Adelaide Footy League’s best moments of season 2018 from torpedos to text messages
HOAX text messages, 80m torpedos, clubs booted out and inspirational premierships – this Adelaide Footy League season had it all. Here are the best moments of the One-Percenters weekly wrap.
THEY are the quirky, the incredible, the shocking and the sensational.
This year the Messenger Community News sports team brought you a weekly update on eye-catching results, milestones, comebacks, big wins, broken droughts or inspiring stories across the competition in the weekly One-Percenters wrap.
But what have been the top moments in amateur footy this season?
After another campaign wrapped up last Saturday, we look back on what made news in 2018.
BOYLE’S BRILLIANT BARREL
Brighton footballer Jay Boyle went from unassuming midfielder to an overnight sensation in August thanks to an incredible 80m goal.
Boyle booted the massive spiral at Brighton Oval last Saturday from in line with the centre circle, as the ball flew through the goals at half the height of the posts.
A “four to five-goal” wind during the division two Adelaide Footy League match helped the ball on its way.
Boyle won a clearance from the centre bounce, broke clear and, off a handful of steps, put his laces through the footy.
Incredibly, he did not remember the goal at all because he was concussed minutes before the kick. Luckily it was caught on video.
The vision drew tens of thousands of views on adelaidenow.com.au, Facebook and a number of other media outlets.
THE OPPOSITION LEADER, THE SCUM AND THE HOAX TEXT MESSAGE
Next is a hoax from May which involved Peter Malinauskas, a mysterious text message and two bewildered football clubs.
Adelaide University’s C6 match against Elizabeth on Saturday almost did not go ahead after Blacks president Michael Dadds received a text, claiming to be from Eagles D-grade coach Adam Duncan, saying the northern club needed to forfeit due to a lack of players.
Uni officials told its team, affectionately known as “the Scum”, there was no game and posted the news on Facebook.
But Elizabeth and Duncan caught wind of the puzzling situation then informed the Blacks they knew nothing about the text and the match was still on.
Adelaide Uni managed to scrounge together a team, including Labor leader and “Scum” regular Malinauskas, just a couple of hours before the first bounce and went on to prevail 11.9 (75) to 3.7 (25) at Park 10.
TWO DOWN NORTH OF TOWN
A couple of northern clubs made news for all the wrong reasons this season when they were suspended from the competition for breaking agreements with the league.
Salisbury North was turfed when it had a player suspended for intentional striking, while Salisbury West was also booted after its captain Adam Jones received a life ban.
The Hawks have announced they will be returning to the league in 2018 but the future of the Tigers remains unclear.
MAGICAL MAGPIES
Everyone loves a good fairytale flag and Salisbury got just that when it took out the women’s division one premiership last month.
The Magpies stormed home in the fourth quarter to upset Adelaide University 5.10 (40) to 3.4 (22) at Thebarton Oval and claim their first top-tier premiership.
Salisbury had a tough road to claim it.
It finished third at the end of the minor round and beat Christies Beach away by 38 points in the semi-final then had a 12-point upset over minor premier Morphettville Park in the preliminary final to reach the decider.
GULLIES DO IT FOR JONNY
Arguably the most inspirational story of the season came at the very end as Tea Tree Gully won the division one grand final on Saturday.
Gullies coach Justin Maschotta could not hold back the tears as he said “this is for you Jonny”.
Emotion-fuelled wins to do not come much bigger than the Wolves’ 13.15 (93) to 9.9 (63) victory over Rostrevor Old Collegians.
The Gullies were driven by the memory of their teammate Jon Birkin, who died last December, and turned Thebarton Oval into a celebration of his life.
Further tears flowed when the Wolves players presented Jon’s father Terry with a premiership medal as they posed with the cup.
Here are some of the best shots from the final day of the season courtesy of photographer Brenton Edwards:
RIGNEY’S 21-GOAL HAUL
Trevor Rigney had two personal aims going into O’Sullivan Beach/Lonsdale’s round five match: take a mercurial mark and kick six goals.
The veteran Lions full-forward was unable to achieve his first wish in the division seven home game against Flinders University on May 5 but completed the second by quarter-time.
Rigney, 34, then booted five goals in each of the next three terms on his way to a club record 21 majors as OSB/Lonsdale thumped Flinders University 34.12 (216) to 4.4 (28).
But Sullies’ football director Shane Clark reckoned the veteran forward could have booted even more in the thumping.
“He was passing off a lot ... and was very unselfish,” Clark said.
“But it just kept coming to him. It was a phenomenal performance.”
100 GOAL KICKERS
The big bag-kicking full forward may been in decline in the AFL and SANFL, but it experienced a resurgence in the amateurs in 2018.
A massive five players booted 100 goals or more across the league.
They were Jesse Whinnen (Pulteney) Darren Mitchell (Hope Valley), Tom Langford (Pulteney) Ryan Wade (Marion) and Trevor Rigney (OSB/Lonsdale).
In comparison, just one player topped the ton across all divisions in 2017.
RAMS’ EMOTIONAL FLAG
Marion was one of the league’s best fairytale stories this year after a remarkable division seven premiership win.
The Rams upset O’Sullivan/Beach Lonsdale 13.9 (87) to 9.12 (66) but the most remarkable part was the effort of coach Ben Porter.
Shortly before the final siren went, Porter came over to hug his players.
He had only arrived at St Marys Park a few minutes earlier for the “Battle of the Battlers” grand final – he had been at home resting after suffering a stroke at Rams training on August 30.
Porter 12 months ago coached Marion to a second consecutive winless season that included six defeats of more than 200 points in the Southern Football League.
CHOPPERS AT THE FOOTY
Headlines in May centred around the royal wedding but another couple tying the knot stole the show at Walkerville Oval with when two helicopters landed in between matches.
The happy couple and their bridal party boarded the choppers at the Smith St ground before flying up to Rostrevor.
Walkerville started its C-grade fixture against Seaton Ramblers early and pushed back the start of the A and B-grade matches so the helicopters could land on the oval.
The Cats prevailed in the lower grades but the Ramblers were too good in the division three clash, prevailing 19.11 (125) to 9.8 (62).
RELIABLE RICHIE
Eastern Park’s Richie Carter has been around the football club so long he is no longer part of the furniture, he is more like the foundations of the building.
The Demons veteran ran out in the C4 competition against SMOSH West Lakes at Dwight Reserve in July for his 500th game – all at the one club.
He did it in a special guernsey designed for the occasion based on the one he first pulled on 30 years ago.
Carter, who broke the club’s games record of 469 in 2016, has not given too much thought to the magnitude of his latest achievement.
He just loves playing for the Demons.
“To me, it doesn’t feel like my first game of footy any more, obviously, but there’s not much difference between 300 and 500,” he says.
“I didn’t think I would make 300 – then the years rolled on. I never thought I’d get to the club record, but then I got there.”