Premier A - 2013

[darwinderwin]

Changing of the guard at the Varsity on the weekend. A few weeks ago I named Bentick as the Woodrow medalist, I'll change that, if I may, to Ross Young. Best mid in the league (not taking away anything from Bentick).

Still a very tight season. At this stage it's Xavs, Blacks, Scotch and SBMT for mine. Carey and either Bernards or Beauy to go down. The inclusion of Fergus Watts will help the blues climb out the relegation zone.

Scotch seem to be in some reasonable form and if they can keep their ex AFL blokes on the park, will give it a real shake come finals time.

 

[Brissel]

Changing of the guard at the Varsity on the weekend. A few weeks ago I named Bentick as the Woodrow medalist, I'll change that, if I may, to Ross Young. Best mid in the league (not taking away anything from Bentick).

Still a very tight season. At this stage it's Xavs, Blacks, Scotch and SBMT for mine. Carey and either Bernards or Beauy to go down. The inclusion of Fergus Watts will help the blues climb out the relegation zone.

Scotch seem to be in some reasonable form and if they can keep their ex AFL blokes on the park, will give it a real shake come finals time.

the inclusion of merrington into bernards is more significant than watts to the blues. merro has only played a handful of games this year and played on on leg in his last game against de la

when he comes back into the line up bernards will have the confidence they can beat anyone with merro up front, bentick in the middle and caven down back. for mine they should do enough with the home ground advantage and leaning towards blues just ahead of beauy atm to go down

should be interesting

 

[youlike]

Scotch seem to be in some reasonable form and if they can keep their ex AFL blokes on the park, will give it a real shake come finals time.

Probably should have got over the line against Blacks last week, very strong performance this week against a side thats been in terrific form (SBMT) BUT.... They will get pants this week by Xav's

 

[darwinderwin]

the inclusion of merrington into bernards is more significant than watts to the blues. merro has only played a handful of games this year and played on on leg in his last game against de la

when he comes back into the line up bernards will have the confidence they can beat anyone with merro up front, bentick in the middle and caven down back. for mine they should do enough with the home ground advantage and leaning towards blues just ahead of beauy atm to go down

should be interesting

You might just be right! It might come down to which one of these two can stay on the park the longest. Merro has quite a few years on Watts. Home ground for them is big though, (or at least it was). They haven't been as dominant there this year as they have been in the past.

 

[Rooster 24]

Any team that has that many recent AFL players and other top liners should be near on unbeatable at this level. On paper a team that that has Lower, Gilbee, Barlow, Hill, Houlihan, Ferraro, Passador, Eva and quality youngsters such as Van De Broek, McKinley, Jamieson, Barnett etc really should win by plenty most weeks but there are still some doubts.

If Scotch doesn’t get the silverware this year then they never ever will. I have no idea how they have managed to assemble such as team of superstars but credit to them I suppose. However if it does not pay off then this recruiting model could set them back years.

Xavs super impressive at Dairy Bell on Saturday. De La very undermanned at present. Some of those inclusions might have reduced the margin but not the result. Barring a rash of injuries they will be very hard to beat come September. A Xavs V Scotch GF with the Cardinals drought to continue.

 

[ronnyrockle]

Any team that has that many recent AFL players and other top liners should be near on unbeatable at this level. On paper a team that that has Lower, Gilbee, Barlow, Hill, Houlihan, Ferraro, Passador, Eva and quality youngsters such as Van De Broek, McKinley, Jamieson, Barnett etc really should win by plenty most weeks but there are still some doubts.

If Scotch doesn’t get the silverware this year then they never ever will. I have no idea how they have managed to assemble such as team of superstars but credit to them I suppose. However if it does not pay off then this recruiting model could set them back years.

Xavs super impressive at Dairy Bell on Saturday. De La very undermanned at present. Some of those inclusions might have reduced the margin but not the result. Barring a rash of injuries they will be very hard to beat come September. A Xavs V Scotch GF with the Cardinals drought to continue.

What do you think De La's chances of making finals are Rooster? I didn't catch the game on the weekend however the radio mentioned the team is extremely short. Leonard actually said he is surprised you can be so competitive with the team you have in.

Collegians run home also an interesting one..

St Bernards (Away)
St Bedes (Home)
Uni Blues (Away)
Beaumaris (Away)
Uni Blacks (Home)
De La (Away)
Scotch (Away)
Old Xavs (Home)

None of them are games that they can mark off. I'm tipping them to miss finals.

I think if Xavs can beat Scotch this week then they must be a good flag favorite.

 

[Rooster 24]

What do you think De La's chances of making finals are Rooster? I didn't catch the game on the weekend however the radio mentioned the team is extremely short. Leonard actually said he is surprised you can be so competitive with the team you have in.
Collegians run home also an interesting one..

St Bernards (Away)
St Bedes (Home)
Uni Blues (Away)
Beaumaris (Away)
Uni Blacks (Home)
De La (Away)
Scotch (Away)
Old Xavs (Home)

None of them are games that they can mark off. I'm tipping them to miss finals.

I think if Xavs can beat Scotch this week then they must be a good flag favorite.

Radio blokes saying how impressive we were last round. They have sure changed their tune in a week! They are absolutely correct about the height. We were very undersized and very inexperienced on Saturday. Take nothing away from Xavs. They were awesome on Saturday but those missing are all KPP’s and north of 6 foot.

Tom Humphrey, Justin Baxter and Tyson Hunt all missing from the backline really hurts. All seem certain to return after the bye, as will a few others. If they can sneak a win this week against Beaumaris with another depleted team they will make finals. 11/12 wins will get you in I reckon. I reckon De La can win 4/5 of their last 8 based on who they have returning. Lose this week and it becomes a whole lot tougher.

The relegation battle is intriguing. Look at the quality of players in the 3 sides at the foot of the table and shake my head that they are even in that position. Shows how even the comp is this year.

On Saturdays form Xavs the best team we have played this year and deserve to be firm flag favourites but anything can happen.

 

[Brissel]

You might just be right! It might come down to which one of these two can stay on the park the longest. Merro has quite a few years on Watts. Home ground for them is big though, (or at least it was). They haven't been as dominant there this year as they have been in the past.

i dont know much about fergus...is he as much of a flog as his brother jack?

 

[Themonster]

Radio blokes saying how impressive we were last round. They have sure changed their tune in a week! They are absolutely correct about the height. We were very undersized and very inexperienced on Saturday. Take nothing away from Xavs. They were awesome on Saturday but those missing are all KPP’s and north of 6 foot.

Tom Humphrey, Justin Baxter and Tyson Hunt all missing from the backline really hurts. All seem certain to return after the bye, as will a few others. If they can sneak a win this week against Beaumaris with another depleted team they will make finals. 11/12 wins will get you in I reckon. I reckon De La can win 4/5 of their last 8 based on who they have returning. Lose this week and it becomes a whole lot tougher.

The relegation battle is intriguing. Look at the quality of players in the 3 sides at the foot of the table and shake my head that they are even in that position. Shows how even the comp is this year.

On Saturdays form Xavs the best team we have played this year and deserve to be firm flag favourites but anything can happen.

Yes they will make finals when there back line is at full strength the bellers have the best back line in the compition! Also there younger players coming up will step up come the next few rounds with young jake Williams leading the way and slowly becoming the most damaging player in the comp! You can see young 18 year old Charlie Haley looking more and more comftable every game he plays! And with the experience of Lowe Gotch and haslm the bellers will be right in the mix come the finals

 

[Penski]

Yes they will make finals when there back line is at full strength the bellers have the best back line in the compition! Also there younger players coming up will step up come the next few rounds with young jake Williams leading the way and slowly becoming the most damaging player in the comp! You can see young 18 year old Charlie Haley looking more and more comftable every game he plays! And with the experience of Lowe Gotch and haslm the bellers will be right in the mix come the finals

They are alawys right in the mix come finals. That's not the problem. They have to get past the 'Xavs choke' before they can start thinking flags.

 

[Rooster 24]

They are alawys right in the mix come finals. That's not the problem. They have to get past the 'Xavs choke' before they can start thinking flags.

The Xavs choke? In each of those 3 finals De La were the lower ranked side and not expected to win any of them. 2009 beaten by 100 pts in 2nd semi. 6 goals down at ¾ time in GF and got pipped by 3 pts. Hardly a choke. Last year Xavs a far a better and more consistent team all year. De La just got overrun by a better team after some player losses in the second half cruelled them. Give some credit to Xavs during this era. Have put some reasonable teams on the park.

I reckon De La would be the only club over the last 5 years to have got a win each season against Xavs, including a few at Toorak Park. Have won a host of flags in 19s and 2s against them in that time and overall have the best recent record against them of any club.

Having said all of that they are miles ahead of us at the moment based on current form and playing personal. De La once again look about the 3rd to 5th best side in it this year and will need a fair bit of luck to make finals or progress past the first week. Just don’t have the class or big names of some of the others. Look at how many ex AFL or recent quality VFL blokes at Blacks, Scotch and even Xavs. De La and St Bedes rely almost entirely on home grow kids coming through their 19s

 

[ronnyrockle]

The Xavs choke? In each of those 3 finals De La were the lower ranked side and not expected to win any of them. 2009 beaten by 100 pts in 2nd semi. 6 goals down at ¾ time in GF and got pipped by 3 pts. Hardly a choke. Last year Xavs a far a better and more consistent team all year. De La just got overrun by a better team after some player losses in the second half cruelled them. Give some credit to Xavs during this era. Have put some reasonable teams on the park.

I reckon De La would be the only club over the last 5 years to have got a win each season against Xavs, including a few at Toorak Park. Have won a host of flags in 19s and 2s against them in that time and overall have the best recent record against them of any club.

Having said all of that they are miles ahead of us at the moment based on current form and playing personal. De La once again look about the 3rd to 5th best side in it this year and will need a fair bit of luck to make finals or progress past the first week. Just don’t have the class or big names of some of the others. Look at how many ex AFL or recent quality VFL blokes at Blacks, Scotch and even Xavs. De La and St Bedes rely almost entirely on home grow kids coming through their 19s

Rooster don't take this the wrong way, because i generally enjoy your posts and you are one of the more knowledgeable and sensible people on this forum...

But...

You and everyone else at De La would have to be the biggest sooks when it comes to injuries. The opening line of your match reports just whinging about the injuries you have and ra ra ra... But then you also say how much depth you have in the 2s and the 19s? A 'host of flags' you were just quoted as. If you're that good in that area why can't you cover the depth of the 1s?

Every club has injuries, but it just seems you blokes seem to sook about it week in week out.

 

[Rooster 24]

Rooster don't take this the wrong way, because i generally enjoy your posts and you are one of the more knowledgeable and sensible people on this forum...

But...

You and everyone else at De La would have to be the biggest sooks when it comes to injuries. The opening line of your match reports just whinging about the injuries you have and ra ra ra... But then you also say how much depth you have in the 2s and the 19s? A 'host of flags' you were just quoted as. If you're that good in that area why can't you cover the depth of the 1s?

Every club has injuries, but it just seems you blokes seem to sook about it week in week out.

Well Ronny I don’t know how else to take it. Have just now read the website match report and agree in a part with what you say. However it is one person’s opinion, not an entire clubs. What he says does perhaps reek of frustration but it is factual and he has the balls to provide some detail to back it up. At least the club is prepared to provide an expansive match report for you and others to read. Shame all clubs don’t do the same. And where I have sooked about injuries? Of course all clubs get injuries and of course that will impact how a club is going. You asked me to provide an opinion about our chances of playing finals. In doing that I pointed out that if certain players returned we were a chance. If you get some time go through and see how many players each club has used. If we are not 1 or 2 I would be surprised. That’s just stating fact. And clearly the club depth has allowed us to remain in finals contention and sustain us in ‘A’ grade without the luxury of having a host of big names at our disposal. At least they are trying to build from within unlike other clubs who have a long history of failure due to going after big names to the long-term detriment of their club.

I am always at pains to be balanced and effusive in my praise of other clubs as I have here several times recently. As I am one of the few people prepared to offer an opinion other than just bagging other clubs and posters I probably leave myslef open to criticism. Few others seem prepared to make informed comment or have the guts to honesty say what is going on at there own club.

So who is your club Ronny? How are they travelling and how’s their depth? Will they play finals and what do they need to make it.

C’mon give us something other than potting clubs, players and other posters. Once you nominate your club I’ll have a look at their match reports. As they are no doubt provided by a club volunteers for the benefit of the club supporters I will be grateful for the contribution and will avoid passing judgment on the content.

 

[ronnyrockle]

Well Ronny I don’t know how else to take it. Have just now read the website match report and agree in a part with what you say. However it is one person’s opinion, not an entire clubs. What he says does perhaps reek of frustration but it is factual and he has the balls to provide some detail to back it up. At least the club is prepared to provide an expansive match report for you and others to read. Shame all clubs don’t do the same. And where I have sooked about injuries? Of course all clubs get injuries and of course that will impact how a club is going. You asked me to provide an opinion about our chances of playing finals. In doing that I pointed out that if certain players returned we were a chance. If you get some time go through and see how many players each club has used. If we are not 1 or 2 I would be surprised. That’s just stating fact. And clearly the club depth has allowed us to remain in finals contention and sustain us in ‘A’ grade without the luxury of having a host of big names at our disposal. At least they are trying to build from within unlike other clubs who have a long history of failure due to going after big names to the long-term detriment of their club.

I am always at pains to be balanced and effusive in my praise of other clubs as I have here several times recently. As I am one of the few people prepared to offer an opinion other than just bagging other clubs and posters I probably leave myslef open to criticism. Few others seem prepared to make informed comment or have the guts to honesty say what is going on at there own club.

So who is your club Ronny? How are they travelling and how’s their depth? Will they play finals and what do they need to make it.

C’mon give us something other than potting clubs, players and other posters. Once you nominate your club I’ll have a look at their match reports. As they are no doubt provided by a club volunteers for the benefit of the club supporters I will be grateful for the contribution and will avoid passing judgment on the content.

As I said I do enjoy your posts. You have however taken this way too personally. I was just stating that it is often that De La people link their injuries with their loses. Your quote was as follows:

'We were very undersized and very inexperienced on Saturday. Take nothing away from Xavs. They were awesome on Saturday but those missing are all KPP’s and north of 6 foot.

Tom Humphrey, Justin Baxter and Tyson Hunt all missing from the backline really hurts. All seem certain to return after the bye, as will a few others. If they can sneak a win this week against Beaumaris with another depleted team they will make finals'

Whether you mean it or not you are still inadvertently pointing at your outs as the reason you're not going as good. My point is all clubs have injuries. I think that your club isn't as good as you think they are. I believe it's long been a mentality of the De La brigade that they are constantly hard done by. The first two paragraphs of your match report vs Collegians was pathetic. . 'We have to wonder what the hell have we done to deserve this wretched run of injuries.'
'While the injury list is not quite at the epidemic proportions of 2011 it is getting close. As we tick over
to the halfway mark we have now used 40 players with another debutant,'

Even this week's match report referred to them again

'In summary they were too big, too strong, too committed and injury free - despite their inevitable protestations about injuries,'

All i'm saying is that it seems to be of my OPINION that you guys go on and on about injuries more so than anyone else. If your depth is as good as you say it is then you shouldnt have any issues.

 

[go_nodders]

Rooster don't take this the wrong way, because i generally enjoy your posts and you are one of the more knowledgeable and sensible people on this forum...

But...

You and everyone else at De La would have to be the biggest sooks when it comes to injuries. The opening line of your match reports just whinging about the injuries you have and ra ra ra... But then you also say how much depth you have in the 2s and the 19s? A 'host of flags' you were just quoted as. If you're that good in that area why can't you cover the depth of the 1s?

Every club has injuries, but it just seems you blokes seem to sook about it week in week out.

I would think De La's depth is quite extraordinary. To be 6-4 with a shocking injury run pays testament to how deep their list is.
I know from my clubs experience, you don't have depth you get relegated not play off for finals.

 

[Rooster 24]

Ronny - How an answer to a direct question from you can be construed as sooking is absolutely beyond me. You have even highlighted my response to you which was an answer to your question about the teams lack of height. Why bother asking the question then? I won’t labour the point anymore.

Not sure how long you have been around 'A' grade but most clubs are lucky if they have 25-30 players capable of playing 'A' grade seniors. Some have more (Xavs) some have less (Carey). When you get up around 35 - 40 then it gets bloody tough.

I’ll ask again. Who is your club, how are they travelling and how’s their depth? Will they play finals this year and what do they need to make it. Where can I find your clubs match reports?

I look forward to the reply.

 

[flat footy]

Ronny - How an answer to a direct question from you can be construed as sooking is absolutely beyond me. You have even highlighted my response to you which was an answer to your question about the teams lack of height. Why bother asking the question then? I won’t labour the point anymore.

Not sure how long you have been around 'A' grade but most clubs are lucky if they have 25-30 players capable of playing 'A' grade seniors. Some have more (Xavs) some have less (Carey). When you get up around 35 - 40 then it gets bloody tough.

I’ll ask again. Who is your club, how are they travelling and how’s their depth? Will they play finals this year and what do they need to make it. Where can I find your clubs match reports?

I look forward to the reply.

This is shaping up better than the Ali v Frazier fight in Manila.

"Now both fighters, go to your corners and come out fighting"

 

[galloping]

Not a bad call Rooster, Ron is red and black and their match reports are lifeless when they lose

 

[Penski]

Not a bad call Rooster, Ron is red and black and their match reports are lifeless when they lose

I have noticed that a Xavs loss can mean no match report at all on their website. Still, they make an effort to put up a public match report. Many clubs do, but some just seem to save the reports for their newsletters (I assume).

 

[Rooster 24]

Not a bad call Rooster, Ron is red and black and their match reports are lifeless when they lose

I actually had him pegged as a purple Galloping as in a recent post he had them finishing in the 4 at seasons end. Brave call and only a Lions supporter would genuinely believe likely this year. I look forward to him confirming his allegiance so we can critique his clubs match reports. Maybe he has no 'A' grade allegaince and just likes agitating. If so I took the bait good and proper !

If he is a Collegian (or Old Xav) then he has much to be grateful for. They are both great clubs (even our much vilified match report scribe says as much in his Rd 9 match report but Ronny has failed to mention that)

Both clubs do most things very well. Strong across the board, good numbers and an ability to recruit quality players from beyond the school. They have had much recent success. Obviously strong, well run clubs and if you followed them you don’t have much to complain about. However they hate losing as much as the next club and are happy to put up the same reasons why as we all do. I like it that our scribe shows a bit of emotion rather than the ‘vanilla’ you see on most club websites. And a report goes up win or lose every week.

To go around cutting and pasting selective quotes from an opposition teams match reports as RR has done is absolutely piss poor I reckon. Takes the entire thing way out of context.

 

[darwinderwin]

Which clubs do provide, and which clubs don't?

Can somebody rate the quality of each 'scribe'? Looking for honesty, frequency, humility, respect for opposition and a little flair.

 

[Rooster 24]

Which clubs do provide, and which clubs don't?

Can somebody rate the quality of each 'scribe'? Looking for honesty, frequency, humility, respect for opposition and a little flair.

I’m not a massive reader of other clubs websites but have found from past experience that the Blues & Blacks reports are pretty good. As you might expect of those highly educated individuals they are well written and generally have a touch of humour and some honestly. You have to expect that these reports be written through their own clubs eyes so I don’t get too hung up with a bit of bias.

I dip my lid to anyone prepared to take the time to write something for their supporters. I reckon ours (De La) are generally pretty good. Some weeks are better than others but I guess this depends on how much time the author has. I'm not even sure it is the same person every week but there is something up following every game, win lose or draw and usually by the Sunday or Monday.

 

[Privateye]

Hey Darwin, did Dan Costello retire?

 

[Over The Post]

Re Scotch and the AFL players in their lineup - are they doing a Haileybury?

 

[darwinderwin]

Hey Darwin, did Dan Costello retire?

Moved to Sydney for study. I'm not sure how old he is but couldn't be much more than 26. First time without a Costello in the Black Half for some time.