Australian Football

AustralianFootball.com Celebrating the history of the great Australian game

 

Premiership season 2012 - Round 24 Review

Total Crowd 11,045 (Avg 2,761)

This past weekend saw the end of the road for four clubs as we now head into the business end of the 2012 SANFL Premiership Season. Now begins the real battle... four weeks of high-pressure football where one club will join those other four on the sidelines each week until one club remains standing and collects the second highest prize in Australian Football, the Thomas Seymour-Hill Trophy and the title of 2012 Premiers. There was still plenty to fight for in the final stages of the minor round, fifth spot was still well and truly up for grabs. Who ended up with that no second chances spot? Read on.

Welcome to the Round 24 edition of the SANFL Wrap-Up

Saturday afternoon football will first take us to Alberton Oval, the ABC television cameras headed that way as well as the Magpies played host to the Double Blues. The Magpies had been on a roll against the Blues, a five match unbeaten run from mid-2010 to late-2011. But that streak was brought to an end this season when these two clashed in Round 2, Sturt breaking the streak with a one-goal victory at Unley. Despite Sturt's position on the ladder, they could still avoid the wooden spoon at this point while a win for Port would see them take fifth spot for at least 24 hours pending other results. With some key players on the sidelines, the Blues got the jump on the depleted Magpies with a 4.2 to 3.2 first term to take a six-point lead at the first change. The manpower advantage the Blues took into this game would start to tell on the scoreboard from here, another 4.2 to Port's 2.3 would see the visitors take the gap out to 19 points by the half-time break. When play resumed for the second half, the inaccuracy bug crept into the Blues camp. But it didn't harm them too much, Port did mount a challenge but the deficit would creep away to 25 points after Sturt scored 4.6 to four goals in the third quarter. The Double Blues would finish the job with a 5.2 to 4.2 final term to put the final nail into the Magpies' 2012 campaign, taking a 31-point win. Sturt named Josh Jenkins as their best after his eight-goal haul, while Port named Jarrod Young as their best afield. The Magpies finished the season in seventh position, while Sturt's fate would be decided the next day... more on that shortly!

Later that evening, the lights of Playford Alive Oval in Elizabeth flickered to life for the Northern Derby between the Bulldogs and the Roosters. The last time these two locked up for battle was back in Round 9, the Dogs escaping Prospect Oval with a six-point win leaving North fans seething at a lost opportunity to bag a rare win against them. The Roosters' last victory against Centrals was back in Round 17 last season at Prospect, but a win at Elizabeth is a rarity indeed with two wins from the last 21 games at the Ponderosa. With the notorious Gowans twins playing their last match on Elizabeth turf, everyone expected the Dogs to run rampant... WRONG! The Roosters went on the attack early, despite some inaccuracy in the opening term they still kicked out to a 20-point lead by quarter-time after scoring 3.4 whilst keeping the Dogs to just two behinds. The rot continued for the Dogs in the second quarter, North taking a further three goals to 2.3 to take their advantage out to 23 points by the long break. If the two Dogs stalwarts weren't going off their heads and busting a few blood vessels by this time, it was about to get worse. When play resumed, the Roosters went on their merry way in the third quarter, they added 5.4 while the Dogs continued to spray several opportunities with their lousy 2.4. At the final change, the visitors held a 41-point lead. The Dogs left their fightback far too late, North holding off the home side for a 17-point win after they conceded 7.1 to their 3.1 in the final quarter. James Bennett was named best for the Roosters, while Trent Goodrem was voted best for the Bulldogs.

With all the hoo-haa of the Crows' finals loss all done, the action continued into Sunday afternoon as the cats of the SANFL jungle butted heads at Gliderol Stadium, the Tigers facing the Panthers. The Tigers won the last encounter against their southern rival, a Round 14 win at Noarlunga by three points coming after a hat-trick of losses to the blue & whites. This match was a must win for both teams, the Tigers to tighten their grip on fifth spot on the ladder and the Panthers to avoid the wooden spoon after Sturt's upset against Port on Saturday. This match was going to be an arm-wrestle with neither side giving the other too much breathing space on the board. The Tigers would be ahead on the scoreboard at quarter-time by the narrowest of margins, they kicked 3.3 to 3.2 to take a one-point lead at the first change. They would extend that gap to eight points come half-time, the Bays adding a further 4.4 to South's 3.3 in the second quarter. The Panthers were starting to run low on manpower as key personnel started going down with injury, but they still kept well in touch after the long break. South would cut a single point off the Tigers' lead by the three quarter-time siren, they kicked 4.1 to Glenelg's four goals to bring the deficit back to seven points. Glenelg should have gone on to seal this one, but despite their non-existent interchange bench and 17 men on the field, the Panthers smashed home 8.1 to the Tigers' 4.1 to take out a 17-point victory and hand Sturt the wooden spoon. Joel Cross was voted best on ground for the Panthers, while the Tigers named Riley Milne as their best. South finished 2012 in eighth spot, two points ahead of the Blues.

The last match of the weekend brings us to Unleash Solar Oval in Woodville where the Eagles faced the Bloods. The Eagles have won seven of the last 11 games, but the last match belonged to the Bloods when the Eagles came to Richmond in Round 10. Before that match, the Eagles took three victories on the trot in Season 2011 on their way to the premiership. This time around, the Bloods had an assured finals spot while the Eagles were fighting to keep their slim finals hopes and premiership defence alive. This one was going to be a low scoring affair much like their encounter in early-2011 where the collective goals tally was 15 from 34 scores. The Eagles got the better of the Bloods early on, keeping the Bloods to just one behind whilst kicking three goals without a miss to lead by 17 points at quarter-time. The roles would be reversed in the second quarter though, Westies kicking 3.2 for themselves and keeping the Eagles to just a single point to go into the half-time break with a two-point lead. The arm-wrestling match continued when play resumed, in the third quarter both sides could only manage just one goal each with behinds making the difference in the deficit. The Eagles' two behinds to West's one would see the visitors slender lead cut to a point at three quarter-time. If everyone thought North's win against Centrals was an upset, think of what the Westies fans were thinking as the Eagles finished the game off with a 3.7 to 1.2 final quarter as the home side took a 16-point win and snatched the coveted fifth spot from the Tigers. Justin Cicolella's season isn't finished yet! The Eagles named Ben Grieger as their best on ground, while West named Shane Birss as their standout. This result sees the Tigers finish their season in sixth.

INJURIES South - Liddle (ankle), Brown, Rolfe (shoulder), Houlihan (concussion) West - F. Caruso (ankle)

REPORTS None known at time of post

NORWOOD FC - Minor Premiers across the board

The Redlegs finished first in all four grades and took all the minor premierships, with the Under-16's winning their premiership and the Macca's Shield earlier this year. As a result of this they will also secure the Stanley H. Lewis Trophy for their efforts across the three primary grades and the first finals week off.

R-24, Ladder

Team GP PTS %
NORW 20 36 62.54
CENT 20 26 55.22
WEST 20 24 52.60
NORTH 20 20 47.92
W-WT 20 18 47.11
GLEN 20 16 46.37
PORT 20 14 49.59
SOUTH 20 14 47.47
STURT 20 12 44.06

Footnotes

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