Tuesday Recovery: Sturt pair Byron Sumner and Tom Harms face a stint on the sidelines
Sturt has injury problems, the fans rock up to Alberton and school’s out at Glenelg as Tigers (and cubs) run wild. Catch up on another weekend of SANFL action and see the highlights in Tuesday Recovery.
Local Footy
Don't miss out on the headlines from Local Footy. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- Roosters roasted as Tigers turn up heat
- Beaten-up Legs escape with thrilling victory
- Dixon, Wines lead Magpies to victory
- Adelaide pinches points against Westies
- Eagles down Dogs to close in on five
Sturt has injury problems, the fans rock up to Alberton and school’s out at Glenelg as Tigers (and cubs) run wild. Catch up on another weekend of SANFL action in Tuesday Recovery.
SETBACK FOR BYRON
Sturt defender Byron Sumner will miss a month of action after breaking his jaw in the loss to Port Adelaide at Alberton Oval on Saturday.
Surgery won’t be required and the rest will be the cure. The club expects to be without his rebound for four weeks.
But surgery could be necessary for another Double Blues defender Tom Harms to repair a chip in his elbow.
Harms damaged the elbow against West Adelaide in round 7 and aggravated the injury in a tackle against Port. It is possible the elbow will need a cleanout.
BIG CROWD, FINALLY
What a turn out by the Port Adelaide faithful at Alberton Oval on Saturday.
Put on good weather, have a Power-free weekend and mix in a dose of Charlie Dixon and Ollie Wines and they will come, all 5270 of them.
It is the biggest SANFL crowd this season and a massive result for the club after a worrying trend of declining numbers.
The four previous games at Alberton Oval this season had attracted only 5653.
Everyone is pretty happy with big Charlie’s second goal âš«ï¸49 V 26 🔵 #SANFL pic.twitter.com/OzYJQlPxFB
— Port Adelaide FC (@PAFC) June 8, 2019
HAPPY RETURNS
Port secured a handy win and the club would have been extremely satisfied with the efforts of Dixon and Wines in their return from injury.
Wines will no doubt be in the AFL line-up to face Fremantle in Perth on Saturday, but the Power may want to see Dixon go around in another state league game. That would be against Norwood at Alberton Oval on Sunday.
As for the Double Blues, they looked hesitant and, may I even suggest, scared at times.
GOWANS STRUGGLE, AGAIN
As expected, Chris and James Gowans are claiming best-on-ground honours at the 10-year reunion for Central District’s 2009 premiership.
But to be honest, the twins haven’t been star performers at the numerous reunions in recent years. In fact, they have struggled.
Among the former Bulldogs’ heroes to be at Elizabeth Oval on Saturday were Ian Callinan and Lee Spurr, who made the trip from Tasmania and Western Australia respectively to join the fun.
22 @SANFL premierships between them - @andrew_hayes7 with @gowza21 & @gowza28 Terrific halftime entertainment @Ch7Adelaide #FootyRoyalty pic.twitter.com/mxFDGJmLlD
— John Casey (@JohnCasey2880) April 27, 2019
SCHOOL’S OUT
The siren sounded to end the second quarter at the Bay and the kids ran onto the ground to have their mini league fun at half-time of the clash between Glenelg and North Adelaide.
Roosters forward Keenan Ramsey was still lining up his kick for goal to cut the deficit to three goals and keep his side in the contest heading to the sheds.
But the umpires had to get busy getting the kids, their supporters and even the mini league goalposts back behind the picket fence so the game could continue.
The siren was actually the Glenelg Primary School bell, no doubt timed to sound at the end of a Monday school day. There was still a few minutes left in the term, enough time for Ramsey to nail another goal.
Remember when the umpires called an end to a game at Elizabeth Oval when a train passing the ground blew its horn.
BLOOD BOILING
In last week’s column, we highlighted how West Adelaide had become the three quarter specialists.
The Bloods are being let down by just one poor quarter. Unfortunately for frustrated coach Gavin Colville, it happened again on Saturday in the six-point loss to a powerful Adelaide side.
Maybe it wasn’t as bad as previous weeks. But the Bloods coughed up a 12-point lead a three-quarter time, conceding five goals in the final term.
SORE LEGS
The Redlegs will regain classy onballer Matt Nunn and key forward Luke Surman for the battle against Port Adelaide at Alberton Oval on Sunday.
Both have been missing with injury, but the club said they would be back this week. It is timely too given the injury toll after the win over South Adelaide.
Jace Bode, Ed Smart and Mitch Grigg could not finish the game and Alex Georgiou and Peter Bampton were struggling on the field with injury problems.
The club is optimistic Grigg will be available this week after being hit by back spasms.
Onballer Matt Panos is still at least another couple of weeks away from resuming from injury.
RESULTS
Eagles 15.13 (103) d Central 11.8 (74) at Elizabeth Oval.
Port 12.13 (85) d Sturt 10.5 (54) at Alberton Oval.
Adelaide 10.12 (72) d West Adelaide 10.6 (66) at Richmond Oval.
Glenelg 18.13 (121) d North Adelaide 12.6 (78) at Glenelg Oval.
Norwood 14.9 (93) d South Adelaide 13.13 (91) at Noarlunga Oval.
LADDER
STAT LEADERS
GOALKICKERS
Liam McBean (Glenelg) 25
Luke Reynolds (Glenelg) 22
Lachlan Hosie (Glenelg) 21
Jono Beech (West) 20
James Rowe (Eagles) 17
Tobin Cox (Port) 17
Keenan Ramsey (North) 17
Jack Hayes (Eagles) 17
Myles Poholke (Adelaide) 16
DISPOSALS
Jack Trengove (Port) 279
Sam Colquhoun (Sturt) 267
Lewis Johnston (Norwood) 264
Patrick Wilson (Adelaide) 264
Zane Kirkwood (Sturt) 249
Travis Schiller (Central) 245
Jarred Allmond (North) 241
Jordan Foote (Eagles) 237
Kaine Stevens (West) 237
MARKS
Brad McKenzie (Norwood) 83
Sam Colquhoun (Sturt) 82
Chris Curran (Glenelg) 78
Troy Menzel (Central) 76
Max Proud (Glenelg) 74
Jack Stephens (Sturt) 73
Cameron Shenton (Norwood) 71
ON THE BANDWAGON
OFF THE BANDWAGON
Tuned in for some Alberton Oval action on the SANFL live stream and was disappointed with what I saw from the Double Blues. They just looked spooked. Don’t worry though, won’t take me long to jump back on.
RANKINGS
1: Glenelg — wow, the Tigers at the top, now there is something new (not). They were being questioned at half-time, and what a response. The Tigers are the best team I’ve seen in the first half of the season.
2: Port Adelaide — there was a couple of big names back and that definitely made a huge difference. And they won’t be around long at this level. Got the job done comfortably against the Double Blues.
3: Eagles — they are starting to get on a roll. The Bulldogs tested them for a while, but the Eagles went up a gear or two and ended up with a nice win.
4: Norwood — the Redlegs got a little lucky with this win. They were outplayed for most of the game and they got lucky with a couple of goals. But they did have injury problems and had to overcome a poor first half.
5: South Adelaide — oh, how I felt for those loyal Panthers’ supporters behind the goals who turn up for every game, and even the women’s contests. They should have got the win against the Redlegs. What a wasted opportunity. PS. How good is Joel Cross?
6: Adelaide — the Crows got the points against the Bloods, but they were expected to win by plenty more given the AFL talent in the line-up. Still, a win is a win.
7: West Adelaide — Gavin Colville will have a head of hair like mine at the end of the season. His boys led at three-quarter time. Why can they not produce for just one more quarter? A shout out to Tom Keough for his 100th game. An incredible servant for Westies.
8: Sturt — the scoreboard at Alberton Oval doesn’t look too bad. But the Double Blues looked hesitant and afraid to take the game on.
9: Central District — has been going awful, but gave the Eagles a run for their money for a while. At least it was a more competitive effort.
10: North Adelaide — a couple of late goals had the Roosters right in the contest at half-time against Glenelg at the Bay. I doubt the boys will want to watch the third quarter.
THIS WEEK
SATURDAY
Eagles v West Adelaide (Maughan Thiem Kia Oval, Woodville, 1.10pm)
Central District v Adelaide (X Convenience Oval, Elizabeth, 2.10pm)
SUNDAY
South Adelaide v Glenelg (Flinders University Stadium, Noarlunga, 2.10pm)
North Adelaide v Sturt (Prospect Oval, 2.10pm)
Port Adelaide v Norwood (Alberton Oval, 2.40pm)
Download your Norwood or Glenelg Grand Final team posters
The stage is set for an epic battle between two of the traditional SANFL clubs. Download your Grand Final posters here.
Comeback ‘King’ to play SANFL grand final after shattering injury
Norwood legend Matt Panos will complete a fairytale – and miraculous – comeback from a career-threatening knee injury and play in Sunday’s SANFL grand final against Glenelg.