well that's very interesting.... there are going to be some very pissed off clubs come october 8.........

is mike cockerill on olympic's payroll these days? thats a decent run of positive articles about olympics struggles with the dogs hes put out. throwing in wolves to balance it up doesnt really cut it considering they left brandon park 10 years ago and he didnt say boo in that time. he also failed to mention the meny probs they ran into in developing lysaghts? or the fact that they did access to win but chose the cheaper option by playig at cringilla.

anyway, even the list of teams hes mentioned as wanting to participate in the elite level is a bit fanciful. i mean, realistically, what would make the berries or lions a threat on the criteria to those already in the pl? neither topped the pops in super league, neither is know for their youth or development programs, the berries are nomads, the lions have jensen but there are limitations there as well, and financially, theres a lot of rumours doing the rounds. same could be said for the others. realistically, the tigers are a shot if they can secure a home ground.

Of the list mentioned, I think Central Coast Mariners Academy will be the definite that gets put into NSW Elite 1. Whether they play at Pluim for one season, and then move to the Mariners facility being built at Tuggerah the year after, I don't know, but the Mariners A-League power will put them in at the expense of either last placed Melita or Sydney United.

This season Bankstown City is debt free and the healthiest it has been in the last 10 years, and their operating budget still would have put them above Melita, Spartans, APIA and Manly. Jensen is fully compliant and the perfect lower league venue. The pitch is always in the optimum playing condition.

A lot of the clubs without adequate facilities will talk about their "future plans". Bankstown have these too. There is still the long term plan to redevelop the ground further with a new grandstand, carpark and clubhouse with the club working with council and government to get it to happen. Bankstown meet the criteria now, as evidenced by Jensen being chosen by FNSW as the Super League and Division 1 (Men and Women) GF venue. As for your "poor youth development" comment, a few seasons ago Bankstown topped the club championship in youth league. If your child did not go to either Marconi, United, or Olympic, you sent them to either Blacktown or Bankstown. Last season was an aberration, not the norm, with Olympic gutting the first team, and Marconi gutting the 20's who the season before finished in 2nd.

Macarthur would also be fully completely compliant. Lynwood has turned into an ideal facility, and the people down there should be commended for growing their club incrementally in the Super League.

The others forget them. Mounties have moneybags from their club supporting them, but they don't have a ground. They should keep building in NSW Elite 2 until they develop a plot of land with adequate facilities like Macarthur did. Berries play out of a suburban athletics track at the Crest, as mentioned, they change grounds and suburbs every season. Berries would be behind Bankstown, Macarthur and Mounties in the pecking order of current SL teams.

Northern Tigers do not even meet the criteria for NSW Elite 2, let alone NSW 1. With Hakoah, Nepean, Mt Druitt and Northbridge all applying to join the 24 elite clubs, and a new club in Central Coast being admitted, some of the current Super League clubs are going to have to make way. This does not take into account whether Canberra Deakin, Belconnen or Dandaloo are joining the elite pyramid. The goal of the criteria is to make clubs develop football infrastructure e.g. the requirement for an rectangular round and good surface, without a cricket pitch, and with adequate lighting and a minimum of 250 seats. Mills Parks fails all of the above. Every club says "...but we have plans to build a stadium", the criteria isn't judging on future plans, it's making a determination on the present facilities.

My prediction is as follows:

2013 NSW Elite 1:
IN - Top 11 2012 Club Championship team, + Central Coast Mariners Academy.
OUT - Sydney United or Parramatta Melita. United may be saved on facilities and Krslovic/Sestan factor even if they do finish last.

2013 NSW Elite 2:
IN - United/Melita, Nepean
SL2012 - Bankstown City, Macarthur, Berries FC, Mounties, St George, Spirit FC

That fills 20/24 Elite positions. The final 4 would be a choice of:

Sydney Uni / Hakoah - the eastern suburbs team to play out of Hensley Athletic Field. I would favour the money bags at Hakoah as Sydney Uni is an amateur team.
Dulwich Hill / Fraser Park - Arlington has big problems, Dully finished last, but Fraser don't have much in terms of facilities. One of the two will be cut. Possibly both.
Northbridge / Northern Tigers - Northbridge have facilities but Tigers don't. Tigers did have a good 2012 SL though. Possibly both teams admitted instead of Dully and Fraser.
Mt Druitt Town / Hills Brumbies / Gladesville Ryde Magic/ Granville Rage - To fill the final spot. If Belconnen, Deakin or Dandaloo apply these teams are no chance.

i wish the lions all the best mate but not sure where youre getting your figures from. theres plenty of whispers to suggest to the contrary in terms of their financial security but i wont dwell on that.
in terms of youth, they were decimated this year no doubt about that and yes they have historically been strong in certain grades. that said, ist never easy to come back up and attract the right coaches and players. i hope if selected they can.
about jensen- definitely not comppliant but significantly better than most other sl clubs. wheres the media/press room? wheres the 1000 undercover seat (i stll struggle with the notion that the steel shed ticks the boxes).
ia gree its always a fantastic playing surface, great lighting, and plenty of seats that are not undercover. so they might squeeze in.
re future ground works- its been talked about for years but it wont be happening anytime soon thats for sure.
nonetheless they are probably overall better than most other sl teams in satisfying the criteria if they get their house in order and a couple of key sponsors keep puttin in the cash.

tigers would need a new ground- simple.

other than those two, theres no other sl teams that i see satisfying the criteria above those already in the pl. i dont agree about macarthur- it happened before and it failed. they havent done anything to suggest they deserve to be in th elite comp.

the mariners im hearing will def come in.

northbridge for me is the one outside of the top two who should be considered for elite 2.

The rumours are false, as you should know, wogs like to talk and make things up.

The main grandstand has a press box with a power outlet which can seat 4 journalists. I admire the federation being optimistic about 4 journalists ever attending a NSWPL game. The new grandstand has about 1500 open air seats, and there are about 450 covered seats in the main stand. The criteria asks for 1000 open air seats and 500 covered by 2014. This is a conceded pass. APIA for instance will be putting down Lambert Park, which does not meet the minimum width requirement set by the federation. But they get a conceded pass considering everything else does.

The only area Jensen scored a bad mark last time was for disabled toilet facilities. This is a genuine concern which hasn't improved, especially considering one of our spectators who attends every game is in a wheelchair. Hopefully the council can help out in this area, in due course.

Like I said before though, CCM Academy will be put into the top league at the expense of the relegated team. Apart from that, Bankstown would be next in line, but will in all likelihood need to win Elite 2 next season to get the automatic promotion which will be on offer from next year onwards.

Someone is feeding you some serious misinformation about Bankstown Lions. Some of their first graders, including a good friend of mine, has not been paid for nearly 6 weeks. Doubt they will ever be after they missed promotion.

And about clubs operating budgets, I presume you have had the chance to go through every clubs? Or your just assuming figures without any factual basis. Positions on the table are not an indication of money spent.

See your reference to Bankstown again. They would have spent significantly more than the Northern Tigers, actually one could assume they spent more than anyone else in the Super League without the desired result. Best not to assume one clubs' budget unless your ACTUALLY involved in FNSW and have seen all the balance sheets? Highly doubtful.

Bankstown do not deserve promotion as they did not finish first, and that is a hurdle they can't get over.

Edited by ralerasic: 28/8/2012 12:37:44 PM

with the greatest of respect, where on earth is there a media room in the main stand at jensen? pls dont tell me youre referring to the tin shed at the top of the stand? also, 45o covered seats? i doubt it. anyway, still best of the SL. i hope the lions can secure funding for further works, i really do.

re apia- they will be starting work soon enough on the rebuild so it will be fine once completed.