COllingwood looking the goods- A good coach would take them to state champ! Shame they've got an incompetent junior coach in charge.

Craig, do you know the Collingwood team?

@Dane My son plays at the club. They have a great import talent in Manny- The coaches saving grace.

@Craig, ok so you're involved at the club, do you know who is in the squad? Is the import the only part of the team capable of Div 1?

Collingwood still playing games out of the College?? Or splitting them at Darebin LC; I remember when the BIG V/ VBL were strict on venues.

Did they keep the same roster on promotion?

SCW has always been a league of the haves and have nots for a long time, teams come up and teams move on. What happened to Keysborough Women?

Allstars to play out of Darebin while they're stadium is built.

Didn'nt @manny hendrix average 30 in Div 1 3 years or so ago?

They have talent at all positions except in the coaching seats.

I have questioned if YL have diluted some of the leagues talent as well as more teams, is it stronger or weaker with in the inclusion of more 'regional' or outer suburban teams?

That criteria for having a team seems weak if you don't need a junior program to have a senior program.

1.Chelsea - Have improved there team from last seasons runners up, may not lose a game

2.LaTrobe City – Very strong aussie base and always seems to con the Big V into letting them have a second import

3.Collingwood – Strong team built around Manny who is an ex D1M MVP

4.Shepparton – Bartlett (possibly will be the best aussie player in the comp) everyone else returning from last year

5.Geelong – Made finals last year as underachievers, some guys dropping down from SEABL

6.Westernport – Very good import and have been completely re-built

7.Warnambool – Same as last year, only drop down the ratings as they a year older

8.Whittlesea – Mostly the same as the team that was barely competitive in SCM, could be higher

9.Melbourne Uni – may have lost Liam Norton?? Always solid

10.Sunbury – Not good enough to compete

11.Warrandyte – As Above

12.Keysborough – As above

13.Bulleen – Barely scraping together a team. Will be mostly YL players

IMO, The top 2 will almost certainly play for the championship, bottom 4 could go in any order but will be the bottom 4, everyone else in the middle in a battle for the rest of the finals spots.

@annoymous What insights would other coaches in the league have?

It's purely based on record- if you attend their games he stands there like a stunned mullet lets teams go on runs and waits for an assistant coach or a player to call a time out.

Let's hope he has solid assistants around him this year.

Hey Craig, do you know the Collingwood roster? Sounds like you have some involvement at the club and you've been around ball a long time. Perhaps you could help the club to succeed at Div 1 level?

Know the roster well- I don't think I'd be the right person to take the reins, considering the clubs location and great community focus I believe they could easily find an accomplished coach willing to assist at a senior or assistant level.

As clubs grow sometimes things need to change from the top.

I notice BIG V still have not announced a new general manager.

It can't be that hard

They probably want to get it right though

They're running with no CEO for now, looks like Basketball Vic are just pocketing the extra money.

TT

Surely thats based on your opinion about where you see these teams. You have given an overview with no names besides Bartlett and Manny.

"Collingwood still playing games out of the College?? Or splitting them at Darebin LC; I remember when the BIG V/ VBL were strict on venues. "



I can't believe that anyone, let alone a Big V club, would play out of that shithole.

"Collingwood still playing games out of the College?? Or splitting them at Darebin LC; I remember when the BIG V/ VBL were strict on venues. "


I can't believe that anyone, let alone a Big V club, would play out of that shithole.

I think BigV is strict on venues when it comes to SCM & SCW but it pretty much falls away after that. Some stadiums are good but others are far behind times for sure.

"I think BigV is strict on venues when it comes to SCM & SCW but it pretty much falls away after that. Some stadiums are good but others are far behind times for sure."

I remember when I worked for a club as a administrator we were Div 2 and they were strict on player changerooms and venue being appropriate in the VBL days

Expansion brings issues I guess.

Back to Divisions .... SCM/SCW who do we have in the top 4? What about Division 2 Men who are the movers and shakers, Coburg Giants I heard have injuries but recruited smartly, talk that Mornington are on the slide in other forums on here, Wallan women strong again if not another year older.

Darebin is barely good enough for domestic games.

Its why even a small association like Whittlesea domestic only mainly play B grade & below games there.

IMHO .. its the worst stadium I've been to in Victoria.

Yeah, so I am confused by what this actually means TT?

5.Geelong - Made finals last year as underachievers, some guys dropping down from SEABL.

People are saying Collingwood will make finals with the same roster as last year?

Crazy

I thought at the AGM they were really trying to crack down on teams being allowed 2 imports in D1M/W. It seems this rule doesn't apply with Shepparton or Latrobe City. Understandable if the team is youthful but this hasn't been the case.

I think the rule is teams are allowed one import but country associations can apply to have 2 depending on their circumstances.

My question would be if country teams may be allowed a 2nd import, why do the league make it harder to get approval than other country teams?

Judging on last years teams out of the country sides Warrnambool probably has the most locals on their team with only 1 import. Shepparton and Latrobe City had two imports with a mix of locals and and non-locals. Either way still hard for these teams to retain players so I don't mind them having two imports but only D1M & SCM/Women

@anonymous^ I think you will see Geelong's D1 men running a very youthful team of almost all local this season. One or two from out of town, not studying in Geelong so convenient for them, but no imports again for the Supercats.

...now studying in Geelong....

^^^

Geelong usually always run with locals on their teams but I wouldn't consider them a country team as Geelong has a population of 250,000 plus people in it not to mention pretty close to surrounding area (Werribee)....Compared to teams like Shepparton(50,000+), Warrnambool(34,000+) and Latrobe City(70,000+)

^

That is very true. But it just shows what clubs are doing the right things by their players as far as re-signing imports until they are naturalised and local guys that move up levels still come back to play for their club. Thats how it should be instead of different players every year chasing a championship.

What imports are naturalised for this year???
Gainey
Chuck Long
Vashon Weaver
Jermaine Maybank
Ivan Harris?
Manny Hendrix?

Any others?

anon#489 you are correct, Geelong's surrounding area has a bigger population than those smaller towns, Bendigo however also has a broad market and a better venue and Geelong was always considered too far away fro Melbourne teams in the past, luckily these days common sense has ruled.

You may not be aware however that the local Geelong and surrounding area has four Associations, Geelong and Corio Bay in the centre, Bellarine and Surf Coast within 20 minutes and growing fast. So, although it is a growth corridor and a small city, it is nothing like Melbourne and should still be considered country in the scheme of things.

Also, Werribee is a suburb of Melbourne, forget Werribbe in the same conversation as Geelong, it is not significantly relevant.

I think I agreed with the fact that Geelong is a growth area and has lots of people, but it isn't Melbourne, it is country. Call it big country if you want, but it isn't metro...

I may be wrong Collingwood hasn't won a practice game- Coach losing players! Watch this space.

Seems like you have an agenda Craig.

Subtraction by addition Maybe?

No players have left, what I meant was he's losing existing players trust.

When players stop playing for the coach it ends badly.

No agenda, I still think the team has enough talent to compete.

Craig, I see you've bagged the Collingwood coach a number of times, sure looks like an agenda.

You win Anon- I'm sorry to the coach if he's trying his best then what is it to me.

Last you will hear from me!

Have I ever said the teams not good?

Without Manny Hendrix leadership they would be rabble.

"Last you'll hear from me “.
Couldn’t help yourself hey Craig.

Sorry Anon you're right.

Take three!

@Craig, Collingwood All-Stars came to Geelong for a prac game, only lost on the buzzer and have some decent players, imports, they will not be pushovers in D1M I wouldn't think...

@bear agree they have a great core

Metro teams only allowed one import in Division 1, country teams allowed to apply for a second.

^^^ Who knows what the rules are these days...BigV have their own agenda on what teams they grant 2 imports to and who they give a hard time.

^^^ So they can just talk about McKinnon, Warrandyte, Chelsea and Waverly....Can't wait lol