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Woodville-West Torrens

a controversial decision

Few decisions made by the SANFL over the years have been more controversial than that which saw the introduction in 1964 of two new league football clubs, Woodville and Central District, thereby taking the total number of clubs in the competition to ten. Many had argued that, given the resources and population of the state, eight clubs rather than ten should be viewed as an optimum number, and that spreading the talent more thinly would only lead to a diminution in the overall standard of play and a broadening of the gulf between strong and weak.

Critics of the decision to admit Centrals and Woodville to league ranks were, if anything, more dubious about the latter’s claims to such status. The inclusion of Centrals, it was acknowledged, would have the beneficial side effect of bolstering the game’s development in Adelaide’s northernmost suburbs, an area which hitherto had possessed no clubs of league status, and where the population was known to be rapidly increasing. Woodville, on the other hand, was situated in a part of central Adelaide where the population was declining and which was already home to two established league clubs, West Adelaide and West Torrens. The inclusion of a third league club in such an area would certainly appear difficult to justify, and while this is not the appropriate place for a detailed analysis of the rights and wrongs of the situation, a brief comparison of the fortunes of West Adelaide and West Torrens prior to and after the SANFL’s expansion in 1964 would appear to bear out the scepticism of those who originally condemned that expansion.

The performances of West Adelaide and West Torrens worsened appreciably after the inception of the ten team format. In terms of success rates, both were 50% or better sides in the half century or so prior to Woodville’s and Centrals’ admission to the league. In the twenty-seven seasons between 1964 and 1990, however, those success rates dropped to 43.3% for West and 37.4% in the case of Torrens. Only West, in 1983, managed to win a premiership. As for Woodville, an overall success rate of 28.2% speaks for itself.

Further potency is given to the argument when you examine the respective performances of West Adelaide and Woodville West Torrens since the establishment of the latter club in 1991. Although it was probably too early for the effect to have been anything other than coincidental it is interesting to note that West Adelaide immediately proceeded to make the grand final for only the third time in thirty years. The Bloods’ performances since then have been somewhat more modest (although they did reach another grand final in 2003, and claimed a somewhat anomalous premiership in 2015), but, as they have frequently demonstrated, they remain fully capable of overturning any other side in the league on their day. (Paradoxical evidence of this is afforded by the fact that, during the period 1991-1994, West was one of only two SANFL clubs to achieve a positive win-loss ratio against Woodville-West Torrens.)

"a force to be reckoned with right from the off"

The newly formed Eagles, coached by ex-Norwood supremo Neil Balme, were a force to be reckoned with right from the off. They reached the major round in each of their first two seasons, and, arguably, only finals inexperience prevented their making more of an impact. In 1993, with Bruce Winter having replaced Balme as coach (Balme having joined Melbourne), the side swept all before it, however, exhibiting an exhilarating brand of team football throughout the minor round before effortlessly overcoming reigning premiers Port Adelaide 14.20 (104) to 4.6 (30) in the second semi final.

There were some who still doubted the side’s pedigree, however, suggesting that the combination of a fervid grand final atmosphere and a finals hardened opponent in the shape of Norwood would ultimately prove too overwhelming. As things transpired, though, it was the Redlegs who were overwhelmed; the Eagles assumed control from the very first bounce, with Andrew Taylor having a goal on the board inside the opening minute, and thereafter never relaxed their grip on the game en route to a resounding 73 point win. The cornerstones of the victory included Jack Oatey Medallist Steven Sziller, who roved splendidly and tenaciously all afternoon, ruck rover Wayne Weidemann, who clearly outpointed Redleg danger man Garry McIntosh, half back flanker Jamie Tape, who booted his only goal of the season during the second term, and effervescent wingman Shane Breuer, playing his final game for the Eagles before heading to Geelong.

The Eagles in 1994 were arguably an even stronger combination than a year earlier, but the vagaries of football are such that the best and strongest teams do not invariably end up winning premierships. Because of the way in which Australian football competitions are structured, a single lapse in concentration or effort can mean the difference between securing the ultimate prize, or seeing a whole season’s worth of effort, sweat, dedication and fortitude disappear down the proverbial drain. When the Eagles kicked the opening six goals in the first quarter of the 1994 SANFL grand final against Port Adelaide the last things that looked to be on the cards were lapses in concentration or effort, and even when the Magpies added a couple of late goals to reduce the quarter time margin to 22 points there was nothing in the pattern of the game to suggest what was to come. Neither was there in a second term which saw both sides add 2.3, or even indeed in a third quarter which saw Port, despite a measurable lift in intensity, cohesion and controlled aggression, manage only 2.6 to the Eagles’ 1.2. Suddenly, however, and quite inexplicably, during the final term Port Adelaide found easily its best form not merely of the match, but probably of the entire season, with the Eagles coincidentally ploughing previously unprecedented depths. Consequently, what had been a tight, hard fought contest was transformed into a veritable procession, with the Magpies doing virtually as they pleased to rattle on 9.3 to 1.2 and win with an ease that was as arrogantly consummate as it was confounding. The disbelief which engulfed everyone connected with the Eagles was to take the better part of five years to dissipate fully.

Between 1995 and 1998 the Eagles contested the finals only once, for a fourth place finish in 1996. At times their performances elicited traumatic memories in the minds of both strands of the club’s supporters, memories of an era which they fervently hoped, and in many cases genuinely believed, would never need to be re-visited. The side’s premiership coach, Bruce Winter, made way for former West Adelaide, Brisbane and Adelaide player Mark Mickan in 1998 and there was gradual improvement with the side finishing sixth and third during his two years in charge.

The turn of the century spawned a fresh optimism at Oval Avenue. In season 2000, with Paul Hamilton at the coaching helm, the Eagles looked to have an excellent chance of recapturing premiership honours as they topped the ladder after the minor round with a 17-3 record. Players like Gavin Colville, Chris Kluzek, Jon Floreani, David Neimann, Nick Pesch and Adam Pearce enabled the team to perform with both consistency and panache, and in the eyes of a majority of pundits they were a clear flag favourite.

The true test of an Australian football club’s pedigree comes at finals time, however, and when the ante was upped in season 2000 the Eagles were found wanting, albeit not by much. Second semi final opponents Central District had yet to record a senior SANFL premiership and it may have been that this instilled in them an extra hunger and, when the pressure intensified during the second half, a greater resilience. In any event, the Bulldogs won a high standard, thoroughly absorbing tussle by 18 points, 15.9 (99) to 12.9 (81).

The Eagles therefore needed to beat a fast improving Sturt side in order to qualify for the premiership decider but they managed this with something to spare, creating a consensus of opinion that they would be better for the additional hit-out. Certainly, as far as most pundits were concerned, the destiny of the 2000 Thomas Seymour Hill Trophy was now ‘line ball’.

On a wet, blustery afternoon in front of a disappointing crowd of just 34,819 the Eagles and Central District staged a dour, unspectacular tussle in the 2000 SANFL grand final, with the Eagles holding their own in until half time before ultimately, perhaps inevitably, succumbing to a mounting tidal wave of northern suburb determination, fervour and craving. Central District eventually got home by 22 points, 8.13 (61) to 5.9 (39) in the lowest scoring SANFL grand final since 1979. However, at least this reversal, unlike that of 1994, had been one from which the club emerged with its dignity, and to some extent its reputation, intact. Jamie Tape, Andrew Rogers and Stephen Hall were among several Eagles players with no reason to feel abashed when the final siren sounded.

Season 2001, with Ron Fuller having replaced Paul Hamilton as coach, brought a second consecutive grand final appearance. Once again the opposition was provided by Central District, and once again, on another highly inclement, windswept afternoon, it was the Bulldogs who eventually emerged triumphant. This time, however, there was a good deal less conviction about the Eagles’ display, and the eventual margin of 39 points was probably, if anything, a trifle kind to the losers. With the lowest ever post-War SANFL grand final crowd of 26,378 in attendance Centrals won 10.11 (71) to 4.8 (32) prompting somewhat more post-match soul searching on the part of the Eagles hierarchy than twelve months earlier.

Season 2002 brought a marginal decline in fortunes as the Eagles finished fourth after comfortably overcoming West Adelaide in the elimination final but succumbing by 2 points to Norwood in the first semi. The side improved by one place in 2003, bowing out to West Adelaide by 30 points in the preliminary final after earlier accounting for Sturt.

humiliation ....

For much of the 2004 season, the Eagles seemed well on course for a possible second senior flag. After qualifying for the finals comfortably, they easily accounted for Sturt on the first weekend of the finals, before doing everything but win against Central District in the second semi. Another impressive win over the Double Blues in the preliminary final then catapulted the Eagles into their third grand final in five seasons, with most observers expecting a tough, bruising, closely fought match. Alas, it was anything but, as Centrals raced to the biggest win in SANFL grand final history, 23.15 (153) to an almost unimaginably dire 4.4 (28). The Eagles were not just beaten, they were thoroughly and emphatically humiliated, with the only bright spot being the fact that there were only 24,207 spectators - the smallest grand final crowd since 1930 - there to see it.

.... and revenge

The 2005 season brought an immediate chance of revenge for the Eagles, who once again faced Centrals in the grand final, but although they were much more competitive than a year earlier, they ultimately succumbed by 28 points, prompting many observers to suggest that they would be forced to undergo a period of rebuilding before being in a position to mount a realistic premiership challenge once more. Such predictions proved completely ill-founded, however, as the Eagles surged to the 2006 minor premiership with an authority and a conviction that saw them irrevocably installed as flag favourites. After that, a second semi final loss to Central District was disappointing, but in hindsight it can be seen as serving a purpose in reminding the players of the enhanced intensity of finals football. A hard-fought seven-point win over North Adelaide in the preliminary final served to reinforce the lesson, and in the grand final re-match with Centrals the Eagles were simply irrepressible, dominating from the opening bounce en route to a resounding 76-point victory. Final scores were 17.19 (121) to 7.3 (45), and if the bitter memories of four grand final losses to the Bulldogs had not been entirely obliterated, they had at least been assuaged.

In 2007, the Eagles’ general performance level discernibly dropped a notch or two, and although they made the finals comfortably enough, they were unable to get past North Adelaide in either the qualifying final or the preliminary final, and in the end had to be satisfied with third place on the ladder.

The 2008 season belatedly produced the slump that many had predicted for the previous year with the Eagles ultimately missing the finals for the first time in a decade but they were back in the September fray a year later, ultimately finishing fourth. This was followed by a third place finish in 2010, and a third senior grade premiership the next year. Once again, this was achieved at the expense of Central District, the Eagles holding on at the end to win a thriller by 3 points, 12.9 (81) to 11.12 (78). 

In 2012 the Eagles slumped to fifth place on the ladder before recovering marginally in 2013 to finish fourth. The 2014 season saw them drop to fifth once before enduring the nightmare of consecutive grand final losses. Against both West Adelaide in 2015 and Sturt the following year the Eagles were regarded as warm favourites but ended up underperforming badly. These two defeats gave the club the somewhat disappointing record of just three premierships from ten grand finals. In 2017 the Eagles topped the ladder after the minor round but then failed to qualify for the grand final after succumbing to "straight sets" finals losses at the hands of Port Adelaide and Sturt. The 2018 season was similarly disappointing as the Eagles' campaign was unceremoniously brought to the end at the preliminary final stage by eventual premiers North Adelaide.

Mergers have long been a sad but inevitable part of football life, but there have arguably been few as painless as that between the erstwhile West Torrens and Woodville Football Clubs. Commencing from a position of perceived equality (unlike, for example, the Brisbane and Fitzroy arrangement which, whatever the ‘official’ stance, and notwithstanding the attitudes of certain less enlightened and more desperate former Fitzroy supporters, was in effect a takeover) the two previously disparate organisation have welded, almost seamlessly, into one, achieving significantly more in just over a decade and a half - even allowing for the debacle of the 2005 grand final - than either Woodville or Torrens managed in the preceding forty years. That said, there is sound reason to hope, perhaps even expect, that the years to come will prove to be even more productive, profitable and exciting, and that the legacy of Bills, Blight, Clingly, Hank, Head, Huppatz, Lindsay, Low, McKellar, Mills, Pontifex, Simunsen et al will endure for at least as long as the sport of Australian football is played.

Source

John Devaney - Full Points Publications

Footnotes

* Behinds calculated from the 1965 season on.
+ Score at the end of extra time.