Izak Rankine is a young SANFL gun, but will the AFL scouts have some extra questions?
THE top five have opened up a gap, West Adelaide young gun Izak Rankine’s discipline is being questioned, Norwood storms back and James Gowans is no longer leading from the front. It has been another big weekend of SANFL action.
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- Panthers prove they are serious
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- Panos sparks Redlegs comeback
- Port breaks losing streak
THE top five have opened up a gap, West Adelaide young gun Izak Rankine’s discipline is being questioned, Norwood storms back and James Gowans is no longer leading from the front. It has been another big weekend of SANFL action.
TOP FIVE SETTLED?
Is the top five settled already?
The wins by Norwood over West Adelaide on Saturday and South Adelaide over Sturt on Monday means the sixth-placed Bloods have dropped two games outside the top five.
We are only halfway through the minor round but it will take a massive effort for a team to jump from the bottom five into a finals spot.
There will be plenty riding on the battle between third-placed Double Blues and Port at Alberton Oval on Sunday with the home side being five points outside the top five.
LEARNING FROM MISTAKES
The talents of Izak Rankine can never be questioned and he is headed to the big stage as a high draft pick.
But it seems he does not learn from his mistakes given his actions in West Adelaide’s loss to Norwood at Richmond Oval on Saturday.
With 10 minutes left in the game and the Bloods up by five points, Mason Middleton marked 35m from goal and in front. Michael Talia pushes Brett Turner in the back and the Bloods player stumbles forward.
In response, Rankine pushes Talia in the back and the Redlegs defender falls to the ground. The umpire takes the ball from Middleton and awards a free kick to Talia.
Seven minutes later and the Redlegs leading by one point, Redleg Matthew Panos is penalised for a sloppy high tackle on John Noble just 15m from goal and in front. There was no malice in the tackle, yet Rankine pushes Panos over and the free kick is reversed.
And the Redlegs swept the ball down the ground for a goal.
Rankine was also guilty of costly poor discipline in last year’s school’s knockout decider when playing for Henley High against Prince Alfred College.
He gave away a free and subsequent 25m penalty late in the game which enabled PAC to take the ball into attack and kick the winning goal.
Then in a pre-season game against Sturt this year, he was reported for striking and banned for three games.
He’s a gun, no doubt about that, but the AFL scouts might be asking an extra question in their interviews.
BLOOD BOILING
The two calls against Rankine to give the ball to the Redlegs were technically correct and the finger cannot be pointed at the umps. My issue with the Talia incident is his actions were no different to Rankine, except he went to ground.
In the other incident, Panos made sure the ump noticed him go to ground, but the reversal was definitely there. How did Rankine not learn from the Talia free kick?
Keep in mind, he gave away a 25m penalty early in the final quarter against the Redlegs which led to Panos kicking a goal.
That came just seconds after a really poor call not to penalise improved Redleg Matt Nunn for a blatant holding the ball.
BACK IN THE PICTURE
Eight years ago, The Advertiser ran a photo of James Rowe, Jackson Edwards and Ben Jarman at a junior football clinic. They are the sons of former Adelaide players Stephen, Tyson and Darren.
On Saturday, the trio were together again on the football field. James was back in the Woodville-West Torrens league side and among his Crows opponents were Jackson and Ben.
GOWANS LOSES HIS TOUCH
James Gowans may have been an inspiration and committed leader for Central District when the Bulldogs were winning all those premierships.
But my mail is he has lost his touch and was among the poorer performers in the 10-year anniversary celebrations of the 2008 flag. If he had played like he partied on the weekend he would not have lasted much beyond quarter-time.
Ian Callinan, who has returned to Tasmania after making his mark with the Bulldogs and Crows in South Australia, was among those back in town for the fun.
AFL EXPERIENCE
Crows state league coach Ryan O’Keefe mentioned the high number of top-up players in his side on Saturday and said the Eagles probably had as much AFL experience.
He is not far off the mark. The Crows had four players who have played AFL — Kyle Cheney, Alex Keath, Curtly Hampton and Reilly O’Brien — and they have combined for 146 games.
The Eagles had four who had played at the highest level: Jarrad Redden, Luke Thompson and Paul Stewart who have 136 games between them.
OOPS, ALMOST JACK
Six minutes into the final quarter and with the game against South Adelaide up for grabs, Sturt bigman Jack Osborn was superb in grabbing the ball from the ruck and throwing it onto the boot for a team-lifting snap for goal.
As soon as the ball left the boot, Osborn had the fist raised in celebration. Unfortunately for the big fella, he had to drop the arm just as quick when the ball cannoned into the post.
ROUND 10 RESULTS
Norwood 13.17 (95) d West Adelaide 14.10 (94) at Richmond Oval.
Port Adelaide 12.5 (77) d Central District 9.5 (59) at Elizabeth Oval.
Eagles 16.18 (114) d Adelaide 9.6 (60) at Woodville Oval.
North Adelaide 12.10 (82) d Glenelg 11.6 (72) at Glenelg Oval.
South Adelaide 11.8 (74) d Sturt 9.12 (66) at Unley Oval.
LADDER
North Adelaide 14 (57.12%)
Eagles 13 (55.95)
Sturt 12 (55.24)
Norwood 12 (54.68)
South Adelaide 12 (53.12)
West Adelaide 8 (46.36)
Port Adelaide 7 (47.02)
Central District 6 (48.95)
Glenelg 6 (46.54)
Adelaide 0 (35.97)
LEADING GOALKICKERS
Terry Milera (Glenelg) 27
Mark Evans (Sturt) 21
Josh Scott (Glenelg) 20
Mitch Grigg (Norwood) 18
Lindsay Thomas (Port) 17
Shane McAdam (Sturt) 17
Lewis Hender (North) 16
Isaya McKenzie (Central) 16
Jack Hayes (Eagles) 16
Matthew Panos (Norwood) 15
ON THE BANDWAGON
Noarlunga Oval is just down the road so it’s an easy call to jump on with the South boys after the win over Sturt. Jarrad Wright is doing a terrific job in his first season. How improved is Joey Haines?
OFF THE BANDWAGON
Until Sturt finds consistency I’ll stay off the craft beers.
RANKINGS
1: South Adelaide — have to admire how the Panthers went about their work at Unley Oval. The leaders Keegan Brooksby and Joel Cross led from the front. They also stitched up the Roosters at Prospect a few weeks back.
2: West Adelaide — how can the Bloods be ranked so high after a loss? They have nowhere near the big names of the Redlegs but they should have won if not for some really poor selfish decisions.
3: Norwood — the Redlegs did fight back from a hefty deficit at three-quarter time, but they got some help from the Bloods and a few favourable decisions.
4: North Adelaide — the Roosters are under pressure to keep performing and they had a spirited opponent to overcome at the Bay.
5: Eagles — they got the win everyone expected although they made life tough for themselves at times.
6: Port Adelaide — it was a much-needed win at Elizabeth. However, they still produced an average performance for a team with so much talent. They were lucky the Bulldogs were below average.
7: Sturt — still struggling for consistency in a game and look a bit flat at times. But they did face an opposition which really came to play.
8: Glenelg — took the fight to the Roosters and kept plugging away each time the visitors looked set to blow the game apart.
9: Central District — again produced a first quarter which should have set up a win. The skills going into attack are awful and too many players lacking the necessary work ethic.
10: Adelaide — there are just too many top-up players for the Crows to get a win. What is disconcerting is there are too many players racking up league games they have not earned.
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