Australian Football

Match Report

The Second Semi-Final was between the Redlegs and the Bloods. This game had previously been one where the Bulldogs dominated for 12 consecutive seasons. But not this time around. West have appeared in this match 10 times for four wins, two of those victories led to premierships including their last flag in 1983. That particular second semi produced the second highest score tally in history when they kicked 24.16, four behinds short of Port's 1980 record. Their last contest was against the Dogs in the 2003 finals, West going down by three goals and proceeded to the Grand Final where they lost to the Dogs again. Sturt did the same in 1998, but the Bloods couldn't bounce back for a second shot as they went out in straight sets. As for Norwood, from 20 appearances they have won just five. The previous two second semis have seen the Redlegs go down to the Bulldogs, but in the 1997 season they absorbed a 22-point loss to their bitter rivals in the Magpies only to take out the premiership at their expense. The aforementioned Westies 1983 run is one of Norwood's unwanted records, their 73-point loss one of two equal second worst losses. From all those that have lost this game, only 18 times has the flag ended up with that team anyways.

In this season's contest between these teams, the Bloods handed the minor premiers their second loss for the year when they came to Richmond, the Redlegs going down by 23 points in Round 21. That victory came as sweet revenge for Westies after their one-point loss to the 'Legs at the same venue in Round 13, while in Round 8 at The Parade the home side took a 47-point win. This was not going to be the goal-fest that the Roosters enjoyed in the earlier game, but it was all Norwood in the early stages as they kept the Bloods scoreless in the opening quarter. The Redlegs kicked 3.1 to take a 19-point lead at the first change. The Bloods couldn't do too much to bring that margin back despite finding the big posts in the second term, the Redlegs extending their advantage to 26 points by the half-time break after scoring a further 2.4 to 1.2. The Norwood tactics were paying off in regards to choking up West's offensive area, but it gave fans a totally different ball-game which may not prove popular with crowds in the long run. The third term saw Norwood get a case of the shakes in front of goal, but West couldn't for the life of them take advantage of the lull. The Bloods could only manage three behinds, the Redlegs scored a horribly inaccurate 1.6 to take their lead to 35 points and by then their fans knew the first Grand Final spot was theirs. In the end the Redlegs took a 44-point win, finishing the lacklustre contest with a 2.3 to one goal final term.

Brett Zorzi was named best for the Redlegs, while the Bloods named Chris Schmidt as their standout.