Australian Football

Round 3

Premiership season 2011 - Round 3 Review

Total Crowd 17,321 (Avg 4,330)

The crowds are continuing to flock to our league fixtures as for the second week in a row, aggregate numbers breached 17,000. Some surprise wins came from this weekend and for one club, normal operations seem to have resumed. This past weekend also saw the SANFL clubs returning to the national stage, with one of our teams making their return to the newly commissioned Championship of Australia, also known as the Foxtel Cup. We'll get to that later.

Welcome to the Round 3 edition of the SANFL Wrap-Up

First off in the wrap, we start with some Friday night mayhem as the Redlegs hosted the Tigers at Coopers Stadium. This was the hot ticket in town that night as over 8,000 people had the bean counters ticking over. In the last encounter between these sides, the Redlegs was just part one of the Tigers exit from finals football in 2010 as they went down by 44 points in the Qualifying final... vengeance would have been firmly on their minds. Things started pretty even, the Tigers up by just a point at quarter-time after kicking 3.2 to 3.1. They would go on to extend that gap to seven points by the half-time break after adding a further 3.3 to 2.3 in the second term. The inaccuracy bug arrived at the Tigers camp for the second half, but the Redlegs weren't getting any closer as the visitors added 1.5 to 1.1 in the third quarter. The goals came easier in the final stanza, the Tigers continued to spray their shots wide but it hardly mattered in the end. Glenelg kicked 3.6 to Norwood's 2.2 to take a 21-point win, their ninth win from the last 11 games. Jordan McMahon was named best for the Tigers, while the Redlegs named Bryce Campbell as their best afield.

Heading back city-side, the Adelaide Oval lights brightened up for the second week in a row as the Double Blues faced the Eagles. The last contest between these two was another chapter in September footy, the Eagles hurling the Blues into oblivion thanks to a 70-point demolition in the Elimination final. The Eagles looked to have conquered a momentary wobble which showed itself against Souths two weeks ago, while Sturt hadn't bagged a point yet after two games. But things were about to brighten up for the Blues as they kicked things off with a 4.6 to 0.0 first quarter. The Eagles found the big sticks in the second term, but 2.4 to 2.3 only made a one-point dent in the Double Blues' lead. At the half-time break, Sturt held a 29-point advantage. The Eagles' aforementioned wobbles exposed by South were being exposed again, despite Sturt's inaccuracy on goal. When play resumed, the Blues kicked a further 3.5 to the Eagles' single goal to put the gap out to 46 points at the final change. This was the Blues' night for sure, adding a further 4.3 to 2.3 in the last quarter to run out 58-point victors. Tristan Gum was named best for Sturt, while the Eagles named Mark McKenzie as their standout.

The next day in the lone Saturday fixture and thus the ABC televised game, the Bulldogs raised their 2010 premiership flag before facing the Panthers at Playford Alive Oval. Even with the looming Showdown later that afternoon at West Lakes, over 2500 people still showed up. South have not had much luck against the Bulldogs as of late. In fact, including the last contest the Panthers have taken points just once from the last 24 matches. After the embarrassment at Richmond, the Dogs came out with teeth bared. They ripped into the visitors from the beginning, ramming home 6.3 to nothing in the first quarter to take a 39-point lead at the first change. The Panthers bit back in the second quarter, reducing the gap by seven points after kicking 6.2 to the Dogs' 5.1, giving most ardent South supporters a glimmer of hope. That hope was soon blown to pieces as the Dogs smashed home 8.3 to 3.3 in the third quarter to extend their lead to 62 points. The home side finished the job in the final term, kicking 6.3 to four goals to take out a 77-point percentage-boosting victory and the Mayor's Trophy. The Dogs named Brayden O'Hara as their best, while Joel Cross got best on ground honours for South.

In the final match of Round 3, it was Sunday afternoon football at Prospect Oval as the feathers flew between the Roosters and the Magpies. Thus far, the 2011 season hasn't been kind to the Roosters, not a single win in pre-season or in-season so all evidence pointed to a Port win. But the Roosters did come up trumps in their last encounter as both teams finished out of the five. A close opening term greeted the 3500+ fans, the Roosters up by four points at the first change after scoring 4.2 to the Magpies' 3.4. But the cracks started to show in the Port camp as the Roosters extended their lead to 19 points after bagging 4.4 to 2.1 in the second term. Port's forays into their scoring zone were often met with easy turnovers, often not putting enough oomph into their shooting. This was especially evident in the third quarter as they only managed 1.3 while the Roosters added 3.1 to their tally. At three quarter-time, North held a 29-point lead. It was pretty much score-for-score in the final quarter, but the Magpies best quarter of the game would not bring them rewards as the Roosters still took a 28-point win after scoring 4.3 to North's 4.2. Leigh Ryswyk was named best afield for the Roosters, while Luke Harder got best afield votes for Port.

INJURIES Glenelg - Murphy (hamstring), Paozzo (ankle) Norwood - McGuinness (chest) Sturt - Kurtze (ankle), Evans (concussion)

REPORTS South - Carey (charging)

FOXTEL CUP - Round of 16

West Adelaide 15.10 (100) d Ainslie 3.5 (23) AAMI Stadium (AFL curtain raiser)

The Wrap isn't over yet though... now we head to AAMI Stadium where the Bloods took on the current ACT premier in the Ainslie Kangaroos in their Round-of-16 match in the Foxtel Cup. Westies have tasted national glory before in 1908 and 1911, Ainslie haven't seen such competition since their inception back in 1927 but have 22 premierships to their name. The Bloods have started 2011 in fine style in contrast with the Kangaroos who last weekend dropped a match against AFL team-in-waiting GWS Giants. The Bloods took a second-string team into this match, but that didn't stop them taking a 20-point lead at quarter-time after kicking 3.2 to 0.0. Ainslie would find the goal in the second term, but 1.3 to 5.3 would hardly make an impression on the Bloods as they took a 44-point lead at half-time. This was fast turning into a mis-match as the Bloods added a further 3.1 to 2.2 when play resumed, Westies taking a 49-point lead at three quarter-time. With their quarter-final spot booked, the Bloods rammed home the point as they kept the Kangaroos scoreless in the final quarter and kicked 4.4 to take a 77-point win. Brad Moran made a case for a Crows call-up after taking best-on-ground votes for West, while Ainslie named Ben Hughes as their best. West will take on Williamstown from the VFL in the next round.

R-3, Ladder