Graham Cornes | The final straw for SANFL grand final change

Imagine a SANFL grand final between the Crows and Port reserves teams? We love the SANFL but that would be time for a boycott, writes Graham Cornes.

James Borlase tackles West Coast’s Jeremy McGovern during the Crows’ round 24 win over the Eagles. Borlase is one of four Crows who played in that AFL win and will return for Sunday’s SANFL qualifying final against Sturt. Picture: Getty Images

There was once a time when our SANFL grand final stood alone for the rest of the country to watch.

Our season finished one week later than the VFL and other competitions around Australia. The game was televised interstate, even in the rugby league states.

It was great promotion for our South Australian game before the VFL and its bankrupt clubs had completely ravaged our competition. It wasn’t unusual to get an excited phone call from a long-lost army mate from NSW, who had not the slightest interest in Aussie rules, saying that he’d been watching Glenelg play.

It showcased the best of our South Australian game. That was then – back in the 1980s.

In 2023 our game is constantly over-shadowed by the AFL juggernaut – except for today when the SANFL elimination final and the qualifying final stand alone.

It’s the one chance we have in a crowded football calendar to showcase the SANFL game. At least it would be if the competition wasn’t compromised by the presence of two AFL reserves teams.

In the qualifying final, Sturt who finished second on the ladder play the Crows reserves who finished third. Ironically, Adelaide are favoured by the betting companies, so highly influenced are they by the presence of AFL players in the team.

The Crows reserves, coached by long-time assistant AFL coach, Michael Godden, have been powerful all year, even with the up and down movement of players into the AFL team.

They are serious about winning the premiership. Why wouldn’t they be? They are competitive footballers coached by a highly qualified, highly motivated footballing man. It will be a travesty if they do.

In the elimination final, a resurgent Central, under coach Paul Thomas take on the Port Adelaide reserves. Ironically, in another sad indictment of how much we have sold out to the AFL, there is not a magpie to be seen anywhere on that famous black and white jumper.

We’ve hated that symbol over the decades as it hovered constantly over the SANFL competition but its demise exemplifies the unhealthy influence the AFL has taken over our South Australian game.

Glenelg players celebrate their 2019 SANFL grand final win over Port Adelaide.

Surely that logo should still be on Port’s SANFL jumper.

Centrals are the feel-good story of the finals. They finished last season languishing at the foot of the ladder but improved dramatically and towards the end of the year, leapfrogged both Port and last year’s grand finalist, North Adelaide, to finish in fourth position on the ladder.

It’s not often the rest of South Australia will be barracking for a Central District team but today is definitely an exception. It hasn’t been a great year for the Port reserves, who won only eight games and drew another, but they slipped into fifth position. Injuries and the need to top up with players from minor competitions impacted but given the AFL team should go deep into its finals, its need to have the reserve team playing is vital.

There is a renewed will at Alberton for the SANFL Power team to succeed. The rest of us hope they are eliminated at the first obstacle. Go you Doggies!

In the qualifying final the Crows look settled; particularly with a defence that has been transposed from its AFL team. Keane, Borlase, Gollant and Parnell all played in the Crows team that thrashed West Coast in the last minor round game of the AFL season. It seems ridiculous.

This renewed SANFL system, which has been in place for several seasons now was introduced for the single purpose of assisting the two AFL clubs to prepare, rehabilitate and educate their players with a common, consistent message. They are playing in the SANFL but the main priority is the AFL competition.

For most of the season, winning is not important. It’s more about players recovering from injury getting fit again; giving young draftees time to develop and test themselves against bigger more mature bodies; or educating a player into a position that he may not be familiar with.

Therein lies the major flaw with the current system. Winning is not the priority. However, we’re now into September. It’s the premiership month when things start to get a little more serious. The Crows and Port think they can swoop in, and against the odds and the record, somehow pinch this year’s SANFL premiership flag.

Neither Port or the Crows have won a SANFL flag in the time the teams have been playing in the SANFL. They’ve come close, but almost by divine intervention they’ve been thwarted.

Port’s AFL reserves have played off twice in the SANFL grand final and been beaten twice, once in 2017 by one point against Sturt and again 2019 when Glenelg won by 28 points.

The Crows were ousted in last year’s preliminary final by the eventual premiers Norwood. It’s only a matter of time and despite any official commentary to the contrary, it will be the SANFL’s worst nightmare.

Imagine a SANFL grand final between the Crows and Port reserves teams? We love the SANFL but that would be time for a boycott.

There is no doubt it is an enormous benefit to the two AFL teams having reserve teams. Under previous systems when AFL players went back to different SANFL teams it was a nightmare for the AFL coaches trying to develop young players. There was not always warm co-operation from the SANFL teams but at least there was equity and no distinct advantage.

It must be galling for experienced SANFL players. One Port or Adelaide AFL player in the club’s reserve team could earn more than the total salary cap of his opposing SANFL team. That, as well as the superior facilities and professional coaching staff, should ensure that the AFL players are much better prepared.

The only advantage the SANFL teams have is the maturity of their players, some of who have been through an AFL system. Motivation may be a factor as well if they are determined not to be upstaged by their entitled AFL opponents.

Nostalgia can be a seductive enchantress. It beguiles us with memories of past glories and triumphant moments. The Adelaide Oval crowds when the game was played in black and white; the Football Park era when the ground overflowed; the day Norwood stole a premiership with a dubious free kick to Phil Gallagher; Russell Ebert single-handedly hoisting the T.S. Hill Trophy aloft, are all memories of a past era.

The SANFL was our dominant football influence. I don’t expect a younger generation to understand but it just seemed, well, better.

We can never return to those days but the current system pales in comparison.

Last Saturday, Glenelg played South Adelaide, one of the original teams of the South Australian Football League, at Glenelg Oval. There was no overpowering AFL presence. The game was umpired to superior SANFL standards, flowed freely and no one side was a team of overpaid players who had the advantage of superior training and coaching facilities.

More importantly, the family atmosphere and the accessibility were uplifting. South didn’t make the finals this year. They finished second to bottom.

But I’d prefer to see them in action instead of a reserve AFL team with its privilege and resources. This system has to change.