- May 8, 2001
- 5,667
- 818
- AFL Club
- Adelaide
- Other Teams
- CDFC (SANFL), Port Melb (VFL)
Hi Footy fans...
The tradition continues... however, it looks as though South Australia and Western Australia are going it on their own. It almost seems that representative football at a senior level is truly in its twilight, mainly due to the continued influence of the AFL and its need to tinker with pretty much everything to do with second-tier footy. The SANFL and the WAFL are only just keeping the fire burning but you have to wonder for how long it can be sustained for. Most of us saw the demise of State of Origin, then the restructuring of the Victorian Football Association to the more familiar VFL, the creation of the North East AFL, then the merging of said two leagues. During that time, the Victorians, Tasmania and the NEAFL withdrew from interstate competition, leaving us with the situation of today.
The Croweaters and the Sandgropers. The Haydn Bunton Junior Trophy. The last of the great football traditions.
Welcome to this special edition of the SANFL Wrap-Up... South Australia vs. Western Australia.
These two football powers first clashed at Adelaide Oval on the 20th of August in 1904. Records will show that the Western Australians were victorious that day by nine points on the back of a five goal to one second quarter to lead by 19 points at the long break. The Croweaters almost stole it in the final term, but inaccuracy on goal cost them in the end. The Sandgropers took two more victories in the 1908 National Carnival in Melbourne before SA finally put one over on them in 1911 at Adelaide. The first recorded encounter between the two on WA soil took place in 1921. It was another interstate carnival, the Sandgropers winning by 10 points at Perth Oval. It wasn't until 1925 that SA would taste victory in the West, a three-point victory at Subiaco Oval. Fast forward over half a century to when the best footballers from both states were heading east to ply their trade, some parochial West Australians introduced State of Origin rules to interstate competition and what a difference it made. The first Origin meeting was in 1980 at Subiaco, where SA were dealt an 87-point hammering. It was in these years that you'd hear names of players like Aish, Cable, Kernahan, Moss, Platten, Bosustow, Bradley, Glendinning and coaches like Graham Cornes and John Todd.
When the national league finally coming into being as the AFL in 1990 and the entrance of Adelaide in 1991, representative football for the second-tier began with the WAFL winning three of four games from 91-94. Then came the SANFL's near-invincible period from 1996 to 2008, where they lost only one game in 2002 to the VFL. The WAFL wouldn't defeat either during the same period, only winning against the likes of Tasmania and Queensland in the interim. A one-point win in 2009 against SA at the Leederville Oval looked to kick-start a new era for WA, but were put back in the doldrums at home the following year by Victoria. Revenge did come three years later however, recovering from their 2012 loss to the SANFL at Glenelg with a high quality 17-point win over the Vics in rural WA. From here, the WAFL has undergone a bit of a resurgence in State football. In 2014, after inflicting an 85-point win over the NEAFL in Sydney and SA having conquered the Vics once more, the Croweaters arrived at Lathlain Park and straight into an ambush. WA ran out 45-point winners that day, then followed that up two years later at Adelaide with a 26-point win which was their first in SA since 1994. But a subsequent trip to Perth saw the Croweaters victorious in a classic at the new home of WA football in Optus Stadium in 2019, allowing SA to once again possess the cup. Ah yes, the Haydn Bunton Junior Trophy. Named after the man that starred for clubs in both states and represented each state 11 times for 22 games. Over the course of 117 years and across multiple forms of competition up to today, the Western Australians were ahead by one game on a 95-game ledger.
This time around we find ourselves right back where the story between these football states began, the Adelaide Oval. In the South Australian camp, you had former Sturt champion and current coach of SANFL premiership side Woodville-West Torrens Jade Sheedy taking over the reigns from Josh Carr. This would be the first time outing as skipper for Eagles premiership player Jack Hayes, with current league captains of Port Adelaide and Norwood -- Cam Sutcliffe and Matthew Nunn -- named as his deputies. There was plenty of big game experience and medal winners here too. The last two Magarey Medallists were in, with Glenelg's Luke Partington and North's Campbell Combe slotting into the side, 2019 Fos Williams Medallist Michael Knoll (Norwood) in the centre, and joining Hayes and Partington up forward were Glenelg pair Liam McBean and Luke Reynolds. Making up defence, there was former Power player Matt Broadbent of South Adelaide, Roosters duo Jarred Allmond and Alex Spina and roving around would be former Crow Bryce Gibbs. There was also a change of the guard for the visitors, Michael Broadbridge making way for new coach Geoff Valentine, former player and current coach of West Perth where he won the 1995 WAFL premiership. They went for new blood this year, with only five players having previous state match experience. From that five, there was Claremont's Jye Bolton and Subiaco's Lachlan Delahunty, who took out the 2018 and 2019 Sandover Medals respectively and Lions skipper Leigh Kitchin, who was handed the captaincy. Rounding out the experience in the black and gold were ball magnets Corey Gault of Swan Districts and South Fremantle 2020 premiership player Bailey Rogers. Amongst the newbies, another Bulldogs flag hero in Zach Strom would join Gault and Delahunty in the middle as well as having a hand in defence alongside Claremont's Lachlan Martinis and West Perth's Noah Perogaro. The firepower would come from the Falcons' Tyler Keitel, Lion Harry Marsh and South's Cody Ninyette who has so far kicked 16 goals for the Doggies.
The opening term was definitely the feeling out period for both sides, both sides having a hell of a time finding the goals in a horribly inaccurate first half with 17 scoring shots altogether. It was SA skipper Hayes with the first major in the first 90 second, Gault's opportunity to equalise 90 seconds later going wide which was the beginning of six successive missed chances for the Sandgropers. Sutcliffe and new Eagle Tyson Stengle put two more majors through amongst the points-fest, until WA finally put a goal on their tally through the work of Bolton and Ben Edwards on the members wing, the ball ending up in the hands of Keitel after an infringement by Max Proud. The 2018 Bernie Naylor Medallist's goal brought SA's lead back to 13 points right on the quarter-time siren. The accuracy on goal was far more improved in the second term by both sides, goals by WA through Greg Clark and Keitel were bracketed by majors to Partington, Stengle and Reynolds during the middle 10 minutes. A goal each in the late stages by Gibbs and yet another buzzer beater for WA by Ninyette and SA's advantage was 20 points at half-time after a score card of 4.2 to 3.1. During this first half, no doubt the Sandgropers were probably coming to grips with the SANFL's last touch out rule which would have caught them off-guard at times. They were being outmarked by SA with the count at the long break almost double that of their own, but tackles and handballs were relatively even. SA were very foot-happy rather than hand-happy, with 34 more kicks in the stats. Gibbs and Bolton were leaders in the disposals counts, followed closely by Broadbent and Cam Eardley of East Fremantle.
Unfortunately for the West Australians, their third term was what would bring them undone as the wealth of experience of the South Australian side came to the fore. WA had several chances to chip away at the gap, Ninyette's goal at eight minutes was their only goal for the term. They scored four behinds while the Reds kicked five straight majors, with three in as many minutes through Eamon Wilkinson, McBean and Reynolds. Stengle got his third and Lachlan Hosie joined the goalkickers list as SA extended their lead to 40 points by three quarter-time. The last couple of misses by WA may have made some difference to their confidence going into that last break, they could have been within five straight kicks instead of seven. Combined with their final term efforts in which they almost doubled their final score, who knows how much closer they could eventually have been? The last quarter was an absolute goal-fest, with 14 goals scored. It only took 20 seconds for SA to open the scoring, Reynolds soccering a loose ball at near point blank range, then goals to the Tigers duo of Partington and McBean brought the unanswered streak to eight for SA, they kicked 8.1 all up in the final term. South Freo's Matt Parker was the one to stop the streak, putting the first of WA's six final term goals on the board. Peel Thunder's Tyrone Thorne was among the contributors here, along with Keitel, Edwards and Parker. In the end the Haydn Bunton Trophy was staying in Adelaide, a final margin of 53 points evening the overall ledger at 48-all. Panther Matt Broadbent was named best on ground for South Australia, winning the Fos Williams Medal with 29 disposals and 11 marks. Perhaps with some of the possessions in hotter situations was why he beat out Bryce Gibbs who had some superior stats. Jye Bolton would net his second Simpson Medal in succession as best for the West, with 29 disposals, three tackles and six inside 50's.
FINAL SCORES IN STATE LEAGUE 2021...
Saturday May 15 @ Adelaide Oval
THE HAYDN BUNTON JUNIOR TROPHY
South Australia 20.10 (130)
Western Australia 11.11 (77)
Next weekend in your state...
SANFL ROUND 7
Saturday May 22
West Adelaide vs. Woodville-West Torrens; Hisense Stadium Richmond @ 1:10pm
Sturt vs. Central District; Unley Oval @ 1:10pm
Norwood vs. Adelaide; Coopers Stadium, Norwood @ 1:35pm
Port Adelaide vs. North Adelaide; Alberton Oval @ 2:30pm
Sunday May 23 @ 2:10pm
South Adelaide vs. Glenelg; Flinders University Stadium, Noarlunga
WAFL ROUND 7
Saturday May 22
East Fremantle vs. Claremont; New Choice Homes Park, East Fremantle @ 2:10pm
Peel Thunder vs. West Perth; David Grays Arena, Mandurah @ 2:10pm
Perth vs. South Fremantle; Mineral Resources Park, Lathlain @ 2:10pm
East Perth vs. West Coast; Leederville Oval @ 2:10pm
Swan Districts vs. Subiaco; Steel Blue Oval, Bassendean @ 2:40pm
So until next weekend (or next year)... see you at the Footy!
The tradition continues... however, it looks as though South Australia and Western Australia are going it on their own. It almost seems that representative football at a senior level is truly in its twilight, mainly due to the continued influence of the AFL and its need to tinker with pretty much everything to do with second-tier footy. The SANFL and the WAFL are only just keeping the fire burning but you have to wonder for how long it can be sustained for. Most of us saw the demise of State of Origin, then the restructuring of the Victorian Football Association to the more familiar VFL, the creation of the North East AFL, then the merging of said two leagues. During that time, the Victorians, Tasmania and the NEAFL withdrew from interstate competition, leaving us with the situation of today.
The Croweaters and the Sandgropers. The Haydn Bunton Junior Trophy. The last of the great football traditions.
Welcome to this special edition of the SANFL Wrap-Up... South Australia vs. Western Australia.
These two football powers first clashed at Adelaide Oval on the 20th of August in 1904. Records will show that the Western Australians were victorious that day by nine points on the back of a five goal to one second quarter to lead by 19 points at the long break. The Croweaters almost stole it in the final term, but inaccuracy on goal cost them in the end. The Sandgropers took two more victories in the 1908 National Carnival in Melbourne before SA finally put one over on them in 1911 at Adelaide. The first recorded encounter between the two on WA soil took place in 1921. It was another interstate carnival, the Sandgropers winning by 10 points at Perth Oval. It wasn't until 1925 that SA would taste victory in the West, a three-point victory at Subiaco Oval. Fast forward over half a century to when the best footballers from both states were heading east to ply their trade, some parochial West Australians introduced State of Origin rules to interstate competition and what a difference it made. The first Origin meeting was in 1980 at Subiaco, where SA were dealt an 87-point hammering. It was in these years that you'd hear names of players like Aish, Cable, Kernahan, Moss, Platten, Bosustow, Bradley, Glendinning and coaches like Graham Cornes and John Todd.
When the national league finally coming into being as the AFL in 1990 and the entrance of Adelaide in 1991, representative football for the second-tier began with the WAFL winning three of four games from 91-94. Then came the SANFL's near-invincible period from 1996 to 2008, where they lost only one game in 2002 to the VFL. The WAFL wouldn't defeat either during the same period, only winning against the likes of Tasmania and Queensland in the interim. A one-point win in 2009 against SA at the Leederville Oval looked to kick-start a new era for WA, but were put back in the doldrums at home the following year by Victoria. Revenge did come three years later however, recovering from their 2012 loss to the SANFL at Glenelg with a high quality 17-point win over the Vics in rural WA. From here, the WAFL has undergone a bit of a resurgence in State football. In 2014, after inflicting an 85-point win over the NEAFL in Sydney and SA having conquered the Vics once more, the Croweaters arrived at Lathlain Park and straight into an ambush. WA ran out 45-point winners that day, then followed that up two years later at Adelaide with a 26-point win which was their first in SA since 1994. But a subsequent trip to Perth saw the Croweaters victorious in a classic at the new home of WA football in Optus Stadium in 2019, allowing SA to once again possess the cup. Ah yes, the Haydn Bunton Junior Trophy. Named after the man that starred for clubs in both states and represented each state 11 times for 22 games. Over the course of 117 years and across multiple forms of competition up to today, the Western Australians were ahead by one game on a 95-game ledger.
This time around we find ourselves right back where the story between these football states began, the Adelaide Oval. In the South Australian camp, you had former Sturt champion and current coach of SANFL premiership side Woodville-West Torrens Jade Sheedy taking over the reigns from Josh Carr. This would be the first time outing as skipper for Eagles premiership player Jack Hayes, with current league captains of Port Adelaide and Norwood -- Cam Sutcliffe and Matthew Nunn -- named as his deputies. There was plenty of big game experience and medal winners here too. The last two Magarey Medallists were in, with Glenelg's Luke Partington and North's Campbell Combe slotting into the side, 2019 Fos Williams Medallist Michael Knoll (Norwood) in the centre, and joining Hayes and Partington up forward were Glenelg pair Liam McBean and Luke Reynolds. Making up defence, there was former Power player Matt Broadbent of South Adelaide, Roosters duo Jarred Allmond and Alex Spina and roving around would be former Crow Bryce Gibbs. There was also a change of the guard for the visitors, Michael Broadbridge making way for new coach Geoff Valentine, former player and current coach of West Perth where he won the 1995 WAFL premiership. They went for new blood this year, with only five players having previous state match experience. From that five, there was Claremont's Jye Bolton and Subiaco's Lachlan Delahunty, who took out the 2018 and 2019 Sandover Medals respectively and Lions skipper Leigh Kitchin, who was handed the captaincy. Rounding out the experience in the black and gold were ball magnets Corey Gault of Swan Districts and South Fremantle 2020 premiership player Bailey Rogers. Amongst the newbies, another Bulldogs flag hero in Zach Strom would join Gault and Delahunty in the middle as well as having a hand in defence alongside Claremont's Lachlan Martinis and West Perth's Noah Perogaro. The firepower would come from the Falcons' Tyler Keitel, Lion Harry Marsh and South's Cody Ninyette who has so far kicked 16 goals for the Doggies.
The opening term was definitely the feeling out period for both sides, both sides having a hell of a time finding the goals in a horribly inaccurate first half with 17 scoring shots altogether. It was SA skipper Hayes with the first major in the first 90 second, Gault's opportunity to equalise 90 seconds later going wide which was the beginning of six successive missed chances for the Sandgropers. Sutcliffe and new Eagle Tyson Stengle put two more majors through amongst the points-fest, until WA finally put a goal on their tally through the work of Bolton and Ben Edwards on the members wing, the ball ending up in the hands of Keitel after an infringement by Max Proud. The 2018 Bernie Naylor Medallist's goal brought SA's lead back to 13 points right on the quarter-time siren. The accuracy on goal was far more improved in the second term by both sides, goals by WA through Greg Clark and Keitel were bracketed by majors to Partington, Stengle and Reynolds during the middle 10 minutes. A goal each in the late stages by Gibbs and yet another buzzer beater for WA by Ninyette and SA's advantage was 20 points at half-time after a score card of 4.2 to 3.1. During this first half, no doubt the Sandgropers were probably coming to grips with the SANFL's last touch out rule which would have caught them off-guard at times. They were being outmarked by SA with the count at the long break almost double that of their own, but tackles and handballs were relatively even. SA were very foot-happy rather than hand-happy, with 34 more kicks in the stats. Gibbs and Bolton were leaders in the disposals counts, followed closely by Broadbent and Cam Eardley of East Fremantle.
Unfortunately for the West Australians, their third term was what would bring them undone as the wealth of experience of the South Australian side came to the fore. WA had several chances to chip away at the gap, Ninyette's goal at eight minutes was their only goal for the term. They scored four behinds while the Reds kicked five straight majors, with three in as many minutes through Eamon Wilkinson, McBean and Reynolds. Stengle got his third and Lachlan Hosie joined the goalkickers list as SA extended their lead to 40 points by three quarter-time. The last couple of misses by WA may have made some difference to their confidence going into that last break, they could have been within five straight kicks instead of seven. Combined with their final term efforts in which they almost doubled their final score, who knows how much closer they could eventually have been? The last quarter was an absolute goal-fest, with 14 goals scored. It only took 20 seconds for SA to open the scoring, Reynolds soccering a loose ball at near point blank range, then goals to the Tigers duo of Partington and McBean brought the unanswered streak to eight for SA, they kicked 8.1 all up in the final term. South Freo's Matt Parker was the one to stop the streak, putting the first of WA's six final term goals on the board. Peel Thunder's Tyrone Thorne was among the contributors here, along with Keitel, Edwards and Parker. In the end the Haydn Bunton Trophy was staying in Adelaide, a final margin of 53 points evening the overall ledger at 48-all. Panther Matt Broadbent was named best on ground for South Australia, winning the Fos Williams Medal with 29 disposals and 11 marks. Perhaps with some of the possessions in hotter situations was why he beat out Bryce Gibbs who had some superior stats. Jye Bolton would net his second Simpson Medal in succession as best for the West, with 29 disposals, three tackles and six inside 50's.
FINAL SCORES IN STATE LEAGUE 2021...
Saturday May 15 @ Adelaide Oval
THE HAYDN BUNTON JUNIOR TROPHY
South Australia 20.10 (130)
Western Australia 11.11 (77)
Next weekend in your state...
SANFL ROUND 7
Saturday May 22
West Adelaide vs. Woodville-West Torrens; Hisense Stadium Richmond @ 1:10pm
Sturt vs. Central District; Unley Oval @ 1:10pm
Norwood vs. Adelaide; Coopers Stadium, Norwood @ 1:35pm
Port Adelaide vs. North Adelaide; Alberton Oval @ 2:30pm
Sunday May 23 @ 2:10pm
South Adelaide vs. Glenelg; Flinders University Stadium, Noarlunga
WAFL ROUND 7
Saturday May 22
East Fremantle vs. Claremont; New Choice Homes Park, East Fremantle @ 2:10pm
Peel Thunder vs. West Perth; David Grays Arena, Mandurah @ 2:10pm
Perth vs. South Fremantle; Mineral Resources Park, Lathlain @ 2:10pm
East Perth vs. West Coast; Leederville Oval @ 2:10pm
Swan Districts vs. Subiaco; Steel Blue Oval, Bassendean @ 2:40pm
So until next weekend (or next year)... see you at the Footy!
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