SFNL Division 1 2024 discussion

[sammelb80]

Bentleigh have been cautious in their approach and quite rightly. They nearly went out of existence 24 years ago. They had a benefactor who saved them. 24 years ago they had no Juniors and fumbling around in D4 of the Ammos. They will get the balance of youth & experience right, then watch out. The problem for Bentleigh and clubs like Bentleigh that do the hard yards in promoting Junior football, is that they leave themselves open to clubs with fat wallets pinching their recruits, and then these kids start their careers as mercenaries jumping from club to club.

Bentleigh seem to be quiet on the signings front, but I did see them give the old coach the 'Thanks, but no thanks' at the end of his contract.....
I think internally they know they are starting favourites for the drop. I do admire their approach in their junior commitment and alignment so hopefully the crop of youngsters really begin to kick on.

Port Colts picking up some big names but I still don't trust them. A couple losses early and I feel the toys might get thrown out of the pram....

Keeping an eye on East Brighton, they likely won't challenge but with their signings/returning from injury it's a failure if they don't play finals.

Unsure on Cranbourne. New coach and saw they've lost their ruck men, haven't followed closely enough so not sure on the signings. I expect them to be around 8-6th in a year of growing pains, but they'll bounce back inevitably

 

[Big buzz]

Bentleigh have been cautious in their approach and quite rightly. They nearly went out of existence 24 years ago. They had a benefactor who saved them. 24 years ago they had no Juniors and fumbling around in D4 of the Ammos. They will get the balance of youth & experience right, then watch out. The problem for Bentleigh and clubs like Bentleigh that do the hard yards in promoting Junior football, is that they leave themselves open to clubs with fat wallets pinching their recruits, and then these kids start their careers as mercenaries jumping from club to club.

Good right up m8 Martin is definitely playing at Springvale and Cranbourne have lost 3or4 senior players to Skye and i know Narre will lose there best player young toner to vfl or might get drafted but they lose players regularly to other clubs and seem to replace them no problem with out paying much most are locals from other junior clubs or there own juniors

 

[Bunk Moreland]

Good right up m8 Martin is definitely playing at Springvale and Cranbourne have lost 3or4 senior players to Skye and i know Narre will lose there best player young toner to vfl or might get drafted but they lose players regularly to other clubs and seem to replace them no problem with out paying much most are locals from other junior clubs or there own juniors

They have three junior clubs (Narre, Narre North and Fountain Gate) so have never really done any recruiting, it’s just a production line of locals.

However they’ve always been in weak leagues so it’ll be interesting to see how they go and whether they are able to start recruiting externally to improve.

Joining a metro league with a higher standard makes things harder, just ask Berwick.

Interesting too that junior clubs in the south east are finally getting up and going with seniors - Berwick Springs, Narre South and now Clyde and starting seniors of their own.

 

[Big buzz]

They have three junior clubs (Narre, Narre North and Fountain Gate) so have never really done any recruiting, it’s just a production line of locals.

However they’ve always been in weak leagues so it’ll be interesting to see how they go and whether they are able to start recruiting externally to improve.

Joining a metro league with a higher standard makes things harder, just ask Berwick.

Interesting too that junior clubs in the south east are finally getting up and going with seniors - Berwick Springs, Narre South and now Clyde and starting seniors of their own.

I wouldn’t say they have been in weaker leagues I’d say there been in similar standards league and as for Berwick they went into premier EFL when they should of started in Div 1 like Beaconsfield i suppose it’s easier for Narre to attract juniors from those clubs around them most want to play for well run clubs that are good sides and good ground and excellent facilities

 

[MoorabbinMauler2]

Good right up m8 Martin is definitely playing at Springvale and Cranbourne have lost 3or4 senior players to Skye and i know Narre will lose there best player young toner to vfl or might get drafted but they lose players regularly to other clubs and seem to replace them no problem with out paying much most are locals from other junior clubs or there own juniors

Cheers,
Will do another proper write up on seasons eve but still much to play out over the offseason!
Since then, yes, Martin has signed which is a coup for the competition - though have heard his body is absolutely cooked so will be interesting to see how he pans out. Arms and Walker are big outs though, Springy's best ruck and key back respectively.
East Brighton have made some further signings with Grima and Ben Reid (allegedly) who will both be stars and supplement their defence nicely. While their key position stocks are now absolutely loaded, still need some nice ball users behind the ball though - maybe K Love Linay shifts back? Reid didn't play this year so unsure how his body is, but SFNL is definitely a step down from the O & M
Port have bolstered their top end more, if Hibberd plays a whole year on top of the McCombs and Taylor, that should go a long way to pushing for finals. Their bottom end is still very weak though which will most likely be their Achilles heel.
Beena have made some good signings too on top of retaining their list, with Scollo and Minchin the highlights for mine, so should be competitive straight away.
Agree with the statements that Cranbourne will regress a tad, lost Tyson Barry too which depletes the forward line further after Dickson and Holt left last season. Write them off at your peril, well-drilled side with a midfielder that can have months where he kicks 3 or 4 goals a game from midfield (Roscoe).
Should be a great season though!

As a bonus, if I was HQ, this is how I'd be scheduling round 1

Sat Day
Bentleigh vs Port (Two sides wanting to get early points on the board, absolutely hate each other too)
Chelt vs Dingley (Absolute blockbuster + GF rematch, 'nuff said)
Beena vs EB (Beena unfurl their flag in front of a big home crowd, how do they stack up to a genuine div 1 side that they couldn't beat in the 2023 GF?)
Springy vs St Paul's (Couple of great matches between the two sides last year, how will some of the EFNL's best adapt to SFNL?)

Sat Night
Narre vs Cranny (reignites an old rivalry, drawing a bumper crowd and testing Narre's mettle straight away)

Feels bad not having St Pauls play Bentleigh under lights, but Bentleigh Port is fast becoming a genuine grudge match + this makes all 5 games competitive.

 

[benbrown]

An inner suburban footy league in the southern or bayside areas would struggle. Kind of like what happened to the SFL 2000-2020 ish.

Footy is played by young people, and there just isn’t enough of them in these areas. So the quality of the footy drops off, the better players go looking for a better standard, which means it drops further, and clubs losing their better players look to other leagues in order to try to retain their players. It started with Noble Park for the SFL.

For the SFNL you also have the VAFA which has a chokehold on young footballers who go to school in the area.

If you want a footy league to thrive you have to keep pushing into the younger areas. The SFNL have this opportunity with the outer south-east and have taken it now. The south-east has been an enormous growth area and continues to be, in a way the SFNL is fortunate the clubs out that way as a group were so dysfunctional and never got their their shit together with their own big league. They went to the MPFNL, who never wanted them, they went to the YVMDFL which was a complete shemozzle of a merger. Now they’re by and large going to the SFNL which seems a much better move, they have some critical mass now with a number of local rivals and there’s four divisions to find a good level of competitiveness.

The inner southern clubs will get dragged along for the ride and this is good for them, it gives the league a high standard which will ensure they can attract and retain quality players.

The distances aren’t that big, if I’m the SFNL I’d be saying anything south of the Monash / Princes Freeway is us and we should be looking to push into it.

Clubs were dysfunctional?,the big 4 were just too powerful on and off the field and nobody wanted or could compete with them,you can’t make clubs want to join a league with you and you were never going to get clubs from eastern coming over

 

[unwise gamgee]

As a bonus, if I was HQ, this is how I'd be scheduling round 1

Sat Day
Bentleigh vs Port (Two sides wanting to get early points on the board, absolutely hate each other too)

Feels bad not having St Pauls play Bentleigh under lights, but Bentleigh Port is fast becoming a genuine grudge match + this makes all 5 games competitive.

Where has Bentleigh v Colts come from to be a stronger rivalry than Bentleigh v St Paul's?

 

[MoorabbinMauler2]

Where has Bentleigh v Colts come from to be a stronger rivalry than Bentleigh v St Paul's?

Not a stronger rivalry by any means, but was a bit of a fizzler for opening round this season. Springy vs St Pauls were both cracking games last season, with st pauls taking both narrowly - so think they're more suited to an even contest (especially given the quality of ins for Springvale) which is what you'd want to kick the season off in style I'd think. The last three or four times port have played Bentleigh, there's been a lot of feeling in the game, with heaps of spotfires and melees. Has all the makings of two enthralling contests, rather than two comfortable victories. Port are tough because their traditional rival (City) have just been relegated to div 3.
Just my two cents of course so could be completely wrong

 

[Bunk Moreland]

I wouldn’t say they have been in weaker leagues I’d say there been in similar standards league and as for Berwick they went into premier EFL when they should of started in Div 1 like Beaconsfield i suppose it’s easier for Narre to attract juniors from those clubs around them most want to play for well run clubs that are good sides and good ground and excellent facilities

100% they’ve been in weaker leagues. Next year will be a big step up from Outer East, be interesting to see how they go.

 

[The jouneyman]

100% t

hey’ve been in weaker leagues. Next year will be a big step up from Outer East, be interesting to see how they go.

cranny won the flag in there first season in the SFNL
they never won a flag in outer east
the SFNL have played the RDFL quite a few times over recent years and never really dominated them and I'd say the OUTER EAST and RDFL are similar standard
true the southern is getting better
but i rekon you may have egg on your faces next year with narre they will go very close to winning the comp

 

[random observer]

I see Paul Amy is tipping that Charlie Clarke (recently delisted by the Western Bulldogs) will be off to Port Melbourne VFL next year.

If so, will be interesting to see whether he might play a few games for the Colts when Port have the bye / split round, given his past and family connections at the Colts. Would be very handy.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

cranny won the flag in there first season in the SFNL
they never won a flag in outer east
the SFNL have played the RDFL quite a few times over recent years and never really dominated them and I'd say the OUTER EAST and RDFL are similar standard
true the southern is getting better
but i rekon you may have egg on your faces next year with narre they will go very close to winning the comp

I’m not saying they’ll necessarily be bad, but they are definitely making a step up. Quite possible they come in and be there on GF day, but it won’t be as easy as the Outer East.