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Premiership season 2009 - Round 18 Review

Total Crowd 9,892 (Avg 2,473)

South Australian football has seen its fair share of players with links to cultures all over the world... well known names such as the Eagles' Bob Hank and Scott Camporeale, Rooster Bohdan Jaworskyj, the presence of Bulldog Rudi Mandemaker would result in a chorus of "RUUUUUUUDIIII" from the sidelines in the 80's, to the more recent times of the Crows' first Brownlow Medallist and the Bloods' own Mark Ricciuto and Port Magpies' Alan Didak. 


Welcome to the SANFL Wrap-Up for [Multicultural] Round 18.


First up in the Wrap-Up, it was off to Gliderol Stadium in Glenelg, where the Tigers faced the Redlegs. In the last contest between these two sides, it was at The Parade where the Tigers belted the 'Legs by over 10 goals. The four previous games belonged to Glenelg too, with Norwood last tasting victory against the Bays in Round 9 of 2007. The Tigers' draw last week suggested that Norwood would be a walkover, but the visitors were the ones up at quarter-time, after kicking 3.4 to two goals. The Tigers didn't stay quiet for long though, they took a three-point lead by the half-time break after kicking 4.2 to the Redlegs' 2.1. Despite Norwood's no-quit approach, they couldn't convert on the scoreboard as they kicked an inaccurate 3.5 to the Tigers' 4.2 and at three quarter-time the home side was up by one goal. The final quarter was a shootout, but in the end it was the inaccuracy of the Tigers that probably saved them from embarrassment in front of their home crowd as they kicked 4.4 to 4.0 to take a 10 point win and keep hold of top spot. Ruory Kirkby was named best for Glenelg, while the Redlegs named vice-captain Brett Zorzi as their best on ground.

Back up toward the city, the Bloods hosted the Panthers at the City Mazda Stadium in Richmond. West Adelaide have been making a slow climb up the ladder as of late, the only thing keeping them from entering is the Roosters' better points tally. As for South... well, things were about go straight to hell. The Bloods opened up a major can of whoop-ass from the first bounce, starting with a 7.1 to a miserably poor three behinds to see West up by 40 points at quarter-time. The punishment was not stopped there though, the Bloods further tearing the Panthers up with a 6.2 to 1.1 second quarter to give the home side a 71 point buffer at the long break. But still... the Bloods weren't done there. They kept on laying the smackdown into the third term, booting through a further 8.2 to South's 4.2 to put the gap out to 95 points by the final change. The Bloods ran out of puff in the last quarter, not that it mattered though as the margin was cut down by just seven points after South scored 2.3 to 1.2. West ran out 88 point winners, improving their chances of climbing into the top five. The Bloods' named James Ezard as their best on ground, while South's only real shining light was Adam Cockshell. Clay Simpson was said to have given his team a vicious verbal session long after the game.

The Bloods' chances of a top five spot would hinge on one team's downfall... and it was up to the Double Blues to oblige when they took on the Roosters at Prospect Oval in the ABC televised match. Sturt were humbled by the Roosters in their last stoush at Prospect, as well as earlier in the year at Unley. The Blues would start off best, a 2.1 to 1.3 first quarter seeing them up by four points at the first change. That gap was extended to 11 points by the half-time break after a second quarter shootout, Sturt scoring 4.4 to North's 4.1. But memories of that humiliation in Round 11 bubbled to the surface for the second half and when play resumed, the Blues kicked ahead to a three-quarter time lead of 25 points after they slotted through 4.3 to the Roosters' lowly 1.3. The West Adelaide fans would have no doubt rejoiced when they heard the final score over the Richmond PA system or on their radios, the Blues inaccurate 3.8 to the Roosters' 2.1 saw the visitors take a 38 point win. Michael Coad was voted best afield for Sturt, while North named Heath Younie as their standout.

In the final match of Round 18, the Magpies braced themselves for a Bulldog assault at Alberton Oval. The last encounter between the Dogs and their Port-side nemesis saw a cracker under the lights of Elizabeth, the 'Pies unlucky not to cause an upset as Centrals took a 14 point win. Port Adelaide's last win against the reigning premier was back in 2006, but another win was a while away as the Dogs opened up proceedings with a 7.3 to 2.3 first quarter to be up by 30 points at the first change. The Dogs seemed to go to sleep for about five minutes in the second term as the Pies made a run at them, but the lead was only cut by five points by half-time after Port kicked 4.1 to 3.2. That was about as close as Port would get at the breaks, the Dogs outscoring them for the rest of the game. When play restarted, Centrals added 3.4 to the scoreboard to Port's 2.1 to re-establish their dominance and take a 34 point lead at the final change. An inaccurate final term for the visitors prevented a bigger margin from happening, a further 3.6 to the Magpies' three goals saw the Dogs take a 40 point win. Brayden O'Hara was named best for Centrals, while Port voted in Brad Murray for best afield honours.


FINAL SCORES IN ROUND 18 OF THE SANFL

Saturday August 1
Glenelg 14.8 (92)
Norwood 12.10 (82)
3,326 @ Gliderol Stadium, Glenelg

West Adelaide 22.7 (139)
South Adelaide 7.9 (51)
1,429 @ City Mazda Stadium, Richmond

Sturt 13.16 (94)
North Adelaide 8.8 (56)
2,434 @ House Brothers Oval, Unley

Central District 16.15 (111)
Port Adelaide 11.5 (71)
2,703 @ Alberton Oval


INJURIES
Norwood -- Duigan (hamstring)
Central -- Schell (groin)

REPORTS
West -- Willits (striking)


LEAGUE LADDER
-----------------------------------
Glenelg -- 27pts (13-2-1), 54.6%
Central -- 25pts (12-3-1), 54.8%
Sturt -- 24pts (12-4-0), 59.7%
W-WT -- 17pts (8-7-1), 48.1%
North -- 16pts (8-7-0), 53%

-----------------------------------
West -- 13pts (6-8-1), 46.2%
Norwood -- 10pts (5-11-0), 49.1%
Port -- 8pts (4-12-0), 46.3%
South -- 2pts (1-15-0), 38.1%
-----------------------------------


Next weekend in Round 19 of the SANFL...

Saturday August 8
Norwood vs. Woodville-West Torrens; Coopers Stadium, Norwood
West Adelaide vs. Port Adelaide; City Mazda Stadium, Richmond

Sunday August 9
North Adelaide vs. Glenelg; Prospect Oval

Central District, South Adelaide & Sturt have the bye.


ATTENTION WESTIES FANS
In their Round 19 match against Port Adelaide, the West Adelaide Football Club league side will take to the field in a heritage guernsey reminiscent of that worn in the 1909 season in which the Bloods took out the premiership. Whether or not the jumpers will be auctioned or be available on any basis is unknown at this time.

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

R-18, Ladder

Team GP PTS %
GLEN 16 27 54.59
CENT 16 25 54.84
STURT 16 24 59.73
W-WT 16 17 48.15
NORTH 15 16 53.02
WEST 15 13 46.15
NORW 16 10 49.11
PORT 16 8 46.30
SOUTH 16 2 38.15

Footnotes

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