TOPIC:

South Fremantle were recognised at the Sandover Medal with the club being presented with the Rodriguez Shield after claiming the shield in 2016.
The Rodriguez Shield is a points based system which sees clubs being awarded points across the home and away season, with 10 points being claimed for a league win and 4 points for each reserves and colts win. Traditionally this shield is considered to represent the champion club of the season with typically all three grades needing to perform strongly to be able to claim the award. South Fremantle had a stellar season across all three of their grades with the league and colts team each recording 15 wins and the reserves side winning 12 games. All three sides finished in the top three on the ladder at the end of the home and away season.
South Fremantle finished the year with 258 points to win comfortably from Subiaco and East Perth. Club President Haydn Raitt was on hand to receive the shield on behalf of the club.

Brilliant effort, the fact that you do so well is testament to your club

Great effort by SF, testimony of their depth....though the downside to this success is that come finals time it is a tough ask to go deep with all three sides playing.....colts and reserves went out in straight sets....and the league losing 2 of their 3 finals matches...but hey I can't think of any club bar Cl who regularly get all three teams in and go deep in the finals with all 3....

Great effort by the club... Lets hope it transpires into another successful year in 2017.

Yep you are correct Freez bar CL they appear to be the one club that can hang their hat on being able to do it consistently cross all three grades.

Great to see SF be a more proactive this year in pushing talented 18 year olds through the grades ie Pickett , Collard , Donaldson all played league / reserves football all year. A number of 18 and 19 year olds were given more exposure to reserves football in the later part of the season due to our squad becoming thinner as a result of injuries ie English , Brown Dadson etc I would have liked to have seen the club bite the bullet and give Bolton the opportunity higher as I do think he is as talented as Ah Chee , Garlett and Pickett in previous years.
It seemed we did not have a major focus on winning Colts premierships and it was about developing the players which was refreshing to see.

Dwert, do you reckon that development push was due to Mark Foster?.....Just when he wss at EF I heard good reports from a couple of mates whose sons were playing under Foster in the colts......but then again SF have never been afraid to blood their really good youngsters in the past......was really surprised colts boys in Strnadica, Baskerville, Holmes and Zurhaar didnt get some exposure to senior footy at EF this year.....especially with Wiley's development background......

Obviously English will go 1st round, with Bolton surely to go by round 3 at the latest?.....who else will be on the radar? Brown, Burke, Dzelebdzic and Miller perhaps?.....how about Sumich's boy?......

On playing ability I would be surprised if Bolton lasted until the 3rd round he is an exciting talent.

Cant see Freo picking SPS and Bolton, whilst WCE may go tall early on.....would love the WBD to go for Bolton early on, his speed would certainly complement their current playing structure......though English would be handy with WBD lack of talls.....might take them both perhaps .......

Freezin wrote: Great effort by SF, testimony of their depth....though the downside to this success is that come finals time it is a tough ask to go deep with all three sides playing.....colts and reserves went out in straight sets....and the league losing 2 of their 3 finals matches...but hey I can't think of any club bar Cl who regularly get all three teams in and go deep in the finals with all 3....

Quite true mate, Claremont have set a high bar with success across all three grades over a long period of time and certainly the benchmark to reach for , as you say South have been setting a high standard over a period now as well.

Unfortunately as you point out the finals didn't pan out quite that way things were planned, this can happen when the league side taxes a successful reserves side at the end of the year with injuries etc. League hit a brick wall with the Peel game I guess , that's a bit unpredictable under the current arrangement depending on the AFL teams demands.

Freezin wrote: Dwert, do you reckon that development push was due to Mark Foster?.....Just when he wss at EF I heard good reports from a couple of mates whose sons were playing under Foster in the colts......but then again SF have never been afraid to blood their really good youngsters in the past......was really surprised colts boys in Strnadica, Baskerville, Holmes and Zurhaar didnt get some exposure to senior footy at EF this year.....especially with Wiley's development background......

Obviously English will go 1st round, with Bolton surely to go by round 3 at the latest?.....who else will be on the radar? Brown, Burke, Dzelebdzic and Miller perhaps?.....how about Sumich's boy?......

Yes Freez I do believe Foster has helped the club move in that area. He has surrounded himself with quality people in my opinion ie Glen Davies , Richard Hadley and his brotherand our young group would have really benefited from the knowledge and experience of that group. The bloke he replaced from the previous year did unfortunately do some long term damage that took some time to sort out.
You would be hopeful that one of those may be rookied? Suma's lad is promising and is still eligible to play 18s next year ,he has had injury issues this year and a full pre season under his belt will benefit him.
Tom Bennett is one from EF Freez that Sharks are taking their time with, Tom has had some injuries and maybe that is the reason why?

Interesting to see since 2000

past winners of the Rodriguez Shield

Subiaco 6

Claremont 4

South Fremantle 4

East Perth 1

West Perth 1