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Patience & Perseverance
Wednesday 25th August - By Ronny's Blog
A lot has been written about our zone and our thoughts that the boundaries need to be addressed sooner rather than later.
Even if the zones are changed immediately the impact from these changes takes several years to take hold, but we still see it as a necessity to happen quickly.
The thing that has been most noticeable is that a lot of people aren’t aware of where we actually have our aligned players allocated from.
A lot of these people are those with high profiles in our state with regard to football and who I would have imagined would be aware of our plight.
I have been told by numerous people, many from the group above, that we have this great area to develop players, but when I mention that this suburb or that suburb is not in our zone they are amazed.
There is the perception that all of Hallett Cove, Sheidow Park,Aberfoyle park, Happy Valley, Flagstaff Hill, Trott Park, Lonsdale and Reynella are in the South Adelaide recruiting grounds.
It is also thought that the club has done a terrible job of fostering players from these places when only a small part of these suburbs are ours.
The club is willing to take some responsibility for some of the mistakes of the past and is continually trying to improve our lot, but the participation rates that have been published give a far more accurate account of the facts.
Until that is changed we will keep working to get better with the resources we do have though.
We have witnessed many more junior games in our zones this year than in previous seasons, as well as attending all of the country representative games, where a lot of the Southern Football league and Great Southern Football league players have participated.
We are actively out and about looking at players in our zones as well as other junior competitions in the state, to ascertain whether they can play at the level.
We are also looking interstate at prospective recruits for 2011.
The good thing about our club at the moment is that it is a place where young men who want to train hard and want to play league football, will be given a chance.
We only want those people who want to play for the right reasons and who can improve our football club however.
We have made a lot of positive steps already that may not be apparent at the moment, but will be bear fruit in the future.
Our policies won’t change in the rush for instant success though.
We are still sticking to our mantra of patience and perseverance.
Ron Fuller
Follow your dream
Wednesday 18th August - By Ronny's Blog
I spoke over some previous blogs of parents who can be a bit over zealous with their support for their children at the football club.
I suggested that it can be a hard thing to step back and allow the people who are entrusted with their roles to do their jobs without interference.
It can be a difficult thing to do but is usually the best policy for all the reasons I mentioned in the previous columns.
On the other side of the coin there are also parents who are quite ambivalent or just can’t be bothered supporting their sons at all.
We have recently had the under 15 carnival over the July school holidays where the players from our country and metropolitan zones represented the club against all the other SANFL clubs.
It is a terrific little round robin competition that leads into a more serious under 16 program next year where the boys from both teams combine to play for our under 16 team.
Previous to this are our development squads where the whole under 13, whole under 14 and under 15 metropolitan players identified as our best, have a 9 to 10 week development program of skill based exercises.
This is also a very good time to further identify talent and enhance it with our programs, with the players invited out by South Adelaide to participate.
Unfortunately we are at the whim of the parents to support the players to get to these once a week sessions but the ones that do are getting a lot of benefit from the effort.
We have received a lot of positive feedback from the parents about how it has improved their boys when they have played, both for us and their junior club.
We have also received a lot of feedback from these parents and clubs about the other parents who haven’t encouraged their sons to come out as well.
This is extremely disappointing and the majority of it is because the parents couldn’t or wouldn’t take the boys to these sessions.
We do understand that some parents can’t get the boys to the program but because it is an elite program, the players are participating with the other better players in the zone, and as such we are encouraging them strongly to get involved any way they can.
They are being identified as being good, as well as training with the better players too.
A lot of the parents suggested that they would be prepared to take the boys along with their own children, which suggests a little more effort is needed as well as better communication.
I know from past experience that the boys love to be a part of these programs if they get the support from their parents.
It is a rare thing for a young man who has been flattered by being asked to train with his better peers not to want to be involved.
With a little more effort a lot of people can benefit.
Australian Football offers a lot of opportunities now.
It has always offered a lot of opportunities in fact but one of the major benefits is to be in a healthy environment of disciple and achievement.
Surely this is reason enough to encourage your children to be a part of it.
Then a lot of other things can be found to enhance the experience as well.
I know as a parent that I would not want to be responsible for not allowing my son to follow his dream.
Ron Fuller
Stirring the pot
Wednesday 11th August - By Ronny's Blog
Last week I spoke about parent support as well as past players having a say without being involved in the every day goings on at the football club.
I mentioned the old saying about being seen but not heard.
Another old saying is a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
The internet is a wonderful resource but it can also be damaging when used in the wrong manner as we have all become aware of.
I tend not to read any of the chat lines because most are anonymous and any credibility is lost when people need to hide behind a pseudonym to communicate.
Occasionally someone will bring to my attention something that is said however and while it adds to discussion, most of it is inaccurate, it's mischievous or it is a person with a private agenda using the forum to press their case.
I am amazed at some of the information these people have which makes me think it is often a disgruntled parent, an ex player who couldn't make the grade but now wants to be disruptive, or someone in a support role who isn’t in it for the right reasons.
Once again as it is anonymous it doesn't hold much weight but if a person wants to write to me with their correct name, address and a home phone number I will almost always get back to you.
I would rather tell it as I see it and won't try to appease any detractors with fluffy propaganda.
Our club has had its share of problems in the past with people who are only happy if something is going wrong, so we are keen to be as transparent as possible and to keep our supporters in the frame.
It is the true supporters we want to please however and I have to say I have had few problems at South Adelaide compared to my previous experiences.
It is great to have support but it just has to be for the right reasons.
We really do want the entire club to be united.
Ron Fuller
Stability & Support
Wednesday 4th August - By Ronny's Blog
I mentioned the other week about how a good club has a base of stability and good management.
It is vital but not always achievable.
The demise of most clubs is when there is no stability and people involved have their own agendas rather than those of the football club.
Egos can get in the way of the wider picture.
This results in factions where too many people are pulling the rope in different directions.
The importance of stability can never be too strongly pushed.
Port Adelaide had Fos Williams and Bob McLean reside for many years in their golden era.
Sturt had Ray Kutcher and Jack Oatey hold the fort at Unley in their winning times then Wally Miller was the Norwood CEO when they didn’t miss the finals as well as winning two premierships for the 11 years Neil Balme coached them.
Now we have had Kris Grant and Roy Laird in charge of probably the most successful period in SANFL history.
I am sure they have all had their problems over the years but their strong leadership would have made the waters smooth when it got a bit rough.
I mentioned personal agendas before and this can certainly dismantle weaker clubs if left unattended.
There is an old saying about kids being seen and not heard bit.
In football clubs it can also apply to anyone who won’t toe the party line but is also a problem when parents and past players get involved for the wrong reasons too.
It is extremely important for players to have the support of their parents but it is equally as important that they are aware of how they support their boys.
When parents want to help out I become quickly suspicious because I am yet to see a parent stay on in a support role when their son has left a club.
I have seen more problems stem from parents who are only aware of their own offspring than any other section and if a person happens to be a parent as well as a past player, then you can probably multiply the problem 4 fold.
We as parents want to see the best for our children but we are often the worst people to judge because our emotions make our judgements clouded.
As far as past players go, unfortunately the older we get the better we were, the better it was done in our time and the people who do it now have no idea.
When they are combined it makes for a very shaky cocktail.
Football clubs need positive support but sometimes well meaning people don’t actually assist when it isn’t the clubs welfare they are really worried about.
Ron Fuller
The season so far
Thursday 29th July - By Ronny's Blog
With us being ¾ quarters of the way through our season, I thought I would bring you up to date with our thoughts on where we sit.
I don’t want to compare our performances this season to the past few although statistically we are in front in regard to quarters won and our percentage.
The reason I don’t want to delve into it too much is that this season is alot different to what has happened in the past for a start.
This year has been one to move on the group of people who can’t or won’t take us forward and to develop those I think can take us forward.
I also have a better idea of who we need to bring in to improve us as well as those we still have who can take us upward.
The other reason I think it is unfair to compare is that I have never experienced a season where so much, mostly out of our control, has gone pear shaped.
I have been very, very impressed with how the whole club has worked to overcome this adversity and the players in particular have stayed up for it.
This gives me a lot of confidence about the mental strength of the group at the moment.
Unfortunately we have had some significant long term injuries to players we believe will make a difference.
Josh Thewlis, Daniel Talia, Mitch Sandery, Alex Splitt, Josh Taylor, Curtis Perrey, Kenn Campbell and Daniel Bass are all players who would have been very good contributors this season but have missed the vast majority of games.
The good news is that they become virtually 8 new recruits for us for 2011.
We have also had about the same amount of injured players from the reserves which has meant we have dug into our underage resources to cover spots as well.
There have been about 8 players who chose to leave once the season started too.
This did cut into our depth as well and disappointingly left us short, but I have said that if anyone doesn’t want to commit to our program we are better off without them.
Next year we will be making sure those that start with us are aware of the need to finish their commitment though.
It has been good to blood many young players, albeit before their time, but it has meant that we have not necessarily had the pressure from below that competitive teams need for their senior group to perform on a regular basis.
Ideally these players will come back fitter and stronger, to add to our depth in all grades next year too.
One of the real plusses for us has been the emergence of young players like Sam Richman, Andrew Carter, Todd McKay and Campbell into our league ranks.
Added to this, the consolidation into league footballers of Brad Crabb, Jacob Crate, Nick Murphy and Perrey, before his injury, is good for the club.
We would like to see Tarak Redigolo, Jake Veide, Peter Rolfe, Nathan Lyons, Taylor Whitford, Tom Carroll, Nick McKenna and Splitt make the same improvement next year too.
Of course we have been well served by our quality recruits as well.
Adam Cockshell from last year, Guy O’Keefe, Nick Liddle, Andrew Horne and Xavier Gotch have all been terrific for us.
We have been lucky to add such good recruits as well as the right type of person into our club.
We are on the hunt now to compliment what we have.
Recruiting will be critical again and it is no secret that as with most clubs, we see the need to add a couple of more mature people in to our midfield, as well as improving the key forward and defensive positions.
It won’t be easy to find the right type of players needed but we will be leaving no stone unturned to do so.
With what we have, with what we will get back from injury and with what we hope to have, it is quite an exciting prospect.
To play consistent, strong, winning football is the difficult task for us as well but I am extremely positive about what can be achieved at South Adelaide in the next few seasons of football.
We still have 5 games to complete the 2010 season though and it our intention to finish off strongly.
We hope to create as much havoc for the opposition clubs as we can and build some impetus toward next year.
PS - Please Note:
“ I have been contacted by Sam Elliott who has expressed his disappointment at being portrayed the way he was in our recent Newsletter.
Sam assures me his intention was to stop playing to get over his injuries and then felt that he could still play at a lower level with less of a work load.
He doesn’t want to be seen as letting the club down or taking the easy way out and wants our supporters to know that.
He would like to think he could play league football if his body were capable of handling the heavy training involved.
At the moment he believes that is not possible and as such is playing at Strathalbyn in the Great Southern league which is his junior club.”
Ron Fuller
No price no prize
Wednesday 21st July - By Ronny's Blog
There has been some conjecture about the merits of the import rule that will come in next season.
The rule states that a club is only allowed to have 8 imports on their list.
An import is any player who has come from a recognised state league.
The state leagues are the SANFL, the WAFL, the VFL, the TAC cup, the QAFL, the TSFL, the SFL and ACT AFL leagues.
A player is deemed as local if he has played in this competition for a minimum of 3 consecutive seasons.
The situation at South now is that we wish to recruit because we need to and we can, but we already have 7 imports on our list.
These boys are all young and have been recent introductions to the club.
Most other clubs have more imports but because they qualify as locals after 3 years they are excempt.
We are currently operating at about 75% of our salary cap and will probably go even below that.
We can and will have to recruit from other SANFL clubs to improve our list because we will be unable to go to the state leagues to get better players.
It has been established that our zone is very bare of local boys participating in football compared to all of the other clubs.
Even if our zone was fruitful it would still take years to get boys up to SANFL standard.
We will continue to work our zone to improve our players and work to improve our zone but that will take time.
As such it only amplifies the problem we have if we can’t recruit and recruit from other state leagues in particular.
We are able to recruit from other SANFL clubs but will need to offer very generous packages to entice the right type of player to our club.
The other clubs will have to offer them better deals in defence or let them go.
Either way the other clubs lose; firstly by losing their player or secondly by having to pay above normal to keep them.
The clubs can’t keep all of them if they are to abide by the salary cap, but maybe this is a way to spread the better players amongst all of the clubs.
Is this the reason we need a salary cap and an import rule?
One of the arguments for the import rule is that it allows junior talent to come through.
I can assure everyone that the talent comes through; in fact there are no talented players who don’t get an opportunity if they want it.
There is a rule in place that says that any player under 18 must stay in the under 18 competition until the championships start, which means that all of the talent available is playing at that level.
The under 18 competition also plays 22 a team to allow more to participate.
The import rule does weaken the SANFL competition.
The SANFL is a competition that provides an opportunity, as good as any other competition too, for players to be drafted but it isn’t the primary concern of clubs.
Everyone wants the SANFL to be the best competition outside of the AFL but there are more and more reasons it is being inhibited.
It appears some want their prize but don’t want to pay a price for it.
Ron Fuller
Tough times for new clubs
Wednesday 14th July - By Ronny's Blog
I couldn’t help but wonder how hard it is going to be for the Greater Western Sydney to establish itself.
The Gold Coast club will find it difficult enough but they do have the benefit of a local Australian Football Club in its proximity as well as many ex pat Southern state people who follow the game, now residing there.
They have also had an AFL club play out of the Gold Coast in the past too.
Having come from a series of clubs who were relatively new to a competition I do have some understanding of how tough it can be to get a foothold in.
My first league club was Woodville who were introduced to the SANFL in 1964.
My first season was 1979, so it had only been in the competition for 15 years then and there was always a feel we were working against it.
The club was formed because the league wanted a club, Central District, to represent the new Elizabeth area and they didn’t want to have a bye each week.
We all know the irony of that now.
Central were in a position to grow with the community but Woodville was sandwiched between two clubs, West Torrens and Port Adelaide, who at the time were strongly supported clubs, as well as being very established in the Western Suburbs.
It is recognised now that it wasn’t the best decision but I wonder how one of the two was able to survive and prosper but the other couldn’t after Woodville was introduced.
It was always going to be hard to gather new support for another club on that side of Adelaide as well with Glenelg and West Adelaide also on the Western side of the city.
The club had a very loyal but small following and I have many good memories playing for Woodville.
The next club I was involved with was then the newly merged club, after Woodville and West Torrens decided to come together following the introduction of the Adelaide Football Club.
It was a battle to find financial and general support in the area too, something that the old Port Adelaide struggled with once the Power was born.
Playing resources were not a problem with this club initially, as for a short period there were two of each but after some early success, including a Premiership in 1993, the club had some down years both on and off the field.
The club did consolidate though due to good management and stability which without is usually the downfall of most clubs.
It has become financially secure and has also played finals in 10 of the last 11 years but there were some tenuous times.
I am now involved with South Adelaide which is a traditional club having been formed in 1876.
I believe it is still new in many ways though.
It started as an inner city club playing at Adelaide Oval, then became a suburban club still playing at Adelaide Oval, to finally become an outer suburban club, playing at its own home ground for the first time, in 1995.
In this regard I think the club is new, in that it has only been at Noarlunga for 15 years.
The difference between South and many other clubs is that when we moved to our current location we didn’t have the majority of people living here who grew up barracking for South Adelaide because of any geographic relationship.
The older South supporters were those who had always supported the club from around the city or from around the newly founded St. Marys suburbs and a lot of these people still support South Adelaide which is great.
Central had the benefit of the club and its support base growing together though.
South Adelaide moved into an area where families living in Reynella, Morphett Vale, Christies Beach, Port Noarlunga or Noarlunga and other nearby suburbs had grown up barracking for other SANFL clubs.
Most of these connections went back decades too.
Then we had the added problem of people who only knew of the Crows and had no affiliation at all with the traditions of the SANFL, not embracing us either.
We are busy with junior development programs as well as promotions around the club and the support is beginning to come through, but it will probably take another generation of young people growing up in our zones for them to fully identify with South as their local club.
It is an exciting prospect for us of course but it is not going to happen quickly.
In Western Sydney where they have little idea of Australian Football, no past supporter base, many completely different cultures and having to start from scratch it will be significantly harder.
It makes the job here at South look a lot less daunting in comparison though I must say.
Ron Fuller
Southern Man Made
Wednesday 7th July - By Ronny's Blog
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about our program in primary schools “Panthers Be Your Best” which has involved some of our senior players.
We also have a program called “Southern Man Made”, which is in conjunction with the Hackham West Community Centre.
A host of our senior players mentor young boys between 12 and 16 who come from single mother families or from lower socio economic environments.
This is done on Monday nights and involves befriending the young men, working in the gym, having a kick with them or just adding a male role model figure to their lives.
The players enjoy the relationships as do the boys but it is also greatly appreciated by the mothers.
It has been brought about by statistics that show the Southern Area has the highest amount of single mother families in the state and our Marketing Manager Andrew Osborn, who is also a past club champion, wanted to instigate a program to help improve the situation.
It may not result in any more players but the fact that the club does want the community to be better is a sign of how important the club wants it to be in the local area.
At the very least we will gain some good supporters.
Just on our junior program we have been excited by how the under 13, 14 and 15 boys have embraced the way we did it this year.
The under 15 program didn’t change too much except for the Great Southern squad and our under 15 championships squad being incorporated.
These players will get to test themselves against other SANFL clubs in the July school holidays.
The under 13 and 14 groups did a lot more actual drilling with an emphasis on the technique we require all of our players at South Adelaide to adopt.
We went away from playing too many games for the reason mentioned above but as I have talked about before, we don’t want to take away from the games the boys play at their local clubs.
The seasons are pretty full on for the age of the players and there is not a lot to gain from them playing too many games for us as well.
We just want them to apply the skill techniques we teach, with the game plans the local coaches want and then see their development evolve when they get to 15 or 16 years of age.
We do see the need to have a very sound technique for skills like taking the ball high or low, handballing, kicking and tackling as paramount for when the stakes get higher.
We hope that all of our junior players, as well as their coaches in our zones, also understand and embrace this as well, for the future development of our talent.
Ron Fuller
Port Adelaide and Crows in SANFL?
Wednesday 30th June - By Ronny's Blog
With the recent money given to Port Adelaide the question has again been asked why Port Adelaide cannot have their own team in the SANFL, as Collingwood and Geelong do in the VFL, to help consolidate the club as well as cut costs.
I assume this would be as the Magpies and for the club to be operated by one management only.
Of course if Port had their own team, then the Crows would want a team of their own in the competition as well.
I have previously mentioned in a blog of the situation in the VFL and how it did dilute the passion as well as the tribal feel but maybe the SANFL has a stronger base due to its history, especially with Port being such a strong part of that history.
As a result it could possibly cater for the two AFL clubs participating in the SANFL without jeopardizing the quality of the league.
This thinking has been brought about too because of the Magpies tenuous hold on survival.
The idea of them representing the Power in the SANFL would also be to have them survive in some form.
The cost of producing an extra team would be an issue but the AFL clubs would get total control of their players’ development.
The SANFL teams wouldn’t be disrupted by the AFL players coming and going either.
The AFL clubs would need to have a small salary cap to pay top up players as Collingwood and Geelong do.
The SANFL would then be divided up by the 8 clubs which means that the zones would need to be changed but the resources would only need to be divided by 8 instead of 9.
As a result of one less club it would mean a large group of registered players would be available to compliment the standard too.
The AFL clubs may have an alignment with an amateur club for those that weren’t needed if their stocks were up as well.
It would also get rid of the weekly bye and it would then mean of course that Port Adelaide could become one club again.
This would make Port Adelaide a lot better off financially which would more than offset any added expenses required to put out another team, although it may be different for Adelaide.
It would mean that the reserves, under 18 and under 16 draw would be a little different from the league draw but it could be arranged as there wouldn’t be a bye as mentioned.
It may put further interest in the SANFL competition with two AFL clubs having their players going around each week, especially for Adelaide supporters who didn’t follow an SANFL club before their birth.
The SANFL clubs would certainly be attractive to more interstate players though if the clubs didn’t have AFL players coming in and out of their teams.
I don’t imagine too many Port people would have to change that much but the Crows supporters who have allegiances in the SANFL may need to make a choice or have two choices.
It may also be a case for curtain raisers to the AFL games coming back when the SANFL clubs play the AFL affiliated teams as away games too.
I am sure there are other benefits and also other problems but it is something to be considered, especially as there is so much emotion involved in the whole Port Adelaide situation.
Ron Fuller
Young Talent need to be dedicated to SAFC programs
Wednesday 23rd June - By Ronny's Blog
I was interested to read about a concerning trend regarding obesity and a lack of open space in the suburbs, for children to play that was published in Saturdays Advertiser.
The thing that was interesting to me was that we have started a program this year in the Primary Schools in our zone called "Panthers be your Best".
It is about promoting the benefits of lifestyle and general good health of course but it also stresses the need for young players to be in good shape as well as talented when they come to Hickinbotham Oval to further their football careers.
The SANFL controls what is done in primary schools with their programs but we want to do whatever we can too.
We certainly want to have a stronger profile amongst our young people in the area, particularly those schools that don't have a strong football participation rate, but we also want the young men to understand that coming to our junior programs is not a come and try situation now.
From my observations this has not been the case in the past where a lot of junior clubs, as well as parents, expect South Adelaide to whip the boys into shape and improve their skills.
This needs to be done away from any elite program in fact, with regard to lifestyle education, skill improvement and discipline from parents as well as their junior coaches.
Then these best players in the zone come together to train at South Adelaide as the best of their age group, not as I mentioned, a free for all.
They are then streamlined into quality training with their peers to be the best they can be.
Our development squads are seen as paramount to our success as can be shown by having our Football Manager, a Director, who is a 300 game player at South as well as the Senior Coach coaching the under 13 and 14 squads.
We don’t want to tell the junior clubs how to conduct their programs or coaching at all though.
What we do ask from their club though is that any player who does come to South Adelaide understands that he must be completely serious and dedicated to the SAFC programs if he wants to be involved.
It actually suits nobody to have players who aren’t up to the standard of training or aren’t dedicated to the task, being involved in elite squads.
The best thing we can do as a club is tell the young men who aren’t good enough, for whatever reason, where they need to improve, give feedback to their junior coaches and monitor their progress.
This will be our policy but it will take a while to educate all of the parents and junior coaches.
Most are pretty good but one example highlights the work we still need to do.
During the pre season , a young boy who was overweight and unfit tried out for the under 16 squad.
He couldn’t complete a simple 1500 metre fitness test and needed medical treatment in fact.
He probably needed to be told there and then that he wasn’t up to the task but was given the chance to improve.
He continued to train, but his condition didn’t get any better and was told what he needed to do to play at this level, as a lot of other young men did who had to improve.
This information was also passed on to his junior coach.
Our junior football manger Alex Burrowes received an email from his father, who is also an official of a leading Southern Football league club, shortly after.
If you thought it was a thank you for the medical attention he received you need to think again.
The email mentioned how disappointed he was with the manner his son was cut and he went on to say “my son is getting on with training after his nasty SAFC experience. I will endeavour to work with you as secretary of my football club but in all honesty my support for South Adelaide will be through necessity”.
It is disappointing from our clubs point of view that people think this way but this is another thing that can be eliminated when young boys who aren’t up to the standard, for whatever reason, don’t get subjected to this pressure.
Hopefully the “Panthers be your best” program can help in shortcutting some of the necessities players need to establish before participating in our elite programs, as well as improving the overall health of young people in the South.
Ron Fuller
Plan B
Wednesday 16th June - By Ronny's Blog
With all the discussion about a new stadium or developing the Adelaide Oval for the AFL and International cricket it does offer some interesting options.
As I understand it one of the reasons that the AFL wants football to be moved from AAMI is because it is getting a bit antiquated, it is a cold unwelcome stadium, it isn’t central and attendances are reducing due to all of these reasons.
Adelaide Oval is a very central location but one of the issues is the amount of car parking available and South Australians are historically people who like to travel by car.
AAMI stadium had always been accessible by car and not many people travel there by public transport because only buses get close to the ground.
A new stadium could be built close to the city but at a huge cost and would we get enough activities there to justify the cost.
It would need to be somewhere that has trains, trams and buses close by as well as enough car parking for the thousands of people who will still want to drive there themselves.
Another thing that is extremely important is that the SANFL requires total control, as it has at AAMI, in order to allow profits to keep Australian football equitable in this state.
With all of this happening, I found it interesting to hear that the Western Sydney Football Club will be using an up graded Showgrounds at Homebush, as their home ground until the time comes that their crowds would get so big, they would have to move to the Olympic Stadium.
This of course, got me thinking why it couldn’t be done at our own show grounds at Wayville.
It is next to the city, making it a central location, it has hundred of acres to park on the South parklands, trains, trams and buses all go directly past it, as well as already having a lot of entertaining facilities in place.
It probably caters for double a football crowd on any day in show time.
The show is held in football season which would need to be addressed, but if it can be done in Sydney I imagine it could be done here as well.
If the SANFL and the people that run the show can work together then it may be a viable option.
A new stadium at Wayville could possibly be a state of the art, enclosed stadium used for football for 6 months and many other activities in the other 6 months too, which could be the envy of everyone.
It certainly wouldn’t lay dormant for 6 months of the year.
This might be the plan B that everyone speaks about.
Ron Fuller
Being a South Adelaide Footballer
Wednesday 9th June - By Ronny's Blog
There has been a bit of reaction from the blog I posted a couple of weeks ago that referred to our zone and how we believe it needs to be improved.
I will repeat that most of what happens in regard to success is up to the club with developing and recruiting well, but we also need to have an even playing field with regard to available talent.
The last time the club played in finals was 2006 and from that group only Ben Warren who is a local product, Josh Thewlis and Michael Handby who were recruited, remain from that list.
Several have retired but most of them have left.
It can be said that it was the clubs fault that they left and part of that may be true but more truth surrounds the fact that those who left probably weren't the type of players that stay through tough times.
As such they were never going to be Premiership players at our club anyway.
Not one of them has gone on to play in a premiership with anyone since by the way.
One of the things we are trying to promote at the moment is for young footballers to come to South Adelaide to become a better person, become a better player and help to make the club a better place.
There are a lot of ex players going around in the local Southern and Great Southern competition, which is good, but did they leave as better players or better people and did they make South Adelaide a better place.
Several of these players have seen it as the fault of the club that they weren’t successful and left with sour tastes in their mouths.
This in unfortunate because they were given an opportunity and as the results showed they weren't able to play at the level, or successfully anyway, but such has been the culture of the Football Club, that they thought the club owed them something.
In another context it can be explained this way.
The value of a league game at Central District has been a lot more than the value of a league game at South Adelaide (about half if we use the win loss ratio as a guide) but do the players only want to play for half of what the Central players are getting?
You know the answer.
The club is in a better position if this type of player does leave though, because we don't want or need the mindset of people who ask, what's in it for me and how much will I get, before wanting to be a reason the club is more successful.
What we do need are people who want to play at the club to become better people, better footballers and make the club a better place for themselves as well as the hundreds of young people who will follow their footsteps at the South Adelaide Football Club.
I am sure they will be rewarded in many other ways when this goal is achieved, as well as financially.
We also want these players to promote the club in the zone and tell others how they can better themselves by coming to Hickinbotham Oval as is the case with several players coming through at the moment.
I would say that Port Noarlunga is proud of Jake Veide, Willunga is proud of Jacob Crate, Langhorne Creek is proud of Ben Warren and Curtis Perrey, Western Districts is proud of Brad Crabb, Strathalbyn is proud of Nick Murphy, McLaren is proud of Tarak Redigolo, Reynella is proud of Alex Splitt, Morphett Vale is proud of Tom Carroll, as well as many other evolving young footballers in the zone making their junior clubs proud.
Port Noarlunga would be further proud too with Chris Black and Todd McKay both in the under 16 state squad.
These are the type of people we want at the club and who are proud to be South Adelaide footballers.
The type who do come to the club to become better players, learn about life and want to make it a terrific environment to be at, without first concerning themselves with what's in it for them.
These are the people who will make it a great place to come to in the future too.
We all want to be looked after and to be important but we are first custodians of the present in order to make the club something all of the young people in the South zone will aspire to be a part of in the future.
Being a South Adelaide footballer will then have a far stronger image in the football community as well as in the Southern area too.
There are a lot of negative people who try to put obstacles in the way of making this happen, but we will continue to find men and women in the zone who are prepared to do everything they can to get the club to where it needs to be.
Ron Fuller
Leadership
Wednesday 2nd June - By Ronny's Blog
The football budget last weekend highlighted leadership within all the clubs and I read with interest what some of the other clubs thought about leadership, as well as the personnel they had in the club.
This year we have appointed Ben Warren as captain, Michael Handby as vice captain and Brad Crabb as their deputy.
All 3 are learning a lot about the demands and responsibility of leadership but none of them had any leading roles as leaders previous to this season.
You see the clubs that have been playing in finals in recent seasons and you realize how many players the top of the ladder clubs have that display leadership skills, as well as having many who have played well over 100 games at this level.
We have started to evolve the leaders with some teaching programs that we hope will help our future and without naming the other half dozen or so players involved, I can tell you that they range in age from 20 to 22.
None of them have played more than 20 games either which only amplifies the situation at our club, where we will take a while to build the experience of our prospective future leaders.
All of them have shown us that they will be good players, as well as good leaders in the coming years however and some of the experience they are getting in this competition now is invaluable.
In the last 3 weeks we have played the top 3 teams from last year and we have witnessed firsthand the quality of strong leadership when the game is up for grabs or their team needs to make a charge.
Ben Nelson, Jade Sheedy, Luke Crane, Jonathan Giles, John Hinge, Tristan Gum, Josh Cubillo, Ben Kane, Todd Grima, Luke Panozzo, Trevor Cranston, Matthew Bode, Ty Allen, Rory Kirkby, Byron Murphy, Ben Mules, Heath Lawry, Ian Callinan, Brad Symes, Andrew Hayes, Heath Lawrie, Scott Dutschke, Paul Thomas, Jason McKenzie, Chris Gowans, James Gowans and Adam Switala just know what to do when it matters.
I would imagine that you could pick a pretty good team out of that lot and the amount of games played, as well as finals is quite imposing in this list too.
It will be good to be able to name some of our players with the same reverence as those from the leagues present leading clubs in a few years and added to that some winning finals experience too.
Ron Fuller
Perhaps there needs to be a review of our zone
Wednesday 26th May - By Ronny's Blog
Last week I wrote about the fact that South had moved to survive and that several other clubs have had the opportunity to move also, but have stayed to take their chances in their current homes.
In the early 1990’s South Adelaide lost several of its heartland areas to West Adelaide and Glenelg even though these suburbs proximity is a lot closer to Noarlunga than their inherited clubs.
The argument was about youth numbers in the areas but I am not sure the numbers of young people and the numbers of young people who play football is paralleled.
I was handed some interesting data about what other clubs have produced and what South has produced in that time in regard to wins, losses as well as players drafted to the AFL.
In the period 2000 to 2009 South won a total of 62 home and away games which was last of the clubs.
This compares to Central with 157, Eagles with 134 and Sturt with 120.
In all grades, League, Reserves, under 19 and under 17, South won a total of 293 games.
The leader in all games is Central with 470 but it is the underage that has most significance in this time.
From 2000 to 2009 the underage of West Adelaide, who is top of the list, has won a total of 235 games compared with South winning 164 which is at the bottom with Norwood.
I acknowledge winning programs are not all about zones of course but in regard to players drafted, which is significantly about zones, South had only 4 drafted in this time.
West had 19 players drafted, Glenelg 16, Central 15 and North as well as the Eagles had 13 each.
South does fall way behind in regard to participation at Auskick as well as participation of young men playing football in our entire zone.
Combined with games won as well as players drafted it would suggest that South has been a little short changed in the fertility of the zone it has kept and lost.
I have spoken to the hierachy of our club about how the juniors coming through rank in comparison to what I had experienced at the Eagles.
It is interesting that the Eagles are about average with games won and players drafted but I can see an obvious difference between the two clubs in regard to our talent pool in the underage grades.
As I mentioned these things are not all about talent pools and we have to do a lot more at identifying talent, then developing it, but these statistics would suggest we haven’t got the better of the zoning deals, particularly when the club did display the courage to relocate in order to better itself.
We are working hard with our underage program with our Football manager, Neill Sharpe and myself taking first hand roles in the under 13 and under 14 squads.
We will continue to try to get it happening but perhaps there needs to be a review of our zone too.
Ron Fuller
Urban Sprawl
Wednesday 19th May - By Ronny's Blog
Over the weekend I watched a documentary on urban sprawl in highly populated countries.
It was mostly about Europe and Asia but most of the comment was why are some people happy to move away to outer suburbs or the country to prosper but many like to stay in the cities to their financial detriment.
The reasons most of these people gave for staying in the cities were that the community they were in and the friendships, as well as families they had, were more important than living comfortably in outer areas.
It was all about the bigger contact with more people that you get in the cities but not in far reaching communities.
As with most things that go through my mind I eventually got around to equate it to football.
In the SANFL all of the clubs found their roots from the inner city or near city suburbs.
Port Adelaide was the most distance anyone had to go to with West Adelaide and South Adelaide actually forming in the city square mile.
It took many years for the game to spread with Central District joining the league in the late 50’s and starting their club at Elizabeth to begin the sprawl.
South Adelaide then went to Noarlunga, after facing a possible demise in 1990, to start to become financially viable rather than trying to survive as a close to the city club.
There were many people that wanted West Torrens to relocate to their metropolitan zone in the outer North Eastern suburbs when they were dying in the eighties.
As we know they chose to merge, stay close to the city and survive with a semi identity.
North Adelaide and Norwood are grateful they did because a lot of their current players have come from these areas but it makes you wonder what it would have been like if they did move.
It has recently been spoken of Sturt moving to their zone at Mt. Barker in order to take advantage of the burgeoning hills populations, after suffering several seasons of doing it tough.
This would be a big move emotionally of course, as Sturt does have a lot of history around the inner South Eastern suburbs, but desperate people will often do anything to survive.
This emotion is what stops the people in Europe and Asia moving away from the cities.
How far out do clubs go to make it happen is also a question to be asked?
Would it be possible for a SANFL club to survive on the West coast or in the South East?
In the South Adelaide case the community at Noarlunga is really beginning to embrace the football club after 15 years.
We still get our original city supporters following the club too with the Kingstonian vice presidents being a great example of past city supporters still embracing the club.
A recent function held at the Richmond Hotel in Rundle Mall by the Kingstonians to honor the leading forwards from the clubs past was extremely well attended.
On Saturday 8th May the premiership players of 1964 celebrated their reunion at Noarlunga for the first time they have been doing it too.
It does show that you can take a club out of the city but you can’t take the entire city out of the club, with traditions, old and new being able to be carried on.
Whatever people think, the move to Noarlunga has meant that the South Adelaide Football Club survived and that is a good thing.
Ron Fuller
Club hopeful for new members!
Wednesday 12th May - By Ronny's Blog
On Wednesday we woke to the news that Charles Kingston, who was state Premier in the 1890’s, had illegitimately fathered several children, despite having no children from his marriage.
It has no particular interest for most people but at South Adelaide, Charles Kingston is significant as the man who founded the club in 1876 when he was just a player.
As mentioned he was the Premier but also held portfolios of Attorney General, Chief Secretary and later the Minister of Trade in the Federal Parliament.
He was also a Queens Councilor and President of South for 27 years after his playing days.
Charles Cameron Kingston was recognized as a colorful character who was often ostracized by the establishment of the time for his extracurricular activities.
He was indeed a man who kept busy, so it makes you wonder where he found time for anything else doesn’t it?
There was no television of course.
He was also a person who didn’t much concern himself for what other people thought but I wonder how he would have got on in today’s society where any similar behavior would have been severely put under the microscope.
Tiger Woods is one person who would have liked to be around over 100 years ago I am sure.
In our sport we have seen many players condemned for a lot less than Kingston appears to have done and you would think he wouldn’t have risen to Premier today if his private life was revealed, would he?
I have been lucky to spend some time recently with Alan Hickinbotham and Peter Alexander who are both great historians as well as passionate South Adelaide supporters.
They have both told me some great stories of past characters from the clubs past and as we were founded in 1876, making us the second oldest current club, you can imagine that over those 136 years, some fantastic tales have been translated through the generations.
There have been dozens of extremely charismatic people involved I am sure but I doubt if any could match the life of Kingston himself.
The best part of the story was that his genetic family has been able to find solace in knowing where they have come from as well as Kingston’s known family members recognizing the additions to the lineage.
It seems to be a good ending and as John Bannon mentioned the man who started it would glean some satisfaction in knowing he was still causing a stir.
I would hope that now it has been confirmed they are descendants of the founder of the South Adelaide Football Club that they would now become Panther supporters and members.
Ron Fuller
Rivalry Round - What should it be?
Wednesday 5th May - By Ronny's Blog
Last Anzac Day I ventured along to the Parade in the evening to watch the round 5 game between Norwood and Port as we were playing the Magpies in round 6.
Our Football Manager, Neill Sharpe who is from Melbourne, asked if this was the biggest rivalry in the competition.
I thought about it for a while and then replied that I believed Port had a rivalry against all of the clubs, not just Norwood.
With another Showdown in rivalry round behind us it has brought about the thoughts of the rivalry round in the SANFL and who are the traditional rivals in our league.
I will start by being controversial and suggest that the Port Magpies don't need to be involved in the SANFL rivalry round.
Before anyone gets hysterical and believes that I must be mad to consider a rivalry round without Port, let me explain.
Firstly as I have mentioned, I think that Port has been the traditional rival of every club in the SANFL.
They have had the most Grand Final wins and losses against all of the other clubs.
Their success is actually why they were chosen as the club to represent the state as our second AFL club and rightly so.
They had been the most successful SANFL club by a long way up to their entry in 1996 to the AFL.
Just for the record, since the Second World War up to 1996, Port Adelaide had played in 31 of a possible 51 Grand Finals.
They have won or lost against Norwood 5 times, North Adelaide 5 times, West Adelaide 5 times, Sturt 5 times, Glenelg 5 times, South Adelaide twice, Central District twice and West Torrens or Woodville-West Torrens twice.
It does reinforce that no-one in particular has been Ports traditional rival in the SANFL but everyone has.
That is one reason I believe the Magpies need to have a bye when it is the SANFL rivalry round.
Another reason is that Port Adelaide probably want and need the Adelaide Crows to be their only traditional rival anyway.
Perhaps when the weekend the Power has its home ground showdown is the ideal time to have the SANFL rivalry round on the day it is not played.
It begs the question then who are the other traditional rivals?
We will all have our thoughts but it is most likely something for the league or the statisticians to work out.
Ron Fuller
Congratulations to Ben Warren
Wednesday 28th April - By Ronny's Blog
The article in Saturdays advertiser by Rebecca Wilson was both emotional and pertinent I felt in view of the Melbourne Storm salary cap rorting as well as many other rorts that occur.
It is always the fans that suffer when people put their own interests before the welfare of the game or the welfare of the club.
The young man she spoke of who has the integrity of the game at heart, the respect of his team mates and respect for himself is like a lot of sports fans who are looking for role models at the highest level but have been let down by people breaking the rules.
I know in my time at the Eagles when the club was beaten in 4 Grand finals a lot of people wanted the club to find a way to get more and better players to the club in order to win a Premiership.
Thankfully men like Les Stevens and John Kantilaftis had the bigger picture in mind and didn’t allow this to happen.
I am not sure more money could have bought better recruits than Leigh Treeby, Luke Powell, Paul Lindsay, Luke Jarrad, Brad Dabrowski, Joe Pedler, Mark McKenzie and Adam Grocke anyway, who were ultimately rewarded with a Premiership the right way.
Too often the people who do try to cheat a system and are subsequently found out, leave a club worse off but are not always brought to account.
They leave their position anyway and show that they didn’t have the interests of the game at heart by no longer being involved once their own needs haven’t been gratified.
I guess a lot of the reason for this is the trust that is broken and no-one wants to employ them either.
The fans are the people that make sport so emotional and subjective.
They are also the people that all of us involved have to answer to morally and I would think that to have their respect is the most rewarding thing that we need fulfilled.
I am sure the lad in the article just wants to be proud of his heroes.
In the ideal world we would love to think sport is the most pure form of contesting but the chase for rewards often makes people take short cuts.
It is up to all of us involved to make sure our fans do have something to be proud of when they support us and not have a sour taste to put up with.
I would like to end with my congratulations for Ben Warren who will play his 150th game for the club this week.
Ben is a man of integrity who has played passionately for our club and deserves all the accolades he will get.
He is also a man that can be used safely as a good role model for any young man wanting someone to emulate.
Good luck Ben.
Ron Fuller
What do you reckon?
Wednesday 21st April - By Ronny's Blog
I was interested to see a couple of AFL clubs change their strip to make it easier to distinguish for the public which was good to see and further to one of my earlier blogs.
Firstly North Melbourne wore their white shorts and predominantly white Guernsey against The West Coast in Melbourne.
Then West Coast returned the favor with a mainly white strip against the Essendon black Guernsey and shorts in Perth.
Finally Geelong had white shorts on for their game against Port in Geelong allowing the Power to have their back in black uniform to be used.
It was all good and made for an easy look at the game.
Just on that I went to see the Eagles play Sturt and with their Gold Guernsey it provided a great contrast to the Sturt light blue and once again made it easy to pick up the difference in the teams.
I am sure all supporters were able to pick the game up easier.
A thing that has come up a few times this season is the problem with a defending player taking a mark or given a free kick close to goal.
What happens sometimes is the player goes through a different line to bring it back in and is either told to go back to do it again or a point is awarded.
An idea I had and mentioned at a coaches meeting was to have a dotted line put on the ground from the top of the square which went squarely to the boundary line on both sides.
This would mean that if a free kick or mark was taken by a defender the forward standing the mark would automatically come back to that line to stand the mark.
This would allow the player to play on in any direction as well as give the kicker a bit more room in those situations close to the point post where it can be a bit confining.
The umpire tends to try to get the player back, sometimes successfully, sometimes not but it general it takes a little time.
In this situation the man on the mark has to come back straight away and wouldn’t cause any delay.
It doesn’t require a rule change but for a little bit of chalk could help to avoid confusion as well as allowing the game to flow a little.
What do you reckon?
Ron Fuller
AFL clubs and their obligations to SANFL clubs and vice versa
Wednesday 14th April - By Ronny's Blog
The David Rodan situation at Norwood last week has given rise to the issues that affect SANFL clubs with how they manage the AFL players assigned to them again.
It is not the fault of the Power in this situation as they did stipulate how much time Rodan could play and Norwood chose to play him, but other examples have compromised the clubs in the past.
In Melbourne we have clubs like Collingwood and Geelong having their own VFL teams, which means they can use their players anyway they wish.
What we have here though are clubs who can’t play all of their players because of injury or not having enough on their list, needing to bring in top up players from local competitions.
This does dilute the competition and as some of the VFL players in the SANFL now can attest to, make the standard quite poor as well as having very little crowd participation.
The VFL clubs who are aligned are made up predominantly of AFL players who tend to look after their own self interests rather than those of the team and often the VFL players in the squad are used sparingly or not at all.
The better VFL clubs are those that can manage the AFL and VFL players best and promote some passion amongst them.
We also have in the same competition two clubs, Port Melbourne and Frankston, who are completely stand alone with no AFL allegiance.
As you can understand there is little tribal or suburban rivalry, certainly nothing compared to the SANFL anyway and its structure is nothing at all like our own.
Our competition is the envy of all state leagues with its rich history, traditions and rivalries.
The strong passionate crowd support is a feature of the SANFL competition too.
We have some people who would like to see that disappear for the sake of a few interests from the AFL clubs but the people who know in the AFL hierarchy understand how lucky we are to have a competition where the players can go back and be fully tested.
The question to be asked I guess is; would we like to have a situation where the two Adelaide AFL clubs have their own teams and can manage them totally?
They would run the risk of having them weakened significantly when injuries occur.
(Could you imagine the Crows team at the moment if they had 12 to 14 suburban footballers in their SANFL team) but would have total control.
Or do we want a competition as we have, with the AFL players topping up the SANFL lists, albeit predominantly under the SANFL clubs whims, but adding to the spectacle?
The other point to consider in these days of heavy budgeting, is the cost that the AFL clubs would have if they had to provide a team in the SANFL as well as the AFL on a weekly basis.
The topic is quite a talking point at the moment with the Port Magpies fighting for survival too of course, but I know what type of competition I would prefer, having been to several underwhelming VFL games in recent times.
I still remember seeing South play Sturt in the 1966 in front of over 15,000 people at Unley.
For the odd occasion that someone is put out because of the circumstances in our town, I reckon it is far preferable to anything else that may happen and continues to make us unique.
That is my opinion anyway and I reckon a lot of other people like the chance to barrack for their AFL club as well as their SANFL team which would be jeopardized if we were to change too.
Ron Fuller
Night football at Noarlunga
Wednesday 7th April - By Ronny's Blog
After the success of West Adelaide’s venture into night football and the enjoyment of playing at Norwood the night before Easter it has brought about the idea of night football at Noarlunga.
Central District have used it to attract more crowds, Glenelg are looking to install lights and the Eagles are wanting to use an upgraded Thebarton oval for night football.
Would the people come to Noarlunga (Hickinbotham Oval) at night?
Ben Kavenagh believes so and what he wants is to work around the local football in the South zones to attract people who can’t necessarily come to Saturday games.
This and the fact the club could program around AFL games does allow flexibility in providing a draw.
The possibility of the whole Fluerieu community embracing the club and facilities is appealing too which would allow for other projects beside football to take advantage of the lighting.
Underage football, especially in school holidays could also take advantage of playing under lights, which frees up families as well.
With the Friday night games and as was the case last week the Thursday night games, the players are afforded the luxury of most of the weekend off.
There are times of course like the middle of winter when it wouldn’t be so attractive but this is no different to any of the grounds.
People tend not to go to any night games in June and July but on the milder nights it is a very attractive medium.
The atmosphere and spectacle at Norwood last week was first class which is a credit to the Norwood football Club for the show they put on.
As I mentioned, Ben is extremely keen for the club to have the extra option and I wish him well in his endeavors to bring them to the community.
If it gets more young players with their families active and along to local football it can do nothing but good I would have thought.
Ron Fuller
Colour of Shorts
Wednesday 31st March - By Ronny's Blog
I was sitting at home on Friday night watching the Geelong v Essendon game and was a little confused by the short selection of the clubs.
I understand that the home team is meant to get the choice of colours but in the example we had perhaps the league needs to step in.
It was probably Geelongs home game but what we had was Essendon, who’s colours are red and black, wearing white shorts but Geelong who have white as one of their colours wearing navy shorts.
I then went through the SANFL teams and thought some common sense can be used here too.
For example if South were to play Glenelg at home why would it be expected that we have blue shorts on and Glenelg be expected to have white when it is not one of their colours.
It is different if Glenelg are playing West for instance where it is expected that some-one ( the away club) would need wear white shorts or an alternative.
The English premier league has it compulsory for a contrast between the teams.
With the game getting quicker and quicker it becomes even harder to differentiate between the players in the congestion.
I know the league has more important things to worry about perhaps but it would be a benefit to supporters I would have thought.
It gives us something to talk about anyway.
Ron Fuller
Just another thought
Wednesday 24th March - By Ronny's Blog
It was pleasing to see the SANFL change the qualifying rules for AFL listed affiliated players.
It was previously only 3 games that were required to be played by AFL listed players in the SANFL season but has been extended now to 5 games qualification.
The 3 games were easily reached in the past especially if one of them was when the player was named as an emergency after playing at local level the week before.
Often a player was in the SANFL for a few games early but then stayed in the AFL for the rest of the season.
In these situations the players didn’t have a real impact on their clubs season as well as then not feeling comfortable to get a game ahead of someone who did contribute a lot for the year.
I believe a nice balance has been met and if someone gets 5 games in for their local club, they then have put something substantial to that clubs finals drive.
Perhaps this simple rule of 5 games qualification could be brought in for all the other grades when assessing who is eligible for finals in grades below league level.
As it stands now there are a lot of grey areas with who can or can’t play and then clubs can still apply for a player to participate, even if he hasn’t met the SANFL conditions, but has extenuating circumstances.
The 5 games is a good example of a player who has made a decent contribution to the team’s grade regardless of how they finished the season.
As with the AFL rule it becomes cut and dry.
I have received some interesting feedback about last week’s blog especially from other SANFL clubs who agree it can inhibit a player’s progress if they aren’t allowed to perform at a higher grade.
Maybe 5 can be the magic number.
We could have a maximum of 5 players who are overage, able to come back into the under 18’s at any one time and conversely a maximum of 5 who are able to play higher at any one time.
Just another thought
Ron Fuller
Just a thought
Wednesday 17th March - By Ronny's Blog
Hello,
I spent Sunday afternoon watching our underage players trial against Port at Alberton and it got me thinking about the rule regarding those that are eligible to play under 18's.
As it stands any player who is in this category cannot play higher, unless he has already played league football or 5 reserves games, until about the beginning of June.
This is when the under 18 championships start and effectively about half way through the home and away season.
As the players are under 17 or less the year before when they would need to qualify, the reality of it happening, unless it is deliberately manufactured, is at high odds.
To manufacture this would certainly compromise the value of league football.
One of the advantages of underage boys playing higher was that they competed against men who aided their development and we could see how they stood up at the higher level.
Prospective Championship players would also benefit from playing at the higher level against men in preparation for their state campaigns.
The rule now means that often players are competing at reserves level who are not up to it because better underage footballers are not allowed to.
This can then compromise the value of reserves football.
What would happen when the players are available then, is that all the good performers will play higher if a club has decided that they are better than those that have been playing reserves or league.
The remainder of the under 18 competition would then become compromised.
In fact a team that was top at the half way mark of the season may fall away and miss the finals completely if a club chooses to promote its best players and bring its best under 16’s up in to their under 18 team.
I am beginning to think there needs to be a better way.
We have a situation in the under 18 competition where up to 6 overage players are allowed to play down at any one time.
Perhaps a good compromise may be that up to a certain number of under 18 players are able to play up at any one time too.
This would be for the full season and avoid any confusion which would benefit all involved as against the present rule which benefits only a few.
It would also make all grades competitive for the whole season and compromise none.
Just a thought.
Ron Fuller
Captain Appointed
Wednesday 10th March - By Ronny's Blog
Hello,
I am sure most of you would be aware that Ben Warren has been appointed captain of the South Adelaide Football Club for season 2010.
It is a most popular decision amongst the supporters I have spoken to as well.
I guess that is a reflection of the service that Ben has given the club as well as his obvious talents as a footballer.
There are many other things that attracted the match committee to Ben’s qualities and we believe that the responsibility of the role will see Ben evolve in these areas now.
He will be well supported by two other quality players in Michael Handby and Brad Crabb.
The recent weekend was a chance for us to play 4 solid quarters in an internal trial too and we have now had some decent football leading into the real season.
This week we play Port Magpies at home in a trial which will get us a little bit more ready for round 1.
It appears Port had a good trial against Sturt and I am sure they will want to acquit themselves very well regardless of it being a trial or not.
It will be good for our players to play under more intensity also.
Just as a side note, we had one team in our traditional navy and white play against a team that was predominantly white.
There has been a lot of talk about alternative Guernsey’s and on the surface it is probably a good idea.
One of the problems that arise from this is that for us or any other club to have mainly white as an alternative, we strongly clash with the umpires, who have publically stated they will not change from their traditional white.
We are asked to be aware of umpires of course but to have a white alternative strip it would make it very difficult if the umpires persisted in staying in their current uniform.
The other thing we have to have happen at South is a change in the constitution for any change to occur in our current Guernsey too.
All of it is thought provoking but it makes for interesting discussion doesn’t it?
Ron Fuller.
Hickinbotham Oval to become a fortress
Wednesday 3rd March - By Ronny's Blog
There are only a few clubs that are able to enjoy their ground and facilities all year round.
Some are restricted by having cricket or baseball on the ovals right up to the beginning of the football season.
It is a refreshing change to have the ability to use our ground, gym (etc) and then to be able to play trial games at home as well.
In the 15 full seasons that we have been at Noarlunga there is only one year, ( 2006 ) that we have won more than we have lost at home.
Not by coincidence it was also the only year that the club has played in finals since developing Hickinbotham Oval, which goes to prove how important winning games on your home ground is, if we want to be participating in the major round.
As you can also imagine we need to make our ground a real fortress as well as developing a group that can sustain winning performances.
With the rule regarding interstate players ( which will be restricted to 8 ) coming in next year the importance of raising home grown footballers becomes critical.
The year 2006, I saw 19 of the 21 players who were involved in finals come from interstate or other clubs.
This was proved to be unsustainable at the time and is even more impossible with the new regulations.
With a facility that is ours all year round and with the need to produce more from our zone we really have to make Hickinbotham Oval the place that the best young footballers want to call home, then forge their trade, to fulfill their dreams, like young men have never totally done before.
I know the club is continually looking to improve the ground as well as its surroundings to become far and away the best of its kind in the SANFL.
It is something we will all be proud of and will then make it a privilege to be associated with the South Adelaide Football Club.
Meanwhile I will enjoy the luxury of coaching and the players will also enjoy that same privilege of having our ground all year round.
Ron Fuller
Leadership group decided
Wednesday 24th February - By Ronny's Blog
Hello again,
Continuing our family theme of last week we are glad to announce that our Football Manager and his partner Mirrelle are proud to announce the safe, healthy arrival of Chloe Louise Janna.
No problems were encountered but Neill assures me he will be back on board for the Eagles’ trial.
We have decided on a smaller leadership group for the on coming season and it will consist of Ben Warren, Michael Handby and Brad Crabb.
We hope to announce the respective leadership roles for these players shortly to enable the rest of the group to take on board who will fill the positions.
As always the position of captain and his deputies comes with it the responsibility to the whole football club as well as the privilege to fulfill the roles.
The decision to have these guys fill the leadership roles was taken after considerable thought and deliberation.
The same thought and deliberation will be taken to nominate the final positions as well.
I know that all 3 men will undertake the responsibility I mentioned with a lot of energy in any position they fill.
I hope to see as many of our supporters as possible to the trial game on Saturday.
The players selected for the senior squad will come from the players who are fit, ready to go and have had a thorough pre season.
With this being the case it will give us a good base to promote those that get to a good fitness level as well as good performances in the reserves when an opportunity at in the league team arises.
I know from past experience that the team that represents us in the first trial of the year will have little resemblance to the team in our last game of the year.
Those that do play this week will get first crack at it though and as many learned experts will tell you, “ The rest is up to the players”.
The 2010 football season is getting close.
Ron Fuller
Trials a close
Wednesday 17th February 2010 - By Ronny's Blog
The season is getting close when we start picking teams for the first trial.
This will be on the 27th February against the Eagles at Hickinbotham Oval and after weeks and weeks of training without a goal at the end of the week the players are certainly keen to start competing again.
On the 6th of March we will be having an internal trial for our supporters to get to know the new players in the group.
We then round off our preparation with games against Port and Norwood leading up to round 1 against Sturt which is also at Hickinbotham Oval.
As mentioned we have put together some teams in the past week and the good thing is that there is plenty of competition for places in the team.
Each week recently, the players who have been in rehab have started to ease their way back into full scale training which is also making selection a bit more difficult.
All good things I would have thought though.
Since Christmas Ben Warren has been wed and it will be interesting to see if the stability of marriage has a positive effect on Ben’s football.
Our strength and rehabilitation coach Terry Jeffries also announced that he and his wife are expecting their first child.
With the playing group predominantly single and without children we hope some family examples can rub off so little panthers start hitting the ground for the future.
First things first though.
The football is nearly upon us.
Ron Fuller
Bring on Season 2010
Wednesday 27th January 2010 - By Ronny's Blog
Happy New Year to all South Adelaide supporters.
I am sure we are all excited about a new football season approaching and as I write, it is under 5 weeks until we play the Eagles in a trial game at Hickinbotham Oval.
We have come a fair way since we resumed training for 2010 in early November 2009.
In this time we have had Nick Liddle, Andrew Horne, Dylan Joyce, Xavier Gotch, Guy O’Keefe, Taylor Whitford, Sam Livingston, Shane Gaston and Kade Klemke all relocate in Adelaide.
All the boys have settled into the club, our training and the lifestyle well.
We have also had Josh Taylor come to our club from Port Adelaide where he played senior football in 2008, after a season in the amateurs.
The recruits have come along nicely but equally important is the local players who we are looking to develop and improve the group significantly.
I have been extremely impressed with the application of most of the home grown products and as I mentioned we feel the most improvement for us can come from within.
This is the process we want to take in the future and while we did recruit those mentioned, the focus in future years will be selective recruiting, then bring on the boys who have grown up in the club.
Tom Caudle, Brad Crabb, Jacob Crate, Jake Veide, Tom Butler, Michael Leonard, Nick Murphy, Curtis Perrey, Neil Reeve, Alex Splitt, James Turner, Dylan Williams, Daniel Trevena and Tarak Redigolo have not missed a beat and I am sure our supporters who have followed them through the grades would be keen to see them succeed as league footballers.
We also have had a sprinkling of underage players training with us and Nathan Pelle, Andrew Carter, Aaron Moules and Rhys McKay have benefitted from the program.
Others like Eli Horrocks, Sean Beath, Luke Bowd, Tyson Davis-Neale and Tom Johnson who are just out of the under 18’s will be looking to cement their places in the squad after solid preparations too.
We have had some setbacks too but it is good to see Peter Rolfe, Jack Kennedy-Hunt and Keegan Brooksby getting closer to playing condition after pre season interruptions.
Adam Cockshell, Mitch Sandery, Nick McKenna, Nathan Lyons and Lee Schmidt are benefitting from a full preseason after their initial introduction to the club last year too.
I am sure you are also happy to know that the experienced campaigners like Ben Warren, Michael Handby and Josh Thewlis have also handled the program well and are coming along nicely too.
Added to all this we have Daniel Talia, who is a versatile big man on the Crows list as well as another big man, Port Rookie, Daniel Bass available to play football with us in 2010.
As has been mentioned before, we are under no illusion as to the task ahead of the club but we are also not putting any limits on what we can achieve if we are all united in our efforts at the club.
The supporters can be as important in the campaign as anyone else and we all look forward to some strong following from all concerned.
I hope to report further progress as the season moves on.
See you at the Football.
Ron Fuller
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