Australian Football

Match Report

The Grand Final… a day where men become legends. A place where one who may have at one stage been little more than a raw recruit can suddenly see his name carved into club folklore. This past weekend would see yet another chapter written into SANFL history books. Once more it would come down to two teams to fight over South Australian football’s biggest prize… the 2009 SANFL Premiership flag and the Thomas Seymour-Hill trophy. Would one club’s juggernaut continue to re-write those books or would they be stopped dead?

Central District. The modern day powerhouse of SA football, a club that has left four rival clubs in its wake – Glenelg, North Adelaide, West Adelaide and Woodville-West Torrens – on its seemingly unstoppable charges over the last ten years to AAMI Stadium in its quest for the Premiership. From nine grand finals have come seven victories. They are a team that has gone from being the whipping boy of the league to a rabid, successful unit and the subject of much envy from opposition supporters. This year would probably go down as a year that the Bulldogs have done things the hard way. Losses to several bottom-four sides during the year, namely the Bloods in Round 15 and the Redlegs in Round 23, would see many football experts write off the reigning premier’s chances of an eighth title. But then minor premiers Glenelg went out of the finals in straight sets and at that time, anything could happen!

Sturt. Back in the 1960’s and 1970’s the Double Blues were the hunters and the hunted. They have been involved in some of the most memorable Grand Finals during that time, which included five Premiership wins in a row from 1966 to 1970 and what about the 1976 decider when almost 67000 packed into West Lakes to watch the Blues knock off the mighty Port Adelaide? Then came 2002… the Blues gave the Bulldogs their first Grand Final hiccup this decade when they nabbed their 13th SANFL flag. The joy would be short lived however; the horrifying events that would unfold on the end-of-season trip to Bali would abruptly end the celebration and almost put a negative spin on that year. Many believed that would take a massive toll on the Double Blue psyche, but instead several finals series appearances over the years following would put that notion to bed.

This year the Blues would be the ones that asked the toughest question of the Dogs this year after they inflicted an 85-point hammering at Unley in Round 10. However after that massive victory would come a mind-boggling 79-point pounding at the hands of North the following week and then a loss to Glenelg after that. As mentioned before, the Doggies had several ‘Great Escape’ moments this year that need never have happened, most notable was a match at Noarlunga where they held off a persistent South Adelaide. But inconsistency would still cost them, West Adelaide and Norwood taking advantage where even the minor premiers of Glenelg weren’t able to except for the Round 17 tie. Centrals did though, beat Glenelg in both the minor and major rounds where as it took the Blues until the Preliminary Final to break their two-year duck against the Tigers to eliminate them from the finals.


FIRST QUARTER
AAMI Stadium would look an absolute picture when the main event kicked off, over 35500 people filed through the turnstiles to set a new crowd record for the last decade. The first shot on goal would come from Tristian Gum after his mark, but only a behind would register along with a rushed behind moments later. Quick handball work by Paul Thomas and Trent Goodrem would eventually find Eddie Sansbury but his shot went wide for the Dogs’ first score. He would redeem himself a minute later, bagging the first goal for the afternoon from the member’s side pocket. Sansbury would bob up again at the ninth minute, scoring his second goal from the side of his boot. A poor clearance prior to the 11th minute saw Sturt bag their first goal, Michael Coad nailing it from 40 metres. He came up again for another goal three minutes later, Coad drawing the gap back to a point. The Dogs would score two more goals between the 15th and 18th minutes, James Gowans’ side-boot shot then Scott Dutschke popped up after an Michael Bratton’s lunge tackle ended up around his feet. Craig Evans put Sturt’s third goal on the board, but the Dogs returned fire through two goals by Daniel Havelberg and Chad O’Sullivan. After the bounce, O’Sullivan would be carted off on a stretcher after sustaining a broken leg. At quarter-time, it would be Centrals 6.3 to Sturt 3.3.

SECOND QUARTER
Sturt would get first opportunity on goal at the end of the first minute, Matthew Jaensch sending the ball toward Brant Chambers. But he wasn’t alone, Heath Lawry making life difficult for the Ken Farmer Medallist as he rushed the behind after the ball fell invitingly in front of the Blue forward. Toby Thurstans would miss his chance at a major from his set shot, then the Dogs would boot the first six-pointer at the fifth minute mark through Daniel Schell after a push charge against Patrick Fittock. Funnily enough, only a minute later the two would clash again but the umpire’s decision would be the reverse! The Bulldog defense was proving difficult to crack for the Blues, in one instance Jaensch opted to kick the ball from his forward pocket back to beyond the 50-metre arc. But twice the Dogs would launch the ball into open space in that time and allow the Blues to try again. When the ball finally made it to Chambers, he would still emerge frustrated as the ball was cleared for a throw-in. Even under pressure from Fittock, Dutschke would find Ian Callinan who would break the near 10-minute goal gap with his snap from an acute angle to make it 28 points prior to the 15th minute. Sansbury’s third goal would make it 34 points at 17 minutes. Goodrem made an impression on the slightly bigger Nick Wark, his tackle prior to the 18th minute seemed to leave a bad taste in the Blue’s mouth. Luke Norman’s frustration would be well and truly evident, a poor second term for Sturt on the scoreboard but Central could have done better too. Central 9.8 to Sturt 3.6.

THIRD QUARTER
A rare mistake from James Gowans would allow the Blues to escape the Dogs’ 50, AFL prospect Jack Trengove finding Jaensch but Mackenzie would intercept his kick. The attack was then repelled through Sansbury, Ryan Williams and Goodrem. The big ruckman would again interrupt another Sturt foray into their 50 only minutes later, but would only take a behind from that rebound. Finally, just before the seventh minute, the first goal of the third term would be scored. After a Chris Gowans clearance to Goodrem, the ball found its way into the hands of Schell who put away a bouncer to make it a 46-point margin. Goodrem would set up yet another goal at 11 minutes, finding Matthew Slade within striking distance after missing a shot just a minute earlier. The Blues finally broke their goal-drought, Chambers shooting truly at the 13th minute mark, their first major since the first quarter. A knock-on near the boundary line by Thomas probably should have resulted in a Sturt free in their attacking 50, but a throw-in ensued and the Blues would bag another goal through Luke Crane. A third goal on the trot from Chambers would draw the margin back to 34 points at the 16th minute, perhaps signaling a Blues comeback. But a high tackle on Chris Gowans would result in him taking a goal, the quarter ending with the scoreboard reading Central 12.12 to Sturt 6.7.

FINAL QUARTER
The Dogs faithful would be in full voice here, they could already smell another flag making its way up to the Ponderosa. Before the start, Sturt coach Luke Norman had made a passionate plea to his charges to, if they go down that they go down fighting. Both sides had difficulty finding the goals here, early on the Dogs got within scoring range after a Goodrem tackle resulted in a free kick. But after his kick, a poorly timed tackle on Crane would allow the Blues to escape their defensive 50. More badly timed offense on the body would see Sturt get the same opportunity at goal, only to be smothered by Callinan. It was back and forth for a couple of minutes, the first opportunity on goal for Sturt came in the fourth minute but the angle would prove too much for Crane who managed only a point. Another chance went begging after a push in the back on Thomas allowed the Dogs to put a goal out of reach a while longer. The Blues would finally bag their only goal for the last quarter on 12 minutes, Matthew Payne snapping truly from a slightly acute angle. That would pretty much be the end of the Blues’ day in goals, the Dogs taking until the 18th minute to nail their only goal through Sansbury. With the Sturt resistance done and dusted, the Bulldog fans just basked in the inevitable glory coming their way in the form of the Thomas Seymour-Hill trophy.

The Bulldogs would finish 38 point victors, taking out their eighth Premiership – and a secondary three-peat – from 10 straight grand finals, eclipsing the previous record set by Port Adelaide during their 1950’s run of seven titles.

Sunday October 4
2009 SANFL GRAND FINAL
Central District 13.14 (92)
Sturt 7.12 (54)

It was a magnificent crowd as well, 35,647 SA footy-heads turning out to set a new record for this past decade. Another new face would enter the exclusive club of Jack Oatey Medallists, this year it would be Trent Goodrem who would bag the gold thanks to 20 disposals, two goal assists and being a general pest to his opponents. Chad O’Sullivan would not be there to take his medal, he was the only injury on the day and will require surgery on his broken leg. Matthew Slade would also announce his retirement, ending his career with eight premiership medallions.

So until next year… its goodbye for now.

CENTRAL DISTRICT FOOTBALL CLUB – SANFL Premiers 2009