Hi All,

Welcome to the penultimate round of the season and I hope your all enjoying your 9s footy. The finals are just about set now and the structure will be the same as last season with everyone involved; 1v2. 3v4....ect. 
We think we eventually got the grading right and each comp has been very competitive with close results seen through most divisions. 
All Finals will be played at Basil reserve due to the failing light experienced as daylight saving ends. FULL INFO ON FINALS WILL BE AVAILABLE AFTER Rd 7.

PARKING AT BASIL

Due to large numbers decending on Basil reserve come finals, we encourage players to use parking avaiable at Darling station at the rear of Dunlop reserve. It is only a 2 minute walk through to Basil from the car park. Wesley teams in particular who are not familiar with parking in the area might be well advised to use the Darling station parking.

BOOTS

Umpires have noticed some footy boots starting to worn by players. Not only is this no allowed under our ground lease agreement but it gives players an unfair advantage.  Field 1 at Basil Reserve was particularly chopped up due to unauthorised footwear. If your still confused as to what you can and can't wear ask the umpire before the start of the game and pack runners just in case otherwise ask HYNSEY who seems to have a good handle on it.

AUTUMN SEASON. (IMPORTANT)

R40s is doing their best to secure a ground for an Autumn comp which is planned to run for 8 weeks between May and June. So far we have been unsuccessful in finding a ground and would like to put it out there to all players who may be able to assist. Our preference is the Glen Iris, Ashburton and surrounding area, but we will look at any options offered up and REMEMBER lights are a must!!. We will keep teams updated as soon as a venue becomes available.

AUTUMN TEAMS

In the event that a Ground is located we need to know which teams are returning so that we can work out how many fields we need. We have so far had a positive response from around half the teams but need Captains to reply in the negative or affirmative to assist us with Competition Management.

I just want to finish off the Blog by asking all players to remember that R40s AFL9s is a non contact sport and the more we follow this no1 rule the more everyone can will enjoy the sport. Look after each other fallas as it hurts a little bit more than it use to. 

Cheers
R40s

Hi all,  

Firstly we look like we have the time slots and playing fields at Basil reserve finally right as complaints are limited, congrats go to Macca who is doing a ripping Job out there. There is some top shelf footy being played out at Basil in the higher levels, with limited or no contact, which is great to see. Finding space is the name of the game and teams have worked this out and ran with it.

Wesley Comp is humming along nicely and the attitude of the competing teams is fantastic exactly what R40s is all about, great social footy.

Summer Finals

Only 3 weeks away until finals and the ladders are starting to take shape. Hynsey's Dragons look the team to beat and sit well clear on top of the Ladder in 1st Div. Big Dogz are looking good in the 2nd Div but are closely followed by the Knights and Sharks, who will fight it out to make the final. 3rd Div sees the Scorchers on top who have been consistently getting better each season. Over at Wesley the mighty Thunder are once again proving hard to beat, Trev's team have more silverware than any other team in any comp and look to be adding to it. Very tight for second, but the way the Zero's played Monday, Thunder better be ready. 
Finals Format will be the same as Spring comp. with 1&2 playing off and so on and so on. 

ANZAC DAY CARNIVAL Cancelled !!

We have listened at R40s, and the general consensus is that local carnivals are of little interest to our teams. So we have cancelled the ANZAC DAY carnival and are reinstating the Autumn comp under lights, which has met with positive response.

AUTUMN Comp

We are currently in Negotiations with Stonnington Council to remain at Basil Reserve through the Autumn Season. Autumn, will run from April 20th to June 8th being an 8 week season. Depending on numbers Divisions will be made up of 8 teams, so that each team gets to play one another. We hope to have Registration up and running as soon as we have ground confirmation, so could all interested teams register as soon as it becomes available to assist us with fixturing and avoid the problems seen earlier this season.  New Teams Welcome!

Until next BLOG "Watch Your Contact"

R40s

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Hi All,
Welcome back to another season of R40s AFL9s. A big welcome also to the new teams who are participating for the first time. 
Our umpires got together last Tuesday to thrash out some ideas and options on how we can better umpire the game and reduce some frustration from both player and umpire. Attached below is the minutes of that Meeting. Please read  as it will assist in smoother running of our competitions.

All umpires were encouraged to focus on contact early in the game to set a precedence for the rest of the match. Most of our player are there to play a completely non contact social game  so it is up to the umpires to police even minor contact, including

• Off the ball contact, Blocking, shepherding  and grabbing player or shirts are all unacceptable and a free kick needs to be awarded. 
• Players Backing back will be free kicked against  if they make contact with stationary player. If the player is moving they are deemed to have initiated contact and the free kick will go to the man in front.(moving Back)
• Midfielders need to remove the tag of the player clearing the ball from the ruck, all to often they are being tackled or contacted in some way. If there is not a clear exit from the ruck free needs to be paid.
• Ruck contact continues to be a problem each player must start foot side by side and a Bball tip off is required (any leaning in is Penalised.) 
• Ruckman must tap the ball backwards to his on ballers standing 2 meters away. (Trial Rule)
•  The cleaner we get it out of the middle the more the game opens up. 

Local Rules

• When clearing the ball from the centre the midfielder has 3 seconds from taking possession of the ball regardless of whether he has been tagged or not. Eg… A Mid receiving the ball from the ruck he then has 3 seconds to get rid of the ball if after this time he is tagged then a free kick is paid. On the other hand if he is tagged immediately after he grabs the ball he is then given 3 seconds.
  
• Anywhere else on the ground other than the mid field a free kick will be awarded if the tag is removed with the player in possession, no prior is given.  
• Player must kick out from the imaginary goal square rather than behind the line.
• Ball is to be brought back through the goals if out of bounds close to goal.
• Players must start 2 metres back from the ruck contest and may only move fwd once ruck man makes contact with ball tapping it backwards. 
• Minimum kicking distance approx 5 metres
• No Running with the flight of the ball (Mackintosh Rule)
• Max. of 2 under 35s allowed on field at any time. (must be separate zones)

Reports, Warnings and Send off - New Rules

• For minor indiscretions,  e.g. Swearing, unsportsman like behaviour, Wreckless contact and umpire abuse.. players will be given an official warning, if a 2nd indiscretion occurs the player will be sent off . 
• All players sent off will not be allowed to return for the rest of the Match and the team will not be able to replace them.
• In serious cases a warning (umpires discretion) may not be given and a player sent off.
• If a player refuses to leave the field the game will stop until he has left the field.
• An umpire may deem that a serious indiscretion has taken place and a player may be put on Report. He must then leave the playing field for the remainder of the game. Over the course of the following week the incident will be reviewed by the competition co-ordinators and a decision will be made. Co-ordinators decision is final. Penalties will fall in line with AFL9s standards.
• 15m penalties will now be applied at the umpires discretion.

Umpire assistance 

• An umpire may at any time  call on the competition co-ordinator to assist on any dispute. 
• An umpire must report any serious injury to the Comp Co-ordinaters ASAP.
• Comp co-ordinators will now be available for each game. (Macca and I, will be free to complain to.)

I hope that this clears up any questions that anyone has. There is a Chat room set up on the app if you have any questions for the umpires. Keep it nice.

That's all for now good luck for monday night above all enjoy yourself,
As always Watch your contact,

R40s

Hi all and welcome to Rd 5 News Blog.

I hope everyone had a successful spring carnival and  enjoyed themselves.  Round 5 suggested that the carnival may not have been good to some as a few players struggled to play within the boundaries of our competition. Please take a deep breath and remember why we're out there, no one enjoys a heated game and it should not be up to the umpires to control players.  Umpires will make mistakes just as the players do, the last thing we want to do is send players off, but as a last resort we will have no other option if blokes continue to play outside the rules and display unsportsmanlike behavior. 

Please help the umpires by;
- Not creating a contests. ( if you can't get there without making contact pull up )
-Accepting Decisions (even if you believe they are totally wrong...get on with it )
-Keeping banter between the opposition friendly. 
-Displaying Sportsmanship ( hand back the ball, Don't deliberately go over mark, be honest if you were last to touch the ball, shake hands before/after the game)
- Enjoying yourself'  (have a laugh with opposition, team mates and umpires.)
- Reading the rules and playing within them. (check website)

To finish my rant, can  I make myself perfectly clear AFL9s is a "non contact" sport, this means no contact, full stop. We have tags for tackling so there is no reason to contact your opposition when grabbing a tag. backing into players under the flight of the ball is also seen as contact, players believe that because they are in front when backing up they should get the free, this is not the case. The player initiating the contact will be penalized weather in front or at the back. There is no shepherding grabbing or blocking, each player shall play the ball on it's merits. As pointed out above please read the rules and play within them.

Under 35YO Players
As you know each team is allowed 2 under 35 players on the field at any one time. The rule was originally set up to allow dads to play with sons. That rules has been relaxed a little and  teams are using young blokes as fill ins. This is fine for now and will be reviewed at the end of season.

Footy Boots
Some players are still rolling up with footy boots, only Grass cats or hockey style runners are appropriate. This does not include blades. We will be policing footwear over the remainder of the season as it may impact on our future ground hire.

Swearing 
Given the close proximity to housing and specifically in the case of Wesley a secondary school, please refrain from swearing as much as possible. I understand that one or two may slip out, through frustration but please do your best to keep it down. ( swearing at opposition is totally unforgivable and will be an immediate send off. )  

Public Notices
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That's all, until next week, 'watch your contact"
R40s

Hi all and Welcome to Round 4 news Blog

The Wheat is starting to spread from the chaff as the ladder start to take shape nearing the half way point of the comp. Surprise Chaff has been the once mighty St.Michaels Boys who, like Geelong seem to be on the down slope of the bell curve. Also on the wain in Div 1 is Ringwood North Thunder. Trevs boys after winning 3 P'ships in a row look to be struggling. 
On the Flip side it looks like the Sunday training session are paying off for the Scraggers with the Big Dogz and the Smackoz both at the top of the table. Good to see the Ashy boys firing up with both their 1st and 2nd Division teams near the top of the table. New Comers the Pretenders might have something to say about that as they look a class above in their 2nd Div matches so far. Good to see Dave Allen's Glen Waverley Rovers Topping the table of 3rd Div, obviously reaping the benefits of 3 seasons experience. 
I hope all teams are enjoying the social atmosphere of  R40 AFL9s regardless of ladder positions and look fwd to the rest of the season.


Cup Week
As you all know we have a bye this Monday night due to the Melbourne cup long weekend. Round 5 commences on the 10th of November so check your fixtures. 2nd Div remember to check if you are at Wesley or Basil reserve as your teams rotate through both. Please check fixtures through the Website or the App as previous spreadsheet correspondence may be incorrect.

R40 Upcoming Events

Rd 5 After match Event 
In round 5 we are keen for everyone to stay for a meal and a chat after their games. We have asked for the kitchen to stay open a little later to cater for our players. We are hoping Wesley teams can also make it back for the event as well to enjoy the social atmosphere.  Could all players please indicate to their respective captains if they will be attending so we can gauge numbers for the Kitchen. Families and past players welcome.

Xmas Finals Event
Any one who played last year will realise how big this event is. Once again we will endeavour to play all finals at Wesley so we can get all teams at one Venue. This day is just as much about the family as it is finals. Once again Santa will be there for the kids the sausage sizzle will be on again and throw in a couple of jumping castles, face painters and mascots and all are happy. The Bar will be open for the Adults in the Pavilion..... Keeping them happy. Once again as it gets closer we would ask that players tell their captains if they're family are coming for catering purposes. 

Non Contact Social Competition
The heading says it all, this is what Roaring 40s strive for each week. Please don't forget that we are out on the field to get some exercise and have some fun. We're not playing for sheep stations, so if you find yourself getting a little worked up remember what your here for. Umpires reported a good round this week with contact kept to a minimum, so I think the message is getting through, good work men.


See you all on the 10th...... don't for get the after match and above all "watch your Contact".


R40s 

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