.
Years ago

regional team in premier league feasible ?

I know we have Mt Gambier in SEABL and a history or Murray Bridge and Riverland.

But has or could there ever been a Pt Pirie / Pt Augusta/ Whyalla combined team ?

Pirie is only 2.5 hrs from adelaide and pt augusta has a new stadium, whyalla upgraded - would be good to see some local support and a combined population support of around 50,000 just from the cities alone.

Obviously the weeknight games would be off the schedule but weekend games viable ?

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Rock
Years ago

I think it would be great idea. My suggestion is an invitation tournament over summer, where country teams could play double headers in Adelaide to minimise travel costs,
and Adelaide teams could play two country games on one weekend north (eg Pt Augusta or Whyalla) and one weekend south (eg Mt Gambier or Millicent).

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Anonymous
Years ago

North would struggle to have a competitive team, and be an easy beat. South are already involved in their own regional comps involving country Victoria or SEABL.

The only possible grouping would be Murray Bridge through to Victor Harbor and it would take 2 or 3 years to establish a strong outfit. Premier League is a lot harder/stronger than most people think.

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cat idea..
Years ago

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Frosty
Years ago

Only thing stopping the Northern teams is football season during winter, with Pirie and Port Augusta playing in the SGFL. A Grade starts at 2.25 on Saturday and Sunday.

Basketball season is during the summer. I would love to see this happen with the new venue in Port Augusta. A maybe having a junior curtain raiser.

The Northern region has some great past present state representatives.

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cat
Years ago

great idea..

financial model is?

if BSA or the country teams are willing to fund the accommodation and travel costs then no problem

if its more funds being drained from metro Clubs junior fees then forget about it!

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Hoopster
Years ago

People finish at 5pm, then have to drive 2.5 hours up there or 2.5 hours to Adelaide. Women's games start after 7.30 and men's games are gonna finish after midnight. Definitely not feasible

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Anonymous
Years ago

Sounds really good, but will the powers that be get on board. As a past player we always looked forward to the Riverland road trip. Was great in terms of team bonding and nearly a weekend hanging out with teammates.
Costing shouldn't be too high, surely a half dozen double rooms that get booked on a regular basis both ends would attract a discount especially if a few supporters make the trip as well each week.
I guess the ball is really in the country associations court. They have to be extremely proactive. If they are anything like their adelaide counterparts it could be a long time coming.

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Bear
Years ago

Knowing almost zero about the area and the league, I can comment on the concept though.

A similar model happens in the La Trobe area I believe, here in Victoria, where a team in the senior men's Big V D1 plays as a representative of several Associations in the surrounding municipalities.

They do quite well and in time if the Associations get their combined acts together they could end up with quite a strong pathway.

Nothing should be impossible with a similar model, if in fact this is what is being proposed, but as stated initially I am unaware of the details of how it works in SA, or if the level of cooperation necessary to accomplish such a task exists.

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Anonymous
Years ago

Would be great but I would think financially it would be too tough on the country associations! I heard it used to cost the Riverland quite a bit of $$ so the country association would have to be really keen to do it!
It would add so much to the league if it did but only if that country association was serious in sticking it out long term! Coming in for a year or two then folding would make be a bad look for basketball!
Remember the Riverland teams used to have a men's and women's import and I can remember one year the men's team had two imports and a couple ex fringe NBL players. That's a lot of coin to put up!

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.
Years ago

mildura been doing it for years and just a slightly larger populus than whyalla, pt augusta and pirie combined.

I think the big thing is footy - a combined upper spencer gulf team in premier league would be ok.

Cost is another factor - it would be a kick start for local businesses with accommodation and meals but they would have to be at the right price i.e. deals would need to be done.

Local teams would play up there once a season.

junior game prior definitely on the cards as an invitational event. Boosts the sport in the area.

Local radio / TV could promote and locals could identify with a regional team.

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Rock
Years ago

A couple of other points. If it is played in summer the football clash would be eliminated.
The rules could ban non-Australian imports, which would make the comp more even and give the country teams a fairer playing field.

If there were no imports then costs would be down too.

For teams like Mt Gambier it would be good development for locals prepping for SEABL in winter.

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Anonymous
Years ago

None of the metro clubs would enter a summer comp that cost them $ to travel.

Sometimes people here are all on a different level of stupid.

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Anonymous
Years ago

Surely the salary cap which some clubs work to would solve cost problems??

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Anonymous
Years ago

The north would never put a competitive team out... Strength of competition is very poor!

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Anonymous
Years ago

So Rock we should change everything about the competition to suit this hypothetical country team?