Sturt fined by SANFL for having extra man on field in Round 5
Sturt not happy with fine for 19th man, setback for Eagles and Tigers make another statement. Another big week of state league action wrapped up in this week’s Monday Recovery.
EXTRA MAN IS FINE … FOR A FINE
The 19th man story just keeps adding another chapter.
Now it is Sturt’s turn to be in the spotlight for having an extra man on the ground. In the Anzac Round 5 win over South Adelaide at Unley Oval on April 28, the Double Blues had 19 on the field.
It happened when Mark Evans ran to the interchange bench and Tom Condon replaced him. But Josh Hone followed Condon onto the ground, only to be summoned off.
The Double Blues have been fined $500, the first club to be sanctioned this season, and they are not happy. Hone was on the ground for only nine seconds and he did not get involved in the action is their argument.
So what is the length of time before a club earns a sanction from the SANFL? Central District and North Adelaide had an extra player on then ground for a couple of seconds in the Round 12 encounter on July 6 …
EAGLES SETBACK
Wowee, the Bulldogs went bang at Woodville Oval on Sunday and threw a massive spanner in the works for final five predictions.
Apart from the Bulldogs snapping a nightmare nine-game losing streak, the other big winner was Norwood. The Redlegs got the chocolates against South Adelaide on Saturday and jumped into fifth spot, a game above the Panthers and Eagles.
The Roosters, Double Blues, Bulldogs and West Adelaide are the Redlegs’ final four opponents so they will fancy their chances of not only staying in the five, but maybe even a top three spot.
The Double Blues and Port Adelaide are only a game above the Redlegs, although those two clubs have vastly superior percentage.
There is already one certainty, Glenelg will play in the finals for the first time since 2011. They are guaranteed major round action.
The Crows need only one more win to join them.
RUN HOME
So with four rounds to go, how do the sides shape up as the finals approach.
Only Glenelg is guaranteed a finals spot.
Glenelg — Adelaide (home), North (away), West (h), Sturt (a).
Adelaide — Glenelg (a), West (a), Eagles (a), South (a).
Sturt — Eagles (a), Norwood (h), Port (h), Glenelg (h).
Port — South (a), Eagles (h), Sturt (a), Central (a).
Norwood — North (h), Sturt (a), Central (h), West (a).
South — Port (h), Central (a), North (h), Adelaide (h).
Eagles — Sturt (h), Port (a), Adelaide (h), North (a).
SPOON UP FOR GRABS
As for the wooden spoon, the cat has jumped back into the pigeon coop after the Roosters knocked over the Crows and the Bulldogs upset the Eagles.
The Roosters are only a game behind the Bloods and have much better percentage. It is a big game this week for the Bloods against the Bulldogs.
TIGERS ROAR LOUD
The Tigers would take a 24-point win at Alberton Oval any day of the week, no doubt about that. Especially when Port was coming off five successive wins.
But coach Mark Stone would probably be a little miffed with the final quarter when his side allowed Port to kick six goals and five of the last six.
Incredibly, Port did not kick its first goal until four minutes into the third quarter.
LEAGUE IS GOAL
Double Blues’ Mihail Lochowiak has given coach Nathan Grima plenty to ponder after he bagged nine goals in the reserves against the Bloods at Unley Oval on Sunday.
He actually kicked a 10th, but had one disallowed when the umpire ruled he was kicking in danger. And what about his screamer in the second quarter?
Grima said later Lochowiak had that x-factor, was too good for reserves footy and the next step is to work in a system.
The young bloke has tasted some league action this season and if he was to come back into the side, who does he replace?
Mark Evans is the reigning Ken Farmer Medallist, although he did spend a week in the twos, Josh Patullo is establishing himself as a weapon in attack, Daniel Fahey-Sparks can back up Tom Read in ruck and Jake Sutcliffe has to stay because every team needs a bloke with good tats.
BLOODS’ ATTACK SHUT DOWN
How about this stat from Unley Oval: The Bloods had only four inside 50s for the second quarter, just four.
Double Blues onballer James Battersby matched that with four entries inside 50 for the term.
His teammate exited the game in the same quarter with a “really, really nasty cut” in his knee and had to be taken to hospital for repairs.
As for Jack Stephens tossing the coin for the game, it did not mean the club was honouring his 134th appearance. Just someone else doing the job.
BULLDOGS FIND SOME BITE
The Bulldogs led by 13 points the Eagles at three-quarter time and their fans would have thought ‘here we go again’ when an undisciplined act resulted in a downfield free kick and a Seb Guilhaus goal from just inside the 50m arc. True, Seb nailed a goal from almost 50m.
Three minutes later the scores were tied and the Eagles looked set to run over the top of a side who had surely forgotten how to win.
But the Bulldogs found some character and fight to get the job done in style.
SCANS FOR JACK
Bloods’ Jack Evans will have scans on his knee on Monday and he is almost certain to miss the rest of the season.
But Kenny Karpany, concussed in the first quarter against the Double Blues, looked okay after the game.
Karpany was knocked out of the game in the opening quarter when he smashed into teammate Sam May going for a mark. The Bloods were seriously challenging the home side and they kicked the ball to centre half forward.
There was no Double Blues player in position to challenge for the mark, but Karpany and May crashed into each other and the ball spilt free.
While the lack of talk proved costly, Bloods coach Gavin Colville looked for a positive and noted at least they were going for the ball.
RESULTS
North Adelaide 12.13 (85) d Adelaide 7.17 (59) at Prospect Oval.
Norwood 15.13 (103) d South Adelaide 7.16 (58) at Norwood Oval.
Central District 15.8 (98) d Eagles 11.9 (75) at Woodville Oval.
Glenelg 12.9 (81) d Port Adelaide 8.9 (57) at Alberton Oval.
Sturt 17.10 (112) d West Adelaide 8.2 (50) at Unley Oval.
LADDER
GOALKICKERS
Liam McBean (Glenelg) 41
Luke Reynolds (Glenelg) 34
James Rowe (Eagles) 30
Josh Hone (Sturt) 26
Tyson Stengle (Adelaide) 26
Lewis Hender (North) 25
Troy Menzel (Central) 24
Jack Hayes (Eagles) 23
Billy Framton (Port) 23
DISPOSALS
Sam Colquhoun (Sturt) 405
Lewis Johnston (Norwood) 394
Travis Schiller (Central) 394
Kaine Stevens (West) 381
Patrick Wilson (Adelaide) 377
Jarred Allmond (North) 376
Aidan Tropiano (North) 374
Jarrod Schiller (Central) 363
Jordan Foote (Eagles) 361
HANDBALLS
Travis Schiller (Central) 233
Aidan Tropiano (North) 196
Jarrod Schiller (Central) 195
Joe Atley (Port) 175
Tom Schwarz (North) 164
Matthew Snook (Glenelg) 161
Sam Colquhoun (Sturt) 159
Campbell Combe (North) 158
ON THE BANDWAGON
This week has really stretched my loyalties. The Tiges got the job done at Alberton, although they did put the cue in the rack a little early, the Double Blues cranked it up a gear, and the Redlegs ran over the Panthers. But what about those Dogs, finally they turned up and I can again admit to knowing Trent Goodrem.
OFF THE BANDWAGON
What was that final quarter from the Panthers at The Parade all about? There is a finals spot up for grabs and it was just not good enough, especially coming only a week after panicking against the Eagles.
RANKINGS
1: Central District — argue as much as you want but I’m not changing my decision to put the Dogs on top. They stunk for months before almost knocking over the Double Blues. And they backed that up with a character-filled win at Woodville Oval. Wonder how many remember the song?
2: North Adelaide — last week the Roosters lost to Westies and this week they conquer the high-flying Crows which drove to Prospect Oval with a handy line-up too. The Roosters have been competitive in most games, the difference this week is they were more consistent for four quarters.
3: Norwood — the Redlegs had not been travelling well and they were seriously challenged for three quarters. But they impressed in the final term and that may just be the spark to fire them up for a run at the finals.
4: Sturt — they were a little shaky in the early minutes before finding their true form and blowing the Bloods away in the second quarter. Tom Read is back and that gives the side a genuine threat in the ruck.
5: Glenelg — the Tigers win, and win well, at Alberton Oval against an in-form Port and they are ranking only fourth. What are you doing Partland? But that is a measure of how far they have come this season and they needed to ram home the advantage in the final quarter.
6: Adelaide — had a poor start and always seemed to be behind the eightball. Given the quality of the line-up should have done much better against the bottom-placed side.
7: Eagles — scored the first 13 points of the final quarter to level the scores with the Bulldogs, but was very disappointing from there given the importance of the occasion.
8: Port — did not kick a goal until the third quarter and never seriously challenged the Tigers. Bagged a few late goals to give the scoreboard some respectability.
9: South Adelaide — in the game up to its next at three-quarter time, but over run in the final term. Very disappointing knowing a win keeps the Panthers in the top five.
10: West Adelaide — the Bloods were on top for the first 10 minutes and trailed by only a point at quarter-time. But failed to register a score, while conceding 7.5, in a poor second term.
THIS WEEK
Saturday
West Adelaide v Central District (City Mazda Stadium, Richmond, 1.10pm)
Glenelg v Adelaide (ACH Group Stadium, Glenelg, 1.20pm)
Sunday
Eagles v Sturt (Maughan Thiem Kia Oval, Woodville, 2.10pm)
Norwood v North Adelaide (Coopers Stadium, Norwood, 2.10pm)
South Adelaide v Port Adelaide (Flinders University Stadium, Noarlunga, 2.10pm)