving to the ammo's ?
 
Very interesting! The nfl is such a good standard so I can understand vafa teams in the north staying Vafa however, for southern teams masala at John’s Eley park ( technically east ) albert park the Sfnl is an achievable and better goal. All games are filmed, proper trained umpires, geographically easier, can pay your top end players ( depending on money ) and can have a beer during the game. It’s a no brainer for me.
Johnny I'm not sure which club you are with but how do you think your club would go in the Sfnl ?

What are the pro's and cons for them moving ?

FWIW I think moving to these other leagues is a no brainer for most D4 sides for the exact reasons you have mentioned previously.
 
Johnny I'm not sure which club you are with but how do you think your club would go in the Sfnl ?

What are the pro's and cons for them moving ?

FWIW I think moving to these other leagues is a no brainer for most D4 sides for the exact reasons you have mentioned previously.

Trying to recruit players into Div 4 vafa is impossible tbh


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In theory fantastic idea, but no the talent between them is excess of 150 points unfortunately, La Trobe we’re top dogs in div 4 and they’ve won 1 game for context, it’s time clubs made the move, the only team the Vafa div 4 structure suits is boxhill north. If they went into the eastern it would be a disaster, southern clubs are further away, so Vafa works well for them, everyone else it’s acruallt just silly to keep competing in it, makes 0 sense, as someone involved in a division 4 club, I won’t be continuing if their not in the Sfnl next year.
One call out is that the uni sides can change each year so much. La trobe is far different side without Keath and Alexander among others. If they had kept more then they lost they’d be mid table in D3.
 

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If the VAFA loses any more teams, which appears very likely; they will have to drop D4. There is currently 14 in D3/D4, (6 in D4, 8 in D3). Currently 9 in Prem C which wont happen again. So unless Old Mentonians and perhaps Old Wesbourne come back; I cant see a Division 4 is viable regardless of competitive balance. The VAFA don''t care about competitive balance anyway; have a look at the womens Premier comps!!

A massive risk for clubs D3/D4 clubs to go to one of the 'professional' leagues; could mean the nail in the coffin, and completely change the culture.
 
If the VAFA loses any more teams, which appears very likely; they will have to drop D4. There is currently 14 in D3/D4, (6 in D4, 8 in D3). Currently 9 in Prem C which wont happen again. So unless Old Mentonians and perhaps Old Wesbourne come back; I cant see a Division 4 is viable regardless of competitive balance. The VAFA don''t care about competitive balance anyway; have a look at the womens Premier comps!!

A massive risk for clubs D3/D4 clubs to go to one of the 'professional' leagues; could mean the nail in the coffin, and completely change the culture.
I know that AP played Doveton eagles SFNL Divvy 4 in a practice match and it was a good match.

Not sure who else played other comps this year.
 
I know that AP played Doveton eagles SFNL Divvy 4 in a practice match and it was a good match.

Not sure who else played other comps this year.
South Mornington currently on top in SFL D4 and Narre South (St Francis) second last in D3.
Technically about the same standard as each other.
I know St Francis swept D4 when last played in it….not sure if they won the flag or not though…..did they choke?
If I was having a guess VAFA D4 would maybe just be slightly under Southern D4…..however if those sides came across and the incentive to pay a couple of $$ to recruit a few better players then they would push to a comparable standard.
South Mornington are paying a few this year and reaping the rewards. Should win the grade comfortably.
Enjoy it would be great for SFL to get a few more across 👍
 
South Mornington currently on top in SFL D4 and Narre South (St Francis) second last in D3.
Technically about the same standard as each other.
I know St Francis swept D4 when last played in it….not sure if they won the flag or not though…..did they choke?
If I was having a guess VAFA D4 would maybe just be slightly under Southern D4…..however if those sides came across and the incentive to pay a couple of $$ to recruit a few better players then they would push to a comparable standard.
South Mornington are paying a few this year and reaping the rewards. Should win the grade comfortably.
Enjoy it would be great for SFL to get a few more across 👍
St Francis were a very good side. Helps having a FF who kicked 120 odd for the year. Won the flag in 2019

From memory they wanted to disassociate with the school and connect with a junior side.
 
Where do I even begin:

Cons of leaving the vafa:
- their are no cons 😂 theirs nothing they could remotely offer us that would be advantageous.

Pros:
  • can put some money into paying players
  • can compete against some genuine local sides that are 5 minutes down the road.
  • can involve women in the club through netball, a football team requires 22 women whilst netball needs fewer numbers and is much more sustainable
-netball teams often lead to women’s football teams, so one way we can pioneer that is by starting netball and then add football once interest is gauged
  • can open the bar during the game and get some revenue into the club
  • can have every game filmed to avoid misreporting of incidents which happened last year
  • the SFNL is adamant on supporting all member clubs through initiatives such as the “ TAC 0” initiative which gifts clubs 10,000 dollars

These are just a few.
summed up pretty welll here Johnny, the VAFA don't care about any clubs below Premier C. Private school league looking after the Private school boys clubs.
 
A massive risk for clubs D3/D4 clubs to go to one of the 'professional' leagues; could mean the nail in the coffin, and completely change the culture.
Agree with this

Going to a semi professional league comes with the need to raise more $$$ to pay players

At least in the vafa that’s one expense they dont have to worry about


having the bar open for a couple extra hours on a Saturday isn’t going to generate enough to offset the extra money needed
 
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Where do I even begin:

Cons of leaving the vafa:
- their are no cons 😂 theirs nothing they could remotely offer us that would be advantageous.

Pros:
  • can put some money into paying players
  • can compete against some genuine local sides that are 5 minutes down the road.
  • can involve women in the club through netball, a football team requires 22 women whilst netball needs fewer numbers and is much more sustainable
-netball teams often lead to women’s football teams, so one way we can pioneer that is by starting netball and then add football once interest is gauged
  • can open the bar during the game and get some revenue into the club
  • can have every game filmed to avoid misreporting of incidents which happened last year
  • the SFNL is adamant on supporting all member clubs through initiatives such as the “ TAC 0” initiative which gifts clubs 10,000 dollars

These are just a few.

With all due respect, what is your experience in either playing footy or on any sort of sports committee?
 
Where do I even begin:

Cons of leaving the vafa:
- their are no cons 😂 theirs nothing they could remotely offer us that would be advantageous.

Pros:
  • can put some money into paying players
  • can compete against some genuine local sides that are 5 minutes down the road.
  • can involve women in the club through netball, a football team requires 22 women whilst netball needs fewer numbers and is much more sustainable
-netball teams often lead to women’s football teams, so one way we can pioneer that is by starting netball and then add football once interest is gauged
  • can open the bar during the game and get some revenue into the club
  • can have every game filmed to avoid misreporting of incidents which happened last year
  • the SFNL is adamant on supporting all member clubs through initiatives such as the “ TAC 0” initiative which gifts clubs 10,000 dollars

These are just a few.
Hi Johnny, pretty fair summary I'd say. I'm guessing you're with St Johns? How many of your current players do you think you'd look at paying if it was available?
Happy for others to answer this from their own clubs too.
Quite often in the lower divisions, clubs will speak of wanting to pay players if they could but realistically, how many of yours clubs current players would deserve some $$
Would love to hear (see) everyones thoughts on this
 
A few examples of stuff the VAFA used to do ... and no longer does.

1. We used to have a VAFA Liaison Officer (Geoff Reilly - Caulfield Grammar Life Member) who would come down to the club and lobby the VAFA on our behalf.
2. Head of Umpiring would come down and chat to the players and clarify rules once per year.
 

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