North Adelaide digs deep to beat Norwood by 21 points in Anzac Day grand final replay

NORTH Adelaide, with only 19 fit players, showed plenty of character to beat Norwood by 21 points at Adelaide Oval in the grand final replay.

NORTH Adelaide was on the ropes at three-quarter time in the historic grand final rematch against Norwood at Adelaide Oval on Friday and its character was being given a thorough workover.

The Roosters trailed by just eight points but they were under the pump and under staffed.

They had been down a man from the opening minutes of the contest after Sam De Leonardis was stretchered from the ground and late in the third term Aleksander Kangur limped to the bench.

This was a time for weary players to make a spirited stand and the Roosters did just that to storm home and triumph by 21 points in an absorbing contest.

No one epitomised the Roosters’ fight more than Jay Shannon and his tireless four-quarter effort earned him the Bob Quinn Medal for his best -on-ground performance.

“I'd like to thank the Anzacs who went away to war and enabled us to do what we do,” Shannon said.

“We showed a lot of character today.”

The Roosters took the battle to the Redlegs and they attacked the opposition's zoning tactics with handball and run and more handball.

It is a plan which requires precise skills and while those were not always on show, the methods enabled the Roosters to scamper to a 17-point advantage late in the first term.

Defensive pressure is also a necessity to quell the Redlegs' movement and the Roosters tackling early in the encounter proved effective in creating turnovers.

A worry for the Redlegs in recent weeks has been clumsy ball handling and that was again evident.

Matthew Panos has been a revelation in the midfield for the Redlegs and his influence, along with ruckman Sam Baulderstone, helped the Redlegs gain the accendency in the second quarter and early in the third when they built an 18-point buffer.

Now it was the Roosters coughing up the mistakes and skill errors to provide opponents with opportunities.

The Redlegs are a class outfit and they started to find space to feast on opposition turnovers. Needing a spark to revive the Roosters’ challenge, coach Ken McGregor switched strong-marking captain Todd Miles from defence to the forward zone and the move proved decisive.

He nailed two goals in the third term and added another in the final quarter.

Former Carlton forward Luke Mitchell became a potent weapon for the Roosters and he bagged three of the side’s seven goals in the final quarter as players overlooked their tired bodies.

The win was the third for the Rooters from four games and lifted them into a share of the competition lead alongside South Adelaide and Sturt, although those two clubs have played one game less.

As for the Redlegs, this was their third successive defeat. They lost only three games last year en-route to a successful defence of their SANFL crown.

NORTH 3.2 4.3 7.4 14.7 (91)

NORWOOD 1.2 5.7 7.12 9.16 (70)

BEST - North: Shannon, Miles, Amato, Mitchell, Campbell, Thiele, Ryswyk. Norwood: Baulderstone, Panos, Jefferies, Murphy, Webber, Allan.

GOALS - North: Mitchell 4, Miles 3, Burton 2, Campbell, Amato, M. Thring, Shannon, Thiele. Norwood: Roocke 2, Newton, Bartlett, Bampton, Phillips, M. Evans, Murphy, Donohue.

INJURIES - North: De Leonardis (ankle).

UMPIRES - Philp, Haussen, Hundermark.

CROWD - 10,014 at Adelaide Oval.

BOB QUINN MEDAL - Jay Shannon (North Adelaide).