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Premiership season 2011 - Round 17 Review

Total Crowd 11,109 (Avg 2,777)

The road to Finals football is already underway in the SANFL... the race for the minor premiership just got real interesting and so has the battle for the lower end of the final five. The grip on fourth and fifth is tenuous at best as those in sixth and seventh are little more than four points away. It will only take a moment of inconsistency to bring it all crashing down for Season 2011... with only six rounds to go, now is the time to shine or fade.

Welcome to this Round 17 edition of the SANFL Wrap-Up

First up in this week's wrap, we head over to Prospect Oval for the "Northern Derby" between the Roosters and the Bulldogs. Going back to Round 9 this season, the Roosters pushed the reigning premiers to the limit. But as has been the case many times this year, North would fall short and left Elizabeth with a seven-point loss. Some early match magic by the Dogs would have many already dreading the final outcome, they kicked five goals to North's 3.2 to take a 10-point lead at quarter-time. But the long injury list and Crows recalls were about to finally catch up with Centrals, as the Roosters overturned the deficit in their favour after kicking 7.5 to 4.3. At the half-time break, the home side were up by 10 points. The third quarter was a shootout, the Dogs kicked 6.1 but the Roosters' 5.2 would still see them down by five points at the final change. Everyone expected the visitors to unleash hell on the Roosters in the final term, but in a rare display, the Bulldogs were silenced. Centrals would only manage five behinds as the Roosters added an inaccurate 4.9, handing their northern rivals a 33-point defeat. Nick Gill kicked seven goals, but it was Todd Miles who bagged best afield honours for North while the Dogs named Eddie Sansbury as their best.

While all this was going on, almost 3500 people filed into the Alberton Oval for the contest between the Magpies and the Tigers. The last time these two sides met, the Magpies ended an eight-match losing streak against the Bays with a two-point win at the same ground. The Tigers would start off best this time, kicking 4.1 to Port's 2.2 in the first quarter to be up by 11 points at the first change. Glenelg would more than double that deficit by half-time, although it should have been more with better accuracy. They added 4.5 to the Magpies' 2.2 to be up by 26 points at the break. The skills that were severely lacking from Port in the first half would disappear when play resumed, the 'Pies held the Tigers to 3.2 while adding 7.2 for themselves. At three quarter-time, the deficit was reeled back to two points to set up a big final stanza. In the end, the Magpies were unable to completely hold the Tigers back. In a last quarter shootout, Glenelg bagged 7.2 to Port's 5.2 to leave Alberton with a 14-point win, allowing them to keep fourth spot. Ben Kane was named best for the Tigers, while Port named young gun Samuel Gray as their standout.

In the final Saturday afternoon match, the ABC cameras headed over to the City Mazda Stadium in Richmond for the match between the Bloods and the Eagles. In the last encounter between these clubs, the Eagles took a five-point win at Woodville with the final kick of the match. But at least that time, the Bloods were a fighting unit. That fight has been deserting them as of late and injuries weren't helping their cause... it was about to get worse. The Eagles started proceedings with a 5.4 to 1.1 first term, taking a 27-point lead at quarter-time. The Bloods fought back into the contest in the second term, bringing the gap back to two goals at half-time after kicking 3.6 to 1.3. This, unfortunately for the Westies faithful, was where the Bloods stopped. They would only score one goal in the third quarter, while the Eagles went on their merry way to score 7.5 and establish a 53-point lead at three quarter-time. It got more embarrassing in the end, just two behinds for West in the last quarter to the visitors' 5.2 would see the Eagles win by 83 points and WAFC coach Andrew Collins to label it as the worst day of his 3.5 years in charge. Adam Grocke would have had mixed feelings at the end of the day, he took best afield honours for the Eagles but was also reported. Daniel Caire seemed to be the only one that cared (pardon the pun) for Westies.

In the final match of Round 17, the action shifted to Sunday and it was off to Hickinbotham Oval at Noarlunga to see the Panthers face the Redlegs. The last clash between the two saw the Redlegs inflict a 76-point hiding on South at The Parade, the Panthers have only taken one of the last 10 games with a draw somewhere in there too. South's confidence has been steadily rising for the last few weeks, three wins from four games with only Centrals escaping their claws. The Panthers early inaccuracy stopped them taking the quarter-time lead, they scored 2.4 to the Redlegs' 3.1 to be down by three points. But Norwood would produce a 7.5 to 1.2 blitz in the second term to take a seven-goal lead at half-time. Suddenly, the intensity that had been building in the South Adelaide game that took the reigning premier by surprise was not present. When play resumed, the Redlegs extended their advantage to 50 points after scoring four goals to South's inaccurate 2.4 in the third term. The Panthers outscored the visitors in the final term, but 4.1 to 3.5 would hardly put a dent in the Redlegs lead. Norwood left Noarlunga 48-point winners, bringing them to within striking distance of the minor premiership. Norwood named Brady Dawe as their best on ground, while Nick Liddle took best afield votes for South.

INJURIES North - Allan (hamstring) Glenelg - Allen (dislocated thumb)

REPORTS Central - Sutherland (striking) W-WT - Grocke (striking)

R-17, Ladder

Team GP PTS %
CENT 15 24 56.61
NORW 15 22 57.53
W-WT 15 18 52.30
GLEN 15 15 48.09
SOUTH 15 13 44.89
PORT 14 12 50.15
WEST 14 12 48.01
NORTH 14 8 49.21
STURT 15 8 44.05

Footnotes

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