One-Percenters: race to 100 goals, premiership predictions, quirky stats, upsets and blowouts
THE race to 100 goals is heating up. Meet the contenders, including former AFL and SANFL players, plus quirky stats, premiership predictions and more in this week’s Adelaide Footy League wrap.
Local Sport
Don't miss out on the headlines from Local Sport. Followed categories will be added to My News.
WELCOME to One-Percenters – a wrap of some of the quirky talking points from across the Adelaide Footy League.
Each edition we will bring you eight or so titbits — they might be eye-catching results, milestones, comebacks, big wins, broken droughts or inspiring stories.
If you have heard about something quirky, email us your suggestions or photos to matthew.turner1@news.com.au.
Here are some of the things that caught our eye at the weekend:
THE RACE TO 100
It is one of the most iconic sights in football – fans flocking onto the field as a player boots his 100th goal for the season.
But who in the Adelaide Footy League will be the first to achieve the feat this year?
O’Sullivan Beach/Lonsdale veteran Trevor Rigney leads the pack after round 10.
The evergreen Lion is on 63 goals at an average of 6.3 a game in division seven.
His tally was boosted by a record-breaking bag of 21 goals in round five against Flinders University.
Breathing down his neck though is Pulteney spearhead Tom Langford on 61 majors.
But the former North Adelaide and Norwood forward has missed one match this season and is kicking at a better rate than Rigney – 6.7 per game.
Langford’s biggest haul was 11 against Hectorville in round nine.
In the competitions second-lowest tier, C5, it appears to be a goalkickers’ paradise as two players from the division fill in the third and fourth spots on the overall list.
Hope Valley’s Darren Mitchell has a tally of 60 and Pulteney’s Jesse Whinnen has racked up 58.
Former Gold Coast Sun now Woodville South gun Timmy Sumner is on 48.
No player looks likely to beat the Adelaide Footy League record of 170, set in 2006 by Gepps Cross’ Clinton Payne.
But who do you think will be the first to 100?
63 - Trevor Rigney (OSB/Lonsdale, D7)
61- Tom Langford (Pulteney, D5)
60 - Darren Mitchell (Hope Valley, C5)
58 - Jesse Whinnen (Pulteney, C5)
50 - Stavros Gatis (Lockleys, D5R)
48 - Ryan Foley (West Croydon, D6), Timmy Sumner (Woodville South, D5)
41 - Ryan Smiech (Para Hills, D6)
38 - Dean Miller (Fitzroy, D6)
37 - James Clark-Rantasa (Gepps Cross, D4)
CRYSTAL BALL CALLS
Last week we made our predictions for the premiers, grand finalists, top fives and relegation candidates in each division, and you shared yours.
Unsurprisingly, the team on top of the ladder in every division at the halfway point of the season attracted the most votes.
The most interesting result was in division five.
Ladder leader CBC Old Collegians received the most votes with 25 per cent, but many of you agreed with the Messengerteam in tipping Kenilworth for the flag, garnering 23 per cent.
Lockleys and Pulteney each finished on 13 per cent so it appears the premiership race is wide open.
Undefeated St Peter’s Old Collegians was deserved favourites in division two, collecting 30 per cent of the vote, but Brighton was a surprise mover with 22 per cent.
The Bombers sent a warning shot to the competition as they dismantled the once-favoured Broadview 11.6 (72) to 4.5 (29) on Saturday at Broadview Oval.
SALISBURY NORTH’S SPOOKY STATS
One for the numerology enthusiasts out there.
After 10 games in division two, Salisbury North has amassed 10 points – that’s five wins and five losses.
But the biggest anomaly is the Hawks’ percentage.
They have scored 877 points and conceded 877 points for a percentage of exactly 50.
The freakish stat is certainly not by design as Salisbury North sits six on the ladder in its first season in the second tier since 2002.
The Hawks were flagged as premiership favourites in the pre-season but have struggled with injuries and form so far.
A 8.4 (52) to 4.7 (31) loss to Unley Mercedes at Kingswood Oval on Saturday meant they fell out of the top five for the first time this season.
UPSETS GALORE IN DIV FOUR
There were a bevy of boilovers in division three on Saturday as three of the five matches resulted in the lower-ranked teams winning.
The biggest upset was ladder-leader Glenunga suffering an 11-point defeat away to Edwardstown.
Poor goalkicking played a factor in the Rams’ 10.9 (69) to 7.16 (58) defeat, but the sixth-ranked Towns showed Glenunga could be beaten.
Not far behind on the scale of upsets was seventh-placed SMOSH West Lakes knocking off second-ranked Colonel Light Gardens at West Lakes Shore, 9.15 (69) to 9.8 (62).
They may have been spurred on to prove us wrong after we predicted last week they would fall into the bottom two by season’s end.
Mitcham and Gepps Cross faced off in a third-versus-fourth battle at Price Memorial Oval and it was the Rams who came out on top, 8.17 (65) to 7.9 (51).
Gepps moved ahead of the Hawks on the ladder after the win.
They are two of five teams with a 5-5 record in a ladder logjam from third to seventh.
WET BATTLE OF THE OLD COLLEGIANS
It was a wet, cold and windy slog between Prince Alfred Old Collegians and Rostrevor Old Collegians in division one on Saturday – and PAOC upset the reigning premier by two points.
The Old Reds came in as underdogs but beat ROC 5.5 (35) to 4.9 (33) at the club’s temporary home of Thebarton Oval.
Low scores did not provide a spectacle for supporters to write home about, although it did make for a nailbiting conclusion to the match.
With time ticking down the ball was locked inside the host’s forward 50 and, after a string of stoppages, Rostrevor’s Luke Manuel found himself unmarked at a ball-up.
He won the clearance and snapped truly on his left foot to reduce the margin to two points.
ROC had another inside 50, but PAC defender Tom Bartlett was able to clear the ball down the line before time ran out.
TALK OF THE TOWNS
THEY have their own song, guernsey and name.
And the girls of the Towns Gardens under-14 football team would not have it any other way.
Edwardstown and Colonel Light Gardens may be rivals in division four, but in the under-14 girls competition they joined forces at the start of the season when each was struggling to fill teams.
Now they boast a 23-strong squad of enthusiastic girls eager to hit the field.
“We became really close really quickly, probably a lot quicker than any of us expected,” Tabitha Warde, 15, says.
“Winning the first game (in April) was a good way to start the year.
That really helped in bringing us together.”
Olivia Emes says the squad has become tight and enjoys playing together.
“It was a bit nerve-racking to begin with because most of us didn’t know the girls coming from the other club,” Olivia, 13, says.
“But we’ve become so close now that we just want to play with each other so hopefully we can keep going again next year.”
The girls played a part in selecting the team’s name and guernsey.
Towns Gardens sing their version of North Melbourne’s Join in the Chorus after wins.
Coach Paul Modra says the players are enjoying the game, regardless of the results.
“The girls have just been fantastic in the way they have taken up the whole concept and just relishing playing alongside each other,” Modra says.
BLOWOUTS IN THE THIRDS
This weekend’s results in C3 made for either brilliant or terrible reading for almost every team, depending on which side you were on.
Of the five fixtures, four were decided by more than 110 points.
Flinders Park demolished Seaton Ramblers at home by a whopping 226 points.
Aaron Reschke and Sam Kokotis kicked seven goals each, while Jay Rich booted six as the Reds prevailed 36.18 (234) to 1.2 (8).
Adelaide University’s 167-point belting of Portland was the next biggest scoreline.
The Blacks were able to kick straight in trying conditions to win 27.14 (176) to 1.3 (9).
Pembroke Old Scholars also had a comfortable 17.21 (123) to 1.1 (7) victory over winless Morphettville Park and Plympton did it easy against Walkerville, 20.12 (132) to 1.1 (7).
Scotch OC and North Haven’s fixture was the only result of the round in C3 to not be lopsided as the Lions ground out a 14-point win.
REPLAYS: SANFL Girls Intrastate Carnival, Day 1
Glenelg pulled off a final-quarter comeback to snatch a late victory while out north one side proved dominant. Catch the day one REPLAYS and watch LIVE from 10.30am Wednesday.
REPLAYS: Australian Junior Hardcourt Tennis Championships, Day 6
The top seeds put on a show of collective strength to dominate the final day of one of Tennis Australia’s flagship junior tournaments. Check out all the REPLAYS from the week-long event.