Australian Football

Match Report

The Preliminary Final. The last chance saloon for a shot at premiership glory, this time around it came down to the Eagles and the Roosters. From their two encounters in the minor round this season, it was the visiting side that came out victorious on both occasions. Back in Round 5, the Roosters escaped the Oval Avenue nest with a nine-point win, but would fall to a 63-point hammering by the Eagles on their own patch in Round 14. As far as finals outings between them go, they have met in two previous Preliminary Finals with their last being an Eagles victory in the 2006 series. Of course they went on to take the flag against the Dogs the following week. The next year saw the Roosters return the favour although they couldn't arrest the Bulldog march themselves. North have made 17 appearances in this final for eight victories, with the 1931 season being the only time they've gone on to win the flag. The Eagles have played six winning outings from their 12 appearances, with 2006 and 2011 leading to premierships. In the pre-merger years, the Warriors played in just one game, losing to eventual premiers Glenelg in 1986. As for Torrens, their record has three wins from five games, their last was a loss to North. The most appearances in Preliminary Finals is Port Adelaide with 31, followed by the Redlegs on 30 games. 

The Eagles started the afternoon on the right note, kicking the first two goals before the Roosters could manage a point. North's first quarter had a swag of missed opportunities, the Eagles scored 4.1 altogether to the Roosters' 1.3 to lead by 16 points at quarter-time. Things only seemed to get worse in the second quarter, the form that brought the Roosters this far seemingly nowhere to be found as the Eagles broke away to a near five-goal lead by the long break. Although inaccuracy was an issue, the Eagles added 3.3 and kept the Roosters to just 1.2 to be up by 29 points at half-time. When play resumed for the second half, the Roosters came back with a vengeance. The Eagles were still having their shooting problems and kicked 3.4 while the Roosters closed the gap down to 20 points by the three quarter-time siren with their 5.1. Now this is where things were about to descend into chaos for the following 48 hours post-game. The Roosters went on a final term romp, overtaking the Eagles on the scoreboard and withstanding their last minute counter-attacks for a five-point victory. But not too long after the final siren, the SANFL would be forced to hold an emergency meeting. For the first four minutes of that final quarter, the Roosters had an extra man on the field. From the 8.4 scored by North, 1.2 of that was scored in that short period. Against the Eagles' 4.3, had certain match protocols been followed by them, the result could have been a three-point loss for the Roosters. To that effect, with no head count called by the Eagles' captain, the result would stand.

Callum Wilkie was named best for the Roosters, with the Eagles naming Jack Hayes as their best afield.