- May 8, 2001
- 5,667
- 818
- AFL Club
- Adelaide
- Other Teams
- CDFC (SANFL), Port Melb (VFL)
Hi Footy fans...
There is something very wrong at two of our SANFL clubs. In one corner you have West Adelaide. The Bloods are celebrating their 130th year of existence... which is pretty much all they're celebrating. The pre-season was filled with promise, the return of a favourite son to help steer the ship. But since winning their ninth premiership in 2015, West have not contested finals football. The record seems set on repeat at Richmond, for six seasons they've been stranded in the league wilderness. Then there's Central District. Theirs is a similar story to the Bloods in recent times, although their appearances in finals since their dominant years haven't yielded a flag. But since 2018, have finished in the bottom three. Their last few years have been nothing short of disappointing and just like the Bloods, their crowd numbers have dipped considerably since the end of their premiership years. Clubs like South Adelaide and Sturt, clubs that have spent many years at the wrong end of the ladder have taken their place. Though the Panthers to this day have not broken their long premiership drought, have made strides toward doing so. The Blues have had their time in the sun and are still drawing quality numbers through the gates. Is there a culture issue at Richmond and Elizabeth?
Welcome to the Round 6 edition of the SANFL Wrap-Up.
For the first match of the weekend we head over to the Hisense Stadium in Richmond for the first of three Saturday games, the Bloods hosting the Crows. The Crows won both games at Milner Road in 2021, winning by a goal in Round 2 and by six goals in Round 12. The earlier match was one of the Bloods most gettable games, the Crows winning in the dying moments with the final score of the match with time to spare. From last weeks games, the Bloods are still under the pump after last weeks thumping from the Roosters, while the Crows managed to evade the clutches of the Panthers by 11 points. In response to the Crows seniors getting whacked on home turf by the Giants, they dropped one of their frontline players -- Matt Crouch -- to the SANFL to find some form. Earlier on the Bloods were competitive, scoring the first major before the Crows asserted themselves to lead by two goals at quarter-time with the board reading 5.1 to 3.1. But by the long break, the game would effectively be done with a game-breaking second term from the Crows. They would allow just one behind to the Bloods whilst bagging 8.4 for themselves to take their advantage out to 63 points going into the sheds at half-time. With three walk-up starters out due to injury, any hope of repairing such damage was sunk. Adelaide's second half on the scoreboard could be considered lazy, in the third quarter the Bloods actually outscored them with four goals without a miss to their own 3.1, the gap cut back to 58 points. The Crows tried to re-assert their scoring dominance in the final term, but had a spell from the inaccuracy bug in front of goal. They would score a further 3.5 to Westies' 4.3, the Crows winning margin drawn back to nine goals in the end. The Bloods one positive sign was debut of teen middy Kobe Ryan, who in his debut match tallied 21 disposals, eight marks and two goals. In the best afield department, it was Crouch making a case for a swift return to the Adelaide seniors with 36 disposals, seven tackles and 10 clearances. For the Bloods it was Josh Carmichael with 34 disposals, eight marks as well as seven tackles and clearances.
Across from the west to the inner east of the Adelaide metro, we now go to the Coopers Stadium in Norwood for second Saturday contest between the Redlegs and the Panthers. The Redlegs won both of their home and away season encounters in 2021, amazingly by nine points on both occasions in Round 5 at Norwood and then in Round 10 down at Noarlunga. These two victories, however, did not give the Redlegs any kind of psychological advantage come September. A wasteful second term in front of goal and then leaking five goals to two in the third saw the 'Legs out of the running in the 1st Semi-Final, which the Panthers won by 19 points. Last weekend, both teams were handed losses with the Redlegs going down at Unley by 23 points, while the Panthers just couldn't reel the Crows back in at home to go down by 11 points. There is one spoiler I will give you about this game, over the last few seasons these sides have had some tough encounters and today was going to be more of the same on a slippery deck. South dominated a big portion of the opening quarter, but some missed opportunities early on would allow the Redlegs to be the ones in front at the first change. The deficit was five points at quarter-time, the scoreline being 4.2 to 3.3. The Panthers dropped their intensity in the second term as the Redlegs restricted them to a single behind, but only managed 2.2 for themselves to take their advantage out to three goals by the half-time break. The roles were reversed when play resumed for the second half, the Redlegs blowing four chances on goal as the Panthers brought their lead down to within a couple of kicks going into the final change. South's 2.2 to four behinds drew Norwood's lead back to eight points by three quarter-time. The challenging conditions made for a nail-biting final stanza, the Redlegs were holding on for dear life as the Panthers continued to scratch and claw. Only one goal was scored for over 17 minutes, South's major prior to the sixth minute just the beginning of their eventual march to victory. South would land two more major blows along with three behinds, the Redlegs managing just 1.1 as the blue and whites took a six-point win. Mitch O'Neill was South's all-rounder, with 23 disposals, 11 tackles and six clearances. The Redlegs best was Matthew Nunn, with 31 disposals, 12 tackles and seven clearances.
The last of the Saturday arvo matches sends us back out west once more, up the Port Road and over to the Alberton Oval for the Battle of the Birds as the Magpies and Eagles collided. There was a share of the points from their two encounters last year, with the Magpies giving the Eagles an early season reality check in the form of a 10-goal hiding at Alberton in Round 5, but the eventual premiers returned the favour at Woodville in Round 10 with their 68-point belting. The Magpies were able to put the first blotch on the Tigers' record last week with their three point win at Brighton Road, while the Eagles were 50-point victors at Elizabeth. Making a return from injury, Charlie Dixon was the drawcard for Port as he makes his case for inclusion in the Power line-up. The field was as slippery as The Parade was, making life difficult for both sides. It was the Eagles that ruled most of the opening term, but a return of 2.3 allowed the Magpies to be within a couple of kicks at quarter-time with their 1.2, the deficit was seven points in favour of the visitors. After scoring a further 2.1 in the second term, the Eagles were kept quiet for the remainder of the quarter as the Magpies kicked into the lead by the long break with their 4.1. At half-time, it was Port with a five-point lead. When play resumed for the second half though, that effort went missing as the Magpies were silenced for the whole third quarter. The only thing they could do was try to limit the damage, the Eagles scoring an unanswered 3.2 to go into the final quarter with a 15-point lead. Try as they might in the final term, the Magpies found it tough breaking through the reigning premiers defences, managing just 2.2 as the Eagles scored 4.1 for themselves to run out 26-point winners in the Battle of Port Road. Joseph Sinor was the Eagles' best, notching up 28 disposals, 22 of them kicks as well as seven tackles. For Port, it was Taj Schofield with his tally of 21 disposals and seven tackles.
The football action continued on Sunday afternoon, we now head over to the Prospect Oval for the revival of another old rivalry as the Roosters and the Tigers butted heads. The Bays took out both games last season, with a 31-point victory at Prospect Oval in Round 5, followed by a 23-point win at Brighton Road in Round 10. Their earlier game at the chook-house was one that slipped through the Roosters' wings, unable to take advantage of a wayward third term by the Tigers who skipped away in the final quarter. North were victorious by 70 points over the Bloods last week, while the Tigers went down by three points to the Magpies at home. This game would also be a celebration of a century at Menzies Crescent, it was around this time in 1922 when the Roosters moved in and played Glenelg in their first outing at was once known as the Prospect Recreation Ground. The celebrations looked like souring after the first quarter, the Tigers taking advantage of North's inaccuracy on goal to lead by 21 points at quarter-time with the board reading 5.1 to 1.4. But to the relief of the Prospect faithful, that gap would be slashed back to a more do-able pair of straight kicks when the half-time siren sounded. North scored six goals without a miss to the Bays' 4.1, whose lead was back to 10 points at the long break. Glenelg's forwards suffered some wobbles in the third quarter as the Roosters came close to squaring things up going into the final change, but would set up a grandstand finish to the afternoon's proceedings. North could have been leading at three quarter-time, they kicked four goals to one behind during the first nine minutes to lead by 13 points. The Tigers retook the lead with the last shot of the quarter, altogether scoring 3.4 to North's five goals to lead by two points. Unfortunately for the Tigers, once again they would feel the sting of a last kick defeat. Their shooting on goal in the final term would be part of their undoing, kicking 2.5 to the Roosters' 3.3. Glenelg's backs gave away the crucial free kick in North's attacking 50, the home side scoring the goal that saw them victorious by two points. Harrison Wigg had a monster day with the ball, taking out best afield honours for North with his tally of 45 disposals, 10 marks and eight clearances. Matt Snook was Glenelg's standout, with 23 disposals, five tackles and six clearances.
The final match for the weekend takes us to the other side of the city to the southern fringes, to the Wigan Oval in Unley where the Double Blues faced the Bulldogs. Last year's action between these sides saw the points shared, their last game was an extremely low-scoring affair with the Blues winning by 13 points at Elizabeth in Round 15, but at Unley the Bulldogs had one of their more joyous outings with their 11-point win. Talk about contrasting fortunes. The earlier game was a party spoiler for the Blues with Zane Kirkwood hanging up the boots, but not even a big final term could stop them going down. The later match would yield just eight goals, definitely not a note-worthy game. The Blues were on track for a fourth win on the trot, winning their match against the Redlegs by 28 points, while the Dogs were only competitive in short spurts against the reigning premiers who ran out 50 point winners at Elizabeth. Another week... another spoiler. The Bulldogs were walking into an ambush. Perhaps with that loss last season at Oxford Terrace still in the memory, the Blues were out for blood. Perhaps some AC/DC should have been played beforehand because as the album cover once said, "If you want blood, you got it." The Dogs actually started promisingly with the first pair of majors, but after that it was a hot streak of goals for the Blues that would stretch for over a half of football. At quarter-time the board would 6.3 to 2.1, the Blues taking a 26-point lead into the first change. It was only going to balloon from there, though the second term was one of Sturt's more lazy quarters. They scored a further 3.4 to the Bulldogs lousy two behinds as the gap stretched to 46 points by the half-time break. No one would be able to blame a hasty exit of Centrals supporters in light of the coming disaster, their charges managing only 1.3 in the third term to Sturt's 4.3 as the deficit was now out to 64 points come three quarter-time. By games end there probably wasn't too many Bulldogs fans still enduring this debacle, the Blues hammering the point home with a 7.5 to 2.1 last quarter to romp away to a 98-point win. Sturt named Guy Page as their best afield, racking up 28 disposals and 11 marks, while the Bulldogs' standout was Jarrod Schiller with 26 disposals and 12 tackles.
FINAL SCORES IN ROUND 6 OF THE SANFL...
Saturday May 7
Adelaide 19.11 (125)
West Adelaide 11.5 (71)
1,122 @ Hisense Stadium, Richmond
South Adelaide 8.9 (57)
Norwood 7.9 (51)
1,480 @ Coopers Stadium, Norwood
Woodville-West Torrens 11.7 (73)
Port Adelaide 7.5 (47)
1,895 @ Alberton Oval
Sunday May 8
North Adelaide 15.7 (97)
Glenelg 14.11 (95)
1,853 @ Prospect Oval
Sturt 20.15 (135)
Central District 5.7 (37)
2,167 @ Wigan Oval, Unley
INJURIES
Adelaide -- Hall (concussion)
REPORTS
South -- Garthwaite (rough conduct)
LEAGUE LADDER
-----------------------------------------------------
Sturt -- 10pts (5-1-0), 61.2%
Adelaide -- 10pts (5-1-0), 58%
North -- 10pts (5-1-0), 55.7%
W-WT -- 8pts (4-2-0), 53.8%
Glenelg -- 8pts (4-2-0), 52%
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South -- 6pts (3-3-0), 48.9%
Norwood -- 4pts (2-4-0), 51.9%
Port -- 2pts (1-5-0), 43.1%
Central -- 2pts (1-5-0), 39.8%
West -- 0pts (0-6-0), 35.6%
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Next weekend... its state football week!
Sunday May 15 @ 1:30 ACST
THE HAYDN BUNTON JUNIOR TROPHY
Western Australia vs. South Australia; Optus Stadium, Perth
So until next weekend... see you at the Footy!
There is something very wrong at two of our SANFL clubs. In one corner you have West Adelaide. The Bloods are celebrating their 130th year of existence... which is pretty much all they're celebrating. The pre-season was filled with promise, the return of a favourite son to help steer the ship. But since winning their ninth premiership in 2015, West have not contested finals football. The record seems set on repeat at Richmond, for six seasons they've been stranded in the league wilderness. Then there's Central District. Theirs is a similar story to the Bloods in recent times, although their appearances in finals since their dominant years haven't yielded a flag. But since 2018, have finished in the bottom three. Their last few years have been nothing short of disappointing and just like the Bloods, their crowd numbers have dipped considerably since the end of their premiership years. Clubs like South Adelaide and Sturt, clubs that have spent many years at the wrong end of the ladder have taken their place. Though the Panthers to this day have not broken their long premiership drought, have made strides toward doing so. The Blues have had their time in the sun and are still drawing quality numbers through the gates. Is there a culture issue at Richmond and Elizabeth?
Welcome to the Round 6 edition of the SANFL Wrap-Up.
For the first match of the weekend we head over to the Hisense Stadium in Richmond for the first of three Saturday games, the Bloods hosting the Crows. The Crows won both games at Milner Road in 2021, winning by a goal in Round 2 and by six goals in Round 12. The earlier match was one of the Bloods most gettable games, the Crows winning in the dying moments with the final score of the match with time to spare. From last weeks games, the Bloods are still under the pump after last weeks thumping from the Roosters, while the Crows managed to evade the clutches of the Panthers by 11 points. In response to the Crows seniors getting whacked on home turf by the Giants, they dropped one of their frontline players -- Matt Crouch -- to the SANFL to find some form. Earlier on the Bloods were competitive, scoring the first major before the Crows asserted themselves to lead by two goals at quarter-time with the board reading 5.1 to 3.1. But by the long break, the game would effectively be done with a game-breaking second term from the Crows. They would allow just one behind to the Bloods whilst bagging 8.4 for themselves to take their advantage out to 63 points going into the sheds at half-time. With three walk-up starters out due to injury, any hope of repairing such damage was sunk. Adelaide's second half on the scoreboard could be considered lazy, in the third quarter the Bloods actually outscored them with four goals without a miss to their own 3.1, the gap cut back to 58 points. The Crows tried to re-assert their scoring dominance in the final term, but had a spell from the inaccuracy bug in front of goal. They would score a further 3.5 to Westies' 4.3, the Crows winning margin drawn back to nine goals in the end. The Bloods one positive sign was debut of teen middy Kobe Ryan, who in his debut match tallied 21 disposals, eight marks and two goals. In the best afield department, it was Crouch making a case for a swift return to the Adelaide seniors with 36 disposals, seven tackles and 10 clearances. For the Bloods it was Josh Carmichael with 34 disposals, eight marks as well as seven tackles and clearances.
Across from the west to the inner east of the Adelaide metro, we now go to the Coopers Stadium in Norwood for second Saturday contest between the Redlegs and the Panthers. The Redlegs won both of their home and away season encounters in 2021, amazingly by nine points on both occasions in Round 5 at Norwood and then in Round 10 down at Noarlunga. These two victories, however, did not give the Redlegs any kind of psychological advantage come September. A wasteful second term in front of goal and then leaking five goals to two in the third saw the 'Legs out of the running in the 1st Semi-Final, which the Panthers won by 19 points. Last weekend, both teams were handed losses with the Redlegs going down at Unley by 23 points, while the Panthers just couldn't reel the Crows back in at home to go down by 11 points. There is one spoiler I will give you about this game, over the last few seasons these sides have had some tough encounters and today was going to be more of the same on a slippery deck. South dominated a big portion of the opening quarter, but some missed opportunities early on would allow the Redlegs to be the ones in front at the first change. The deficit was five points at quarter-time, the scoreline being 4.2 to 3.3. The Panthers dropped their intensity in the second term as the Redlegs restricted them to a single behind, but only managed 2.2 for themselves to take their advantage out to three goals by the half-time break. The roles were reversed when play resumed for the second half, the Redlegs blowing four chances on goal as the Panthers brought their lead down to within a couple of kicks going into the final change. South's 2.2 to four behinds drew Norwood's lead back to eight points by three quarter-time. The challenging conditions made for a nail-biting final stanza, the Redlegs were holding on for dear life as the Panthers continued to scratch and claw. Only one goal was scored for over 17 minutes, South's major prior to the sixth minute just the beginning of their eventual march to victory. South would land two more major blows along with three behinds, the Redlegs managing just 1.1 as the blue and whites took a six-point win. Mitch O'Neill was South's all-rounder, with 23 disposals, 11 tackles and six clearances. The Redlegs best was Matthew Nunn, with 31 disposals, 12 tackles and seven clearances.
The last of the Saturday arvo matches sends us back out west once more, up the Port Road and over to the Alberton Oval for the Battle of the Birds as the Magpies and Eagles collided. There was a share of the points from their two encounters last year, with the Magpies giving the Eagles an early season reality check in the form of a 10-goal hiding at Alberton in Round 5, but the eventual premiers returned the favour at Woodville in Round 10 with their 68-point belting. The Magpies were able to put the first blotch on the Tigers' record last week with their three point win at Brighton Road, while the Eagles were 50-point victors at Elizabeth. Making a return from injury, Charlie Dixon was the drawcard for Port as he makes his case for inclusion in the Power line-up. The field was as slippery as The Parade was, making life difficult for both sides. It was the Eagles that ruled most of the opening term, but a return of 2.3 allowed the Magpies to be within a couple of kicks at quarter-time with their 1.2, the deficit was seven points in favour of the visitors. After scoring a further 2.1 in the second term, the Eagles were kept quiet for the remainder of the quarter as the Magpies kicked into the lead by the long break with their 4.1. At half-time, it was Port with a five-point lead. When play resumed for the second half though, that effort went missing as the Magpies were silenced for the whole third quarter. The only thing they could do was try to limit the damage, the Eagles scoring an unanswered 3.2 to go into the final quarter with a 15-point lead. Try as they might in the final term, the Magpies found it tough breaking through the reigning premiers defences, managing just 2.2 as the Eagles scored 4.1 for themselves to run out 26-point winners in the Battle of Port Road. Joseph Sinor was the Eagles' best, notching up 28 disposals, 22 of them kicks as well as seven tackles. For Port, it was Taj Schofield with his tally of 21 disposals and seven tackles.
The football action continued on Sunday afternoon, we now head over to the Prospect Oval for the revival of another old rivalry as the Roosters and the Tigers butted heads. The Bays took out both games last season, with a 31-point victory at Prospect Oval in Round 5, followed by a 23-point win at Brighton Road in Round 10. Their earlier game at the chook-house was one that slipped through the Roosters' wings, unable to take advantage of a wayward third term by the Tigers who skipped away in the final quarter. North were victorious by 70 points over the Bloods last week, while the Tigers went down by three points to the Magpies at home. This game would also be a celebration of a century at Menzies Crescent, it was around this time in 1922 when the Roosters moved in and played Glenelg in their first outing at was once known as the Prospect Recreation Ground. The celebrations looked like souring after the first quarter, the Tigers taking advantage of North's inaccuracy on goal to lead by 21 points at quarter-time with the board reading 5.1 to 1.4. But to the relief of the Prospect faithful, that gap would be slashed back to a more do-able pair of straight kicks when the half-time siren sounded. North scored six goals without a miss to the Bays' 4.1, whose lead was back to 10 points at the long break. Glenelg's forwards suffered some wobbles in the third quarter as the Roosters came close to squaring things up going into the final change, but would set up a grandstand finish to the afternoon's proceedings. North could have been leading at three quarter-time, they kicked four goals to one behind during the first nine minutes to lead by 13 points. The Tigers retook the lead with the last shot of the quarter, altogether scoring 3.4 to North's five goals to lead by two points. Unfortunately for the Tigers, once again they would feel the sting of a last kick defeat. Their shooting on goal in the final term would be part of their undoing, kicking 2.5 to the Roosters' 3.3. Glenelg's backs gave away the crucial free kick in North's attacking 50, the home side scoring the goal that saw them victorious by two points. Harrison Wigg had a monster day with the ball, taking out best afield honours for North with his tally of 45 disposals, 10 marks and eight clearances. Matt Snook was Glenelg's standout, with 23 disposals, five tackles and six clearances.
The final match for the weekend takes us to the other side of the city to the southern fringes, to the Wigan Oval in Unley where the Double Blues faced the Bulldogs. Last year's action between these sides saw the points shared, their last game was an extremely low-scoring affair with the Blues winning by 13 points at Elizabeth in Round 15, but at Unley the Bulldogs had one of their more joyous outings with their 11-point win. Talk about contrasting fortunes. The earlier game was a party spoiler for the Blues with Zane Kirkwood hanging up the boots, but not even a big final term could stop them going down. The later match would yield just eight goals, definitely not a note-worthy game. The Blues were on track for a fourth win on the trot, winning their match against the Redlegs by 28 points, while the Dogs were only competitive in short spurts against the reigning premiers who ran out 50 point winners at Elizabeth. Another week... another spoiler. The Bulldogs were walking into an ambush. Perhaps with that loss last season at Oxford Terrace still in the memory, the Blues were out for blood. Perhaps some AC/DC should have been played beforehand because as the album cover once said, "If you want blood, you got it." The Dogs actually started promisingly with the first pair of majors, but after that it was a hot streak of goals for the Blues that would stretch for over a half of football. At quarter-time the board would 6.3 to 2.1, the Blues taking a 26-point lead into the first change. It was only going to balloon from there, though the second term was one of Sturt's more lazy quarters. They scored a further 3.4 to the Bulldogs lousy two behinds as the gap stretched to 46 points by the half-time break. No one would be able to blame a hasty exit of Centrals supporters in light of the coming disaster, their charges managing only 1.3 in the third term to Sturt's 4.3 as the deficit was now out to 64 points come three quarter-time. By games end there probably wasn't too many Bulldogs fans still enduring this debacle, the Blues hammering the point home with a 7.5 to 2.1 last quarter to romp away to a 98-point win. Sturt named Guy Page as their best afield, racking up 28 disposals and 11 marks, while the Bulldogs' standout was Jarrod Schiller with 26 disposals and 12 tackles.
FINAL SCORES IN ROUND 6 OF THE SANFL...
Saturday May 7
Adelaide 19.11 (125)
West Adelaide 11.5 (71)
1,122 @ Hisense Stadium, Richmond
South Adelaide 8.9 (57)
Norwood 7.9 (51)
1,480 @ Coopers Stadium, Norwood
Woodville-West Torrens 11.7 (73)
Port Adelaide 7.5 (47)
1,895 @ Alberton Oval
Sunday May 8
North Adelaide 15.7 (97)
Glenelg 14.11 (95)
1,853 @ Prospect Oval
Sturt 20.15 (135)
Central District 5.7 (37)
2,167 @ Wigan Oval, Unley
INJURIES
Adelaide -- Hall (concussion)
REPORTS
South -- Garthwaite (rough conduct)
LEAGUE LADDER
-----------------------------------------------------
Sturt -- 10pts (5-1-0), 61.2%
Adelaide -- 10pts (5-1-0), 58%
North -- 10pts (5-1-0), 55.7%
W-WT -- 8pts (4-2-0), 53.8%
Glenelg -- 8pts (4-2-0), 52%
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South -- 6pts (3-3-0), 48.9%
Norwood -- 4pts (2-4-0), 51.9%
Port -- 2pts (1-5-0), 43.1%
Central -- 2pts (1-5-0), 39.8%
West -- 0pts (0-6-0), 35.6%
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Next weekend... its state football week!
Sunday May 15 @ 1:30 ACST
THE HAYDN BUNTON JUNIOR TROPHY
Western Australia vs. South Australia; Optus Stadium, Perth
So until next weekend... see you at the Footy!
