North Eastern Suburbs bid for the SANFL heats up

Federal Member of Parliment Tony Zappia has given his support to the proposal that is under discussion by some of the football clubs and people affiliated with football in the footprint of the North Eastern Suburbs, this discussion has been bubbling away for some time and I do think that Tea Tree Gully have the capacity to lead the way to either push their own side into the SANFL as Woodville did, or to be foundational in the group that forms a joint entry into the SANFL as Central Districts did.

I am not surprised by Redlegs CEO Dominic Shepley's gutless comment that they dont feel there is capacity for another side in the SANFL, the Norwood football club treat the North Eastern Suburbs who are allocated to them for recruiting like dirt and with contempt. They are more than happy to push their poker machine parlour on North East rd and suck out as much coin as they can from old age pensioners and gambling addicts in the area, yet when it comes back to investing back into the area and actually playing a home match in the area say at Ridgehaven or Golden Grove the club is not remotley interested about promoting the SANFL in the area. It is 26ks to the Parade from Tea Tree Plaza and this oval is supposed to be the home oval of the sides in the North Eastern Suburbs, what an asbsolute crock of shlt that is....

The SANFL are well aware of the black out of SANFL football in the area, that is why the allocated the area to West Torrens in the 1980s and had plans to assist the club to move here. I hope the current SANFL administration dont shove their heads into the sand as previous administrations have and actually deal with the issue once and for all as the WAFL did with Peel Thunder in recent years.

This idea has plenty of support from the local clubs in the area, lets hope that the current SANFL clubs give us a go as was the case with Woodville and Central District being admitted to the SANFL. Even if we do the very same thing and begin the side in the SANFL reserves competition to prove that we can manage and maintain the side, I am very confident that our area will do well and like the CDFC set up an era of premierships after the ground work is laid!

Zappia appeals to SANFL: set up a club in the northeast
NEWS LOCAL NEWS
18 AUG 09 @ 06:43AM BY TIM WILLIAMS

THE SANFL should consider adding or relocating a club to the northeast in response to burgeoning numbers of junior players in the area, Makin MHR Tony Zappia says.

Amateur clubs Tea Tree Gully and Golden Grove have responded positively to the idea, saying they potentially could host an SANFL side, or even step up to the big league themselves.

The North Eastern Metro Junior Football Association is the largest in Adelaide with 6000 players.

Mr Zappia wrote to the Leader Messenger after the paper revealed that Gullies alone had 520 juniors plus a waiting list, with Golden Grove not far behind, having doubled its junior numbers to 450 since 2003.

“In view of the strong football culture of the area, it seems regrettable that if young footballers ... ultimately play at elite level, they will have to do so with an SANFL club well outside their local area,” Mr Zappia wrote.

“If there was to be an additional side then at the very least the northeast should be considered by the SANFL.”

Mr Zappia said he had approached SANFL state league manager Darren Chandler with the idea earlier this month.

Expanding on his letter, he told the Leader Messenger: “It does seem extraordinary that only one of nine sides is based north of Grand Junction Rd, yet a third of the city’s population is in that region, and under the State Government’s 30 year plan most of the growth is likely to be in the north.”

Gullies president Darren Bugg said the club’s home ground, Pertaringa Oval at Banksia Park, was already close to SANFL standard, with an “excellent” playing surface, lights for night games, and ample parking.

“It would be a whole new business (joining the SANFL), but that’s not to say we couldn’t do it,” he said.

Golden Grove football director Paul Maddford said a northeast team was a “pretty wild concept” but “we wouldn’t shut the door on it”.

“If that prospect were offered to us we’d talk about it,” he said.

“There’s quite a few people who would be willing to get on board with it. There’s a lot of talent in the area.”

Mr Zappia said a northeast team would boost community pride although he would not be drawn on a suitable location except to say it should be “somewhere north of Grand Junction Rd” and dictated by population trends.

He said South Adelaide’s change from its original parklands home to the inner southern suburbs and now Noarlunga, had set a precedent for the SANFL responding to demographic changes.

Existing SANFL side Norwood claims much of the northeast as recruiting territory and its gaming venue The Nor East is based at Gilles Plains.

Redlegs CEO Dominic Shepley said most SANFL clubs were struggling financially and Norwood could not afford competition from a northeastern side.

“I don’t think there’s any capacity for another club in the area at all.”

Central District CEO Kris Grant said the Bulldogs had just 18 local clubs from which to recruit fewer than any other SANFL side.

“We’d be very wary without knowing how they’d divide things up into promotional (recruiting) zones,” he said.

Mr Chandler said the SANFL had no plans to expand “in the near future” and he was not aware of any clubs that would consider relocating. The introduction of any new team would be a decision made by the existing clubs, he said.

http://leader-messenger.whereilive.com.au/news/story/zappia-appeals-to-sanfl-set-up-a-club-in-the-northeast/

It would be great not to have the bye anymore. The allocation of recruiting zones will need to be drawn up well in advance so teams know how what areas to put money into.
Stating in the u18's and resserves or even just u18s first is the way to go. I say look at the Tassie AFL entry plan and start getting sponsors behind the push.
As for the team to enter it needs to be a joint venture between all the clubs and not just one club stepping up.
What about a composite side from teams in the zone take on an SANFL league or reserves side for a trail match just for a little publicity to push things along

The trouble with this is that they have just disected the metro area and added and subtracted suburbs from each zone. Bandaid upon bandaid etc.

How we lost Blackwood is anybody's guess.
Have you seen the zones? They are on a map on the sanfl web site.
There seems little logic to it anymore.

For a North East suburbs team to be even remotely considered, you would need to start the zones from scratch again with more consideration of demographic areas and areas traditionally tied to a club. But it needs to be considered as a whole assessment not just carving up the NE suburbs.To do that would currently bugger Norwood.

TTG and golden grove step up to the plate themselves? got to be kidding. A1 amateur is probably further apart from sanfl than sanfl is from afl. norwood being twenty odd k's from the north east is no different from port having salisbury in its zone. I would think one less club more than one more would be better for the sanfl especially considering we could lose quite a few players from the league when the two new afl teams are up and running.

Chambo Off To Work We Go wrote:The trouble with this is that they have just disected the metro area and added and subtracted suburbs from each zone. Bandaid upon bandaid etc.

How we lost Blackwood is anybody's guess.
Have you seen the zones? They are on a map on the sanfl web site.
There seems little logic to it anymore.

For a North East suburbs team to be even remotely considered, you would need to start the zones from scratch again with more consideration of demographic areas and areas traditionally tied to a club. But it needs to be considered as a whole assessment not just carving up the NE suburbs.To do that would currently bugger Norwood.

I am with you chambo sturt shouldnt have lost blackwood just as central shouldn't have lost salisbury all those years ago.

From what I have seen of each club (playing against them) my intial thought is that TTG would be front-runner if this were to eventuate. However, they would need to change colours and mascot as they are red and black with a dog/wolf looking emlbem. And I'm sure Modbury supporters would have something to say about it!

But the proposal makes sense. Re-zone everything. Eliminate the bye. Support a growing area. Hard work but do-able.

PS Norwood stuffed themselves up. And doesn't their zone restriction only affect them for one year?

??????????????????? Where are there supporters going to come from. ??? The only way our comp should be expanded is from an interstate team. But as some have feared our comp is becoming purely a feeder comp for the AFL. The fools running our league just bend over and cop it all the time. Weak as water.
With the recent announcement of salary cap and import rules only 2 clubs stood up and disagrred . Sturt & West , the rest did not even care.

crazy idea, the last thing the sanfl needs is another underperforming team with little or no following......wot we need to do is consolidate the teams we already have...

On another thread it was mentioned that there are a lot of nobody's poking there snouts into all sorts of opinions re the SANFL. And so we have another one with some trumped up councillor from the north eastern suburbs spewing crap about some amateur league side (Division 4) becoming part of the competition.
This area is my local area and any kids good enough to play at a league club go through the same channels as anyone else living in another area. Maybe we should invite the Callington Footy Club to join as well.

[quote="Sturt2With the recent announcement of salary cap and import rules only 2 clubs stood up and disagrred . Sturt & West , the rest did not even care.[/quote]

I don't believe that this is correct S2. Without knowing all the ins and outs of it, I understand we were generally supportive of the new rules. I have no reason to doubt the source that told me.

Hmmm...sounds like the same discussion that probably occured in the 1960s with the Dogs and Peckers. 40 years on, anyone think Centrals still don't add worth to our comp? I wouldn't think so.
Does anyone know the demographics of SANFL supporters in that area? Would be interesting to see.

At least Callington Football Club is innovative. But oooooo...I'm talking about bringing change to our precious comp. That's a big no-no, isn't it?

The differeence is though , back in the 60's footy was still growing in the state and tried to capture the immigrants . Its all changed , the AFL is in which makes for a reduced market for the SANFL . Plus all the poms with no idea follow Centrals

How do we make the SANFL relevant to areas like Mt Barker and the N/E suburbs who dont have a local side from their council area?

Promote it in these areas more . I dont think plonking a side in an area is the solution.

Sturt2 wrote:The differeence is though , back in the 60's footy was still growing in the state and tried to capture the immigrants . Its all changed , the AFL is in which makes for a reduced market for the SANFL . Plus all the poms with no idea follow Centrals

I agree mate the poms have no idea just like the lawyers in unley :cyclops:

Only joking mate , although your point about Lawyers at Unley maybe accurate

Pop a team from the North Eastern suburbs (T.T.Gully, Modbury etc..) in the second's comp for 3 years, similar to what Woodville and Centrals had to do and see if support grows big enough to have a team enter at league level.

Spinner wrote:Pop a team from the North Eastern suburbs (T.T.Gully, Modbury etc..) in the second's comp for 3 years, similar to what Woodville and Centrals had to do and see if support grows big enough to have a team enter at league level.

And this suggestion was made by a Norwood supporter, the team it will probably affect the most.