From the Barossa to Goolwa, these are the 10 country and amateur football sides to watch in 2020
Hundreds of teams across plenty of competitions, we have picked out 10 sides to keep a keen eye on across the 2020 South Australian football seasons.
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SATURDAY afternoons at the footy are always great no matter what level you’re at.
If you’re watching the B-grade in a local competition or you’re tuning into a Crows game, footy’s always the winner.
We’ve gone through and looked at who are the 10 sides across the state you should keep an eye on in 2020.
Angaston (Barossa, Light & Gawler Football Association)
The Panthers came from the clouds in 2019 after finishing as wooden spooners in 2018 to play off in a grand final.
Angaston signed ex-North Adelaide player Jay Shannon as its player-coach, former Woodville-West Torrens ruckman Marc Borholm and the main star, ex-Port Adelaide Magpies captain Steve Summerton to compliment a growing crop of youngsters.
Despite the trio’s immediate impact, the Panthers were unable to take the flag, losing to Tanunda in a grand final for the ages.
Going into 2020, Angaston is eager to ensure the same result doesn’t occur by signing former Eagle Scott Lewis.
The Panthers will definitely compete again, and with a compliment of stars across the board, may be hard to stop.
Crystal Brook (Northern Areas Football Association)
Crystal Brook is an impressive football club, and over the past five seasons its record stands at 66 wins and four losses for three premierships.
Despite losing star midfielder Campbell Combe to the SANFL, the Roosters were again terrific and finished as minor premiers.
However, they lost to Broughton-Mundoora in the grand final by 37 points.
With that sort of record though, the Roosters will crow again, and should be an attacking delight to view in 2020.
Eudunda-Robertstown (North Eastern Football League)
Despite finishing sixth out of eight teams in the NEFL, the Southern Saints have reason to be optimistic going into 2020.
Former West Adelaide veteran Chris Schmidt will take the reins as player-coach, while they’ve also recruited a former 70-goal-a-season forward in Justin Hardy from Jervois.
Goals and class make the Saints a side to watch next year.
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Hahndorf (Hills Football League)
The big boys of the Hills dominated the 2019 season, finishing undefeated and claiming the premiership by beating Onkaparinga Valley by 34 points in the decider.
A side that boasted both Matty Jaensch and Kyle Cheney was far and away the best side in the Hills competition, finishing the home and away season four and a half games in front of second-placed Mt Barker.
Hahndorf has won the past two flags and has its sights firmly set on a third consecutive title.
Hamley Bridge (Adelaide Plains Football League)
July 16, 2016 is a date that will continue to rock the Bombers for the foreseeable future.
That date was the Bombers’ most recent win, as they have sunk to the bottom of the APFL and have been on the receiving end of heavy beatings ever since.
It has been a tough time for a side which won its most recent flag in 2014, but has only claimed three victories since that day.
The Bombers came agonisingly close to claiming that victory, but were thwarted by a goal after the siren against Angle Vale.
Can Hamley Bridge rise to win again?
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Hummocks-Watchman (Adelaide Plains Football League)
The Eagles had been building for years before they claimed the APFL flag over an experienced Two Wells side in the 2019 decider.
It was a tight top four with any of Balaklava, Two Wells, Hummocks-Watchman and Mallala a possibility of winning the flag, with the four sides separated by just two points at the end of the home and away season.
Henry Wright was terrific all season and finished with 74 goals for the season, while Nathan Studham again showed off his talents.
The Eagles are young, so it’ll be interesting to see if they can defend their title comfortably in 2020.
Noarlunga (Southern Football League)
Imagine going through the entire home and away season undefeated … and losing the grand final.
Noarlunga did just that as it was blown away in a second quarter onslaught from Flagstaff Hill, and ultimately went down by 33 points.
If this season is anything to go by, the Shoes will be a scoring machine once again.
Four of the top five goal-kickers in the SFL came from Noarlunga as it kicked 2151 points for the year.
Hungry and dangerous in 2020, but will have a new coach at the helm.
Prince Alfred OC (Adelaide Football League)
The first of two Adelaide Football League clubs, PAOC fell agonisingly short in the grand final to Payneham Norwood Union despite having eight more scoring shots.
What has PAOC gone and done to fix that? Signed former Port Adelaide and Melbourne midfielder Jack Trengove.
Trengove was dominant at SANFL level with the Magpies and was unlucky not to get a call up to the AFL side.
The damage he could do at amateur level will be scary and definitely puts PAOC into premiership favouritism.
St Peter’s OC (Adelaide Football League)
St Peter’s finished in fourth and had a 10-10 record after finals, but it now has a defensive star.
Goldsack suffered a horrendous knee injury at the end of 2017, but made a miraculous comeback to play in the Pies’ grand final loss to West Coast in 2018.
The 32-year-old played no AFL games this year and retired after the Pies were bundled out of the finals.
A tall and reliable player across the field, Goldsack could fit anywhere and plug a hole comfortably.
Tanunda (Barossa, Light & Gawler Football Association)
The Magpies are the defending premiers in the BL & GFA and simply ooze class.
With player-coach Dean Terlich leading the line alongside immense amounts of talent like Josh Trembath and Riley McFarlane, Tanunda will contend again in 2020.
The Magpies are also stacked with local talent, who proved to be a large difference in the grand final win over Angaston.