Balancing Act
The 2009 Central ABL Menâs and Womenâs competitions are shaping up to be the closest in years, if early results are any indication.
16 teams split results in the first two rounds. Forestville Men and West Adelaide women are the only teams left undefeated while South Adelaide Men and Central Districts women are the only teams yet to win.
2007 was the only season in the last five years in which 9 menâs teams had attained a victory in the first round. During this period, this has never occurred in the womenâs league.
Time will tell if this is a statistical oddity or a true indication of a balanced competition.
Some teams are certainly yet finalise their lineups, but one could argue that in the menâs league, player losses suffered by Norwood (David Cooper), Forestville (Kane Oakley), South Adelaide (Justin Halleran) and North Adelaide (Jason Reardon) will bring 2008 top four menâs teams back to the pack. You might also deduce that the addition of imports by Southern (John Morris) and Central Districts (Oliver Prince) has improved the competitiveness of 2008s 7th and 9th placed teams.
Similarly in the womenâs competition, 2008 premiers Sturt has lost Renae Camino among others, grand finalist North is minus Jenah Piwanski, and 8th placed South Adelaide has picked up Canadian Cassandra Carpenter.
Stay tuned to see whether the evenness continues.
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