- May 8, 2001
- 5,734
- 967
- AFL Club
- Adelaide
- Other Teams
- CDFC (SANFL), Port Melb (VFL)
Hi Footy fans...
This past fortnight of SANFL football was the First Nations Rounds. With this in mind lets have a quick look at the history of indigenous footballers that found their way into our league. It all began with Harry Hewitt from the town of Raukkan, on the shores of Lake Alexandrina. He landed at Medindie -- which eventually became North Adelaide -- and made an immediate impression against Port Adelaide on June 22nd of 1889. Others would follow over the decades, like Westies' Bertie Johnson, the first indigenous footballer to pull on the red of South Australia and was part of the famous "Turkish Bath" Grand Final win of 1961. Or David Kantilla, who came from the Top End and brought premiership glory to the Panthers in 1964. The Blues had Roger Rigney and Michael Graham, who brought a combined seven flags back to Unley during the late 60's and mid 70's. Even Michael Long graced SANFL grounds with West Torrens in 1988 before his move to Essendon. Then there was Centrals' Gilbert McAdam, who before he ended up at St. Kilda and then Brisbane, became the first indigenous footballer to win the coveted Magarey Medal in 1989. In the last 20 years, there's been Eddie Sansbury who has won flags in four state leagues, famous family names like Rioli and Motlop, nowadays they've been talking about goal-sneak Isaiah Dudley. The list goes on and on... and grows each year.
Welcome to the Round 8 Wrap-Up for SANFL 2025.
All the action was concentrated on the Saturday afternoon, with the first game taking us to the Hisense Stadium in Richmond where the Bloods hosted the Redlegs. The Bloods got no joy from their encounters with the 'Legs in 2024, dropping both games in Rounds 3 and 13. The earlier game at Port Lincoln was a horrid afternoon in front of the sticks for Norwood, but still won by 13 points with a tally of 6.14. But later on at Milner Road they put a hurting on the Bloods, trouncing them by 74 points. Both sides were dealt losing hands last week, with the Bloods smashed to oblivion at Glenelg while the Redlegs' lights were further dimmed by the Dogs at The Parade. Unfortunately, anyone thinking the Redlegs were still losing steps were about to eat their words. They did challenge the Bulldogs last week, but this week was perhaps a prelude to an awakening and the Bloods were just in the way. While there were little clouds in the sky, they were proverbial around Richmond as the 'Legs kicked to a 34-point quarter-time lead with the board reading 5.5 to 0.1. That deficit would be almost doubled going into the sheds at the half-time break after Norwood booted a further 6.4 to 1.2, the visitors' lead blowing out to 11 goals even. The Bloods were just shell-shocked, with very few answers against the Redlegs avalanche. The goals weren't as plentiful in the third quarter, though the gap continued to widen. By the final change it was out to 79 points after the 'Legs hicked 3.3 to 1.2. It was just another week of misery for the Westies' faithful, again watching their side succumb to another dismal performance, Norwood finishing off with a 5.3 to 1.2 last quarter to leave Richmond easy 104-point winners. Jackson Callow kicked six goals, but it was Billy Cootee with the best afield honours for the 'Legs with 24 disposals, 10 clearances and tackles as well as four marks and free kicks. The Bloods named Jesse Thackeray as their standout with 14 disposals, eight tackles and four clearances.
Next up were heading off to the northern suburbs and into the X-Convenience Oval in Elizabeth where the Bulldogs took on the Double Blues. The Blues have dominated the Bulldogs since Round 15 of 2021, winning the past eight minor round games including their 2024 meetings. Those games at Elizabeth and Unley ended in near identical margins in Rounds 6 and 17, in the range of six straight kicks. Elizabeth has been a happy hunting ground as well, again the number eight pops up. But note how I said minor round, their last clash came in last year's 2nd Semi-Final where the Dogs broke the drought with an 11-point win. Both teams came out on top last week in their respective games and would set up a top of the table clash. However, the afternoon was going to play out a lot different than expected by the punters. On a day that had very little influence from the elements, the Blues dominated the play but would fail to make maximum impact on the scoreboard. The Dogs on the other hand were just woeful, held scoreless while the Blues kicked 1.6 to lead by two kicks at quarter-time. Sturt would start putting some distance between them, but the door was still well ajar as they kicked 2.5 to 1.3 and go into the rooms at half-time with a 20-point lead. The visitors' third term was practically the game-breaking quarter, Centrals were putting up resistance up back but copped some cruel free kicks as the Blues added another 4.2 to one behind to take their advantage to 45 points come three quarter-time. The Dogs' final term was too little, too late as they finally strung some together to kick 3.2 to 2.1, cutting their eventual loss margin to 38 points with the Blues continuing to make Elizabeth almost a second home. Angus Anderson was quite handy for the Blues, named best afield with 19 disposals, eight marks and seven tackles to go with his two goals. Harry Grant was the Dogs' best with 26 disposals, nine marks and five tackles.
The third match for the day takes us to the leafy streets of the inner northern suburbs and into the Prospect Oval where the Roosters faced the Eagles. These sides shared the points from their 2024 games, with the Eagles going on an all out romp at home in Round 2 to win by 92 points, before going down at Prospect in Round 12 by 23 points. Interim coach Sam Mayes was unlucky last week to not have notched up his first win, the Roosters going down by just two points at Alberton. The Eagles on the other hand, recovered from their narrow loss to the premiers with a 35-point win against South at home. It was a tit-for-tat opening quarter with the scores tied at quarter-time, both scored 3.2 with the Roosters unfortunate to not have been ahead with their last shot resulting in a minor score. The Eagles opened the second quarter with the opening two goals in four minutes, but were then made to wait until time-on for their third as North scored four of their own along with three minors to go into the break with a nine-point half-time lead. At the beginning of the round, the ladder would have the fifth-placed Eagles three games ahead of the Roosters, but the gap was about to shrink. Perhaps signs of a mid-season surge on North's part as they held the Eagles to a single behind prior to the three quarter-time siren, all whilst kicking a bag of their own, scoring 7.3 to lead by almost nine goals. The Eagles could only make the final score a bit more respectable, but after that third term there were probably a few rockets in the rooms afterwards. They scored 5.4 to the home side's 2.3, bringing the final margin down to 34 points. Angus Schumacher was best afield for the Roosters, with 37 disposals, nine marks, six tackles and five clearances. The Eagles named Daniel Sladojevic, with 15 disposals, seven marks and four goals.
The last match for the weekend sends us down to the deep south of the Adelaide metro, to the Magain Stadium in Noarlunga for the Clash of the Cats between the Panthers and the Tigers. The Bays retained control of the Carey-Darley Trophy after winning both of last year's games with a 27-point win at Noarlunga in Round 5, followed by a near 20-goal shellacking at Brighton Road in Round 19. Only the reigning champs came out winners last week, the Tigers bashing the Bloods into submission while the Panthers would lose to the Eagles at Woodville. This is another game where I'm putting out another spoiler alert, another runaway victory was coming the Tigers' way. The Panthers seemed up to the challenge early on, matching scoring shots but not the accuracy. The Tigers would lead by 15 points at quarter-time, with the board reading 5.1 to 2.4. For almost 18 minutes of the second term, that gap was retained after the two sides kicked three goals each over the period. But then the punishment would commence with the last three goals of the half to the visitors, who went into the sheds with a 33-point advantage and it would be onwards and upwards from here. They kicked another three before South could reply with one of their own, plus another two afterwards. With missed chances counted, the premiers leapt to a 56-point three quarter-time lead. There was not much more needed to be done, the Tigers finishing off with a 3.3 to 1.3 final term to leave Noarlunga with the cup still in their possession after a 68-point win. Jonty Scharenberg was Glenelg's best afield with 25 disposals, 10 marks, as well as five tackles and free kicks. Jaiden Magor was South's best with 28 disposals and 11 marks.
FINAL SCORES -- Round 8
Saturday May 31
Norwood 19.15 (129)
West Adelaide 3.7 (25)
1,167 @ Hisense Stadium, Richmond
Sturt 9.14 (68)
Central District 4.6 (30)
2,355 @ X-Convenience Oval, Elizabeth
North Adelaide 16.11 (107)
Woodville-West Torrens 11.7 (73)
2,001 @ Prospect Oval
Glenelg 19.5 (119)
South Adelaide 7.9 (51)
1,672 @ Magain Stadium, Noarlunga
REPORTS
North -- Maher (rough conduct)
Glenelg -- Proud (rough conduct)
LEAGUE LADDER
--------------------------------------------------
Sturt -- 16pts (8-0-0), 61.2%
Glenelg -- 12pts (6-2-0), 61.1%
Central -- 12pts (6-2-0), 57.3%
Adelaide -- 10pts (5-2-0), 56.4%
W-WT -- 10pts (5-3-0), 53.5%
--------------------------------------------------
North -- 6pts (3-5-0), 47.3%
Norwood -- 4pts (2-6-0), 49.2%
Port -- 4pts (2-6-0), 41.4%
South -- 2pts (1-7-0), 39.9%
West -- 2pts (1-7-0) 32.3%
---------------------------------------------------
JUNIOR CROWEATERS OUTLAST ALLIES IN U-18 SERIES OPENER
The 2024 Marsh AFL National U-18 Championship began with a bang, the South Australians put to an almighty test by the Allies at the Blacktown ISP ground in Sydney this past Sunday. The gap at the changes was always within three straight kicks, the widest break margin was at half-time when the Croweaters led by 15 points. SA's third quarter almost brought them undone as the inaccuracy bug kicked in, the Allies reeling them back to a single straight kick with the board reading 10.8 to 9.8. But the boys in red held their ground and their nerve, finishing up seven point victors. Central District forward and former SA Country basketballer Aidan Schubert was best for the Croweaters with four goals, 13 disposals and seven marks, while fellow forward and long bombing Westie Mitchell Marsh -- not to be confused with the cricketer -- also bagged four of his own. Game number two will take place at Alberton Oval against Victoria Metro this coming Sunday before the Port Adelaide vs. West Adelaide match.
South Australia 12.11 (83) def. Allies 11.10 (76)
Next weekend in Round 9...
Saturday June 7
Woodville-West Torrens vs. Central District; Maughan Thiem Kia Oval, Woodville @ 2:10pm
South Adelaide vs. Adelaide; Magain Stadium, Noarlunga @ 2:30pm
Sunday June 8 @ 2:10pm
Port Adelaide vs. West Adelaide; Alberton Oval
Glenelg vs. North Adelaide; Stratarama Stadium, Glenelg
Monday June 9 @ 2:30pm
Sturt vs. Norwood; Thomas Farms Oval, Unley
So until next weekend... see you at the Footy!
This past fortnight of SANFL football was the First Nations Rounds. With this in mind lets have a quick look at the history of indigenous footballers that found their way into our league. It all began with Harry Hewitt from the town of Raukkan, on the shores of Lake Alexandrina. He landed at Medindie -- which eventually became North Adelaide -- and made an immediate impression against Port Adelaide on June 22nd of 1889. Others would follow over the decades, like Westies' Bertie Johnson, the first indigenous footballer to pull on the red of South Australia and was part of the famous "Turkish Bath" Grand Final win of 1961. Or David Kantilla, who came from the Top End and brought premiership glory to the Panthers in 1964. The Blues had Roger Rigney and Michael Graham, who brought a combined seven flags back to Unley during the late 60's and mid 70's. Even Michael Long graced SANFL grounds with West Torrens in 1988 before his move to Essendon. Then there was Centrals' Gilbert McAdam, who before he ended up at St. Kilda and then Brisbane, became the first indigenous footballer to win the coveted Magarey Medal in 1989. In the last 20 years, there's been Eddie Sansbury who has won flags in four state leagues, famous family names like Rioli and Motlop, nowadays they've been talking about goal-sneak Isaiah Dudley. The list goes on and on... and grows each year.
Welcome to the Round 8 Wrap-Up for SANFL 2025.
All the action was concentrated on the Saturday afternoon, with the first game taking us to the Hisense Stadium in Richmond where the Bloods hosted the Redlegs. The Bloods got no joy from their encounters with the 'Legs in 2024, dropping both games in Rounds 3 and 13. The earlier game at Port Lincoln was a horrid afternoon in front of the sticks for Norwood, but still won by 13 points with a tally of 6.14. But later on at Milner Road they put a hurting on the Bloods, trouncing them by 74 points. Both sides were dealt losing hands last week, with the Bloods smashed to oblivion at Glenelg while the Redlegs' lights were further dimmed by the Dogs at The Parade. Unfortunately, anyone thinking the Redlegs were still losing steps were about to eat their words. They did challenge the Bulldogs last week, but this week was perhaps a prelude to an awakening and the Bloods were just in the way. While there were little clouds in the sky, they were proverbial around Richmond as the 'Legs kicked to a 34-point quarter-time lead with the board reading 5.5 to 0.1. That deficit would be almost doubled going into the sheds at the half-time break after Norwood booted a further 6.4 to 1.2, the visitors' lead blowing out to 11 goals even. The Bloods were just shell-shocked, with very few answers against the Redlegs avalanche. The goals weren't as plentiful in the third quarter, though the gap continued to widen. By the final change it was out to 79 points after the 'Legs hicked 3.3 to 1.2. It was just another week of misery for the Westies' faithful, again watching their side succumb to another dismal performance, Norwood finishing off with a 5.3 to 1.2 last quarter to leave Richmond easy 104-point winners. Jackson Callow kicked six goals, but it was Billy Cootee with the best afield honours for the 'Legs with 24 disposals, 10 clearances and tackles as well as four marks and free kicks. The Bloods named Jesse Thackeray as their standout with 14 disposals, eight tackles and four clearances.
Next up were heading off to the northern suburbs and into the X-Convenience Oval in Elizabeth where the Bulldogs took on the Double Blues. The Blues have dominated the Bulldogs since Round 15 of 2021, winning the past eight minor round games including their 2024 meetings. Those games at Elizabeth and Unley ended in near identical margins in Rounds 6 and 17, in the range of six straight kicks. Elizabeth has been a happy hunting ground as well, again the number eight pops up. But note how I said minor round, their last clash came in last year's 2nd Semi-Final where the Dogs broke the drought with an 11-point win. Both teams came out on top last week in their respective games and would set up a top of the table clash. However, the afternoon was going to play out a lot different than expected by the punters. On a day that had very little influence from the elements, the Blues dominated the play but would fail to make maximum impact on the scoreboard. The Dogs on the other hand were just woeful, held scoreless while the Blues kicked 1.6 to lead by two kicks at quarter-time. Sturt would start putting some distance between them, but the door was still well ajar as they kicked 2.5 to 1.3 and go into the rooms at half-time with a 20-point lead. The visitors' third term was practically the game-breaking quarter, Centrals were putting up resistance up back but copped some cruel free kicks as the Blues added another 4.2 to one behind to take their advantage to 45 points come three quarter-time. The Dogs' final term was too little, too late as they finally strung some together to kick 3.2 to 2.1, cutting their eventual loss margin to 38 points with the Blues continuing to make Elizabeth almost a second home. Angus Anderson was quite handy for the Blues, named best afield with 19 disposals, eight marks and seven tackles to go with his two goals. Harry Grant was the Dogs' best with 26 disposals, nine marks and five tackles.
The third match for the day takes us to the leafy streets of the inner northern suburbs and into the Prospect Oval where the Roosters faced the Eagles. These sides shared the points from their 2024 games, with the Eagles going on an all out romp at home in Round 2 to win by 92 points, before going down at Prospect in Round 12 by 23 points. Interim coach Sam Mayes was unlucky last week to not have notched up his first win, the Roosters going down by just two points at Alberton. The Eagles on the other hand, recovered from their narrow loss to the premiers with a 35-point win against South at home. It was a tit-for-tat opening quarter with the scores tied at quarter-time, both scored 3.2 with the Roosters unfortunate to not have been ahead with their last shot resulting in a minor score. The Eagles opened the second quarter with the opening two goals in four minutes, but were then made to wait until time-on for their third as North scored four of their own along with three minors to go into the break with a nine-point half-time lead. At the beginning of the round, the ladder would have the fifth-placed Eagles three games ahead of the Roosters, but the gap was about to shrink. Perhaps signs of a mid-season surge on North's part as they held the Eagles to a single behind prior to the three quarter-time siren, all whilst kicking a bag of their own, scoring 7.3 to lead by almost nine goals. The Eagles could only make the final score a bit more respectable, but after that third term there were probably a few rockets in the rooms afterwards. They scored 5.4 to the home side's 2.3, bringing the final margin down to 34 points. Angus Schumacher was best afield for the Roosters, with 37 disposals, nine marks, six tackles and five clearances. The Eagles named Daniel Sladojevic, with 15 disposals, seven marks and four goals.
The last match for the weekend sends us down to the deep south of the Adelaide metro, to the Magain Stadium in Noarlunga for the Clash of the Cats between the Panthers and the Tigers. The Bays retained control of the Carey-Darley Trophy after winning both of last year's games with a 27-point win at Noarlunga in Round 5, followed by a near 20-goal shellacking at Brighton Road in Round 19. Only the reigning champs came out winners last week, the Tigers bashing the Bloods into submission while the Panthers would lose to the Eagles at Woodville. This is another game where I'm putting out another spoiler alert, another runaway victory was coming the Tigers' way. The Panthers seemed up to the challenge early on, matching scoring shots but not the accuracy. The Tigers would lead by 15 points at quarter-time, with the board reading 5.1 to 2.4. For almost 18 minutes of the second term, that gap was retained after the two sides kicked three goals each over the period. But then the punishment would commence with the last three goals of the half to the visitors, who went into the sheds with a 33-point advantage and it would be onwards and upwards from here. They kicked another three before South could reply with one of their own, plus another two afterwards. With missed chances counted, the premiers leapt to a 56-point three quarter-time lead. There was not much more needed to be done, the Tigers finishing off with a 3.3 to 1.3 final term to leave Noarlunga with the cup still in their possession after a 68-point win. Jonty Scharenberg was Glenelg's best afield with 25 disposals, 10 marks, as well as five tackles and free kicks. Jaiden Magor was South's best with 28 disposals and 11 marks.
FINAL SCORES -- Round 8
Saturday May 31
Norwood 19.15 (129)
West Adelaide 3.7 (25)
1,167 @ Hisense Stadium, Richmond
Sturt 9.14 (68)
Central District 4.6 (30)
2,355 @ X-Convenience Oval, Elizabeth
North Adelaide 16.11 (107)
Woodville-West Torrens 11.7 (73)
2,001 @ Prospect Oval
Glenelg 19.5 (119)
South Adelaide 7.9 (51)
1,672 @ Magain Stadium, Noarlunga
REPORTS
North -- Maher (rough conduct)
Glenelg -- Proud (rough conduct)
LEAGUE LADDER
--------------------------------------------------
Sturt -- 16pts (8-0-0), 61.2%
Glenelg -- 12pts (6-2-0), 61.1%
Central -- 12pts (6-2-0), 57.3%
Adelaide -- 10pts (5-2-0), 56.4%
W-WT -- 10pts (5-3-0), 53.5%
--------------------------------------------------
North -- 6pts (3-5-0), 47.3%
Norwood -- 4pts (2-6-0), 49.2%
Port -- 4pts (2-6-0), 41.4%
South -- 2pts (1-7-0), 39.9%
West -- 2pts (1-7-0) 32.3%
---------------------------------------------------
JUNIOR CROWEATERS OUTLAST ALLIES IN U-18 SERIES OPENER
The 2024 Marsh AFL National U-18 Championship began with a bang, the South Australians put to an almighty test by the Allies at the Blacktown ISP ground in Sydney this past Sunday. The gap at the changes was always within three straight kicks, the widest break margin was at half-time when the Croweaters led by 15 points. SA's third quarter almost brought them undone as the inaccuracy bug kicked in, the Allies reeling them back to a single straight kick with the board reading 10.8 to 9.8. But the boys in red held their ground and their nerve, finishing up seven point victors. Central District forward and former SA Country basketballer Aidan Schubert was best for the Croweaters with four goals, 13 disposals and seven marks, while fellow forward and long bombing Westie Mitchell Marsh -- not to be confused with the cricketer -- also bagged four of his own. Game number two will take place at Alberton Oval against Victoria Metro this coming Sunday before the Port Adelaide vs. West Adelaide match.
South Australia 12.11 (83) def. Allies 11.10 (76)
Next weekend in Round 9...
Saturday June 7
Woodville-West Torrens vs. Central District; Maughan Thiem Kia Oval, Woodville @ 2:10pm
South Adelaide vs. Adelaide; Magain Stadium, Noarlunga @ 2:30pm
Sunday June 8 @ 2:10pm
Port Adelaide vs. West Adelaide; Alberton Oval
Glenelg vs. North Adelaide; Stratarama Stadium, Glenelg
Monday June 9 @ 2:30pm
Sturt vs. Norwood; Thomas Farms Oval, Unley
So until next weekend... see you at the Footy!