Australian Football

Round 10

Premiership season 2009 - Round 10 Review

Total Crowd 15,694 (Avg 3,924)

Well! Some fans would have been left aghast, stunned or just plain speechless after this past weekend. Almost 16,000 people turned up for the four matches on offer for the long weekend, with over 11,000 for the two games on the holiday Monday. But two matches will be talked about for weeks... a giant knocked for six and then some, as well as a return to earth with a resounding thud for another!

Welcome to the Round 10 edition of the SANFL Wrap-Up.

First its off to the Woodville Oval, where the Eagles played host to the Redlegs. The Peckers have had six victories against the Redlegs over the previous eight match-ups, Norwood grabbing the points in Round 10 last year and the same round in 2007 at Thebarton Oval. The Eagles victory last week no doubt would have put them, in their fans minds anyways, in a favourable position to push Norwood aside. But instead, would find themselves one point behind at quarter-time 3.2 to 3.1. The surprise would soon turn to disbelief as the Redlegs pulled off a wonderful second quarter where they kicked 5.4 whilst keeping the home side to just two behinds to lead by 33 points at the long break. When play resumed, the Redlegs would then turn the Eagles fans' disbelief into horror as again they would choke the Eagles forward zone and only allow them 1.1 whilst adding an inaccurate 4.6 for themselves to take the margin out to 56 points at three-quarter time. The gamble that Eagles coach Ron Fuller played last week would do nothing to reduce the deficit, although very inaccurate for the last term, 3.7 to one goal would see the Redlegs take out a 65 point victory. David Trotter was named best for the visitors, while Mark McKenzie was the Eagles true standout.

Across town at City Mazda Stadium in Richmond, the Bloods geared up to face the Roosters in the ABC television match. The last three years have not been kind to the West Adelaide faithful, especially when the Roosters have come calling. The last seven matches have been all red and white, which include a 104 point demolition in 2007. But the Bloods have been playing a far better brand of football lately than what we have seen for the past few years, they started proceedings with a 4.2 to 0.4 first term to take a 22 point lead at the first change. The Roosters finally found the big sticks in the second term, drawing the margin back to 13 points by the long break in a term where they could have overtaken the hosts after kicking 3.5 to 2.2. But as has been the case for most of the time, the Bloods couldn't keep it up in the third quarter, the Roosters conceding just one behind while kicking three goals straight to lead by four points going into the final term. To their credit, West didn't lie down but North just wouldn't let them back in, the visitors kicking 5.3 to 3.3 to end up winning by 16 points. James Allan's first match back after state duty saw him back best afield votes for the Roosters, while Salim Hassan won best on ground honours for West.

Two days later on the holiday Monday, over 6,200 people turned out at Gliderol Stadium in Glenelg as the Tigers took on the Magpies. The Bays have had a pretty good run against the Magpies in recent times, the Magpies last winning a match in 2006 at Alberton by nine goals as well as a draw in round 12 of 2007. The other five matches around them have been all black and gold and things didn't for a minute look like changing, the Tigers looking like they haven't missed a beat after a couple of weeks off, kicking 6.2 to 2.1 in the first quarter. They would follow that up by adding 4.1 in the second quarter to Port's 2.1 to extend the gap to 37 points at the half-time break. Things would get far worse in the second half, the Tigers' inaccuracy failing to give the Magpies any kind of hope thanks to their own poor shooting. The home side kicked 3.5 to 1.4 in the third quarter to lead by 50 points at the final change. That would be the final margin as both sides kicked 3.3 in the last quarter, Glenelg with a 50 point victory. Brett Backwell kicked three goals for the Tigers and was named best for his efforts, while Brad Murray was voted best for the visitors.

This is one game no-one will forget this season, the last match of the round going to the House Brothers Oval in Unley as the Double Blues faced the Bulldogs. These two have had a mixed three previous years against one another, in the regular season matches the Dogs won five of the last eight. But who could forget last year's Qualifying Final? The Sturt faithful wouldn't forget it and this day would be their day for retribution. The Bulldogs matched it well against the Blues early, only one point down at quarter-time with the scores at 4.0 to 4.1. But after that quarter, the Bulldog fight would be ended emphatically and with something that the red, white and blue have been associated with for years... relentless, ruthless aggression. The second term was a goal-fest for the Blues, the Dogs fans were speechless and their team went scoreless as the home side kicked 7.5 to take an eight goal lead at the long break. The punishment would continue into the second half as Sturt added 4.3 to the Bulldogs' paltry 1.2 to extend the lead to 67 points by the final change. There was nothing that could be done, Sturt outplaying Centrals in every way and they would continue to pound the message home with a 4.2 to 1.2 final term to take out an 85 point victory. Tristian Gum would be named best on ground for Sturt, while the Dogs named state team debutant Ryan Williams as their best afield.

FINAL SCORES IN ROUND 10 OF THE SANFL

Saturday June 6
Norwood 15.19 (109)
Woodville-West Torrens 5.4 (34)
2,550 @ Woodville Oval

North Adelaide 11.12 (78)
West Adelaide 9.8 (72)
2,118 @ City Mazda Stadium, Richmond

Monday June 8
Glenelg 16.11 (107)
Port Adelaide 8.9 (57)
6,276 @ Gliderol Stadium, Glenelg

Sturt 19.11 (125)
Central District 6.4 (40)
4,750 @ House Brothers Oval, Unley

South Adelaide had the bye.


INJURIES
North -- McIntyre (concussion)
West -- Willits (knee)
Port -- McInerney (ankle), Bowes (concussion), Lokan (shoulder)
Central -- Hardy (thigh), Sibenaler (hamstring), J. Gowans (hamstring)

REPORTS
Sturt -- Smith (misconduct)


LEAGUE LADDER
-----------------------------------
Sturt -- 14pts (7-2-0), 62.5%
Central -- 14pts (7-2-0), 54.9%
Glenelg -- 12pts (7-2-0), 52.6%
W-WT -- 11pts (5-4-1), 48.3%
North -- 10pts (5-3-0), 53.1%
-----------------------------------
West -- 7pts (3-5-1), 45.5%
Norwood -- 6pts (3-6-0), 50.9%
Port -- 2pts (1-8-0), 44.9%
South -- 2pts (1-7-0), 36.1%
-----------------------------------


Next weekend in Round 11...

Saturday June 13
Glenelg vs. West Adelaide; Gliderol Stadium, Glenelg
North Adelaide vs. Sturt; Prospect Oval
South Adelaide vs. Norwood; Hickinbotham Oval, Noarlunga

Central District, Port Adelaide & Woodville-West Torrens have the bye.

So until next weekend... see you at the Footy!

R-10, Ladder