History repeats for Norwood as club grabs second back-to-back premierships
NORWOOD'S back-to-back SANFL premiership win has thrown up some eerie similarities to the last time the Redlegs achieved the feat 90 years ago.
NORWOOD ends a 15-year premiership drought by beating West Adelaide then backs it up the following year with a grand final win over North Adelaide.
Sound familiar?
Not only has that come to fruition over the past two seasons but, strangely, it also happened when the club last won back-to-back flags in 1922-23.
The Redlegs went into the 1922 decider against West at Adelaide Oval without a premiership for 15 years, which was the longest in the club's history at the time.
Former North Adelaide and West Adelaide champion Tom Leahy had been appointed Norwood's coach at the start of the season and was in charge of a squad boasting future SA Football Hall of Famers Walter Scott, who would go on to win two Magarey Medals, and Syd White (captain).
In an eerie similarity to last season's grand final against the Bloods, the game was low scoring and West was inaccurate (3.12 in 2012, 2.16 in 1922).
Norwood prevailed by 33 points to claim its 15th premiership.
The following season the Redlegs maintained the bulk of their team and added future Magarey Medallist Alick Lill.
They ran out 26-point winners in the grand final over the Roosters.
As for what happened the next year, Norwood missed the premiership decider, finishing third in Leahy's last season at the helm.
Will history repeat itself in 2014?