Australian Football

Round 5

Premiership season 2013 - Round 5 Review

Total Crowd 14,383 (Avg 3,596)

The South Australian National Football League and Anzac Day are two things that have gone hand in hand for a long time. The first ever official Anzac Day Grand Final Re-Match was back in 1948, where the Redlegs got some small measure of payback against the Bloods after having their premiership hopes dashed in the previous year's decider. Since that time, not every single year featured a return match from the Grand Final, but from 1998 onwards it was made a permanent fixture. The deal would be sealed in 2002 with the commissioning of the Bob Quinn Medal, named after the late Port Adelaide legend and former soldier involved at the Siege of Tobruk.

Lest We Forget.

Welcome to the Round 5 edition of the SANFL Wrap-Up

First up in this week's wrap, Thursday afternoon football sees us head up The Parade to Coopers Stadium where the strains of the Last Post would lead us to the Grand Final Re-Match between the Redlegs and the Bloods. As said earlier, these two clubs aren't strangers to each other on this stage. Norwood and West Adelaide contested the first ever Anzac Day contest back in 1948 following the Bloods' 1947 premiership win which saw the 'Legs win that contest by 38 points. This time around though, the role of the reigning premier would be reversed after the 2012 decider as Norwood took out their 28th flag in a low scoring contest. This would be the first time that a GF return match was played on Redleg soil and West haven't won at The Parade after Round 13 in 2009. The Redlegs were slow to react early on, as West began proceedings by restricting them to just three behinds whilst kicking 2.3 for themselves to take a 12-point lead at quarter-time, the coaches almost coming to blows after an arguement was sparked on the sidelines. Norwood would finally break through the big sticks in the second quarter, but the Bloods would be ahead with a 10-point lead at the half-time break after kicking 2.2 to two goals. But if the Redlegs' possession rate during that first half was any indication, they were just warming up the engine and only horrid disposals held them back. When play resumed, the Bloods went from a threat to a minor annoyance as the Redlegs kicked into the lead with their 5.4 to Westies' comparably lousy 1.1. At the final change, the home side were ahead by 19 points. Again, this fixture was a low-scoring one, but the overall result was an improvement on the previous encounter at AAMI. The Bloods just couldn't reel the 'Legs back in as they went down by 26 points after a 2.4 to 1.1 final quarter. The Bob Quinn Medal went to Mat Suckling, but the Redlegs named Kieran McGuinness as their best on ground while the Bloods voted in Joel Tippett as their best afield.

Next up in the wrap, its time for more Friday Night Mayhem as we take the long trip south to the bright lights of Hickinbotham Oval in Noarlunga for the stoush between the Panthers and the Roosters. From the last 11 "SA footy Civil Wars", the Roosters have taken seven wins to South's four. The 2012 season saw the Roosters go down to the Panthers twice at both home and away, a Roosters win in Round 17 at Noarlunga separating the two losses. South's Round 2 win at Prospect and the wooden spoon-avoiding victory in Round 23 at Noarlunga last year would no doubt be sticking hard in the minds of the North faithful although it probably spurred them on as they ploughed through to the Preliminary Final. The Roosters got the better start for the night, kicking 4.3 to South's 2.1 in the opening term to take a 14-point lead at quarter-time. The Panthers answered back in the second term though, bringing the deficit back to just four points at the half-time break after they scored 4.1 to the Roosters' 2.3 although the home side probably should have been in front after a controversially allowed goal. But as plucky as the Panthers were this evening, the Roosters' third quarter was the game breaker as they fired through 8.1 to South's 4.2 to take a 27-point lead going into the final term. The Panthers just couldn't find any more answers this time around, the Roosters finishing the match with a 4.2 to 2.3 final quarter to take out a 38-point win. North would name Andrew Moore as their best on ground for the night, while Souths named Joel Cross as their best.

The action now brings us to Saturday afternoon, the ABC cameras taking us to Maughan Thiem Hyundai Oval in Woodville for the Battle of the Birds, the Eagles taking on the Magpies. The last dozen outings between the rival birds of Port Road have seen the Eagles win nine to the Magpies' four. Port's last victory was the beginning of the Eagles' early season premiership hangover when they opened 2012 at Thebarton. But the Eagles took out the following two matches, a 33-point win at Alberton in Round 13 and a three-point escape at Woodville in Round 21. The Eagles confidence would have been at an all-time high after their victory against the reigning premiers last week at The Parade, but the Magpies were a constant threat early on. Only some poor shooting on goal by Port would stop them taking a quarter-time lead as the Eagles held a three-point lead at the first change after kicking 3.1 to 2.4. The two sides exchanged a few major blows on the board in the second term, each taking two goals with the Eagles' two behinds putting them slightly further ahead. At the half-time break, the home side held a five-point lead. When play resumed, the Magpies managed to reel the Eagles back in and would find themselves ahead by a point at the final change after kicking 5.3 to 4.3. But the Eagles left some vital fuel for the final term and with the aid of a strong wind went on a seven goal to two romp to take out a 29-point win. Luke Jarrad would be named best for the Eagles, while Port named Samuel Gray as their standout.

In the final contest for Round 5, its off to the beachside city of Glenelg as the Tigers took on the Double Blues under the lights of Gliderol Stadium. The Double Blues haven't had much joy against the Tigers, with only two wins from the last 12 games. You have to go back to the 2009 Preliminary Final for the last Sturt victory, on their way to the Grand Final the Blues downed the Tigers by just five points. That was followed by a 39-point win at Unley in Round 3 in the following season. After that, its been all yellow and black with six straight wins stretching from Round 13 of 2010 to Round 21 last year. A 49-point caning was the result of Sturt's last trip to the bay, the Tigers then came to Unley to win by five point in the last encounter. The Tigers started off best, taking a 13-point lead at quarter-time after kicking 4.3 to 2.2 in the opening stanza. Sturt would almost level things up by the long break, but a few behinds would still see the Tigers ahead at the siren. The Blues kicked 5.2 to Glenelg's 3.4 to be down by just three points at half-time. That guard-dropping second quarter by the Tigers wouldn't be repeated though, when play resumed the home side kept the Blues to a horribly inaccurate 1.6 whilst kicking 6.3 for themselves to set up a 30-point lead at three quarter-time. The final term was a shootout, but Sturt wouldn't get too close as both sides kicked four goals each, only behinds reducing the gap by any measure. The Tigers finished up with a 28-point win in front of just under 3800 SA footy-heads. Jarryd Lyons was named best for Glenelg, while the Blues voted in John Greenslade as their best afield.

INJURIES Norwood - Donohue (hamstring) North - Ivens (knee) W-WT - Karpany (ankle) Port - D. Butcher (shoulder)

REPORTS None known at time of post

R-5, Ladder