- May 8, 2001
- 5,667
- 818
- AFL Club
- Adelaide
- Other Teams
- CDFC (SANFL), Port Melb (VFL)
Hi Footy fans...
It was back in 1879 that the first ever intercolonial football game was played at the East Melbourne Cricket Ground, which was between Victoria and South Australia. The Victorian side, represented by the Victorian Football Association, defeated the composite South Australian side by over eight goals that afternoon. It was here that state football was officially born. The landscape of the game changed forms a few times over the ensuing century; when Federation was introduced, intercolonial became interstate. The Victorian Football League would replace the VFA as the premier competition in Victoria and would almost completely dominate the state football arena for decades. State of Origin rules were adopted during the latter quarter of the 20th century and then the AFL came in, which would eventually end State football at the highest level. However, representative football for the leagues left behind in the national revolution would preserve one of the last great traditions in the game, kickstarted in 1991 to give those players the opportunity to showcase their talents on a national stage. This is State League football... the tradition continues.
Welcome to this special edition of the SANFL Wrap-Up... the 2014 State League Representative Match between the VFL and the SANFL.
That first match gave rise to a rivalry that has stretched to almost 150 years, the only thing that really changed for Victoria is the make up of the teams over that time. When the Victorian Football League was created in 1897, their dominance of interstate competition stretching over several decades with some patches where their opposition has been able to topple them. The Victorian Football Association didn't get involved too often in representative football for a while, with some appearances in carnivals where they were seeded with the likes of New South Wales, Queensland, the Northern Territory, the ACT and even teams representing New Zealand and an Australian amateur line-up. When the VFL finally became the national juggernaut and re-badged themselves as the AFL, the Association would become the premier state league of Victoria and then seven years later would adopt the VFL name. After taking on the lower-tier states during the 1990's, the old rivalry would finally be stoked at this level when the VFL sought a contest against the modern-day pacesetters of state league footy in the SANFL, which ironically would be played as the pre-cursor to the swansong of State of Origin at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. From this point onwards, state football was the sole property of the second-tier leagues.
Through most of their history during the latter parts of the 20th century, the VFA wore a jumper similar to their big league counterparts, albeit in slightly different colours. After that first loss against the SANFL in the "new football world" format in '99, in which the VFL jumper started to resemble the famous Big V strip in general design, the VFL then adopted the jumper made famous by the Origin teams of the past. The return of the navy blue and white jumper full time was greeted by a raucous 7,300-strong Croweater crowd in 2001 when South Australia again downed the Vics at Adelaide Oval. However when the VFL returned to Adelaide in 2002, the Big V men tore the Croweaters apart to the tune of 56 points, perhaps signalling a warning that Victoria's glory days weren't finished. After a year away from interstate football, the Victorians travelled across the Nullabor to edge out the WAFL at the Leederville Oval in 2004, who they would then defeat on two more occasions. There was a Sandgroper massacre in Melbourne in 2007, where the Vics laid waste to the WAFL with a near 20-goal drubbing, then another victory in Perth in 2010. Another vicious mauling would occur in 2012, when the VFL ripped the Tasmanians a new one in Hobart. But that one scalp -- that of South Australia -- was one that would prove harder to take again after that 2002 win.
As for South Australia, after the formation of the AFL and the admission of the Crows in the shadows of the 1990 season, when state league football was re-introduced in the 1991 season the prognosis was considered bleak. Adaptation to the new system was going to be difficult, as Western Australian footballing identity Barry Cable once said. The SANFL seemed to be an easy target for the WAFL in the first few years, only winning one game -- in 1992 at Football Park -- out of the next four games against the Sandgropers. The disarray was exacerbated in 1995 after being defeated by the Tasmanian Football League in the Apple Isle by 15 points. But after that, the SANFL would cop only two losses over the course of the next 18 seasons, the aforementioned loss in 2002 and a heart-breaking 2009 one-point loss to the WAFL. Aside from those bumps in the road -- Victoria, Western Australia, the ACT and eventually the northern conference of the NEAFL would be on the wrong end of the South Australian stick. Against Victoria, a pulse-quickening contest broke out in Melbourne in 2005 as the Croweaters escaped with a four-point win coming from the last score of the game. In 2008, the two leagues clashed again at Adelaide Oval where the SANFL broke away from the Vics with a dominating second term to record a 65-point victory. There should have been a clash in 2011, but would not eventuate due to the newly-formed national club championship series, the Foxtel Cup.
The 2014 contest would be fought out once again on the surface of the North Port Oval in Port Melbourne, the same place South Australia barely escaped defeat 10 seasons ago. This would be the first time that SA and current Woodville-West Torrens coach Michael Godden would face the old rival, with victories against WA and NEAFL North under his belt while Victoria would put some AFL experience at the helm with Damian Carroll, mastermind of Hawthorn's development academy and Box Hill's 2013 premiership. The Victorian side would be littered with height, weight and some serious top-end talent, with several players named from chief VFL rivals Port Melbourne and Williamstown, said clubs sharing the leadership through Sam Pleming and Ben Jolley. In contrast, the South Australians went with speed and experience rather than build, with such players coming in from Woodville-West Torrens, Central District and South Adelaide, led by Bulldogs veteran Paul Thomas and the Eagles' Luke Jarrad.
The first quarter was a hotly-fought affair, plenty of attack on the ball and body by both sides making for an interesting contest. South Australia's defence was being tested time and time again in the first couple of minutes, finally getting cracked the Borough's Julian Rowe at the sixth minute who bagged the first goal for Victoria. The constant pressure on SA was only countered by Victoria's shooting on goal, several attempts coming up short to be repelled easily, one such rebuttal in the ninth minute finally delivering a SA goal by Bulldog Tim McIntyre, who would bob up again later in the quarter for a second goal at the 14th minute. A point blank shot went begging for the Victorians at the 23rd minute, which would be punished straight away up the other end through an unchecked Rooster, Leigh Ryswyk taking SA's third goal. The Victorians needed an answer, which was immediately provided by Sandringham's Adam Cockie. At quarter-time, the SANFL held a five-point lead, 3.2 to 2.3.
Eagles big forward Michael Wundke would kick two unanswered goals in the first seven minutes, the first from a mark in the square and then a free-kick after a marking infringement from Box Hill's Ayden Kennedy. With the Croweaters breaking away, the Victorians needed to respond. With assistance from Frankston's Khan Haretuku who kept Todd Miles at bay in the goal-front, home-ground hero Chris Cain brought the gap back to 11 points at nine minutes. There were some blushes to be had for West Adelaide's Daniel Webb who, after taking a pack mark from a Brett Eddy kick in the square, tried some smart alec play-on and kicked it straight into Kennedy on the goal line. The same could be said for Rowe at the other end, who took a hanger at 15 minutes and tried some unselfish tactics in their attacking zone and wasted a golden opportunity after Valenti had to rush his kick. But he would make up for that at the 17 minute mark with a massive snapshot from an angle. Victoria's keep-away football started to work and surely enough they would find themselves in the lead, Valenti pulling off his own side-boot show with his goal at 23 minutes. They would bag another at 28 minutes, after Alik Magin of Bendigo derailed Jonathon Beech's run out of the Victorian attacking zone to allow Werribee's Scott Sherlock to score. But Ian Callinan, who in 2005 was in the Big V jumper during his time at Tasmania's now defunct VFL team, would kick two goals in the final minutes to restore SA's advantage. At half-time, the Croweaters were up by just four points with the scores at 7.5 to 6.7.
When play recommenced, the arm-wrestle would continue as more inaccuracy would come into the play for both sides. Cain would take the first major for the term to re-take the lead prior the fifth minute, the only goal for the first 10 minutes of the term. A highly acute angle was going to be no problem for Wundke at 11 minutes, bagging his third for the day from near the 50-metre and boundary line junction to retake the lead. Lone Magpie Steve Summerton would kick SA further ahead at the 15th minute, followed by another only a few minutes later and then another Wundke goal to be up by 20 points at 21 minutes. The Victorians were still up for providing some highlights for the crowd, another Borough in Josh Scipione bobbing up for one of the goals of the day which would be followed by another Big V goal thanks to Jace Bode's poor infringement on Valenti. SA settled again a minute later, Callinan getting away from Daniel Noonan's lunge tackle to hand Eddy his first goal for the afternoon. The final major score for the third term would go to Scott Clouston of the Seagulls, making the three quarter-time gap just seven points, SA 12.7 to Victoria 10.12.
The final quarter was set up to be a cracker, probably evoking memories of the 2005 thriller from the small crowd that fronted up for the afternoon. The Vics came out with all they had, Clouston starting the final term the same way he ended the third with his second goal, then a seemingly lawful Zane Kirkwood fend-off would be deemed to be unlawful allowing the Vics to kick into the lead at five minutes through Noonan. A bit of fancy footwork by Scipione would add to the deficit, his second goal for the afternoon stretching the gap to 11 points by the seventh minute mark. The Croweater's attacks for the ensuing minutes would be met with fierce Victorian resistance, former teammates Callinan and Jarrod Schiller finding it hard to break through at one stage. More wobbles from SA came in front of goal, McIntyre's inexplicable miss at the 13th minute sending a small band of SA supporters bonzo. Again it was up to Adelaide's state league captain Callinan to bring SA back into the game at the 14th minute, after recieving Wundke's pass and goal, the gap back to three points. Eddy would then score to take back the lead for SA, the seventh lead change thus far. Wundke would sneak one in at the 18th, although his methods were a bit questionable against Kennedy, followed by a soccer goal to take the gap out to 15 points and his own tally of majors to six. A couple of goals to Beech deep into injury time would put the result beyond doubt, one final goal for Victoria to captain Pleming would set the final deficit to 22 points.
South Australia continues its dominance of interstate football, although it must be said that Victoria played with genuine spirit despite the final term fadeout. Although he kicked six goals, Michael Wundke would miss out on the Fos Williams Medal which would go to Sturt's Zane Kirkwood, while in the Victorian camp, the Frank Johnson Medal would end up with Williamstown's Adam Marcon.
FINAL SCORES IN STATE LEAGUE 2014
Saturday May 31
South Australia 18.10 (118)
Victoria 14.12 (96)
North Port Oval, Port Melbourne
JUNIOR CROWEATERS MAKE IT TWO FROM TWO, VIC METRO BLITZES SANDGROPERS
The AFL NAB Under-18 National Championships went into its second week this past weekend, South Australia taking their second victory against the Victoria Country side at AAMI Stadium while Victoria Metro made up for their opening round loss to Country by obliterating Western Australia at Medibank Stadium. Wayward shooting on goal would be a problem for the Croweaters, who would score just nine goals from 30 scoring shots to take a 22-point victory, while Vic Metro, despite their own inaccuracy was simply too classy for the Sandgropers with their 87-point shellacking.
Saturday May 31 @ Medibank Stadium, Leederville WA
Victoria Metro 15.20 (110)
Western Australia 2.11 (23)
Sunday June 1 @ AAMI Stadium, West Lakes SA
South Australia 9.21 (75)
Victoria Country 8.5 (53)
Next weekend in Round 9 (second week)...
Saturday June 7
Geelong vs. Port Melbourne; Simonds Stadium, Geelong @ 1:10pm
Box Hill vs. North Ballarat; Box Hill City Oval @ 2pm
Casey Scorpions vs. Collingwood; Casey Fields @ 2pm
Frankston vs. Footscray; Frankston Oval @ 2pm
Northern Blues vs. Sandringham; Visy Park @ 2pm
Sunday June 8
Bendigo vs. Coburg; Queen Elizabeth Oval @ 1:30pm
Williamstown vs. Werribee; Burbank Oval @ 2pm
See you all again in a few years!
It was back in 1879 that the first ever intercolonial football game was played at the East Melbourne Cricket Ground, which was between Victoria and South Australia. The Victorian side, represented by the Victorian Football Association, defeated the composite South Australian side by over eight goals that afternoon. It was here that state football was officially born. The landscape of the game changed forms a few times over the ensuing century; when Federation was introduced, intercolonial became interstate. The Victorian Football League would replace the VFA as the premier competition in Victoria and would almost completely dominate the state football arena for decades. State of Origin rules were adopted during the latter quarter of the 20th century and then the AFL came in, which would eventually end State football at the highest level. However, representative football for the leagues left behind in the national revolution would preserve one of the last great traditions in the game, kickstarted in 1991 to give those players the opportunity to showcase their talents on a national stage. This is State League football... the tradition continues.
Welcome to this special edition of the SANFL Wrap-Up... the 2014 State League Representative Match between the VFL and the SANFL.
That first match gave rise to a rivalry that has stretched to almost 150 years, the only thing that really changed for Victoria is the make up of the teams over that time. When the Victorian Football League was created in 1897, their dominance of interstate competition stretching over several decades with some patches where their opposition has been able to topple them. The Victorian Football Association didn't get involved too often in representative football for a while, with some appearances in carnivals where they were seeded with the likes of New South Wales, Queensland, the Northern Territory, the ACT and even teams representing New Zealand and an Australian amateur line-up. When the VFL finally became the national juggernaut and re-badged themselves as the AFL, the Association would become the premier state league of Victoria and then seven years later would adopt the VFL name. After taking on the lower-tier states during the 1990's, the old rivalry would finally be stoked at this level when the VFL sought a contest against the modern-day pacesetters of state league footy in the SANFL, which ironically would be played as the pre-cursor to the swansong of State of Origin at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. From this point onwards, state football was the sole property of the second-tier leagues.
Through most of their history during the latter parts of the 20th century, the VFA wore a jumper similar to their big league counterparts, albeit in slightly different colours. After that first loss against the SANFL in the "new football world" format in '99, in which the VFL jumper started to resemble the famous Big V strip in general design, the VFL then adopted the jumper made famous by the Origin teams of the past. The return of the navy blue and white jumper full time was greeted by a raucous 7,300-strong Croweater crowd in 2001 when South Australia again downed the Vics at Adelaide Oval. However when the VFL returned to Adelaide in 2002, the Big V men tore the Croweaters apart to the tune of 56 points, perhaps signalling a warning that Victoria's glory days weren't finished. After a year away from interstate football, the Victorians travelled across the Nullabor to edge out the WAFL at the Leederville Oval in 2004, who they would then defeat on two more occasions. There was a Sandgroper massacre in Melbourne in 2007, where the Vics laid waste to the WAFL with a near 20-goal drubbing, then another victory in Perth in 2010. Another vicious mauling would occur in 2012, when the VFL ripped the Tasmanians a new one in Hobart. But that one scalp -- that of South Australia -- was one that would prove harder to take again after that 2002 win.
As for South Australia, after the formation of the AFL and the admission of the Crows in the shadows of the 1990 season, when state league football was re-introduced in the 1991 season the prognosis was considered bleak. Adaptation to the new system was going to be difficult, as Western Australian footballing identity Barry Cable once said. The SANFL seemed to be an easy target for the WAFL in the first few years, only winning one game -- in 1992 at Football Park -- out of the next four games against the Sandgropers. The disarray was exacerbated in 1995 after being defeated by the Tasmanian Football League in the Apple Isle by 15 points. But after that, the SANFL would cop only two losses over the course of the next 18 seasons, the aforementioned loss in 2002 and a heart-breaking 2009 one-point loss to the WAFL. Aside from those bumps in the road -- Victoria, Western Australia, the ACT and eventually the northern conference of the NEAFL would be on the wrong end of the South Australian stick. Against Victoria, a pulse-quickening contest broke out in Melbourne in 2005 as the Croweaters escaped with a four-point win coming from the last score of the game. In 2008, the two leagues clashed again at Adelaide Oval where the SANFL broke away from the Vics with a dominating second term to record a 65-point victory. There should have been a clash in 2011, but would not eventuate due to the newly-formed national club championship series, the Foxtel Cup.
The 2014 contest would be fought out once again on the surface of the North Port Oval in Port Melbourne, the same place South Australia barely escaped defeat 10 seasons ago. This would be the first time that SA and current Woodville-West Torrens coach Michael Godden would face the old rival, with victories against WA and NEAFL North under his belt while Victoria would put some AFL experience at the helm with Damian Carroll, mastermind of Hawthorn's development academy and Box Hill's 2013 premiership. The Victorian side would be littered with height, weight and some serious top-end talent, with several players named from chief VFL rivals Port Melbourne and Williamstown, said clubs sharing the leadership through Sam Pleming and Ben Jolley. In contrast, the South Australians went with speed and experience rather than build, with such players coming in from Woodville-West Torrens, Central District and South Adelaide, led by Bulldogs veteran Paul Thomas and the Eagles' Luke Jarrad.
The first quarter was a hotly-fought affair, plenty of attack on the ball and body by both sides making for an interesting contest. South Australia's defence was being tested time and time again in the first couple of minutes, finally getting cracked the Borough's Julian Rowe at the sixth minute who bagged the first goal for Victoria. The constant pressure on SA was only countered by Victoria's shooting on goal, several attempts coming up short to be repelled easily, one such rebuttal in the ninth minute finally delivering a SA goal by Bulldog Tim McIntyre, who would bob up again later in the quarter for a second goal at the 14th minute. A point blank shot went begging for the Victorians at the 23rd minute, which would be punished straight away up the other end through an unchecked Rooster, Leigh Ryswyk taking SA's third goal. The Victorians needed an answer, which was immediately provided by Sandringham's Adam Cockie. At quarter-time, the SANFL held a five-point lead, 3.2 to 2.3.
Eagles big forward Michael Wundke would kick two unanswered goals in the first seven minutes, the first from a mark in the square and then a free-kick after a marking infringement from Box Hill's Ayden Kennedy. With the Croweaters breaking away, the Victorians needed to respond. With assistance from Frankston's Khan Haretuku who kept Todd Miles at bay in the goal-front, home-ground hero Chris Cain brought the gap back to 11 points at nine minutes. There were some blushes to be had for West Adelaide's Daniel Webb who, after taking a pack mark from a Brett Eddy kick in the square, tried some smart alec play-on and kicked it straight into Kennedy on the goal line. The same could be said for Rowe at the other end, who took a hanger at 15 minutes and tried some unselfish tactics in their attacking zone and wasted a golden opportunity after Valenti had to rush his kick. But he would make up for that at the 17 minute mark with a massive snapshot from an angle. Victoria's keep-away football started to work and surely enough they would find themselves in the lead, Valenti pulling off his own side-boot show with his goal at 23 minutes. They would bag another at 28 minutes, after Alik Magin of Bendigo derailed Jonathon Beech's run out of the Victorian attacking zone to allow Werribee's Scott Sherlock to score. But Ian Callinan, who in 2005 was in the Big V jumper during his time at Tasmania's now defunct VFL team, would kick two goals in the final minutes to restore SA's advantage. At half-time, the Croweaters were up by just four points with the scores at 7.5 to 6.7.
When play recommenced, the arm-wrestle would continue as more inaccuracy would come into the play for both sides. Cain would take the first major for the term to re-take the lead prior the fifth minute, the only goal for the first 10 minutes of the term. A highly acute angle was going to be no problem for Wundke at 11 minutes, bagging his third for the day from near the 50-metre and boundary line junction to retake the lead. Lone Magpie Steve Summerton would kick SA further ahead at the 15th minute, followed by another only a few minutes later and then another Wundke goal to be up by 20 points at 21 minutes. The Victorians were still up for providing some highlights for the crowd, another Borough in Josh Scipione bobbing up for one of the goals of the day which would be followed by another Big V goal thanks to Jace Bode's poor infringement on Valenti. SA settled again a minute later, Callinan getting away from Daniel Noonan's lunge tackle to hand Eddy his first goal for the afternoon. The final major score for the third term would go to Scott Clouston of the Seagulls, making the three quarter-time gap just seven points, SA 12.7 to Victoria 10.12.
The final quarter was set up to be a cracker, probably evoking memories of the 2005 thriller from the small crowd that fronted up for the afternoon. The Vics came out with all they had, Clouston starting the final term the same way he ended the third with his second goal, then a seemingly lawful Zane Kirkwood fend-off would be deemed to be unlawful allowing the Vics to kick into the lead at five minutes through Noonan. A bit of fancy footwork by Scipione would add to the deficit, his second goal for the afternoon stretching the gap to 11 points by the seventh minute mark. The Croweater's attacks for the ensuing minutes would be met with fierce Victorian resistance, former teammates Callinan and Jarrod Schiller finding it hard to break through at one stage. More wobbles from SA came in front of goal, McIntyre's inexplicable miss at the 13th minute sending a small band of SA supporters bonzo. Again it was up to Adelaide's state league captain Callinan to bring SA back into the game at the 14th minute, after recieving Wundke's pass and goal, the gap back to three points. Eddy would then score to take back the lead for SA, the seventh lead change thus far. Wundke would sneak one in at the 18th, although his methods were a bit questionable against Kennedy, followed by a soccer goal to take the gap out to 15 points and his own tally of majors to six. A couple of goals to Beech deep into injury time would put the result beyond doubt, one final goal for Victoria to captain Pleming would set the final deficit to 22 points.
South Australia continues its dominance of interstate football, although it must be said that Victoria played with genuine spirit despite the final term fadeout. Although he kicked six goals, Michael Wundke would miss out on the Fos Williams Medal which would go to Sturt's Zane Kirkwood, while in the Victorian camp, the Frank Johnson Medal would end up with Williamstown's Adam Marcon.
FINAL SCORES IN STATE LEAGUE 2014
Saturday May 31
South Australia 18.10 (118)
Victoria 14.12 (96)
North Port Oval, Port Melbourne
JUNIOR CROWEATERS MAKE IT TWO FROM TWO, VIC METRO BLITZES SANDGROPERS
The AFL NAB Under-18 National Championships went into its second week this past weekend, South Australia taking their second victory against the Victoria Country side at AAMI Stadium while Victoria Metro made up for their opening round loss to Country by obliterating Western Australia at Medibank Stadium. Wayward shooting on goal would be a problem for the Croweaters, who would score just nine goals from 30 scoring shots to take a 22-point victory, while Vic Metro, despite their own inaccuracy was simply too classy for the Sandgropers with their 87-point shellacking.
Saturday May 31 @ Medibank Stadium, Leederville WA
Victoria Metro 15.20 (110)
Western Australia 2.11 (23)
Sunday June 1 @ AAMI Stadium, West Lakes SA
South Australia 9.21 (75)
Victoria Country 8.5 (53)
Next weekend in Round 9 (second week)...
Saturday June 7
Geelong vs. Port Melbourne; Simonds Stadium, Geelong @ 1:10pm
Box Hill vs. North Ballarat; Box Hill City Oval @ 2pm
Casey Scorpions vs. Collingwood; Casey Fields @ 2pm
Frankston vs. Footscray; Frankston Oval @ 2pm
Northern Blues vs. Sandringham; Visy Park @ 2pm
Sunday June 8
Bendigo vs. Coburg; Queen Elizabeth Oval @ 1:30pm
Williamstown vs. Werribee; Burbank Oval @ 2pm
See you all again in a few years!
