- May 8, 2001
- 5,670
- 824
- AFL Club
- Adelaide
- Other Teams
- CDFC (SANFL), Port Melb (VFL)
Hi Footy fans...
It's that time of year once again as five clubs were given an early pass to plan 2023. The Bloods, the Bulldogs, Port, South and the 2021 premiers are no doubt neck deep in preparations for next season, but for the rest its down to the real stuff. We're guaranteed a new premier this year with the Eagles not making it and for the next few weeks, its a game of last club standing in the race for the Thomas Seymour-Hill Trophy and the SANFL premiership flag of 2022. While the Roosters watch from the sidelines for the first week, four other sides would provide the proverbial "bread and circuses" as they observed their potential opponents. We begin with Sturt and the Tigers, both sides have won premierships in the last decade but while Sturt scratched and clawed their way into the five, the Bays were Qualifying Final contenders only a matter of weeks ago before a couple of costly losses. Then there's the Crows and the Redlegs. The men of The Parade were hot during the second half of the season with just one loss to their name in that period, but that loss came at the hands of this year's wooden spooners last week. As for Adelaide, they only just missed out on the minor premiership with a final round loss as well. And lets not go into too much detail about what the hardcore supporters of the traditional clubs think of them. Let the rumble begin. This is Finals Football.
Welcome to the first week edition of the SANFL Finals Wrap-Up.
Its always good to be at Adelaide Oval and especially on this day. Clear skies, comfortable weather for a day in this time of the year. We kick things off with the Elimination Final, the Tigers facing the Double Blues. Both games between these sides during this season were both Glenelg victories, starting with their Round 2 encounter at Unley. Inaccuracy almost stuffed the Tigers, especially in the second term. But Sturt's own scoring issues kept them only two kicks away at half-time. A four-point gap to Sturt at the final change was overturned six minutes into the last term, the Tigers kicking three goals to one and won by eight points. It was far less of a spectacle in Round 10, the Tigers inflicting a 67-point belting at Brighton Road. Since the introduction of the Elimination Final in the 1973 season, these sides have clashed only twice and Glenelg have won both. The last was in 2007 at Adelaide Oval, the Tigers overcoming a slow start to nick a one-point victory. Before that we have to go back to the 1988 season, which was a far more crushing result for the Blues faithful. They literally kicked themselves out of that one, going down by almost 10 goals in a game where they kicked four goals from 23 scoring shots. In the overall records in the Eliminator, the Blues have a dismal record having only one win from nine appearances, which was against Norwood in 2000 by 65 points. The Tigers have won six Elimination Finals from nine appearances, with five of those successful outings resulting in eventual Grand Final berths. The club with the absolute best record in Elimination Finals is the Redlegs, who have played in 19 games for 13 victories. And when you think of the Redlegs and these matches, many will regale you with the tale of 1984. They went on to win the flag that year, from fifth spot no less. That record went unchallenged for 30 years until the 2018 season when the Roosters pulled off that feat themselves, starting with South Adelaide in that year's EF.
The Tigers weren't instant favourites going into this game, despite winning against the Bulldogs at Glenelg last week, it took them until the last six minutes to nick the two-point win against a non-finals combatant who just asked questions of them all day until those few minutes deep into added time. The Blues were riding a wave of confidence having given the eventual minor premiers in North Adelaide a pre-finals reality check with their 22-point win at Prospect. The struggle would see not a lot happening on the scoreboard for a good 10 minutes, the Tigers with a behind on the board before the Blues put one through the big sticks. 90 seconds later and the Blues had a second and they led by 13 points after 14 minutes. The Tigers finally found the sticks themselves and at the first change, the scores were locked at 2.2 a piece. The Bays started to make more of an influence on the game in the second term, keeping the Blues to just 1.2. But a return of 2.4 would still keep the door wide open for a Sturt charge. At the half-time break, the Tigers were ahead by eight points. Two of those missed opportunities came late during injury time. This match wasn't pretty, with both sides coughing up a swag of turnovers as the wind got a little more noticable. One thing there wasn't a shortage of was some fierce body-on-body work. That was probably the one highlight of the day. Everything else just seemed a comedy of errors at times. More accuracy problems for the two sides came in the third quarter, each scoring four behinds. The Tigers' two goals were brackets for the third quarter, being the first and last scored while the Blues kicked one at the seventh minute. At three quarter-time, the Tigers were still ahead by 14 points. Not much would change in the end as Sturt's hard-luck stories in Elimination Finals would continue. Despite bringing the gap back to seven points after just five minutes, Glenelg would restore that lead not too long afterwards. The Tigers would come out 16-point victors, sealing a 1st Semi-Final spot next week. Matt Allen was Glenelg's best afield, with 24 disposals and seven marks. The Blues named Tom Lewis as their best afield, with 23 disposals, 14 tackles and 13 clearances.
The next match would be the Qualifying Final and with the Roosters hierarchy no doubt watching on in the stands, it was out of the Crows and the Redlegs as to who would face them in next week's 2nd Semi-Final. Much like the Tigers against the Blues, the Redlegs took out all the points on offer against the Crows in the minor round of Season 2022 with both games ending with gaps of within two straight kicks. Back in Round 8 under Friday Night Lights, the Redlegs almost let it slip in the final term but scored the final major of the game to take a five-point victory. Then in Round 16, it was the Redlegs' wayward shooting that threatened to bring them unstuck. But Adelaide still couldn't pull it off, going down two goals after they had their own problems with the sticks in the final stanza. This is only their third SANFL finals campaign to date, reaching Preliminary Finals in 2016 and in 2019. The 2019 series was their first appearance in a Qualifying Final, which was a loss to the Magpies by five goals. Norwood's record is only just above the 50% success rate, with eight wins from 15 appearances. They played in last year's match, losing to the eventual premiers, the Eagles by seven points. They went on to lose again the next week to be bundled out in straight sets. Their last victorious effort was 2014 against the Double Blues by nine points, a year that was capped off with a third consecutive flag in the SANFL's return to Adelaide Oval. Of course the best record in the Qualifier is the Magpies, with 12 wins from 17 games. They also hold the record score of 23.17 from the 1989 season, but the goal tally belongs to the Eagles who kicked 24 goals in 1992 against the Roosters. Here's a stat for you, there have been only three occasions where the loser of the Qualifying Final have gone on to win the premiership. The Blues were the first to pull it off in 1976 after losing to Glenelg, then did it again in 2017, when they lost to Port then beat them in the GF. The Eagles also did it in 2011, after copping a horror 10-goal loss to Norwood.
Both sides were on the wrong end of the stick in their respective final home and away match for the season, the Crows going down by three points to the Magpies in the mini-Showdown and the Redlegs losing to the Bloods at Richmond by a goal. Both teams had goal-kicking issues to blame for their losses, especially the 'Legs in that last quarter where they managed just three behinds as Westies ran over the top of them. Any questions as to the motivation of the Crows' want to succeed at SANFL level would be thrown straight out the window in a short time, after both sides scored a goal each after six minutes, the Crows got on the front foot to kick three more before the Redlegs could get a second of their own. A couple of missed chances for Norwood would see them adrift by 10 points at quarter-time, the board reading four goals to 2.2. But any thought of a fightback from the Redlegs would be squashed right here, and a four-game losing streak was going to come to an end. In fact, the last Crows victory against Norwood was in a 1st Semi-Final back in 2019. Adelaide swamped the Redlegs in the second quarter, although the punishment could very well have been far worse had they been more accurate on goal. Still, they would go into the half-time break with a 26-point lead after scoring 4.5 to 2.1. The third quarter was the game-breaker as the strength and desire of the AFL-listed contingent proved the difference. They would kick seven goals, six of them coming before the Redlegs could score one of their own. In just one quarter of football, no doubt many a traditional SANFL fan whether Norwood fans or not were looking on with concern. The gap was blown out to 62 points come three quarter-time. Roosters fans beware, probably more than a few concerned looks in their camp as well as the Crows went on to win by 55 points, finishing off with a 3.2 to 4.3 final term. Norwood's fuel tank looks as though its coming close to empty and unless they find their reserves, the Tigers are no doubt licking their chops ahead of their cut-throat date next week. Brett Turner was the Crows' pain-maker, finishing with 26 disposals, eight clearances and most importantly laid 16 tackles. For the Redlegs, they named Nik Rokahr as their best with 32 disposals and six marks.
FINAL SCORES IN WEEK ONE OF THE SANFL FINALS...
Sunday August 28
ELIMINATION FINAL
Glenelg 8.13 (61)
Sturt 6.9 (45)
QUALIFYING FINAL
Adelaide 18.9 (117)
Norwood 9.8 (62)
8,146 @ Adelaide Oval
INJURIES
None known at time of post.
REPORTS
Glenelg -- Reynolds (striking)
Adelaide -- Frampton (misconduct)
ROOSTERS SECURE LEWIS TROPHY
North Adelaide have taken out the Stanley H. Lewis Trophy, with high performances across the different divisions which includes the U-16's and the Women's division. The Roosters tallied over 3700 points, fuelled by strong showings by all divisions. It got kickstarted by the Women's team who won this year's SANFL-W flag plus all male sections finishing up in finals positions. Sturt finished in second spot with just over 3500 points and Glenelg in third position with 3400. This is the ninth time the Roosters have won the trophy, first winning it in 1966 and again in premiership years of 1971 and 1972. This year represented the 60th anniversary of the commissioning of the trophy, first awarded in 1962 and named after past league chairman Stanley Heathcote Lewis in recognition of club excellence across the grades of the SANFL.
RESERVES FINALS -- Tigers bounced, second half shutdown costs Westies
The Eagles ensured there would be a new Reserves premier after eliminating the Tigers in their Elimination Final at Prospect on Saturday morning. They stunned the defending champions early, after conceding the opening goal the Eagles would then kick five unanswered goals and lead by 25 points at quarter-time. They added two more in the second term before the Bays got their second, at which time the Tigers went quiet again as the Eagles stretched their advantage to nine goals going into the long break. The Tigers finally woke up in the second half as they tried to repair the damage already inflicted. The Eagles were kept to just two behinds in the third term as the Tigers kicked 4.3 to bring the gap back down to five straight kicks by the final change. It was to no avail though, the Eagles getting back on task to run out 37-point victors. They will face the Bloods in the 1st Semi-Final next weekend, their disappointing second half allowing the Roosters to run rampant on their way to a 55-point demolition in the Qualifying Final. After being down by two goals at quarter-time, the Bloods recovered to lead by four points at half-time. Then came absolute silence from West as the Roosters just coasted away to an easy victory. The Bloods were held to their first half tally of 6.3 for the remainder of the game, North booting nine unanswered goals in the second half on their way to securing a shot at the Eagles in the Grand Final play-off. The Reserves Semi-Finals will be played at Thebarton Oval on Saturday from 11am, while the Under-age grades will kick off their finals at Glenelg and Norwood at the same time.
ELIMINATION FINAL -- Woodville-West Torrens 13.12 (90) def. Glenelg 8.5 (53)
QUALIFYING FINAL -- North Adelaide 14.10 (94) def. West Adelaide 6.3 (39)
Next weekend in Week 2 of the SANFL Finals, the kids now get in on the finals action with the U-16's and U-18's starting their series.
Saturday September 3
U-16 ELIMINATION FINAL
Woodville-West Torrens vs. North Adelaide @ 11:50am
U-18 QUALIFYING FINAL
Norwood vs. North Adelaide @ 2:10pm
Coopers Stadium, Norwood
U-18 ELIMINATION FINAL
Glenelg vs. Sturt @ 11am
U-16 QUALIFYING FINAL
Glenelg vs. South Adelaide @ 1:30pm
ACH Group Stadium, Glenelg
RESERVES 1st SEMI-FINAL
West Adelaide vs. Woodville-West Torrens @ 11am
RESERVES 2nd SEMI-FINAL
Sturt vs. North Adelaide @ 1:30pm
Thebarton Oval
Sunday September 4 @ Adelaide Oval
LEAGUE 1st SEMI-FINAL
Norwood vs. Glenelg @ 12:15pm
LEAGUE 2nd SEMI-FINAL
North Adelaide vs. Adelaide @ 3:15pm
So until next weekend... see you at the Footy!
It's that time of year once again as five clubs were given an early pass to plan 2023. The Bloods, the Bulldogs, Port, South and the 2021 premiers are no doubt neck deep in preparations for next season, but for the rest its down to the real stuff. We're guaranteed a new premier this year with the Eagles not making it and for the next few weeks, its a game of last club standing in the race for the Thomas Seymour-Hill Trophy and the SANFL premiership flag of 2022. While the Roosters watch from the sidelines for the first week, four other sides would provide the proverbial "bread and circuses" as they observed their potential opponents. We begin with Sturt and the Tigers, both sides have won premierships in the last decade but while Sturt scratched and clawed their way into the five, the Bays were Qualifying Final contenders only a matter of weeks ago before a couple of costly losses. Then there's the Crows and the Redlegs. The men of The Parade were hot during the second half of the season with just one loss to their name in that period, but that loss came at the hands of this year's wooden spooners last week. As for Adelaide, they only just missed out on the minor premiership with a final round loss as well. And lets not go into too much detail about what the hardcore supporters of the traditional clubs think of them. Let the rumble begin. This is Finals Football.
Welcome to the first week edition of the SANFL Finals Wrap-Up.
Its always good to be at Adelaide Oval and especially on this day. Clear skies, comfortable weather for a day in this time of the year. We kick things off with the Elimination Final, the Tigers facing the Double Blues. Both games between these sides during this season were both Glenelg victories, starting with their Round 2 encounter at Unley. Inaccuracy almost stuffed the Tigers, especially in the second term. But Sturt's own scoring issues kept them only two kicks away at half-time. A four-point gap to Sturt at the final change was overturned six minutes into the last term, the Tigers kicking three goals to one and won by eight points. It was far less of a spectacle in Round 10, the Tigers inflicting a 67-point belting at Brighton Road. Since the introduction of the Elimination Final in the 1973 season, these sides have clashed only twice and Glenelg have won both. The last was in 2007 at Adelaide Oval, the Tigers overcoming a slow start to nick a one-point victory. Before that we have to go back to the 1988 season, which was a far more crushing result for the Blues faithful. They literally kicked themselves out of that one, going down by almost 10 goals in a game where they kicked four goals from 23 scoring shots. In the overall records in the Eliminator, the Blues have a dismal record having only one win from nine appearances, which was against Norwood in 2000 by 65 points. The Tigers have won six Elimination Finals from nine appearances, with five of those successful outings resulting in eventual Grand Final berths. The club with the absolute best record in Elimination Finals is the Redlegs, who have played in 19 games for 13 victories. And when you think of the Redlegs and these matches, many will regale you with the tale of 1984. They went on to win the flag that year, from fifth spot no less. That record went unchallenged for 30 years until the 2018 season when the Roosters pulled off that feat themselves, starting with South Adelaide in that year's EF.
The Tigers weren't instant favourites going into this game, despite winning against the Bulldogs at Glenelg last week, it took them until the last six minutes to nick the two-point win against a non-finals combatant who just asked questions of them all day until those few minutes deep into added time. The Blues were riding a wave of confidence having given the eventual minor premiers in North Adelaide a pre-finals reality check with their 22-point win at Prospect. The struggle would see not a lot happening on the scoreboard for a good 10 minutes, the Tigers with a behind on the board before the Blues put one through the big sticks. 90 seconds later and the Blues had a second and they led by 13 points after 14 minutes. The Tigers finally found the sticks themselves and at the first change, the scores were locked at 2.2 a piece. The Bays started to make more of an influence on the game in the second term, keeping the Blues to just 1.2. But a return of 2.4 would still keep the door wide open for a Sturt charge. At the half-time break, the Tigers were ahead by eight points. Two of those missed opportunities came late during injury time. This match wasn't pretty, with both sides coughing up a swag of turnovers as the wind got a little more noticable. One thing there wasn't a shortage of was some fierce body-on-body work. That was probably the one highlight of the day. Everything else just seemed a comedy of errors at times. More accuracy problems for the two sides came in the third quarter, each scoring four behinds. The Tigers' two goals were brackets for the third quarter, being the first and last scored while the Blues kicked one at the seventh minute. At three quarter-time, the Tigers were still ahead by 14 points. Not much would change in the end as Sturt's hard-luck stories in Elimination Finals would continue. Despite bringing the gap back to seven points after just five minutes, Glenelg would restore that lead not too long afterwards. The Tigers would come out 16-point victors, sealing a 1st Semi-Final spot next week. Matt Allen was Glenelg's best afield, with 24 disposals and seven marks. The Blues named Tom Lewis as their best afield, with 23 disposals, 14 tackles and 13 clearances.
The next match would be the Qualifying Final and with the Roosters hierarchy no doubt watching on in the stands, it was out of the Crows and the Redlegs as to who would face them in next week's 2nd Semi-Final. Much like the Tigers against the Blues, the Redlegs took out all the points on offer against the Crows in the minor round of Season 2022 with both games ending with gaps of within two straight kicks. Back in Round 8 under Friday Night Lights, the Redlegs almost let it slip in the final term but scored the final major of the game to take a five-point victory. Then in Round 16, it was the Redlegs' wayward shooting that threatened to bring them unstuck. But Adelaide still couldn't pull it off, going down two goals after they had their own problems with the sticks in the final stanza. This is only their third SANFL finals campaign to date, reaching Preliminary Finals in 2016 and in 2019. The 2019 series was their first appearance in a Qualifying Final, which was a loss to the Magpies by five goals. Norwood's record is only just above the 50% success rate, with eight wins from 15 appearances. They played in last year's match, losing to the eventual premiers, the Eagles by seven points. They went on to lose again the next week to be bundled out in straight sets. Their last victorious effort was 2014 against the Double Blues by nine points, a year that was capped off with a third consecutive flag in the SANFL's return to Adelaide Oval. Of course the best record in the Qualifier is the Magpies, with 12 wins from 17 games. They also hold the record score of 23.17 from the 1989 season, but the goal tally belongs to the Eagles who kicked 24 goals in 1992 against the Roosters. Here's a stat for you, there have been only three occasions where the loser of the Qualifying Final have gone on to win the premiership. The Blues were the first to pull it off in 1976 after losing to Glenelg, then did it again in 2017, when they lost to Port then beat them in the GF. The Eagles also did it in 2011, after copping a horror 10-goal loss to Norwood.
Both sides were on the wrong end of the stick in their respective final home and away match for the season, the Crows going down by three points to the Magpies in the mini-Showdown and the Redlegs losing to the Bloods at Richmond by a goal. Both teams had goal-kicking issues to blame for their losses, especially the 'Legs in that last quarter where they managed just three behinds as Westies ran over the top of them. Any questions as to the motivation of the Crows' want to succeed at SANFL level would be thrown straight out the window in a short time, after both sides scored a goal each after six minutes, the Crows got on the front foot to kick three more before the Redlegs could get a second of their own. A couple of missed chances for Norwood would see them adrift by 10 points at quarter-time, the board reading four goals to 2.2. But any thought of a fightback from the Redlegs would be squashed right here, and a four-game losing streak was going to come to an end. In fact, the last Crows victory against Norwood was in a 1st Semi-Final back in 2019. Adelaide swamped the Redlegs in the second quarter, although the punishment could very well have been far worse had they been more accurate on goal. Still, they would go into the half-time break with a 26-point lead after scoring 4.5 to 2.1. The third quarter was the game-breaker as the strength and desire of the AFL-listed contingent proved the difference. They would kick seven goals, six of them coming before the Redlegs could score one of their own. In just one quarter of football, no doubt many a traditional SANFL fan whether Norwood fans or not were looking on with concern. The gap was blown out to 62 points come three quarter-time. Roosters fans beware, probably more than a few concerned looks in their camp as well as the Crows went on to win by 55 points, finishing off with a 3.2 to 4.3 final term. Norwood's fuel tank looks as though its coming close to empty and unless they find their reserves, the Tigers are no doubt licking their chops ahead of their cut-throat date next week. Brett Turner was the Crows' pain-maker, finishing with 26 disposals, eight clearances and most importantly laid 16 tackles. For the Redlegs, they named Nik Rokahr as their best with 32 disposals and six marks.
FINAL SCORES IN WEEK ONE OF THE SANFL FINALS...
Sunday August 28
ELIMINATION FINAL
Glenelg 8.13 (61)
Sturt 6.9 (45)
QUALIFYING FINAL
Adelaide 18.9 (117)
Norwood 9.8 (62)
8,146 @ Adelaide Oval
INJURIES
None known at time of post.
REPORTS
Glenelg -- Reynolds (striking)
Adelaide -- Frampton (misconduct)
ROOSTERS SECURE LEWIS TROPHY
North Adelaide have taken out the Stanley H. Lewis Trophy, with high performances across the different divisions which includes the U-16's and the Women's division. The Roosters tallied over 3700 points, fuelled by strong showings by all divisions. It got kickstarted by the Women's team who won this year's SANFL-W flag plus all male sections finishing up in finals positions. Sturt finished in second spot with just over 3500 points and Glenelg in third position with 3400. This is the ninth time the Roosters have won the trophy, first winning it in 1966 and again in premiership years of 1971 and 1972. This year represented the 60th anniversary of the commissioning of the trophy, first awarded in 1962 and named after past league chairman Stanley Heathcote Lewis in recognition of club excellence across the grades of the SANFL.
RESERVES FINALS -- Tigers bounced, second half shutdown costs Westies
The Eagles ensured there would be a new Reserves premier after eliminating the Tigers in their Elimination Final at Prospect on Saturday morning. They stunned the defending champions early, after conceding the opening goal the Eagles would then kick five unanswered goals and lead by 25 points at quarter-time. They added two more in the second term before the Bays got their second, at which time the Tigers went quiet again as the Eagles stretched their advantage to nine goals going into the long break. The Tigers finally woke up in the second half as they tried to repair the damage already inflicted. The Eagles were kept to just two behinds in the third term as the Tigers kicked 4.3 to bring the gap back down to five straight kicks by the final change. It was to no avail though, the Eagles getting back on task to run out 37-point victors. They will face the Bloods in the 1st Semi-Final next weekend, their disappointing second half allowing the Roosters to run rampant on their way to a 55-point demolition in the Qualifying Final. After being down by two goals at quarter-time, the Bloods recovered to lead by four points at half-time. Then came absolute silence from West as the Roosters just coasted away to an easy victory. The Bloods were held to their first half tally of 6.3 for the remainder of the game, North booting nine unanswered goals in the second half on their way to securing a shot at the Eagles in the Grand Final play-off. The Reserves Semi-Finals will be played at Thebarton Oval on Saturday from 11am, while the Under-age grades will kick off their finals at Glenelg and Norwood at the same time.
ELIMINATION FINAL -- Woodville-West Torrens 13.12 (90) def. Glenelg 8.5 (53)
QUALIFYING FINAL -- North Adelaide 14.10 (94) def. West Adelaide 6.3 (39)
Next weekend in Week 2 of the SANFL Finals, the kids now get in on the finals action with the U-16's and U-18's starting their series.
Saturday September 3
U-16 ELIMINATION FINAL
Woodville-West Torrens vs. North Adelaide @ 11:50am
U-18 QUALIFYING FINAL
Norwood vs. North Adelaide @ 2:10pm
Coopers Stadium, Norwood
U-18 ELIMINATION FINAL
Glenelg vs. Sturt @ 11am
U-16 QUALIFYING FINAL
Glenelg vs. South Adelaide @ 1:30pm
ACH Group Stadium, Glenelg
RESERVES 1st SEMI-FINAL
West Adelaide vs. Woodville-West Torrens @ 11am
RESERVES 2nd SEMI-FINAL
Sturt vs. North Adelaide @ 1:30pm
Thebarton Oval
Sunday September 4 @ Adelaide Oval
LEAGUE 1st SEMI-FINAL
Norwood vs. Glenelg @ 12:15pm
LEAGUE 2nd SEMI-FINAL
North Adelaide vs. Adelaide @ 3:15pm
So until next weekend... see you at the Footy!
