Well all I can say is they better make the most of it coz as of next year the salary cap will kill em. There is no way that that line up would be under the 25K for the season.

Chump do you pay the players at Forestvile if so tell us all how much do they spend as much as Noarlunga in the early ninties or South in the Shipway era or West Adelaide in the eighties if you Know tell all if not well

Furthermore, there is little chance they would be < 60% of 25K which as reported is the max for the mens program. Could be moot however as i doubt Farman will be back. as for Dix, if he comes back, i smell back to back flags...

Even if Dix is a little underdone & can play only 25 minutes off the bench how valuable will he be finals time!?

Is it true that Andy Symons had the worst foul shot in Australia and that his action invented a new Yoga position?

Simons' foul shot might not be the prettiest but the few times i saw him play he didn't miss too many

I've seen plenty of Andy playing to agree that his foul shot though being fugly, was very effective.

Did Andy win an NBL title with the Giants in the 80's??

dix and farman, both will not be playing this year...fact!
as for simons...give the man some respect, he played nbl, he won a state league title, and he was a damn good state league player for a long period of time..yes, he was one of the more unorthodox players to play the game, but the guy had game, and had a work ethic second to none...respect from me...
tigers fan.

Simons was very tought to guard, I tried many times. You just never knew when he was going to shoot it because it came from his hip, and he was kind of like a Ricky Grace in that you knew he was going left but struggled to do anything about it. I don't care what his shot looked like, he had old school game, and I respect him for that.

I loved Andys game & followed his career in SA & in Victoria where after his NBL stint he was the starting guard for a couple of the more dominant SEABL teams.

Don't know Mike Man where you get the idea I don't respect the guy.

Fact - Andy would've wiped the floor with any of the Tigers' best guards...Leaver, Osborne, Gerlach, whoever.

ok...sorry bootney, i stand corrected, i misinterpreted your response...but i disagree with the symons osborne call...would have been a very even match up if both in their prime. leaver, and gerlach...fair enough

get ur facts straight boot-me, mike man said he does resect andy and listed some of his greatest achievements.

dog nuts you are spot on. farman and Dix will definately play against Woodville. Other hot tips are that Darryl Pearce is coming back as insurance in case Sullivan, Campbell Sutton and Wilson get a bit shy. Ian Grigg, Scott Phillips and Chris Dix will also suit to beef up the Eags undersized frontline and that Ian Laurie and Shaun Ryan will be assisting Todd assist Andy. No truth to the rumour that Paul Arnott is making a comeback he will be at the Nationals. Remember you heard it hear first.

ive been watching this league for 15 years, Simmo was very tough, here and in Victoria, he would not however wipe the floor with Ben O, the others maybe, as for Dix and Johnny Farnham you are dreaming Sully, they will be no where near the Woodville game, Get Spotty to practice first son.
They have as much chance of playing this year as Woodville do of getting Gilbert and Brenton out of retirement. Hell Stubby Holder is a better chance of playing for the Eags.

Who was better....Osborne or Symons?

For me Andy wins hands down.
Andy travelled to Victoria to play NBL & SEABL for many years. In the twilight of his career he came back to S.A & was still one of the premier point guards.

Osborne's career? Wasn't as long as Andy's.
Someone will have to fill me in but I'm sure that he didn't play SEABL let alone NBL. Being one of the best guard in the S.A State League doesn't cut the mustard when you compare how tough SEABL & NBL was/is.
For me, Andy was the better player.

How wrong you are Bootney. Ben O did play with the Gold Coast Rollers in the NBL for a coulpe of seasons. He also put up good numbers for the Adelaide Buffalos who played in the SEABL around the same time that Andy was in Melbourne.

bootney,
your respectability in my books is shot, i was willing to forgive you once, but your knowledge on ben osborne is shocking...you obviously dont know much about basketball in the nineties...disappointing??

That's why I asked Mike Man!
I'm grey when it comes to Ben's career & said so in my last post, so I'm glad you filled me in.
I'm not looking for respect, just opinions.
In recent posts people claimed that Ben was the best point guard outside of the NBL & I felt that was a little hard to believe.

I think Benny O had a season in Mt. Gambier too.

look you all i have seen them both in their prime and to honest it would be very hard to separate the two.

Lets get on with the real story
The Eagles are on the edge Sat night against the Warriors, a loss and it could be all over.

So maybe they should strap Dix and Farnham up and hope they get through.

farnham would not get through a pale of cotton wool injury free...
most injury prone player in abl history??

dear bootney,
a couple of things regarding some of your calls on this issue...you have accused me a number of times now of incorrect things, when indeed you need to read what you type before you post it..
you stated..and i quote..."but I'm sure that he didn't play SEABL let alone NBL. Being one of the best guard in the S.A State League doesn't cut the mustard when you compare how tough SEABL & NBL was/is."...when referring to ben osborne....blah, wrong!!..he played both...you did not ASK whether he played either, you stated that he did not....back to the drawing board mate.

good work Mike Man!

Dear Mike Man,
You didn't put in my qoute "You will have to fill me in"
I stand corrected on Ben's SEABL & NBL career. I tried valiantly to look up stats on his NBL career to no avail, Gold Coast being extinct didn't help but have to rely on your say so. I honestly never knew he played up there. Bad call Bootney!
I can remember Ben as a junior. Before he went to the Pioneers I played against Ben(in his prime) & he was a very good player.
Yes I was away for some of the nineties plaing in the leagues that Ben played in but never came across him as much as I did with Andy.

I personally know both players(top blokes) & have also played against them to give my opinion on whom I think was a better player. Mike Man(I don't want to sound a smart arse) but did you play against both in their prime in either league?
To the drawing board....
Another way to compare is to look at how successful the teams both players played in. I asked earlier but no one answered if Andy won an NBL title with the Giants. I think I can remember him being part of a title. Andy was the starting guard for SEABL teams that played in several SEABL finals. Andy also played in the VBA which had 5 NBL teams plus 18 SEABL teams at the time.
Mike Man you will have to fill me in on how successful Ben's NBL & SEABl teams were.
Others have suggested that they were both as good as each other & I have to take back the comment that Andy would have wiped the floor with Osborne but Mike Man did you see Andy play in the eighties & early nineties to say who was better in their prime?
Lewis Lover said that he did & that they were both comparable, I'm assuming Lewis Lover watched Andy in the 80's & 90's & lived in Victoria.

Now Mike Man don't get all snooty, I played against both in their prime & in MY opinion Andy was a better player. Andys career was longer & he played in the tougher leagues for longer.

Its good to have a debate on whatever player was better(Yes I must get my facts straight!!) but you saying they were as good as each other is just sitting on the fence giving you a bigger crack in your arse.

So tell me now who was better between Travis Leaver & Simon Bennett?

I have been away for the past week Andy V's Osborne no contest the latter would blow wind up his arse shoudn't even be on the same court Osborne as good as Andy you are dreaming

bootney, fair enough and thankyou for your common sense reply.
in answer to your questions...i played against ben osborne is his prime, and rate him as one of the toughest people i have ever guarded, but i did not play against simons in his prime...in his decline yes, and he was still tough...nor did i live in melbourne when the old lad was playing over there, but to put it simply, i could not picture simons whiping the floor with osborne....he may well have been a better player in his prime, but i would have thought a player the calibre of a fit, and healthy osborne would have given a damn good test.
leaver and bennett...now that is a question i can answer easier...leaver, fantastic defender, and more dimensional than bennett. i would take leaver 7 days a week.
thanks for the reply bootney.

Leaver, no contest. Bennett could shoot a bit, but Travis was a great player. He got a trial with the Falcons before they went under. Another Ex-Tigers guard from that era who is still playing SEABL now is Grant Yates.... man they dude could JUMP!

Cheers Mike Man.
I don't know if it as cut & dry as that.
Leaver was easliy the more athletic of the two, Bennets lateral movement was only so-so whereas Leaver would defensive slide the whole court for the full 48.
Bennet had better offense, was a better rebounder, had a decent outside J with strong post moves. Leaver was never a consistent shooter but he could get to the basket, was a good passer, his all over hustle got him points.
Bennett made all star 5 one year, not sure if Leaver ever did.

I find it hard to call as Bennett was way more offensive but Leaver was a super defender & a better athlete.
But if I had to put a team together I would (just)go Leaver, because of his defense & all out hustle.

yes I did play against them both and yes I did live in Victoria

Cheers Lewis Lover, can you tell me if Andy ever won an NBL title with the Giants?

Is Brett Lewis your lover?