Manly A Grade competition

[Shark62]

Hi. I saw an article which suggested the Manly A Grade comp had folded. I then noticed that about 7 of their Clubs appear to be playing in the Open Competitions in the Sydney combined comp. Can anybody confirm or otherwise?

 

[rightleftin]

Hi. I saw an article which suggested the Manly A Grade comp had folded. I then noticed that about 7 of their Clubs appear to be playing in the Open Competitions in the Sydney combined comp. Can anybody confirm or otherwise?

Yes Manly A grade has joined the Conferences after Parramatta did the same last year so now only Penrith and Souths run separate comps. The conferences has the advantage of running 3 divisions so clubs from a number of districts are able to play sides of similar standard instead of getting flogged every week.

Division 1 - Cromer, Narrabeen, Avalon
Division 2 - Belrose, Narraweena, Forestville
No Manly teams in Division 3.

Belrose lost all 15 games in the Northern Conference last year but now in the 2nd tier of the combined comp, beat Kellyville 50-0 in their first game.

 

[Shark62]

Yes Manly A grade has joined the Conferences after Parramatta did the same last year so now only Penrith and Souths run separate comps. The conferences has the advantage of running 3 divisions so clubs from a number of districts are able to play sides of similar standard instead of getting flogged every week.

Division 1 - Cromer, Narrabeen, Avalon
Division 2 - Belrose, Narraweena, Forestville
No Manly teams in Division 3.

Belrose lost all 15 games in the Northern Conference last year but now in the 2nd tier of the combined comp, beat Kellyville 50-0 in their first game.

I suppose that means more travel but competitive games. The drop off in senior teams has been very disturbing.

 

[rightleftin]

round 1

Div 1
Avalon 46 Cabramatta 0
Cromer 42 Merrylands 0
Moorebank 36 Narrabeen 16
St Johns 32 Wenty 14
Maulers beat Greenacre on forfeit

Div 2
Belrose 50 Kellyville 0
Forestville 34 Hinchinbrook 8
Narrabeen beat Moorebank reserves on forfeit
Toongabbie beat Chester Hill on forfeit

Good start for Manly teams 5 out 6. 3 forfeits in first week is a worry.

 

[Shark62]

round 1

Div 1
Avalon 46 Cabramatta 0
Cromer 42 Merrylands 0
Moorebank 36 Narrabeen 16
St Johns 32 Wenty 14
Maulers beat Greenacre on forfeit

Div 2
Belrose 50 Kellyville 0
Forestville 34 Hinchinbrook 8
Narrabeen beat Moorebank reserves on forfeit
Toongabbie beat Chester Hill on forfeit

Good start for Manly teams 5 out 6. 3 forfeits in first week is a worry.

Is it really that difficult to organise a game of footy in Sydney these days? Ffs!

 

[rightleftin]

Is it really that difficult to organise a game of footy in Sydney these days? Ffs!

All the teams that forfeited have been thrown out of the competitions.

 

[Shark62]

All the teams that forfeited have been thrown out of the competitions.

Good grief. Moorebank obviously struggled to get two teams. Throwing them out after one round seems harsh though. What a debacle.

 

[rightleftin]

Good grief. Moorebank obviously struggled to get two teams. Throwing them out after one round seems harsh though. What a debacle.

Apparently the NSWRL invented this rule last year and a team was thrown out of the Sydney Shield when it forfeited the 17th round. In previous seasons in that comp, there have been instances of top sides forfeiting the last round before the semis, so they adopted total intolerance instead of the standard fines.

The Moorebank side would have been their 3rd side as their top grade plays in the Sydney Shield.

 

[Shark62]

Apparently the NSWRL invented this rule last year and a team was thrown out of the Sydney Shield when it forfeited the 17th round. In previous seasons in that comp, there have been instances of top sides forfeiting the last round before the semis, so they adopted total intolerance instead of the standard fines.

The Moorebank side would have been their 3rd side as their top grade plays in the Sydney Shield.

Fair enough then. Is there any road back for senior men’s footy? Parramatta not having its own competition is astounding.

 

[rightleftin]

Fair enough then. Is there any road back for senior men’s footy? Parramatta not having its own competition is astounding.

Parramatta joined the conferences to make it viable. In 2018 there were only 9 teams left in Canterbury, Wests and Balmain (and none in St George) so the 14 Parramatta teams came in but one year later they are down to 10 Parra teams so the decline continues.

In the mid 90's North Sydney had A Grade, reserves and a 2nd Division - about 25 teams, now there is only Asquith with teams in Ron Massey Cup and Sydney Shield.

 

[Shark62]

Parramatta joined the conferences to make it viable. In 2018 there were only 9 teams left in Canterbury, Wests and Balmain (and none in St George) so the 14 Parramatta teams came in but one year later they are down to 10 Parra teams so the decline continues.

In the mid 90's North Sydney had A Grade, reserves and a 2nd Division - about 25 teams, now there is only Asquith with teams in Ron Massey Cup and Sydney Shield.

Dear me that is terrible

 

[kbw]

I believe there is too much focus put on making SG Ball and U20s. Lots of kids now are leaving if they don't make squads.
The contradiction to that is Souths Agrade/A Res where I saw the results of a study with a substantial majority still playing in those grade did not play rep football.

Playing the game for the love of it needs to be promoted more.

 

[Shark62]

I believe there is too much focus put on making SG Ball and U20s. Lots of kids now are leaving if they don't make squads.
The contradiction to that is Souths Agrade/A Res where I saw the results of a study with a substantial majority still playing in those grade did not play rep football.

Playing the game for the love of it needs to be promoted more.

Yes I agree. The idea of playing rugby league purely for the joy of it seems to have gone missing in Sydney.

 

[adamkungl]

I believe there is too much focus put on making SG Ball and U20s. Lots of kids now are leaving if they don't make squads.
The contradiction to that is Souths Agrade/A Res where I saw the results of a study with a substantial majority still playing in those grade did not play rep football.

Playing the game for the love of it needs to be promoted more.

Yes I agree. The idea of playing rugby league purely for the joy of it seems to have gone missing in Sydney.

I think it's just changing times.
People have more entertainment choices, longer educations, more employment pressures.
For adults, full contact sport with training twice a week and the fitness upkeep required around that is hard to fit in
For teenagers, they've got a more distractions aside from girls and booze that didn't exist 50 years ago.
It's not realistic to expect every second bloke in Sydney to be pulling on a jersey anymore.

But it's not all bad -
1) adults dropping out doesn't effect the flow of players to higher grades, ultimately it's just social activity. Strong numbers at juniors is far more important to the game's overall health than seniors.

2) Thousands of adults across Sydney, former Rugby League players and total new faces, get a footy in their hands 2 or 3 times a week playing social oztag and touch that can't commit to getting bashed 3 times a week playing the full contact game.

 

[Shark62]

I think it's just changing times.
People have more entertainment choices, longer educations, more employment pressures.
For adults, full contact sport with training twice a week and the fitness upkeep required around that is hard to fit in
For teenagers, they've got a more distractions aside from girls and booze that didn't exist 50 years ago.
It's not realistic to expect every second bloke in Sydney to be pulling on a jersey anymore.

But it's not all bad -
1) adults dropping out doesn't effect the flow of players to higher grades, ultimately it's just social activity. Strong numbers at juniors is far more important to the game's overall health than seniors.

2) Thousands of adults across Sydney, former Rugby League players and total new faces, get a footy in their hands 2 or 3 times a week playing social oztag and touch that can't commit to getting bashed 3 times a week playing the full contact game.

I just noticed the Sydney combined comps now includes league tag. There is a lot of sense in what you’ve written. Personally I loved getting bashed up 3 days a week at training and game day. Times have changed.

 

[adamkungl]

I just noticed the Sydney combined comps now includes league tag. There is a lot of sense in what you’ve written. Personally I loved getting bashed up 3 days a week at training and game day. Times have changed.

Hey I did too, I had to give it up 3 or 4 years ago after a 2nd knee injury. My minimal talent wasnt justifying the effort or the injury risk haha

Both my brothers gave it away at 17 after numerous injuries, both more talented than me.
Heaps of blokes I played with dropped in and out over the years because life just gets in the way. Even though they were good players and we were a successful team playing annual finals.

 

[Shark62]

Hey I did too, I had to give it up 3 or 4 years ago after a 2nd knee injury. My minimal talent wasnt justifying the effort or the injury risk haha

Both my brothers gave it away at 17 after numerous injuries, both more talented than me.
Heaps of blokes I played with dropped in and out over the years because life just gets in the way. Even though they were good players and we were a successful team playing annual finals.

Yep that makes a lot of sense mate!

 

[kbw]

I just noticed the Sydney combined comps now includes league tag. There is a lot of sense in what you’ve written. Personally I loved getting bashed up 3 days a week at training and game day. Times have changed.

Problem is so many players see it as a money making venture more than playing footy with your mates

 

[Stallion]

I think it's just changing times.
People have more entertainment choices, longer educations, more employment pressures.
For adults, full contact sport with training twice a week and the fitness upkeep required around that is hard to fit in
For teenagers, they've got a more distractions aside from girls and booze that didn't exist 50 years ago.
It's not realistic to expect every second bloke in Sydney to be pulling on a jersey anymore.

But it's not all bad -
1) adults dropping out doesn't effect the flow of players to higher grades, ultimately it's just social activity. Strong numbers at juniors is far more important to the game's overall health than seniors.

2) Thousands of adults across Sydney, former Rugby League players and total new faces, get a footy in their hands 2 or 3 times a week playing social oztag and touch that can't commit to getting bashed 3 times a week playing the full contact game.

All senior rugby league aside from the NRL should be played on Saturday afternoons. This will improve player recovery as most work on Mondays. It will also make the code more socially appealing and relevant as the best night of the week (Saturday)is enjoyed by supporters and players. If this means having rugby league 15s to 18s playing on a Sunday then so be it.

 

[Coastbloke]

I'm not sure what comp the Berowra Wallabies play but I can never find a score. I suggested that they join the CCDRL Comp but no one seems interested in the idea..I think they'd fit in well..