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I think you'll find xavs thirds teams are all separate, which gives even more reason to make them play each other.
Plenty of the 2’s and 3’s played in their 4ths

A top 4 in all grades would remove any chance (not saying they will do it) of players being dropped down for this weeks Grand Final.
 

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I'll have $1m on each of top 3, and $40k each on Collegians & Xavs.

Full points for enthusiasm, but your homework is market percentages.

Skobs have not got any better since last years GF debacle, if anything , gone backwards...
OS have definitely gone up a "gear".
OB, with the benefit of no mid season trip for half the team, have had a seamless run into the Finals.

OS v OB Granny.....
 
Skobs have not got any better since last years GF debacle, if anything , gone backwards...
OS have definitely gone up a "gear".
OB, with the benefit of no mid season trip for half the team, have had a seamless run into the Finals.

OS v OB Granny.....
The interesting sliders are Uni Blues, if not for some Stewart heroics would be in B Grade next year. Have heard that they are looking around for a new coach as well, pretty unfair on the great Marto if true.

Plugger and SKOB are in full re-build mode, anyone with knowledge of their list would understand this. To be guaranteed finals is a fine effort, particularly with the player losses and horrific event of Michael Pisker this year.

I concur that it's OB and OS as firm favourites, with OX and the reigning premiers fighting it out for the last spot, should be an exciting finish to the year.
 
The interesting sliders are Uni Blues, if not for some Stewart heroics would be in B Grade next year. Have heard that they are looking around for a new coach as well, pretty unfair on the great Marto if true.

Plugger and SKOB are in full re-build mode, anyone with knowledge of their list would understand this. To be guaranteed finals is a fine effort, particularly with the player losses and horrific event of Michael Pisker this year.

I concur that it's OB and OS as firm favourites, with OX and the reigning premiers fighting it out for the last spot, should be an exciting finish to the year.
While SKOB may well be in a re-build phase, have they lost as many players from last year’s GF team as Collegians.
Talk being some 15 GF players are missing. Known that some 4 or 5 are high profile retirements & VFL moves. However of the other 10 or so, is that a mix of long term injuries, transfers elsewhere or other retirements ?
A massive transformation & a great effort to even be in the hunt for finals, for a club with less general depth than most of their main rivals.
 

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While SKOB may well be in a re-build phase, have they lost as many players from last year’s GF team as Collegians.
Talk being some 15 GF players are missing. Known that some 4 or 5 are high profile retirements & VFL moves. However of the other 10 or so, is that a mix of long term injuries, transfers elsewhere or other retirements ?
A massive transformation & a great effort to even be in the hunt for finals, for a club with less general depth than most of their main rivals.

There were 3 retirements in Mirra, Ferguson, Michie and then you had the likes of Sofronidis and Orgill to VFL.

The other GF players missing are all injuries.
Some like Matt Warren, Woodfull, Canny only played 2-3 early games.
Others such as Hibbins, Mayhood, Campbell Walker haven’t been since the first half of the season.
Like SKOB the upside is they have been pumping games into youth and have found a solid core to move forward with. There is no doubt injuries play a part in any teams season and last year Collegians were lucky enough to be a healthy unit come finals time
 
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There were 3 retirements in Mirra, Ferguson, Michie and then you had the likes of Sofronidis and Orgill to VFL.

The other GF players missing are all injuries.
Some like Matt Warren, Woodfull, Canny only played 2-3 early games.
Others such as Hibbins, Mayhood, Campbell Walker haven’t been since the first round.
Like SKOB the upside is they have been pumping games into youth and have found a solid core to move forward with. There is no doubt injuries play a part in any teams season and last year Collegians were lucky enough to be a healthy unit come finals time

What I dont think has been mentioned ( I maybe wrong) is the current APS schools reviewng their sporting policies.
The long and the short of it is that Teachers dont want to work on sat unless they get more money. The traditional cricket game friday arvo, all day sat is certain for the chop.... You will hear the Headmasters arguments for it , but it is purely down to $$$$'s. I heard the Scotch's Head trying to explain it away, but I was not impressed. And it is not just game day. itself , afternoons for footy practice(and all other sports for that matter) will be in jeopardy. If this comes to fruition, the number of Boys and Girls playing footy can only decline.......Maybe Im wrong? Some one please tell me I am....
 
What I dont think has been mentioned ( I maybe wrong) is the current APS schools reviewng their sporting policies.
The long and the short of it is that Teachers dont want to work on sat unless they get more money. The traditional cricket game friday arvo, all day sat is certain for the chop.... You will hear the Headmasters arguments for it , but it is purely down to $$$$'s. I heard the Scotch's Head trying to explain it away, but I was not impressed. And it is not just game day. itself , afternoons for footy practice(and all other sports for that matter) will be in jeopardy. If this comes to fruition, the number of Boys and Girls playing footy can only decline.......Maybe Im wrong? Some one please tell me I am....

ACC schools (De La, St Bedes, St Bernards, Mazenod et al) play Wednesday afternoon. This allows kids to play with their mates at their local clubs on the weekend which in my view probably keeps kids involved in the sport. Most ACC based old boys’ clubs have healthy numbers of U19s with most having multiple teams. The fact they do not play Saturday or make participation compulsory does not seem to impact on the number of school graduates making their way to the old boy’s affiliate.

APS stepping back from ‘elite’ sport might slow down the number scholarships but should not impact on the numbers playing footy.
 
There were 3 retirements in Mirra, Ferguson, Michie and then you had the likes of Sofronidis and Orgill to VFL.

The other GF players missing are all injuries.
Some like Matt Warren, Woodfull, Canny only played 2-3 early games.
Others such as Hibbins, Mayhood, Campbell Walker haven’t been since the first half of the season.
Like SKOB the upside is they have been pumping games into youth and have found a solid core to move forward with. There is no doubt injuries play a part in any teams season and last year Collegians were lucky enough to be a healthy unit come finals time
My spies are telling me a number of their best players in 2024 are moving South in 2025
 
There were 3 retirements in Mirra, Ferguson, Michie and then you had the likes of Sofronidis and Orgill to VFL.

The other GF players missing are all injuries.
Some like Matt Warren, Woodfull, Canny only played 2-3 early games.
Others such as Hibbins, Mayhood, Campbell Walker haven’t been since the first half of the season.
Like SKOB the upside is they have been pumping games into youth and have found a solid core to move forward with. There is no doubt injuries play a part in any teams season and last year Collegians were lucky enough to be a healthy unit come finals time
Sofronidis played 2 games been injured all year
 
Bernie’s thought they were playing in the Essendon league today, will struggle to field a team next week following all of the reports, might lose a few under video review as well. Have never seen anything like it!

Goodbye to OM’s, and we can probably say Fitzroy, despite their late season heroics.

OX in a spiral, with The Lions biting back today in a boil over.

Bring on round 18.
 
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Bernie’s thought they were playing in the Essendon league today, will struggle to field a team next week following all of the reports, might lose a few under video review as well. Have never seen anything like it!

Goodbye to OM’s, and we can probably say Fitzroy, despite their late season heroics.

OX in a spiral, with The Lions biting back today in a boil over.

Bring on round 18.
With that sort of carry on I hope Fitzroy conjure a miracle, win the battle of Lions and send the thugs packing to B Grade anonymity.
 
Bernie’s thought they were playing in the Essendon league today, will struggle to field a team next week following all of the reports, might lose a few under video review as well. Have never seen anything like it!

Goodbye to OM’s, and we can probably say Fitzroy, despite their late season heroics.

OX in a spiral, with The Lions biting back today in a boil over.

Bring on round 18.
Go on
 
What I dont think has been mentioned ( I maybe wrong) is the current APS schools reviewng their sporting policies.
The long and the short of it is that Teachers dont want to work on sat unless they get more money. The traditional cricket game friday arvo, all day sat is certain for the chop.... You will hear the Headmasters arguments for it , but it is purely down to $$$$'s. I heard the Scotch's Head trying to explain it away, but I was not impressed. And it is not just game day. itself , afternoons for footy practice(and all other sports for that matter) will be in jeopardy. If this comes to fruition, the number of Boys and Girls playing footy can only decline.......Maybe Im wrong? Some one please tell me I am....
From my current Wesley experience but evidently across the board, this is a 3-fold issue.
1) The ever changing demographic mix of kids / families, who are happy to pay the growing fees, but have a disdain for sport. The schools no longer have the ‘support’ to compel mass participation, as they enjoy the spoils of $$$. This is felt at younger levels & lower down than 1st & 2nds teams, that will always continue to thrive.
2) Teacher / coaches - already has seen a swing to paying ex students for many roles, for younger teams & lower down the pecking order. It’s also something of fallacy of sorts teachers moaning about extra duties. Certainly for most senior teams (1sts & 2nds again) are generally specialist sport coaches, including say extra roles also NB: Head of Footy, Aths, Rowing, Cricket, etc.
Sometimes they might double up as PE, English teachers.
3) Facilities - there’s huge $ millions invested in A grade infrastructure (gyms, pools, b’ball courts, outdoor fields, boat sheds, etc). Could anybody see a scale back that would make a mockery of such assets being under used !

What has been suggested, is offering new ‘activities’ as alternates for the families not ‘engaged’ as such, IE: yoga, pilates, health / well being, cycling, etc. Suspect some sports may find themselves on the outside if numbers are low.
Plus perhaps shifting some year levels inter-school sport to mid week, from a Sat to soften teacher impact.
But the core sports are believed to always survive ( footy, cricket, rowing, Aths, basketball, Netball, soccer, etc) perhaps with fewer numbers at some big schools.
 

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