Wav still the team to beat, but Eltham and Corio will be playing some fun to watch, up tempo ball

Eltham signed Luke Cooper.
TigerWatcher, dunno how you can say D1 and D2 is like mid week comp. D1 would be close to CABL standard (Warrandyte 2012 would beat every CABL side) and D2 have plenty of players who could play Championship Level just benches dont go as deep!

Cant see anyone beating Waverley but Ringwood n Corio Bay will round out the top 3

D1 have a few players who could cut it at ABA level but each team seems to have 1 or 2 then the rest really aren't much chop at all.

But it isn't fair to compare SCM to D1/D2 anyway so sorry if I offended with my comment.

Is Belt confirmed for Ringwood??

Championship Men this year is an interesting one, I honestly think results will be very similar to what they were last year.

Waverley, Eltham and Ringwood being the Top 3.

Sherbrooke, Bulleen and Corio Bay the next 3

Then Diamond Valley, Melbourne and Hume at the bottom.

Division 1 Men look alright. Warrandyte are almost good enough to compete in the Championship Men competition... Camberwell have a couple of big names but much depth? Anon do you know something we don't? Canovan, Anstey and Eversteyn... anybody else?
Warnambool and McKinnon will also be very tough this season in Division 1 as they will always put a good team on the floor. Who does Blackburn have to replace Matt Cromarty?

Division 2 Men is still improving... Western Port to be the big movers this season. Vlad the Tank and a number of others going there will help their cause.
Melton or Keilor will be the weakest.

Warrandyte is looking more and more like a State Champ team! They have reigning D1 MVP Tron Smith back on deck, have brough in Gerard Leonard from Eltham and now also Sam Burch (ex-Warrnambool).

Anstey is also luring some decent talent down at Camberwell! Bobby is well on the mark!

How'd warrandyte go against Sherbrooke in that practice game the other week?

In D1M McKinnon have Axel Dench and Marcus Timmons again, plus John Morris a US Import who played formerly for the 'Bool in Championship.
Sam Belt is confirmed it was on the Big V website in an article from the local Ringwood paper awhile ago.

Warrandyte definitely looking like the most improved team in Division 1. They've also added Vashon Weaver to the mix.

Yea Alex has moved to Hume City, he'll look really good in the warm-ups...that said if he has improved Hume will have a solid starting group.

I heard Dillon will be back at Waverley from a number of peple close to waverley so don't expect that to change.

Who are the vet's out at Eltham??

Agree with anon that Reardon & williams will cause a few headaches..they'll probably be the best 3/4 combo in the league

Alex will be great in warmups.. but after that it goes downhill at a fast rate! Very 1 dimensional player

Warrandyte, will win the lot this year in D1 they were a very good team last year and are twice as good this year, the only thing that could stop them is if they are only allowed to use 1 ball during the game . lol

Corio draw in practise game against Wav without williams and two other players.

Gee thats impressive if they drew with Waverley without Williams....i think they'll win 90% of games at home so i'd expect them to make finals from there!

Who were Waverley missing though?

People seem to be forgetting that warrandyte are coming up from division 2. Yes they almost have a completely different team so stop comparing them to their division 2 results from last year.

which williams???

Eric Williams- ex Spectres import now at Corio Bay.

Brett Fennell back to Diamond Valley, I've heard that Reynolds and Kansak are both in the Mens side this season. May look to be a higher tempo game that Diamond Valley will play this season.

The BigV always generates talk here, makes me wonder why the league keeps launching and then pulling it's forum.

So are any Tigers players suiting in the Big V this year? (Not including Lewis who'll be an ex-Tigers player at the end of this season)

If you right something honest and constructive on their forum they rip it down.Not worth having.

Any word on who Eltham Womens have signed??

melbourne tigers nbl side are supposedly touring ireland and china during the off season, so that will put dillon out for a few games. It might also put bennie lewis out as well as they might take him as a kind gesture for his time with the club

It really hurts the quality of the Big V comp if a few of the Tigers players don't drop back into the Big V.

with no Tragardh to defend his MVP trophy, any thoughts on the ealry MVP candidates??

Williams, Platnik (finally), Belt

Melbourne Tigers structure has changed. The NBL no longer run the admin for the Men/Women Champ teams and the youth girls team. All are now controlled by Melbourne Tigers juniors- they are expecting to take a hit with results as the restructure happens but are looking to use their senior teams as an actual pathway for their juniors over the coming years.

Reardon for mvp.

Good call but i don't think D has much to do with the MVP gong as Tragardh isn't exactly being nominated for defensive player of the year!

Also have you ever seen Platnik play D??

Osborne? Sorry to ask but were is he from?

I would think Kansak from DV if he plays up would have to be the early fave for Youth player of the year.

I thought Dillon was off to America at some stage during the BigV season. Though they'll still be tough!!!

Waverley must have some cash!

Someone mentioned Platenik and D in the same sentence. Interesting association but never gunna happen.

Waverley have always had plenty of $$ to splash as Ivan & Co are cheap to run!

Only way to break into the top 3 sides is to spend over $40K per season. (Import/NBL talent)

(I know Sherbrooke did it last year but unless you spend you can't maintain i, hence why they are paying Tom Burns this year!)

Matt Reynolds is a great player, not sure if he is Europe standard just yet though

If Kansaks father had Euro connections why isn't he playing over there all ready??

Why wouldn't Kansak try out for a lower division club to get his foot in the door because he isn't exactly a professional whislt playing out at DV.

Reynolds may be trying to keep his college eligibility intact perhaps?

So will any of the Tigers boys be playing in the Big V this year or not?

Dillon & Lewis appear to be the only ones signed

Warrandyte's import Tron Smith will miss this season with an injury, but has comitted to return in 2013. However the Venom has this week announced the signing of new import Chibuzo Elonu who has just graduated from Southeastern Oklahoma State University where he was captain last season.

http://www.sportingpulse.com/assoc_page.cgi?client=1-4089-0-0-

He is suited up for tonight's game against Blackburn.

Sorry. Geriatric's league this year. Lowery, Greg Smith, Randy Anderson.....give me a break. Big V was getting better at one point and closing the gap on SEABL. Now it is a farce. Waverley should win it for sure. They are the only team that can play in the crunch. As for Platenik. Just because the guy is not conventional doesn't mean he is not effective. He plays his role to perfection and role players win championships for teams. Give me Platenik every day of the week. 20pts worth of crumbs is good for anyone. He just keeps getting it done.

It is becoming a bit of a boneyard of sorts.

The old blokes need to stop hanging on and understand that they are just clogging gaps and hindering the games & Big V's development, it ain't 1999 anymore!

Funny think is in the twightlight of there careers a few of these guys just go from losing team to losing team...so it begs the question are they really playing for the team sucess or for themseleves? (After all is there an ABA record for oldest player to suit?)