Long-time Eagles fan and volunteer Paul Marks says he’s ‘totally gutted’ after ‘unfair’ outcome to the 19th man saga
A “TOTALLY gutted” long-time Eagles fan and volunteer says replaying Sunday’s controversial preliminary final would have been the only fair result and that this weekend’s grand final between North Adelaide and Norwood is tarnished.
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PAUL Marks reckons his stomach churned and he struggled to sleep after learning at 1am on Tuesday that Woodville-West Torrens’ finals fate was sealed.
Marks, a long-time Eagles fan and volunteer, had held out hope the SANFL tribunal might offer his club a lifeline by overturning the result of Sunday’s controversial preliminary final, in which North Adelaide fielded 19 players for almost four minutes.
So he was “totally gutted” when he discovered retired Supreme Court judge Michael David QC had upheld the Roosters’ five-point win and confirmed they would play Norwood in the premiership decider this Sunday.
“My first reaction was ‘how pathetic but how predictable’,” Marks, 66, said.
“I stayed up as late as I could to try to hear the (tribunal outcome) on the news but fell asleep then I woke up at 1am and heard it.
“Then I was awake until 4am because I couldn’t get to sleep – my stomach was churning.
“The decision-making process is totally flawed.
“It sounded like the retired judge wanted to have the game replayed but he had to make a decision one way or the other.
“Fairness has just not prevailed here. I truly believe that the only fair result would’ve been a replay (of the game).
“To say I’m gutted and devastated would be an understatement.”
The Roosters scored 1.2 when they had the extra player on the ground.
Marks said the Eagles did not play well to cough up a 47-point lead and lose to North but “that was irrelevant to this issue”.
He said the grand final between the Roosters and Redlegs was now tarnished.
“The game on Sunday means nothing now because Norwood are playing against a side that shouldn’t be there – it’s as simple as that,” he said.
Marks, who started following West Torrens in 1960, said he would eventually start thinking about the Eagles’ chances of making a deeper finals run next season.
“But right now, being as gutted as I am, you wonder how you can bounce back,” he said.
