The latest from league

A long time ago, a wise man once said:

"AJ, you're dreaming.

In div 2 I reckon Revelation or the Muppets will take top spot. They've got a bunch of solid rookies and enough star power to overcome the other teams.

In div 3 I don't know what will happen, so I'm going to go with my gut and back the King Truckers. Sure, the Boffins and the Little Bananas may have the experience and the talent, but the Truckers have other, undisclosed things that make them good.

You read it here first."

That was on October 15th, in response to a totally spurious set of league predictions from AJ. And, two months later, my prediction was vindicated.

Admittedly, I vacillated a bit with my bet on Revelation and the Muppets, but I think that's redeemed because then they both made the Div 2 final, which was won handsomely by Revelation. In Div 3, true to form, the King Truckers finished the season with a win over the Bretheren to take the honors for the third season in a row.

I've seen a few games in both divisions this season and there have been a number of pretty exciting developments:

• League is huge. After splitting the time-slots for divisions 2 and 3 a few seasons back league has continued to grow and Div 3 is now filling the Dickson fields on it's own. We've got 20 teams in Div 3 and 12 in Div 2. Awesome
• Team fees. OK, so I know this isn't very exciting for most people, but introducing team fees has simplified one of the worst parts of league organising - rounding up hundreds of individual player fees. It means it's easier for new volunteers to get involved and it takes a load off our current volunteer stock. It's grouse.
• The standard. Div 3 looked heaps stronger this year than it has for a while. The same goes for Div 2. The successful teams in both divisions are using all of their players, making a bunch of passes with each possession and generally looking smoother than any other ACT league teams I can remember. It makes for more fun for everyone involved and gives more players a chance to contribute each point.
• Factory organising stuff. Everything seemed well organised, it sounds like the work was shared out among a few people so no-one got snowed under, and Factory got to raise some cash to offset the effects of Nat Blood's Creative Finance Explosion (TM).

League will take a break over the holidays and fire up again in January. The format is undecided because ACT Sportsgrounds are closing Dickson fields for some major renovations. Stay tuned and we'll get details up when they get sorted out.