Season 2011 Preview
To kick the season off, all teams compete in a pre-season competition held over two weekends; In 2011 this will be held on April 30th & May 1st at Amata and May 7th & 8th at Ernabella.
Along with the pre-season carnival, teams will get a chance to practice their game plans and skills in a trial match against their nearest opposition team.
The trial matches will be; •
- Indulkana v Mimili @ Indulkana
- Wintjalangu v Fregon @ Ernabella
- Pukatja v Amata @ Ernabella
- Pipalyatjara v Murputja @ Kalka
Throughout the year players also have the chance to represent their 'conference' in the East v West All-star challenge. Fregon, Amata, Murputja and Pipalyatjara make up the Western sides and Indulkana, Mimili, Wintjalangu and Pukatja combine to form the Eastern teams. There will be one match in 2011 of eachsport,football and softball. The matches will be at Amata on Saturday June 4th.
- Western All-stars v Eastern All-stars @ Amata
A new innovation for 2011 is the mid-season lightning carnival. Held in Ernabella, teams will take a break from the regular season to play two days of football/softball against the opposing 7 teams. The lightning carnival will be the weekend of July 23 & 24.
The first premiership matches will be played on Saturday May 28th. Traditionally, round one will be the re-match of the two football grand-finalists; this year Mimili and Fregon at Fregon. For the full fixture please click on the fixture link at the top of the page.
Mimili will start the football season as favourites, and rightly so after winning their second Premiership since the competition began in 2007. They have played in all four Grand Finals. Fregon were big improvers in 2010 and along with Pukatja and Amata, they will be the most likely to chllenge to the Blues.
Pukatja softball team are the most successful side on the Lands right now, but they haven't had it easy. With 3 Premierships from four years, they will be the favourites again, but strong challenges will come from Mimili (2009 Premiers/2009 & 2010 Pre-season Champions/2010 Minor Premiers), Amata, Wintjalangu and Indulkana softball sides, who all experienced good seasons in 2010.