Good write up RJ.

Norwood have the worst chance of all SA teams. Having had a fairly good State Champs weekend they did well to get first but South were definately tipped to come ahead of Norwood. The strength of their centre state player Dubrich cannot be matched at the moment.

Throughout the summer season, Norwood were beaten by South convincingly on both occaisions.
Unfortunately for South, they missed out on a top 4 spot by 3 points! This was their loss against West, which was unlucky for them.

South have a great chance in Nunawading playing against some less experienced opposition. I am confident that they will take out their Nunawading league this weekend.

need to hear some more about the under 18 girls and how they are going to go in Melbourne. please get a convo going about that!

Actually Diminuitive, Norwood have probably the BEST chance of going through to the top 8. Whilst they will likely get mauled by Keilor (as will most of the SA teams by the top 4 Vic teams), they have Sydney City who are average, and Kilsyth who are the lowest ranked Victorian team. Beat Kilsyth and they are looking at a 5-8 finish. Norwood played Kilsyth close at Easter and I'm sure Carlo has the game plan to beat them this weekend.

If the South centre "could not be matched" how come they lost to both North and West at State Champs? I'd say those two TEAMS matched them well enough to win the game, esp. North who are very short in comparison.

And I'm sure South will do very well over in Nunawading - after all, I've heard they've only entered in Reserve grade!! They should have a great time beating up on div 2 teams.....

Before everyone enters into a contest of who is right and who is wrong, I can tell you south div 1 boys are playing at Nunawading in AR and div 2 in B and div 3 in C.
Anyone wanting to know the reasons why, feel free to ring me but please do not speculate or or run this team down purely because you love to south bash.

How do we contact you June???????

Great write up of the Under 16s. I fear you have underated the second best team in NSW in Bankstown. I also believe that Norwood could finish top 8 due to the draw they received. As stated they will probably get mauled by Keilor but should beat the other two teams. Its funny, but I think the #1 ranked SA team in West have been given the toughest draw. They will need to shoot the lights out to make top 8, we all know that they can do this as well. As for North I believe they could go through to the top 8 but will also need their guards to run the show. As for Sturt I believe with only one big guy available they will have to play a great defensive game to make it to the top 8.

Once again a great write up by RJ.

Yea good job RJ. West is by far one of the best SA teams and if they had a better draw they might of done ALOT better than what RJ said they would. Also Sturt without their big men rnt going to stand a chance against some of the more taller opposition that they will face in Melbourne. This will be the fate of many SA teams during the classics.

Good Luck to every SA team going over!!

i hope all SA teams go well

west adelaide bearcats will be tough competition for the vics

Great Stuff Guys. I've been waiting for something like this to be posted. RJ, you've obviously done a heap of research. Let me fill a couple of holes in the boys comp. for you.

Pool 1 - Keilor, as stated will be hard to beat. Although they did have a hard time getting over Kilsyth about four weeks ago in Vic Champs. Kilsyth should finish second in this pool, however if you can slow the game down against them you'll certainly be in with a show. Norwood should finish third in the pool, unless they can knock off one of Keilor or Kilsyth. Personally I don't see this happening. Now, I've heard from a Sydney friend that the Sydney team are all bottom age players, which would make their effort of 5th in the Sydney Champs pretty good. As everyone else has stated probably not capable of an upset.

Pool 2 - Nunawading lost to Keilor by about 8 and by all reports the margin was about 17 with 3:00 mins left on the clock. They are not tall, although quite tuff and very experienced having finished 3rd at the Nationals in 2003 and winning the classic the same year. Last year they were Runners Up in VC as a bottom age group playing as NW2. Inside info. is they are currently on their 3rd coach for the year, that can hardly be seen as a successful formula. Although capable of being upset should win the pool. Sturt are in great position to go through in 2nd spot as they have already beaten Sandringham at Easter and it would not surprise if they suit up the injured players and get over the line against Bankstown. After all representation in this tournament doesn't come along every year. Bankstown is the unknown quantity here and they should hold their current form against some of the better teams in NSW and compete well for 3rd. Sandringham beat Frankston three weeks ago and thats about all I've got to say about them (Mum always says "If you've got nothing nice to say don't say anything at all"). Their a young side and their year is 2006.

Pool 3 - My tip to win this pool is Hills, they have no less than 4 NSW Metro players and haven't lost a game in Syd Champs. For those of you that insist on dismissing them anyway, keep in mind that NSW Metro won the Eltham Tournament in January and beat Keilor, Sturt, Frankston and Dandenong along the way. Frankston have recently had their two Vic Metro players return from injury (ankle & knee)after long periods on the sidelines. This team is very deep as their results without the best two players show. Although their two big Vic Metro reps are as smooth as silk and can score from just about any position, I truly believe you need to stop their 3 starting gaurds. Their main big guy is prone to fouling and doesn't like the hard stuff. Frankston have beaten Dandenong in VC and the Eltham Tournament and also lost to them at Easter. They have beaten Geelong twice in VC by small margins and Keilor at Easter. They are obviously the main threat to Hills and their is a pretty big gap between these two and North Adelaide and Bendigo. North haven't been up to it at Eltham and Norwood and can't be seen as a real threat in this pool. Bendigo should account for North provided the injury cloud over their main guy Matt Dellavedova is lifted as expected. This kid could provide an upset all by himself. Write his name down and don't forget it. Bendigo has Matt and another State Rep. and it's a pitty they didn't get an easier pool because I think they deserve a top 8 finish but won't be able to topple Hills and Frankston.

Pool 3 - Ahhh, all this talk about BV being better than BASA at organising tournaments and the like in recent weeks. Well take a look at this pool. West Adelaide have been well and truly ripped off. They would have to be Odds on to finish 9th. They will have to beat one of Geelong or Dandenong to make the top 8, Ouch! Dandenong will come out with a point to prove in their game against Geelong after losing by 4 last time they met. Dandenong will win this game and it could be by a margin due to the before mentioned last meeting. Dandenong are the better team, led by Bryce Arnott (Vic Metro Captain)possibly the best Under 16 player in the country. They are soooooooo deep and it probably creates a court time problem for them at this level. Dandenong has 4 Vic Metro players, as does Geelong with the Vic Country team (2 x Geelong, 1 x Warrnambool, 1 x Timboon). Geelong may have trouble getting over a first game belting by Dandenong if it happens. This would be West Adelaide's chance to come out guns ablaze. Canberra should give Nunawading Stadium a call and see if they have room for them down there.

MELHOOPS Top 8
Keilor v. Sturt
Nunawading v. Kilsyth
Hills v. Geelong
Dandenong v. Frankston

MELHOOPS Top 4
Keilor v. Frankston
Nunawading v. Hills

As for after this I think anything can happen, and beware of the upset. There will be an upset along the way, no doubt.

RJ,

Just fo you info. Daniel Lens hardly leads the Dandenong team as he starts on the bench. I know he made the Vic Metro team, but thats a seperate issue and I won't go into that. Do yourself a favour if your in Dandenong on the weekend and watch the Keilor gaurd Dillon Joyce and you'll understand what I'm saying here.

Well done on supporting an ex-club player, Daniel's a good kid and a great team player.

Mel - great report. RJ is definitely going to be there - ask some of the SA coaches they know who he is!

I can still see Norwood beating Kilsyth if they play well - when I have seen them the Snakes have not been up to the level of Dandy, Frankston, Nunas and Keilor (I haven't seen Geelong). Whoever goes through 2nd in pool A though will most likely come 8th.....but you never know.

West certainly are in the "Death Pool" - but it is well known that the SA State Champ gets pool D so they should be prepared. Played both Vic teams at Easter, got rolled by Dandy by a bit but how did they go against Geelong?

North and Sturt have the most "even" pools - in terms that there are no "should" wins you'd have marked up already (ala Sydney and Canberra). Whilst Sturt beat Sandy at Easter - it was the last game when neither team had a chance to qualify - the orange sabres gave their bench extended time and their best player (Vic Met emergency I think) played sparingly. I'd call it even money between Sandrinham, Bankstown and Sturt for the 2nd spot - dependant on the injuries. North don't have a cert either - they could go 2-1, 1-2 or 0-3. I think they will struggle - Hills 2nd for mine too with Frankston.

Funny that due to the quirks of the draw that the highest ranked SA team (West) may struggle big time whilst the lowest ranked SA team (Norwood) go through.

Anyway - good luck to the SA teams, and good luck to your team too MelH (most of us know your team) - will say hi when we run into you!

Hey MELHOOPS your boys were very impressive and extremely unlucky to miss out on a spot in the final. The energy they played with in the semi showed the difference between SA juniors and VIC juniors. Thanks for the experience :-)

When I recover I'll post a review of the weekend.