I wonder how receptive South Adelaide FC would be to that proposal? Would seem an advantage to have your home ground available all year round from a Footy point of view. I agree it would be ideal to have both Hickinbotham and an upgraded Bice as the two ovals, being so close together.

If Bice was done up nicely as they are saying they'd do with the merger - no reason why they couldn't keep that as the main ground if Hickinbotham not available. What of the new facilities being built at Aldinga? The new High School and new sports complex? Perhaps that could be used as a 2nd ground or even as the main training facility?

The SANFL doesn’t need the AFL sides to remain a viable competition, but it does need cooperation from the AFL.

Unfortunately, the AFL has been so blinkered.

My 6 year old daughter just started to really enjoy going to the football last season. I took her to a couple of Crows games and a couple of Eagles games. She liked both, but enjoyed the freedom of the Eagles games most of all. So that is what we’ll do this season. It is more affordable and more fun. It is also of a good standard to enjoy watching. I’ll also be able to bring my toddler and meet up with friends and family at the footy in any spot we like. Likely on the hill at Woodville Oval, where the kids can run around all day. Perhaps an introduction to our great game, that will see her participate and support the game in the future.

Sitting still for 3 hours at Adelaide Oval doesn’t necessarily do that.

Drove in to the main oval at Mt Barker today. Looks great. Similar club rooms with soccer oval 50m down the hill.

Last finals spot is down to the wire! SD hanging on for a draw with Sturt, must be 1-2 overs left and 9 down. WT are 7/199 with only a few overs left in the day. If SD hang on and WT and ET draw - WT should go through. ET take the last 3 wickets and they go through. ET and WT draw and Sturt win and the Blue are through. Amazing end to the season!

Edit: SD and Sturt just drew....

Been following all day while working. What an epic finish to the minor round! In the end, the rain did the right thing by the Eagles, but some hard fought draws for it to happen. A great innings by Patrick Fisher who is having a terrific season. Spencer Johnson always does well when it matters also. Solid all-round contributions by Short and Drew. Even Glenelg had to battle hard to win and ensure finals. Former Eagle great Ben Higgins’ son making a major contribution to that victory.

To top it all off, the number 11 batsman for Southerns whose three clubs seasons were hinging upon was called Riddle. And Sturt couldn’t solve it!

I presume West Torrens 2nd Grade got through too? They beat ET, but Uni thrashed Prospect. Not sure if they caught the Eagles on percentage?

University looking for their first 1st Grade Premiership since 1997/98. They have won 4 previously.

Kensington looking for 3-in-row, having won 17 all up.

Glenelg have won 6, previously winning in 2012/13.

West Torrens have won 15, previously winning in 2016/17.

For the record, East Torrens has won the most titles along with Kensington, 17, their last win was in 1990/91. Kensington was originally formed as an off shoot of East Torrens.

Uni too strong. It’s been a batting year and unfortunately WT were unable to breakthrough a strong Uni batting line up. Umpires didn’t seem too keen on giving LBW’s neither - Slee to Bosisto early in his innings must have been close? I thought if WT could give themselves 65-70 overs to bat, they were a chance, given their powerful batting line up against a Uni attack without Agar and Winter, but it wasn’t to be.

Still, the best two teams are through and Uni have the big advantage of being able to play for a draw. If you can bat well enough, it doesn’t matter what you bowl like.

Uni, Kensington and Glenelg the only clubs involved in all four men’s senior finals.

I don’t have a problem with the Women being worth the same as men in the Stanley H Lewis Cup. The juniors and reserves are all compromised to gain optimum results for the league side. No compromise with the Women. Having said that, they could just as easily make it all worth the same. Does anyone really care who wins this trophy anyway?

The Port Adelaide Sanflies.

Tom Mackenzie was a champion of both West Torrens and North Adelaide. A triple Magarey Medallist. I believe he was named in North Adelaide’s Team of the Century, and no doubt, would also be named in West Torrens’ greatest line up of all time too. My Dad came across this when reading a book by Carol Lefevre and wrote the below. Tom Mackenzie and others who served - Lest We Forget.

Remembering Tom MacKenzie

Carol Lefevre’s brilliant ‘The Quiet City’ is an evocative wandering along the roads and lanes of Adelaide’s West Terrace Cemetery. She visits the addresses of people who walked widely diverse paths during their lifetimes. Some lives are marked ostentatiously, others completely unmarked. Towards the end of the book she visits the beautiful military section of the cemetery, the first of its kind in Australia.

She stops at several addresses, one being Light Oval, 8N, Plot 3. It is the grave of Thomas David MacKenzie. Tom MacKenzie was a star of West Torrens Football Club. He was the first player to ever win the coveted Magarey Medal three times; in 1902, 1905 and 1906. He played 200 games, including a mid career three seasons with North Adelaide, before returning to the fold in 1907 and captaining West Torrens from 1911 to 1913. He lived at Southwark (Thebarton) and worked at the Islington Railway ‘Shops’.

Tom joined the AIF in July 1915 and by June 1916 was in France on his way to the Battle of Fromelles, where the Australian casualty rate was 75%. He was one of those casualties. I will let Carol Lefevre beautifully reawaken events of a century ago.

‘I have never seen a photograph of a First World War soldier that was not beautiful. Youth in itself is beautiful, I think, but being identically dressed the eye is drawn toward the faces and they seem to shine with the luminosity of doomed youth.

Thirty three year old Tom MacKenzie, fairest and most brilliant in the football field, was one of the doomed, and family and friends were shocked when he was reported killed in action. He had been wounded by shellfire and left among the dead on the battlefield. But a stretcher bearer, who happened to be a West Torrens supporter recognised his club’s captain and on closer inspection discovered that Tom MacKenzie was still alive. The football fan carried him to safety and in 1919 Tom MacKenzie was able to return to Adelaide where he supported his old team and became a life member of the SANFL.

But like so many other returned soldiers his experiences in France eventually caught up with him and his death as a result of war related injuries came in 1927. In 1996 Tom MacKenzie was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame.’

Gutsy win!

Jack Hayes dropped the easiest chest mark 30m out directly in front which would’ve put Eagles 5 goals up in the 2nd. As it turned out, North went down the other end and scored a goal. Then another straight after and from there an arm wrestle. Neither team took their opportunities with the breeze in the 2nd half - both defences outstanding. In the end, Sinor showed his character and kicked the winning goal and the Eagles held on.

A really important win. Rowland with the Bob Quinn medal well deserved.

Did the Menzels play?

Troy played on ball and I thought played well. For team balance, I think it’s important he plays more time up the field than down forward, so good signs.

Daniel probably had his quietest game up forward. Should’ve kicked a normal drop punt, 40m out, 45 degree angle, but elected his usual kick around the body from a set shot and kicked out on the full. As good as he is around the body, there comes a distance when the percentages aren’t in your favour for this type of kick. I presume he got through the full game?

So far so good for these two though.

Tony Clifton wrote:Every time mergers are on the cards they get it together

They’ve done pretty well for most of their 160 odd years as a club.

These tough, muddy games in the middle of winter help set up your spot in the finals at the end of the year, but give little indication of what will happen on a fast deck in spring at the Adelaide Oval. A really good win by the Eagles to put a game and percentage on 4th spot. South with some work to do, but they are capable and shouldn’t be written off.

Redden was dominant. You would expect he’ll get better as the season progresses, given his whole off-season was spent recovering from shoulder surgery. Good to see Haylock and Coma step straight in and look comfortable at the level. A much better game from Mutch this week. Tsitas again very good. I thought Seymour played his best game for the season. His penetrating left foot could be very handy come September, he just needs to continue to back himself going for the ball and get his confidence up that he belongs at the level. Menzel and Stengle exceptional up forward and our win once again built on the solid foundations laid by Thompson, Giuffreda and Rowland in defence.

Easy win. Top 3 spot secured. Job done.

So you’re saying it’s a Bays v North GF?

I tend to agree

Glenelg clearly and deservedly the strong favourites. But the Grand Finalists from last year are in reasonable form and like Glenelg, know what is required in terms of intensity on the ball. Still think South, on Adelaide Oval in Spring, with young talent, could surprise if they can get back to some form shown earlier in the season.

It should be a great finals series. It’s pleasing to see such high standards from the top teams, despite all that has happened over the past 18 months with Covid and a huge bonus having no AFL Reserves in the finals again.

Still trying to see the sense in having this split round. We’ve had GF’s on the same weekend as the AFL in the past so the clash problem doesn’t stack up. The SANFL are just giving more chance for Covid to interfere with the season by extending it longer than it needs to. The opposite strategy to the AFL.

The game was saved by the Eagles defenders and won by some individual brilliance by Stengle. Both teams played 4 quarters of relentless football in difficult conditions. A free crack at Glenelg next weekend for a chance at a Grand Final berth.

From the most losingest percentage to the best!

1. Glenelg (27%) Won 5 Lost 13
2. Woodville-West Torrens (36%) Won 4 Lost 7
3. South (41%) Won 5 Lost 7
4. North (45%) Won 14 Lost 17
=5. West Torrens (50%) Won 4 Lost 4
=5. West Adelaide (50%) Won 9 Lost 9
7. Port (52%) Won 33 Lost 30
8. Norwood (55%) Won 21 Lost 17
9. Sturt (60%) Won 15 Lost 10
10. Central (64%) Won 9 Lost 5

The Menzel brothers are always mentioned together and look similar - but play quite differently. Dan - even after however many knee reconstructions still has a great standing leap and is very strong overhead, more so playing as a key forward. Would be in the first half-dozen picked I would imagine. Works hard to provide a target. Troy is more the classic flanker and if he could be fully fit/fit enough, would be very handy further up the field as he delivers nicely inside 50 - but in reality would be on the fringe of selection as best 22 with his current output. Still a very handy player and on his day is very good. Along with Stengle - they have provided some x-factor to the Eagles forward line that was lost from last years premiership side with the departure of Nick Hayes, Rowe and Lowson.

The 100 year Grand Final of sorts
GL club 100 years old
I reckon it '''might'' also the 100 year anniversary of either the approval or when Woodville Oval was constructed ???

Yes, in 1921 the Woodville Council purchased 15 acres of land to use as a recreation ground. A bowling club was formed soon after. It wasn’t until 1937 that significant works commenced with the Woodville Cricket Club forming in 1938. The Woodville Football Club used the oval from 1941. The first SANFL game on Thebarton Oval was Round 1 vs Sturt in 1922.

First Eagles Magarey Medalist, congrats James Tsitas! And it was Malcolm Blight in 1972 and Lindsay Head in 1963, the previous winners from Woodville and West Torrens, so it has been an incredibly long time between sips of Champagne!

Bigger fish to fry on Sunday, but a magnificent player whose fitness, hardness at the ball and skill has been on display since he first arrived half way through last season. So consistent and has slotted in beautifully to what was already a strong Eagles midfield.

Well done to Bryce Gibbs as well. I remember his first season and being lured to a Bays vs Port game at Glenelg just to see what this kid could do on a football field at that age. Always a smooth mover and to win the Magarey after having such a long career at AFL level is testament to his football ability and commitment to his team and craft.

For the SANFL to still attract the quality of player of these two men is great for the competition. To combine that with exciting future AFL champions such as Horne-Francis and to still have dedicated 200 game players running around for various clubs, both from a local background and recruits who have made Adelaide home from interstate, makes the SANFL competition stand out from the rest.

A brilliant 4-quarter performance by the Eagles.

I thought if the Eagles could match the bay midfield, their potency forward could provide enough to win the game. To have all of Dan and Troy Menzel and Stengle with goals in the first quarter was a great sign. Never under-estimate the work Angus Poole and Jack Firns do up forward though. Firns role didn’t just nullify Curran - he provided a genuine contest at CHF and often came out on top, every single time. His finals series was outstanding and he must be one of Sheedy’s favourite players. I thought he was next best to Jack Hayes. If that was Poole’s last game, I am very sorry to see him go. He was one of the few who always had what it takes for finals football. His courage and pressure is immense. His standards always high, he has been a wonderful player for the Eagles who I’d hope could be talked in to going around again.

The defence was impenetrable. A legacy of the set up left from the Godden era, Luke Thompson, Pat Giuffreda and Sam Rowland are often the last line and often come up with the ball. Every bit as brilliant at their defensive craft as the Menzel’s and Stengle are up forward. Luke Beecken was this years young gun who played with an inflated confidence Sheedy seems to be able to give. Jungfer and his kamikaze style and good use of the ball is a gem. Lehmann and Cameron made sure the ball was brought to ground and playing the extra tall in defence proved a good decision. On a different day, Cameron could be just as useful up forward.

Games are won in the midfield and the big triple premiership ruckman was influential in giving his midfielders first use of the ball. Tsitas, Lonergan and Sinor provide the much needed grunt a premiership winning midfield needs. Knowing Glenelg have the same caliber of players makes this win even sweeter. Knight has been brilliant and a great replacement for Foote. Mutch became better as the season progressed and had a great Grand Final and Finals series - always handy to be competent on both feet. Toumpas, I believe, is three Premiership wins from three Grand Finals and has been one of the leading possession getters on the wing in all three games. Pudney and Comma forced their way in to the league side through performance after just missing out this year. Comma looms as the new Gus Poole if Poole does retire. He is fearless.

Then there is Jack Hayes. The best player in the SANFL. The Jack Oatey medalist playing with a fracture in his leg. He leads from the front and is a force no other side has. Ruck, Ruck Rover, Centre Half Forward, he has all those old positions covered. He deserves a chance at the highest level.

The lead in the first quarter was handy. The 2nd was an arm wrestle - Glenelg did well to hold the Eagles for the first 15 minutes, the Eagles did equally well to hold Glenelg before half time. The half time wait was full of expectation of a Glenelg come back - but the Eagles through the dominant Redden, hit the scoreboard early and the tackling and smothers of Sinor in that 3rd quarter were proof Eagles weren’t letting Glenelg back in the game. The 4th quarter was pure bliss.

Back to back for the first time. The merged club now has 5 premierships and a Magarey Medallist. 1993, 2006, 2011, 2020 and 2021 sit forever alongside the flags of 1924, 1933, 1945 and 1953 at Oval Avenue. The stairway of legends continues to grow.

Just watching the Digital Pass version of the Grand Final and half way through the 3rd quarter scores are similar to both the Channel 7 version and the live game.

Anyway, I think the goal at the 9 minute mark of the 3rd quarter where the ball was scrambled forward, a ball up near 50, more tackling and pressure before Mutch ended up with the ball by himself in the goal square most typified the overall team effort. Last year it was 1 quarter of magic that blew the game open but this year was systematic, planned and executed to perfection.

Can and will the SANFL salary cap be increased after being severely cut for this season? Note the AFL players salaries were not effected any where near as much.

Love the analysis spell_check.

Hats off to Sheedy, the move I think was the most important in us winning the premiership was the faith placed in Firns, Poole and Comma to contest and ensure we at worst broke even at CHF in the air and on the ground. Firns and Poole in particular are far better overhead than their height would suggest and made sure we weren’t out marked and used their pace and will to win the ball on the ground or pressure the opposition. The work rate of our midfield ensured numbers at the contest. Dan Menzel and Stengle were able to stay deeper because of this. He could’ve easily kept with the taller Von Bertouch - who we’d won a premiership with and were comfortably top 3 with getting towards the end of minor round, but he went all in on Firns. Even in the final when he bought Lehmann in for Goldy for more height, that extra height was used in defence. Hayes was able to maintain his role instead of being the only target.

In 2006 when we broke the drought it was the introduction of the athletic Grocke and Inkster up forward that gave us that edge we hadn’t had - together with the additions to an already good midfield of Cooper (inside grunt) and Jarrad (outside ball carrier) that finally got Fuller his premiership.

An avalanche of long goals, a mixture of youth and experience, a dominant ruckman and an inspired game plan by Godden saw us steal the 2011 premiership and finally end Central’s run of dominance.

2015 we lost our aggressive on ball brigade of Rowntree, Poole and Borholm to injury in the Prelim and couldn’t match the class of Westies mids. We had no avenue through half forward for most of those finals losses through the mid-2010’s, highlighted by the Grand Final Sturt beat us in - despite having a fairly dominant full forward in Wundke. To go with that we needed the workhorses instead of more ‘stars’.

Sheedy was able to get the balance just right and his players delivered.

Lovely to see. I’ve only caught snippets of the recent interviews Cornesy had with both Robran and Ebert, but must go back and listen properly.

A legend indeed.

Great photo in the man cave Booney!

Zones from 1954, before Woodville and Central.

This one? ;)

The West Adelaide Football Club is pleased to announce the signing of Darren Walters from VFL club Williamstown.

Darren is a 204cm ruckman who for the past 2 years has worked closely with ex West Adelaide & Williamstown coach Andy Collins. Darren’s key strengths include his ability to take contested marks around the ground and use the ball well by foot.

There was no question which club Darren wanted to join, “My family have always been West Adelaide supporters so growing up I always heard stories of the club and the great culture they have . So when they contacted me showing a high level of interest and confidence in my abilities, as well as a willingness to help me develop as a player, it was an easy decision.”

Please join us in welcoming Darren and his partner Danika to the West Adelaide Family.


He’s a hit out machine

:shock:

To be fair, he didn't specify they were non-fiction stories.

Kelvin Smith 186* after a late start at Henley.

It would be a shame if he never got another chance at First Class level. I haven’t seen Kelly and others from other clubs, but he’s a class above the likes of Drew and Harry Nielsen and doubt there’s been a better batsman at West Torrens since David Hookes. The Redbacks could do worse than giving him a run at 5 or 6 in the Shield team.

FWIW I completely agree that Nielsen should be keeping whenever he is playing Grade Cricket. Even if he is currently in the Redbacks as a batsman - if/when Carey gets selected for Australia, Nielsen is next in line.

I am questioning whether it was a good decision by Nielsen to approach West Torrens to come and play to be playing with friends at the expense of being first choice keeper. Remembering he was knocked back the season before for the same reason.

I can understand West Torrens taking Nielsen if he was happy to play 2nd fiddle to Peters, as he is a gun batsman, he was a junior at the club, has good mates playing and his Dad is a club legend. It would be presumed Nielsen would only be available for a couple of games given his schedule as a First Class and BBL cricketer. That also being the reason to keep Peters.

Maybe West Torrens has taken it's cake and eaten it too with regards to signing Nielsen on, but at the end of the day, it is the professional cricketer himself that has chosen to put himself in this position and maybe this is a reflection of the culture at the Redbacks.

Then again, like I said earlier, it worked out ok for Wade and Paine, who were both playing for Tasmania. And maybe it isn't such a big deal, because Nielsen probably will only play a couple of games at WT this season. Plus, Peters and Nielsen seemed pretty happy sharing the role and playing together in a big win on the weekend. Perhaps there's nothing to see here.

Is he training and living in Melbourne ?

Hawthorn has bolstered its Hawks Academy program with the appointments of Keegan Brooksby and David McKay.

Former Hawk Brooksby has landed the position of Hawks Academy Manager while retired Adelaide star McKay has been named as the Hawks Academy Coach.


https://www.hawthornfc.com.au/news/1036091/former-afl-players-land-hawks-academy-roles

Sounds like he’s doing the Danny Del Re and flying in on weekends.

Mark McKenzie did this with the Eagles in 2012 after getting a similar job at Hawthorn. Lasted the one season before retiring. Now is head of recruiting at Hawthorn. Of course, there wasn't Covid back then, but hopefully it works out ok for South.

East Torrens/Kensington (after all, Kensington were originally a break off from East Torrens)
Prospect/Port Adelaide/University (a combination of wooden spoons and silver spoons, this merger is black and white)
West Torrens/Woodville (the greatest footy club on the planet proves this can work - they just need to prioritise the strongest clubs name first this time)
Glenelg/Southern District (Glenelg represents south better than, say Adelaide, plus I’m sure they’d gladly handover the SeaHorses logo to become the Stingrays)
Sturt/Adelaide (the closest clubs, in terms of distance, in the comp)
Northern Districts/Tea Tree Gully (they already had a merger of the womens teams didn’t they? Again, location makes sense).

6 team comp. Every club is merged. No favourites. If it’s good enough for Sheffield Shield to have a 6 team comp it’s good enough for Adelaide.

Here's an attempt at an SANFL premiers poster thanks to the footyjumpers.com website. At the very least a good visual to see the dominant eras. The Eagles going back to back this year for the first time means every current SANFL club (not including AFL reserves) has gone back to back at some stage in history!

32D5BB96-3832-4052-8756-074C2B8F7D31_1_201_a.jpeg

T20 Final at Karen Rolton Oval tonight between East Torrens and Port Adelaide.

In the Semis earlier today, East Torrens openers Lehmann and Dall chased down Uni’s 145 in 16 overs without losing a wicket. In the other game, Port restricted Kensington to 111 and chased that down in 19 overs losing 6 wickets.

Such an even performance. Everyone contributed. How long until Cam Green is the best cricketer in the world?

3 Tests in Pakistan, 2 Tests in Sri Lanka and then a Test vs Afghanistan in India prior to a 4-Test series against India prior to next summer. That will sort the men out from the boys.

I think Seb Gilhaus is doing Redden’s pre-season for him.

Going to be tight heading to the last couple of Rounds. Glenelg keep their season alive by taking a wicket on the last ball of the day. West Torrens almost bowled out by Prospect, but stay in the hunt chasing 180, 8 down. 1 vs 2 and 4 vs 5 next week!

Ladder

Sturt 185 (Kens/Glen)
Kensington 150 (Sturt/Wood)
West Torrens 145 (Bye/Adel)
University 140 (Glen/SD)
————————————
Glenelg 130 (Uni/Sturt)
TTG 130 (Adel/ET)
Port 100 (Wood/ND)
Northerns 100 (ET/Port)
Woodville 90 (Port/Kens)
East Torrens 70 (ND/TTG)
Prospect 60 (SD/Bye)
Adelaide 50 (TTG/WT)
Southerns 0 (Pros/Uni)

Glenelg vs West Torrens in One Day Final tomorrow.

High quality game. Very even performance by both teams, but in the end, the pressure of having to chase the runs was too much, despite Glenelg having wickets in hand and keeping the rrq around 5 per over for the majority of the innings. Winter and Gibson the standouts with the bat - well supported in both cases by Irvine and Peters respectively. Peters was also exceptional behind the stumps, including a leg-side stumping off a wide ball from Short. The all-round contributions of Short and Fallins proved crucial, both their partnership with the bat and with the ball and the standout bowling performance by Buckingham was match winning after Winter threatened to win the game off his own bat.

Glenelg 5/359 dec vs Sturt 0/11
Most likely scenario: Glenelg miss finals and Sturt lose top spot. Both captains probably wondering tonight how they can conjure up the 10 point bonus.

Kensington 232 vs Woodville 2/35
The most bizarre game so far. Kensington going from 0/53 to 7/77 and then 8/207!
Most likely scenario: Kensington take top spot. They know how to win.

Tea Tree Gully 2/104 vs East Torrens 159
Most likely scenario: Tea Tree Gully storm into finals with a form bowling line up.

University 1/355 dec vs Southerns 2/70
Most likely scenario: Uni win comfortably on 1st Innings and give SD every chance to get the 10 bonus points in the pursuit of an outright themselves, which they’ll likely get to secure 4th spot.

West Torrens 195 vs Adelaide 2/22
Most likely scenario: Whilst Uni, Glenelg and TTG put their full foot forward for a finals spot on day one, WT limped to a meagre total whilst chewing up valuable overs. Finals are done and dusted, minus a miracle bowling performance.

Southerns hold on for the draw 9 down to deny Uni a finals spot, just as they did last year against Sturt. West Torrens again sneak into the 4 thanks to that result and their win against Adelaide.

Who can predict sport? Not me.

Semi-Finals
Sturt vs West Torrens
Tea Tree Gully vs Kensington

Seems a reasonable outcome re the Covid situation. Doubt it will have too much of an impact.

I've seen many videos of Warne's wickets over the past 3 days, Roblinda2 on YouTube has posted some good videos and Fox has has shown alot of footage as there's been some chat about that on here about it and it got me thinking, what's the favourite and most memorable Shane Warne wicket for everyone on here?

Mine is Warne bowling Kevin Pietersen around his legs (and hitting off stump) in England's second innings of the 2006 Ashes Test in Adelaide.

I remember staying up to watch both of those epic games in the 1999 World Cup against South Africa. In the Semi Final we scraped to about 210 and South Africa were cruising at 0/48. Enter Shane Warne and you knew any chance Australia had rested on his shoulders. I think it was 2nd ball he got Gibbs in a ball almost as good as the Gatting ball, spinning sharply from outside leg and hitting the top of off. Then he bowled Kirsten and had Cronje caught at slip and in the space of a few overs he’d turned the game. He came on later and got Pollock out, prior to Klusener belting us to all parts. Then the famous run out. What a game. Warne, what a player.

You beauty! Well done WT!!!

Amazing batting by Pakistan to hold on for a draw. It certainly wasn't as flat a pitch as the 1st Test. Australia should've been able to bowl Pakistan out within 170 overs. Why wasn't Marnus given a bowl earlier? Swepson had bowled 50 overs before Marnus was brought on. On that pitch - Marnus was able to extract more bounce and worry than Swepson could. We had the runs in the bank not to have to worry about the runs scored by Pakistan. Is Scott Boland over there? He should play the 3rd Test in place of Swepson. Wasn't he brought in to the MCG Test because he was a flat pitch specialist?

Anyway, at least that Test match was much more entertaining than the 1st Test. Credit to Pakistan's batting in the 2nd innings in the end.

It's just a contingency plan. I really don't think there will be any players from those top up lists that get an AFL game and they stay with their SANFL club if they don't play in the AFL team. Plus, they only play in the AFL team if every AFL listed player is unavailable. Highly unlikely.

I sat at the past players lunch a few weeks ago thinking what a missed opportunity. Such a talented group would miss the finals. We were 5/80 against Adelaide, sitting in 5th position, and all of TTG, Uni and Glenelg were flying in their games. Pointon and Fisher put together a valuable partnership to push the total to something that could be defended. It was defended and all eyes turned to Park 25 for the first miracle to play out.

Matthew Sugg hit 146*, using up 283 balls as Southern District, with 0 points registered for the season, batted out 118 overs and used up 9 wickets to hold on for a draw against the reigning premiers. West Torrens would sneak into the 4. Glenelg and University would finish 5th and 6th - very good teams would miss finals. It was a very strong top 6.

To Price Memorial to play the strong batting line up of Sturt, the minor premiers, who would win the toss and bat. A battle of attrition. After being unable to bowl out Uni in the Semi Final the year before, Sturt would reach stumps 5/300 and a repeat was looking a possibility. But, the Eagles would come out on the 2nd morning and bowl Sturt out, giving them the opportunity to score at 5 runs an over over 75 overs to win the game. Unlikely? Not to a couple of Bradman medalists - Smith with 169 and Drew with a quick fire 98 - leading the Eagles to an unlikely victory with 8 balls to spare.

On to the Grand Final and just as it was in the One Day Grand Final, it was a partnership between Gibson and Peters that looked like steering the Eagles to a competitive total. Until an Oakley delivery jumped off a length to break Gibson’s hand. 5 down, as good as 6 it was thought. Then 7 down for 220 - not a bad total, but with just the two tail enders to come it was still advantage Tea Tree Gully. It was surprising to see Gibson return, bat held in left hand, to perhaps support Peters in guiding West Torrens to a competitive 250? It wasn’t expected he and Peters would finish off what they started and put Tea Tree Gully to the sword in the final session. A powerful off drive to the fielder saw the bottom hand come off the bat wincing with pain, before the next ball was smashed high over mid-on to bring up one of the great centuries and an attacking declaration from Drew to give his spearheads 12 overs at TTG before stumps.

Perhaps it was cricket karma from the week before? 34 overs of hard toil in the Semi Final. Cricket is often a patience game, things don’t happen quickly. Except on those odd occasions when everything happens, and that was the 3rd over of Tea Tree Gully’s innings. Johnson picking up 3 wickets in 1 over to have West Torrens with one hand on the trophy overnight. A brilliant one handed catch by Smith at 2nd slip off the bowling of Short got West Torrens’ away on day 2, before Fallins took over from the Henley Beach end, bowling 24 overs straight and picking up 4/61 to cap off an excellent season for him. It seemed only a matter of time and highly likely those Crows supporters at Glenelg Oval would get to the season opener before the first bounce, except for a determined 8th wicket partnership between Somerfield and Oakley ruined those plans. Then, just for a brief moment, I thought surely the cricket gods couldn’t abandon us now. Drew went off concussed after a horrible hit to the head at bat-pad and the Eagles couldn’t buy the 9th wicket. But, patience. The 9th and 10th wickets would come, the final wicket fittingly being an outstanding catch in the outfield from Nielsen.

And so, well deserved celebrations back at Henley Oval and much pride felt for a club with a big heart and plenty of soul.

Is there a chance for SACA to trial, without causing too much pain, a 2 Division set up in the 1st Grade for season 22/23?

Nothing changes below 1st Grade. 1st Grade gets split in two with a home and away fixture. The top 6 from this year in Div 1 and the bottom 7 in Div 2.

The Top 6 were pretty clear cut this year and all but 3 Redbacks Squad players play for these top 6 clubs. Only Lehmann has been with his club longer than one season and is the only local playing for a club outside the top 6. Carder (Port) and McAndrew (Woodville) the other two.

Trial for one season only and see how it works out? Could even revert to a normal finals with top 2 of each division playing off against each other, therefore every club still a chance to win the premiership.

Could this be a relatively painless way of seeing how much difference playing against a higher quality opposition each week makes to the top level of players without forced mergers etc. Maybe it won’t make a difference at all?

I know it’s not a long term solution, but with the Redbacks squad full of young players vying for a position in a currenty unstable XI and a clear cut current top 6 with the vast majority of squad members already aligned, is it an opportunity to try something different. As it happens, the top 6 are fairly well dispersed to represent all areas of Adelaide as well.

Good to see the follow up effort repeated after a short break. Whilst an ugly win would’ve done, it was good to see the Eagles dominate on the back of last weeks effort. Gives some faith that the Eagles will still be around the mark. Goldsworthy’s best game for about 12 months which was a big positive - I wasn’t sure if the game may have passed him by.

Nothing wrong with a beefy ruckman!