South Adelaide wins back-to-back SANFLW premierships after beating North Adelaide in the grand final
South Adelaide coach Rick Watts found it hard to put into words how much winning back-to-back SANFLW premierships meant to him, the players and the club after the Panthers made history by beating North Adelaide on Sunday.
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South Adelaide has created history, becoming the first club to win back-to-back SANFLW premierships after beating North Adelaide by 22 points at Glenelg Oval on Sunday.
The Panthers proved too quick and too skilful in wet and windy conditions, prevailing in the grand final 4.7 (31) to 1.3 (9).
South’s victory was set up with brilliant ruck work from Montana McKinnon and the clean hands of midfielder Czenya Cavouras combined with the polish up forward from rising star Indy Tahau.
Cavouras finished with 22 disposals and four clearances.
But it was 17-year-old Tahau who caught the eye of South mentor Rick Watts who, as the winning coach, was charged with awarding the best-on-ground medal.
The rugby-code hopper won the individual accolade after amassing 20 touches, six inside 50s, five tackles and two goals.
“Indy is a beast,” Watts said after the game.
“There were times today that she just monstered girls out the way and the goals she kicked were just huge.
“She just had a complete game.”
South had all the momentum in the first term with 10 inside 50s to the Roosters’ one but failed to capitalise as the Roosters’ backline stood tall under pressure.
The Panthers were finally rewarded for their efforts when Tamara Page ran into an open goal with seconds remaining in the first quarter.
North showed it was ready to fight in the second quarter as Lauren Daniel took a strong mark inside 50 and goaled within the first five minutes.
But South stepped up the pressure with hard tackling and forced North into ball-handling mistakes.
Tahau booted her first major late in the second quarter to give South a 15-point advantage at half-time.
North never gave up and continued to work hard.
But the Roosters were ultimately beaten by side that just handled the conditions better with superior ball use.
Watts was an assistant to ex-Panthers mentor Krissie Steen when they beat Norwood in last year’s SANFLW grand final and found it hard to put into words how much going back-to-back meant.
“I’m super proud of the girls,” Watts said.
“This is just massive.
“I have to credit a lot to Krissie, she helped my coaching development a lot.
“My wife is pregnant with our first child so I may not be coaching next year so I’m so happy to have got the win.”
Roosters co-captain Nadia von Bertouch was best for her team with 22 disposals, while Kendall Howell (19 touches, six rebounds inside 50) was also strong.
North coach Matt Slade was proud of his side but conceded South was better on the day.
“I feel like South was a lot cleaner in tough conditions,” Slade said.
“It was pretty frustrating because we did try hard.
“But we fumbled at the wrong time, didn’t take marks that needed to be taken and for that reason we couldn’t put enough scoreboard pressure on and we paid the price.”
SCOREBOARD
SOUTH ADELAIDE 1.0 3.3 4.5 4.7 (31)
NORTH ADELAIDE 0.0 1.0 1.2 1.3 (9)
BEST – South: Tahau, Cavouras, Charlton, Hammond, McKinnon
North: Von Bertouch, Howell, Daniel, Ward, Ellis.
GOALS – South: Tahau 2, Charlton, Page
North: Daniel
At Glenelg Oval
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