2020 SANFL finals set to be played at Adelaide Oval
Adelaide Oval is set to host the 2020 SANFL finals series after months of speculation the major round was heading to surburban grounds. SEE YOUR ROUND 12 TEAMS HERE
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ADELAIDE Oval is set to host this year’s SANFL finals series.
After months of speculation finals could be played at a suburban venue, such as Thebarton Oval, they are almost certain to be played at the home of SA football, starting on Sunday, October 4.
An official announcement could be made as early as next week.
“The finals are shaping up as being held on Sundays at Adelaide Oval, which is a great result,’’ SANFL chief executive Jake Parkinson said.
“When we announced the start of the season in May we said we hoped the grand final would be held on the weekend of October 17 at Adelaide Oval but there were a few sticking points, such as international cricket and a date for the AFL grand final.
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“But the way things have panned out, all things being equal, we’ll end up with a similar scenario to other years and have our finals played at Adelaide Oval on Sundays.’’
With the SANFL cut from 10 to eight clubs this season because of Adelaide and Port Adelaide’s withdrawal due to COVID-19 restrictions, only four teams – instead of the usual five – will contest the finals. This will result in just a three-week finals series, rather than the traditional four.
Semi-finals are planned for October 4, the preliminary final for October 11 and the grand final for October 18.
The AFL grand final is scheduled to be held at the Gabba in Queensland on Saturday, October 24.
Port Adelaide, sitting top in the AFL, is poised to host two AFL finals at Adelaide Oval but these will not be played on Sundays, granting the SANFL access to the oval. Any Sheffield Shield cricket matches played before the end of the SANFL season in Adelaide will be staged at other venues.
Parkinson said playing finals at the ground would be a “great reward’’ for the players, who have played for only jobkeeper payments this season. With low virus numbers in SA, it is possible up to 25,000 fans could be allowed into matches.
BAYS HOPE CURRAN CAN COMEBACK
Glenelg is hopeful premiership captain Chris Curran will feature in its finals charge, despite having not played for six weeks.
The 29-year-old key defender, who is battling a back injury, will miss tomorrow’s finals-shaping clash against ladder leader Woodville-West Torrens for work reasons.
He has not played since the Tigers unfurled their premiership flag against Sturt in round six because of the injury and his work placement in the medical field in Renmark.
Glenelg head of football Paul Sandercock said he hoped Curran – an integral member of the club’s back six – would play before the finals and in October, should the third-placed Tigers make it that far.
Curran has only played four games this year but is averaging an impressive 20 disposals and nine marks.
“We’re hoping he might be back playing in the next week or so,’’ said Sandercock. “His back injury is lingering longer than we had hoped and with his work as well, it’s meant he hasn’t played a lot of football for us. But he’s still very much in our thinking.’’
Glenelg has already drawn a line through premiership pair Cory Gregson (foot) and Matthew Uebergang (knee) for the rest of the season.
BLOOD DUVAL’S UNLIKELY SHOT AT BIG TIME
When Mitch Duval was told by West Adelaide football manager Wayne Siekman he had been invited to this year’s State AFL Draft Combine, he thought it was a case of mistaken identity.
“From where I’ve come, I couldn’t believe it,’’ the 23-year-old, first-year Bloods defender said.
“I guess I haven’t taken the usual pathway through the system, so I was shocked.’’
Duval’s football journey has been one crazy rollercoaster ride.
A promising junior footballer with Henley, Duval turned his back on club football when he was 16 because he thought he was too small to match it with the big boys.
“I was about 165cm and light and felt I wasn’t big enough to make the transition from under-16s to under-18s, to play against the bigger kids, so I gave it away,’’ he said.
Duval played casually at his school, Mercedes College, but took a year off from the sport when he left school after Year 11 to take up a tiling apprenticeship.
In that year he sprouted, growing more than 20cm.
Suddenly he measured 188cm and was talked into playing with his brothers, Jesse and Dylan, at Adelaide Footy League club Unley Mercedes Jets.
He started in C-grade before quickly rising through the ranks and making his A-grade debut in division one the following season.
But just as his football was taking off, Duval suffered two major setbacks. He ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in a pre-season trial game, resulting in a knee reconstruction and a year on the sidelines.
In the same year (2018), he was king-hit at a nightclub and spent two nights recovering from concussion at Royal Adelaide Hospital.
“It wasn’t a good situation but I was fortunate there was no structural damage and I was able to return to the field,’’ said Duval, who now wears a helmet in games for precautionary reasons.
He didn’t just return to the field but starred for the Jets in division two last year, winning their best-and-fairest award.
Jets teammate and 2015 West premiership player Daniel Caire was so impressed he told Duval to try his luck with the Bloods.
West coach Gavin Colville said Duval “didn’t miss a beat’’ in the pre-season and after starting the season in the reserves he was promoted to the league side for the Round 3 clash against Sturt and hasn’t looked back.
His intercept marking has been a highlight, leading to AFL clubs’ interest.
“I’m already a bit nervous about the draft combine but it’s exciting clubs have seen something in me they like,’’ said Duval, who was a promising junior baseballer before blowing out his shoulder throwing.
For the first time since his childhood, he is dreaming big again. “In the back of my mind I’ve always had a bit of a dream of playing AFL but, with the journey I’ve had, I thought it was an impossible one for me,’’ said Duval.
“Now, who knows? I’ll just keep trying to put my best foot forward and see what happens.’’
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PANOS KNEE BLOW FOR REDLEGS
Norwood has been dealt a devastating injury blow, with captain Matthew Panos to miss the rest of the season – and possibly all of 2021 – following a serious knee injury.
Already reeling from their shock loss to Central District at Elizabeth Oval on Saturday, the Redlegs – sitting fifth and a game outside the top four with three rounds to play – will now have to dig even deeper into their reserves after suffering a horror injury run this year.
Midfielder Panos, 29 and arguably Norwood’s most influential player, broke down midway through the final quarter of the 13-point loss to the Bulldogs, which left the club's once-promising season teetering on a knife edge.
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The former Western Bulldog has ruptured his anterior and medial cruciate ligaments, almost certainly costing him the 2021 season.
“It’s a shocking blow for him and the club and he’s naturally shattered,’’ Redlegs football manager Mark Ross said.
“He’s a huge out for us, losing your captain and probably your best player.
“It’s massive and tops off the sort of year we’ve had with injury, I suppose.
“But I guess that’s footy and we’ve just got to get on with it.
“We’ll support him with his recovery and I’m sure he’ll be around to support the group, but it certainly makes our task tougher.’’
Ross said he had never experienced a season where Norwood had so many key players go down for so long.
“Like all teams, we’ve had some bad luck with injuries at times, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen us lose so many players for such long periods of time,’’ he said.
“We’re not getting soft tissue injuries but serious problems with ankles, knees and quads.’’
Norwood first-choice players to miss significant playing time this season include Matthew Nunn, Lewis Johnston, Cole Gerloff, Declan Hamilton, Michael Talia, Nick Pedro, Luke Surman and Zac and Josh Richards.
Star Brisbane Lions recruit Ryan Bastinac has also missed games with a calf strain.
Norwood plays fellow finals contenders Sturt and South Adelaide, along with bottom-placed West Adelaide, in its last three minor round games.
JARMAN TURNS PLAYMAKING DEFENDER
A Jarman in defence!
Who would have thought?
While former North Adelaide and AFL stars Darren and Andrew Jarman long thrilled fans with their electrifying midfield and forward line prowess, former Crows rookie Ben Jarman has been recast as a playmaking defender with the Roosters.
Starting the season in his traditional role as a small forward, the classy 22-year-old has been moved into defence in recent weeks and shone.
He has averaged 18 disposals in the past three weeks and regularly hit targets inside 50, giving coach Jacob Surjan another defensive playmaking weapon.
“Jars is a very good user of the ball and he makes very good decisions, so we really like him down back,’’ said Surjan.
“His ability to kick the ball and attack the game has been important for us.
“It's a bit different having a Jarman in the defensive end but he’s a ripping young lad and he just takes all the challenges in his stride.
“It’s a challenge we’ve given him and he’s been getting better week by week.
“We want to get the ball in his hands as much as we can because like all Jarmans good things happen when they have it.’’
TIGERS FINALLY FIND THEIR MOJO AT HOME
Reigning premier Glenelg had a big build up to its twilight game against West Adelaide with one of the major aims to get back to being tough to beat at home, according to coach Mark Stone.
The Bays also wanted to show they would not use the excuse of a tough game against North Adelaide the previous Sunday if they struggled to run out the game against West.
But it was evident early in the game against the Bloods that Glenelg was set for a big night out as they won convincingly by 74 points, kicking an impressive 21 goals.
Stone was happy that his team delivered on several key points he had stressed during the week.
Pressure and work rate and performing better at home after an unacceptable 1-3 record at Brighton Rd this season, especially against South Adelaide in round nine when they lost by 41 points, was very much in the coach’s notes.
“We had 151 contested possessions to 124 and 86 tackles to 80,’’ Stone said.
“That shows commitment to work, that’s the mark of effort and coming off a six-day break compared to their eight days.
“We also wanted to re-establish our (strong) record at home. We did that but we have a few things to work on and face a big game against the Eagles this week.’’
For West it was a horror game which was similar to the belting it copped at home against Norwood earlier in the season.
Bloods coach Gavin Colville said his side had no answer to Glenelg’s power.
“They dominated us right from the start,’’ Colville said.
“They just went through us and scored too easily and with accuracy. And they didn’t drop off too much at the end. That was very disappointing for us but they were on from the beginning.’’
CONTROVERSIAL GOAL PROVES CRUCIAL
Was it a goal? And was it to blame for Norwood’s shock 13-point loss to Central District at Elizabeth Oval on Saturday?
Redlegs coach Jarrod Cotton said a big ‘no’ to both questions.
With the Bulldogs trailing Norwood by 13 points with just seconds left in the third quarter, Dog Ben Nason bobbed up with a controversial goal that proved a difference-maker.
It appeared he got his boot to ball a split second after the siren sounded, but after a discussion between the umpires, the goal was allowed.
The Bulldogs had reduced the three quarter-time deficit to seven points before they got on top in the final quarter to record just their second victory of the season.
While some coaches might have blamed the goal for playing a part in the result, Cotton was more concerned about his team’s defence, saying his side simply did not work as hard as it did last week when it upset ladder leader Woodville-West Torrens.
And the Dogs’ smaller midfielders used the wider expanses of Elizabeth Oval to run Norwood off its feet.
MARLON MAGIC HAS FANS ROARING
When a team kicks 21 goals in a game there is a fair chance there would be a few worth remembering.
One of those came from Glenelg’s Marlon Motlop midway through the last quarter of the 12-goal win against West Adelaide at the Bay.
Motlop’s fourth goal was a freakish, 45m snap at the Glenelg Primary School end while teammate Luke Reynolds claimed the honour quickest goal with a major less than 20 seconds into the third term.
ROUND 11 SCOREBOARDS
EAGLES 0.4 4.4 7.7 10.9 (69)
NORTH 2.3 2.6 5.6 6.8 (44)
BEST – Eagles: J. Hayes, Tsitas, Sinor, Goldsworthy, Toumpas, Mansell, Thompson, Jones, Wehr. North: Wigg, Szekely, Clisby, Smith, Chalmers, C. Craig, C. Combe, Allmond.
GOALS – Eagles: J. Hayes 3, Rowe, Goldsworthy, Von Bertouch, Tsitas, Redden, Toumpas, Wehr. North: Allmond, Wigg, Miller, Szekely, Young, Hender.
UMPIRES – Bowen, Scott, Burke.
CROWD – 2188 at Woodville Oval.
GLENELG 6.2 10.6 16.6 21.9 (135)
WEST ADELAIDE 1.4 4.7 6.7 8.13 (61)
BEST – Glenelg: Partington. Snook, Motlop, Nicholson, Bradley, Scharenberg, Stretch, Yates.
West: Willsmore, Hill, Turner, Haysman, Keough.
GOALS – Glenelg: Motlop 4, Reynolds, McBean 3, Bailey, Yates, Nicholson 2, Kluske, Partington, Allen, Park, Kuller. West: Willsmore, Stevens, Fairlie, Koster, Keough, Hupfeld, Morrish, Turner.
UMPIRES – Schramm, Morgan, Sobieraj
CROWD – 2109 at Glenelg Oval.
STURT 3.2 5.6 7.11 11.14 (80)
SOUTH 3.2 4.4 6.4 7.5 (47)
BEST – Sturt: Colquhoun, Henderson, Battersby, Davis, Lewis, Page, Morrison Sumner. South: Haines, Cross, Heaslip, Hunter, Broadbent, McKinnon.
GOALS – Sturt: Ash Johnson, Evans 2, Lewis, Henderson, Colquhoun, Morrison, McEntee, Grivell, Battersby. South: Cross 2, Overall, Schwarz, Broadbent, Horne, Sampson.
INJURIES – Sturt: Davis (quad).
UMPIRES – Beyer, Crosby, Harris.
CROWD – 1178 at Unley Oval.
CENTRAL 4.2 8.3 12.5 15.8 (98)
NORWOOD 4.2 8.6 13.6 13.7 (85)
BEST – Central: Butcher, Boyd, Nason, T Schiller, Olsson, J Schiller, O’Brien, Jenner. Norwood: Douglas, Nunn, Baulderstone, Bastinac, Grigg, Barry, Panos.
GOALS – Central: Butcher 5, Olsson 3, McLean, O’Brien 2, Nason, Toner, Marsh. Norwood: Panos 3, Pinyon, Grigg 2, Nunn, Abbott, Bampton, Rokahr, Barry, Gerloff.
UMPIRES – Hundertmark, Lewis, Bryce.
CROWD – 1573 at Elizabeth Oval.