Re: div 2
Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2015 3:35 pm
Nobody, possibly the key factor is that Regency were relegated to divisions 2A and 2B but no longer exist (they have merged with North City to form one club with two teams) and no one team clubs expanded to two teams. That meant that divisions 2A and 2B were down to 9 teams. A 16 game season for A and B grade teams wasn't seen as enough, so other ideas had to be considered.
There were obviously various ways to address that situation. Leaving Scotch and Windsor in 2A, adding another one team club to 2A and pairing all 3 teams up with other teams in 2B was certainly considered. It could have gone either way, but it would be difficult to say who the other team in 2A should be - Blackwood and Woodside existed last year and did well, but were in div 5, whereas St Paul's are a brand new club with no track record to assess.
Other comments have speculated about whether some of the clubs with lots of teams could put teams in 2A and 2B as well as in 1A and 1B. That could be put to a vote in the future perhaps, but it would be a move away from the model the CSL is currently aiming for. We want every team in 2A to be capable of being promoted, so what would happen if a big club with teams in divisions 1A and 1B won division 2A? Or if a team was relegated from 1A but alreday had a team in 2A? It would just compound the issue we've had in recent years with Windsor being very successful but not being promoted.
I agree that the format in the last two season worked reasonably well. If nothing had changed I dare say the format would not have changed either. I know that Pembroke would have been happy to remain in division 2B.
I suspect that the format this year will ultimately work well. Divisions 2A, 2B and 3 could all be really competitive and the 3 newest one team clubs will have a good chance of success in division 5 (and can use interchange to keep players happy if they have more than enough for one team).
I'm sure there will be different circumstances and a different solution next year too.
There were obviously various ways to address that situation. Leaving Scotch and Windsor in 2A, adding another one team club to 2A and pairing all 3 teams up with other teams in 2B was certainly considered. It could have gone either way, but it would be difficult to say who the other team in 2A should be - Blackwood and Woodside existed last year and did well, but were in div 5, whereas St Paul's are a brand new club with no track record to assess.
Other comments have speculated about whether some of the clubs with lots of teams could put teams in 2A and 2B as well as in 1A and 1B. That could be put to a vote in the future perhaps, but it would be a move away from the model the CSL is currently aiming for. We want every team in 2A to be capable of being promoted, so what would happen if a big club with teams in divisions 1A and 1B won division 2A? Or if a team was relegated from 1A but alreday had a team in 2A? It would just compound the issue we've had in recent years with Windsor being very successful but not being promoted.
I agree that the format in the last two season worked reasonably well. If nothing had changed I dare say the format would not have changed either. I know that Pembroke would have been happy to remain in division 2B.
I suspect that the format this year will ultimately work well. Divisions 2A, 2B and 3 could all be really competitive and the 3 newest one team clubs will have a good chance of success in division 5 (and can use interchange to keep players happy if they have more than enough for one team).
I'm sure there will be different circumstances and a different solution next year too.