Glenelg’s Rulla Kelly-Mansell is back on track at the Tigers after injuries and shock cancer scare
Rulla Kelly-Mansell’s journey over the past 18 months has included recovering from cancer, overcoming a serious back injury and living with the fear his mum might be left wheelchair-bound. YOUR ROUND 10 SANFL TEAMS HERE
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Glenelg’s Rulla Kelly-Mansell has been to hell and back.
In the past 18 months the Tasmanian has conquered cancer, overcome a serious back injury and dealt with the fear that his mum might be left wheelchair-bound.
“It’s been tough, there’s no doubt about it,’’ the playmaking 28-year-old said.
“But I keep things in perspective and look at the other side, how bad things could have been.
“I’m healthy now and have a roof over my head, so I’m very grateful because there are a lot of people far worse off.’’
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Life is suddenly bright for the highly-rated Tasmanian Football League premiership player, whose move to South Australia to play for Glenelg at the end of 2018 hasn’t exactly gone to plan.
In his first season at Tigerland last year, 187cm forward-turned-defender Kelly-Mansell started in the reserves and after round two fractured four vertebrae in his spine, sidelining him for 12 weeks.
He returned late in the season to make his league debut in the round 16 draw against North Adelaide at Prospect, having nine disposals.
Kelly-Mansell lost his spot in a strong Glenelg team which went on to win its first premiership in 33 years but “loved being a part of the group’’.
After a strong pre-season this year – and with his cousin Rhyan Mansell also making the move from Tasmania to the SANFL to join Woodville-West Torrens – Kelly-Mansell in February started to experience lower back and abdominal pain.
Then he noticed one of his testicles had become rock-hard.
He quickly saw a doctor and tests revealed he had an aggressive form of testicular cancer.
“It was pretty scary because the cancer had travelled through my blood vessels to the lymph nodes near my aorta,’’ Kelly-Mansell said.
He underwent surgery and nine weeks of intense chemotherapy at Royal Adelaide Hospital before being cleared to resume football training.
In the meantime, his mum, Darlene, who lives in Tasmania, broke her neck in a bad fall.
“Things were touch and go for a while because with the break she suffered 98 per cent of people end up being a paraplegic, quadriplegic or pass away,’’ Kelly-Mansell said.
“Fortunately she’s just had her neck brace removed and been told she’ll make a full recovery.’’
Kelly-Mansell, who has indigenous heritage and is a cousin of rising North Melbourne star Tarryn Thomas, has returned to the field, playing consecutive reserves games.
While he has done things tough, Mansell, 20, has hit the ground running with the Eagles as he chases his AFL draft dream.
A tough, uncompromising defender, he has been a key part of new coach Jade Sheedy’s back six and produced the tackle of the season when he hauled down Glenelg premiership star Marlon Motlop in the goalsquare at the Bay in round five.
The cousins, who are great mates, played against each other in the TFL – Kelly-Mansell for Launceston and Mansell for North Launceston – and have a dream of going head-to-head in the SANFL.
“It’s a driving force for both of us and would be very special, especially after what Rulla has had to overcome this year,’’ Mansell said.
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STONE SLAMS COIN TOSS FARCE
THE SANFL has guaranteed there will be no repeat of the bungled coin toss that incurred the wrath of Glenelg premiership coach Mark Stone at the Bay on Saturday.
Stone accused the league of “hitting a new low’’ and questioned whether it was a “D-grade amateur league’’ competition after rival captains Max Proud (Glenelg) and Joel Cross (South Adelaide) were asked by field umpire Michael Schramm to play rock paper scissors – rather than toss a coin – to decide choice of ends.
In bizarre pre-game scenes, Cross won the hand game, picking rock to Proud’s scissors, and kicked with a four-goal wind which set up South’s convincing 41-point win.
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Reacting to a photo posted on social media of the pair performing their unusual “coin toss’’, Stone wrote: “Absolute disgrace. The SANFL has hit a new low. What are we D grade amateurs. You have got to be kidding.’’
SANFL general manager of football Matthew Duldig said the league had addressed the matter and vowed it wouldn’t happen again.
He explained that a fourth (emergency) umpire, whose duties include supplying the coin that is tossed pre-game, was forced to leave Glenelg after the reserves match because of a family emergency.
“Michael met the captains in the middle of the ground and realised no-one had come out to provide him with a coin,’’ Duldig said.
“He asked the goal umpires and they didn’t have one so he engaged both captains and they were comfortable to go down the rock paper scissors path.
“It’s not something we liked or want to see going forward – we would have preferred Michael to have sourced a coin from somewhere – but we are comfortable with the way he handled the situation under the circumstances.
“However we will be making sure that all processes are followed to ensure this situation doesn’t happen again and that the coin toss is conducted in the appropriate manner.’’
Dual Magarey Medallist Cross said he had never experienced such an unusual pre-match build-up to deciding choice of ends but described it as “no dramas at all’’.
“Me and Max just came out into the middle, the umpires said they didn’t have a coin and asked if we would mind doing rock paper scissors and we were both happy do it,’’ said Cross, who won the inaugural John Schneebichler Medal as best afield.
“I went rock, Max went scissors and I was lucky enough to kick first with a very strong wind.
“I’m not sure if anything like that has happened in the SANFL before but from my perspective – and I’m sure Max felt the same – it wasn’t a big deal.
“It was the same 50-50 game of chance as tossing a coin.’’
OLD BULLDOG DAYS STILL SPECIAL FOR CLARKO
Despite the passing years and other commitments, such as coaching Hawthorn in the AFL, legendary coach Alastair Clarkson still has a strong affinity with Central District – the club he coached to the 2001 SANFL premiership.
The Hawks were in town to play Port Adelaide in the twilight Saturday fixture but “Clarko’’ grabbed the chance to take his team to his old stomping ground for a training session last week.
At his post match press conference following Hawthorn’s narrow loss to Port Adelaide the subject of Central District came up, with “Clarko’’ fondly remembering his days there.
“We trained at Centrals this week and it was great to see some old faces. It’s amazing, footy clubs,’’ Clarkson said.
“I rocked back in there and (saw) familiar faces and surroundings, I really enjoyed getting back there.
“They’re battling a bit too but their time will come and so will ours.
“I hope they get themselves a win.’’
Told that the Bulldogs had won, “Clarko’’ was pleased.
“They beat Westies? Out there?
“The uu-dogs will be pumping out there tonight, the boys.
“They’re a great club, some great people in my time and they’re still there.’’
NEW EAGLES FINDING THEIR WINGS UNDER SHEEDY
Eagles coach Jade Sheedy, who has his team sitting top with an 8-1 record, knows he could have a nice selection headache in the coming weeks as he continues to introduce new players into his league team, including star VFL pair James Tsitas and Sam Lowson.
Tsitas has excelled in his past two games and AFL draft prospect Lowson had a run in the reserves last Saturday in his first hit out with the club.
But Sheedy, who had a stint at amateur football club Athelstone as a player and coach, also knows the value of promoting local, community players.
This season he has blooded a dozen locals, with the most recent being Zane Williams from `Woodville South.
Williams played well against Sturt on Saturday while 28-year-old former Sacred Heart Old Collegians forward Tristan Carcuro was handed a debut in round one and hasn’t missed a beat.
Sheedy knows there will be a time when not every player who deserves a league spot will make the team.
“I believe we need a good core of about 30 players who can step up and play good league football when needed,’’ Sheedy said.
“We still have a few in the shed (players) who can come back into the side from injury, which will be interesting.
“It will be tough at the selection table but it’s a good feeling to have.’’
PRESSURE RELEASED OFF BULLDOGS BOSS
There was plenty of relief on a huge day for Central District Football Club on Saturday.
The Bulldogs ended a 372-day drought as first-year coach Jeff Andrews claimed a breakthrough win, his charges putting together a strong four-quarter performance against West Adelaide at Elizabeth Oval.
And it came after South Australian Premier Steven Marshall launched Sonny, the biography of Central icon Sonny Morey.
As Mr Marshall walked into the lunch held in honour of 200-gamer Morey, passionate Bulldogs supporters told him their side, after a draw and seven losses so far this season, would be up for it. “We’re going to win for Sonny,” they told Mr Marshall.
And the Doggies capped what president David Cavenett described as a great day for the club with an impressive 22-point win.
But the biggest emotion was relief.
“No doubt I was feeling under a bit of pressure coming in,” Andrews said.
“Being a club that had fairly recent success, we want to be marching back up the ladder.”
The Dogs now are just percentage behind Westies at the foot of the table, desperate to avoid their first wooden spoon since 1977.
Andrews’ immediate feeling was “relief, not so much for me, more for the boys – they’ve been working so bloody hard and just haven’t been getting the reward”.
“We’ve had a few injuries, we’ve had a few hurdles but I think we have played more in our league side than anybody else this year, we have played well over 40 players and that will be a bonus for us having got games into those guys,” Andrews said.
Central’s coach, who had the unenviable task of following in the footsteps of seven-time premiership boss Roy Laird, felt a win had been building, “because our best against every side had been good” but a four-quarter performance had been missing.
“We have been shooting ourselves in the foot in what’s been a tough year, with coronavirus, nobody’s getting paid, but now there’s a bit of a reward, they should get to enjoy it.”
The Bulldogs, whose previous win came back in Round 17 last year against Norwood on August 16, were inspired by a best-afield performance from Justin Hoskin, who booted four goals to go with 29 disposals and 13 marks.
“We had some poor quarters across the season in each game – one quarter, two quarters – but today we put four quarters together,” Andrews said.
“And we held our nerve and composure.”
The long-awaited win came a week after the Dogs were at their lowest ebb for the season, thumped by 65 points by Sturt at Unley.
“We had a couple of ordinary quarters,” Andrews said.
“I guess the one thing we have done all year is try to be honest. Last week was extremely disappointing but we went away and we reviewed the game and we worked out where we went away from the things we were trying to do and we got them right today.”
The Dogs made some changes and there were plenty of positives.
“Connor McLean gave us a bit of a target up forward, Fraser Fort came back into the side and he came back in a bit of form,’’ Andrews said.
“In the disaster that was last week we threw Kyle Presbury back and we think we might have found a half-back flanker who uses the ball well. There’s a silver lining in every storm cloud and that’s what we found with him.”
Presbury earned 12 possessions in the third quarter and rarely wasted anything.
“He was terrific, especially when the game needed to be won,” Andrews said.
Big Jonathan Marsh played his best game for the Doggies. “He was terrific and that’s vindication for the work he has been doing,” Central’s boss said.
“They say big blokes take a little bit of time and he’s not at the end of the road yet but he took a big step forward today.”
The longer the game went the better the Dogs looked, moving the ball well with quick hands and greatly-improved kicking into attack. And one of the keys to that was Travis Schiller, renowned for winning the hard ball but whose disposal has sometimes let him down.
“He has been really good but the difference in his game today we saw was he finished off. His kicking was really good to our forwards’ advantage,” Andrews said.
The better they moved the ball and hit the scoreboard, the more Central’s fans sparked up.
“It was the first time I have experienced our crowd getting up and about – the players were really drawing some energy from our crowd,” Andrews said.
“It was a bit of a perfect storm – we got ourselves in a position to win, we did finally finish off some of the hard work we have been doing upfield, kick some goals and the energy builds from there.’’
“I have had to wait too bloody long for it,” Andrews said of the club’s iconic crowd noise. But the wait was over – in more ways than one – on a sunny day for the Dogs.
ROOSTERS MAKING PLENTY OF NOISE
With its fifth win on the trot, second-placed North Adelaide is looking very ominous, with a miserly defence and plenty of midfielders who also kick goals.
This makes for some “hard and tough” conversations with players on the periphery of the team, according to coach Jacob Surjan.
He described Alex Barnes, who is stuck in the reserves, as the club’s “premier ruckman”, but even he has had to “earn his place” in the Roosters’ best 22.
“He’s got to fight for his position like all the other guys, which is good,” Surjan said
North’s 52-point demolition of Norwood at Prospect on Saturday impressed Redlegs coach Jarrod Cotton.
“They’ve got a good balance across the whole ground,’’ he said.
ROUND 9 SCOREBOARDS
SOUTH 4.6 5.7 11.11 13.13 (91)
GLENELG 2.2 4.2 4.2 8.2 (50)
BEST – South: Cross, Schwarz, Haines, Heaslip, Broadbent, Summerton, Andrews, Loneragan. Glenelg: Nicholson, Partington, Bradley, Motlop.
GOALS – South: Cross, Overall 3, Fitt, McCreery 2, Heaslip, Andrews, Wilkinson. Glenelg: Kluske 2, McBean, Reynolds, Bailey, Scharenberg, Park, Yates.
UMPIRES – Sobieraj, Schramm, Sboro.
CROWD – 1448 at Glenelg Oval.
NORTH 5.5 9.7 14.10 15.13 (103)
NORWOOD 0.0 4.1 6.2 8.3 (51)
BEST – North: Spina, Schwarz, Hender, Moore, C Combe, Wigg. Norwood: Douglas, Baulderstone, Bastinac, Grigg, Abbott.
GOALS – North: Hender 4, Le Bois, Schwarz, Minervini Moore 2, Harvey, Ramsey, Jarman. Norwood: Ellison 2, Abbott, Douglas, Baulderstone, Grigg, Barry, Panos.
UMPIRES – Hundertmark, Scott, Harris.
CROWD – 1651 at Prospect Oval.
CENTRAL 0.3 3.6 7.7 10.13 (73)
WEST 2.3 5.3 7.3 8.3 (51)
BEST – Central: Hoskin, T. Schiller, Presbury, Marsh, Boyd, Fort, Toner.
West: Dunkin, Turner, Boyle, May, Anderson.
GOALS – Central: Hoskin 4, O’Brien 2, Stephenson, Pisani, Butcher, Toner.
West: Keough 2, Johnson, Thilthorpe, Waite, Fairlie, Turner, May.
UMPIRES – Crosby, Lewis, Bennett.
CROWD – 1083 at Elizabeth Oval.
EAGLES 3.0 5.2 7.4 11.6 (72)
STURT 1.1 1.2 2.4 5.5 (35)
BEST – Eagles: Tsitas, McNeil, Sinor, Toumpas, Foote, Hall. Sturt: Henderson, Battersby, Harms, Davis, Slimming, Voss.
GOALS – Eagles: Rowe 3, Sinor 2, J. Hayes, N. Hayes, Thompson, Von Bertouch, Jones, Tsitas. Sturt: Morrison 2, Carey, Lewis, Davis.
INJURIES – Bennett (ankle), Sutcliffe (knee), Carey (ankle).
UMPIRES – Morgan, Burke, Bowen
CROWD – 1337 at Maughan Thiem Kia Oval.