Another factor in the promo/relegation discussion will be the impact of the Nelson entry into ASB championship. What are the likely ramifications? How many suburbs players might be out of action in the early part of the season? Given the reasons for richmonds reluctance to chase an MPL spot - financial - could their focus shift to feeding the regional Nelson entry? While we're on it will Nelson take the Athletic Bilbao approach and only recruit locals or do fringe canterbury players now have another option? Luis, i know this opens a few different threads, but what's your perspective on the whole shebang?
The reason FC Nelson has two teams is because otherwise you'd have a five team league ..Suburbs, Marlborough, Nelson College (all three can't get promoted) Richmond and FC Nelson. FC Nelson Sprig & Fern is clearly the better team though, and should be the team that wins the first division here.
Nelson College being a club is so confusing. Darrell Hannah, a MPL player from last year was then not picked for NZ Secondary School nationals because he wasn't part of FC Nelson College. Was then because Nelson College are deemed a club? or is this because the coach refused to pick someone that went to Suburbs instead. Nelson College needs to pull out of division one, and send most of the players through to FC Nelson's first division teams.
If Nelson moved into the ASB Premiership, a Nelson Bays Football editorial in the Nelson Weekly says they have made a bid, then a lot of the top players who left the region would come back. That has already started happening with the likes of Jordan Swaney, Coey Turipa, Mike Bothwell and Mike White. But then other players like Jamie Doris (NZ U-20), Sam Ayers, Billy Scott (Currently the youngest ever captain in the Central Premier League), Adam Smith, Joel Weicharn (Fmr NZ Sec Schools), potentially Tommy Lancaster would come back to Nelson. My initial thought would be they would focus on local players. This would be the cheapest option and there is plenty of talent coming out of Nelson. But you would need three starting players from outside the current Nelson Suburbs squad. Henry Fa'ardo from FC Nelson would make it, but I'm yet to see who else from outside Nelson Suburbs would.So there's a hole for three good solid ASB Premiership starters.
Because it would be picked from locals, you wouldn't have the drama of a players NOT playing Mainland Premier League once their ASB Premiership commitments are over. It's not like they're going to head to Australia and play state football once national league is over.
I guess you would want two Nelson teams in the MPL feeding to the ASB Premiership side. Otherwise there could be about 10 Suburbs players out of action for four weeks.
Here is a handful of Nelson players that could be competitive with Manawatu, Otago and Waikato.
Ben Wright - Gagame Feni
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Adam Smith - Billy Scott - Mike Bothwell - Mike White
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Jordan Swaney - Mark Johnston - Erik Panzer/Joe Green - Jamie Doris
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Coey Turipa
Throw in Sam Ayers, Matt Shaw, Wesley Olea, Henry Fa'arado, Eddie Newman, Simon Gatward-Smith, Matthew Ayloff, Alex Ridsdale and a few others and that's a squad that would be competitive against most teams.