The top talking points around the Adelaide Footy League ahead of the 2019 season
Local footy fans love to yell “ball!” throughout a match and their cries will be answered more often this season as the Adelaide Footy League changes its interpretation of the contentious rule.
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AFL-inspired rule changes, a crackdown on holding the ball, a new system to deal with problem clubs and the return of a northern power.
Before the Adelaide Footy League’s 67 clubs and more than 160 teams take to the ground for another season this Saturday, these are the talking points around the competition for 2019.
ADELAIDE FOOTY LEAGUE PREVIEWS EVERY DAY THIS WEEK AT 3PM
TUESDAY: Q&A with league CEO John Kernahan
WEDNESDAY: Divisions three to seven previews
THURSDAY: Division two previews
FRIDAY: Division one previews
HOLDING THE BALL
The most contentious rule in the game is set to see a change this season as umpires are directed to pay holding the ball more frequently.
Any footy fan who watched a game across the league last year would have noticed the tendency of umpires to only pay the free kick in clear-cut situations, resulting in numerous ball ups.
Players will be penalised more often if there is seen to be a prior opportunity or if there is not a genuine attempt to dispose of the ball, according to umpiring manager Colin Rowston.
Several coaches, speaking to Messenger Community News, have lauded the change after first impressions in trial matches and said it speeds the game up due to a reduction in stoppages.
RULE CHANGES
The league will also adopt some of the rule changes set to be enacted by both the AFL and SANFL from next season.
Players will no longer need to kick to themselves to play on from the goalsquare following a behind and the hands in the back rule interpretation will be relaxed.
Ruckmen who take direct possession of the ball from a centre bounce, throw-up or boundary throw-in will no longer – if tackled – be regarded as having had prior opportunity.
League umpiring manager Colin Rowston said the league needed to decide what worked for it and what didn’t.
“While we acknowledge the influence the AFL has on players, coaches, spectators and umpires, it is also clear that not everything that happens at that level can or should be implemented in our games,” Rowston said.
“The challenge will now be to educate everyone involved exactly what is expected in season 2019.”
The AFL’s 6-6-6 position rule has not been introduced in the Adelaide Footy League.
BEHAVIOURAL RATING SYSTEM
A demerit points-style system will be introduced by the league in 2019 to address on-field violence.
From this season, clubs will be placed into five rating categories – from best to worst behaved – based on points accumulated for guilty tribunal reports.
The system replaced a model where repeat offenders were made to sign affiliation agreements at the discretion of the league’s executive committee before each season.
League chief executive John Kernahan said the new framework – named the behavioural rating system (BRS) – would be more consistent, transparent and remove subjectivity.
“The most significant benefit is the diluting of subjectivity by offering transparency and consistency of the BRS that all clubs are aware of, not just those on notice,” Kernahan said. “It will offer motivation for those in category one and two to do all they can to stay there.
“The beauty of this is clubs will be measured over a three-year period, so a bad year can be balanced by three good ones.”
Clubs on level five – the worst end of the scale – will have their affiliation put up for review.
This is the category the dumped club Salisbury West would have been on prior to their removal from the competition last year.
Reaching level four will attract an official warning from the league, while tier three requires clubs to review their practices.
Sides will reach the second category for a small number of reports and level one will contain the best behaved clubs.
THE HAWKS ARE BACK
Fallen division one powerhouse Salisbury North is back and ready to give division two a serious shake in 2019.
The Hawks, who were dumped from the league in June last year, have a new coach in Joe Hay and have kept hold of almost all of its A grade side from 2018, while adding a few key recruits.
Salisbury North was expelled from the 2018 competition following Alex Stengle’s five-match suspension for striking in an A-grade game against Unley Mercedes Jets in June.
The club was then allowed back into the league in September.
Hay told Messenger Community News the Hawks are focused and determined to play finals this year.
“It has been about getting the boys back to enjoy playing footy with their mates but at the same time, the commitment level shown by the playing group shows that they still want to achieve success,” Hay said.
“An initial aim for us is to play finals footy and I think that would be a step in the right direction, and give us an opportunity to be successful.
“That’s probably where the bar is at for now.
“It’s a much more focused approach and attitude from the group this year.
FOR MORE ON SALISBURY NORTH LOOK OUT FOR THE DIVISION TWO PREVIEW ON THURSDAY
HOME SWEET HOME
There will be some brand new clubrooms for footy fans to enjoy this year with a number of clubs across the league lucky enough to see their home grounds redeveloped.
Rostrevor Old Collegians’ Campbelltown Memorial Oval base has been turned into the ‘Taj Mahal’ of the northeast after a $10 million upgrade.
ROC will christen the new clubrooms with a twilight division one fixture against Prince Alfred Old Collegians this Saturday.
Edwardstown is celebrating its 100th year this season and will do so in its new $8 million building. It will be officially opened on April 13.
The revamp includes a two storey sports and community clubroom with function areas and a canteen plus a new spectator mound, cricket nets and storage areas, improvements to the memorial grounds and carparking.
And previous visitors to Soldiers’ Memorial Recreation Ground should be aware the concrete velodrome around the oval remains and has been resurfaced.
Division two’s PHOS Camden also has had an upgrade at Camden Oval and Salisbury Oval’s revamp will be ready for the Magpies’ 2019 campaign.
Payneham Norwood Union’s Payneham Oval base has also been redeveloped, while Kenilworth’s new home at St Mary’s will also be worth the trip for division five fans.
TOP FLIGHT NEW BOYS
The league’s top tier was highly competitive in 2018, leaving winless Modbury out of the discussion, but division one coaches are predicting an even tighter competition this season.
St Peter’s Old Collegians and Brighton make the jump up to replace the Hawks and Athelstone, relegated to division two.
Division one coaches have already mentioned SPOC, which went undefeated on its way to a premiership last season, as title challengers by several rival coaches.
Brighton has had successive promotions in the past two seasons since joining from the Southern Football League in 2017. The Bombers should not be taken lightly, especially on their home deck.
With reigning premier Tea Tree Gully losing players, ROC under a new coach and the likes of Goodwood and Prince Alfred strengthening, it is a tough year to predict the top flight.
CLUB 18
No, it’s not the name of a new late night venue at the league’s Thebarton headquarters.
Club 18 is a new eight-team division in 2019.
It is made up of clubs with fourth sides – Rostrevor OC, Prince Alfred OC, Golden Grove, Adelaide University, Modbury, Payneham Norwood Union, Old Ignatians and Tea Tree Gully.
SIX AND SEVEN SHAKE UP
After both consisting of 10 teams in 2018, divisions six and seven will be slightly diminished this season.
Salisbury West’s removal from the league and the decision to move clubs with D grade sides to a new division has left the sixth tier with nine clubs and the bottom division with just eight.
Marion and O’Sullivan’s Beach/Lonsdale, which both made the division seven grand final in their first year since crossing from the SFL, have moved up to division six.
Greenacres and Adelaide Lutheran were relegated and will play in the lowest tier in 2019.
patrick.keam@news.com.au
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