2014 SANFL GRAND FINAL NORWOOD V PA RESERVES

[dedja]

Someone even kicked it out on the full rather than passing it to him on the wing.

[RB]

J. Butcher 6 kicks 2 handballs 1 tackle 0 goals 1 behind

And 6 marks. Somehow left that out.

[LPH]

This for Dedja !
The irony of Port Power this weekend was in both games there was only a kickinit ....

Port Reserves , beaten but not disgraced today to be 5 goals down and almost win was a very good effort

The silence is deafening...

[RB]

What's the atmosphere like down at the Norwood clubrooms?

[Jim05]

What's the atmosphere like down at the Norwood clubrooms?

About the same as Oval Avenue id imagine

[dedja]

[Psyber]

Loosers in AFL Preliminary Final
Loosers in SANFL Grand Final
Thats the Port Adelaide Tradition

Power As and Reserves both torn apart...
(Well only a little bit I concede.)

[RB]

What's the atmosphere like down at the Norwood clubrooms?

About the same as Oval Avenue id imagine

Really? The seconds won the flag and are in high spirits ATM!

[dedja]

Ummm, no ...

[Mic]

We exist to give our AFL-listed players a run.

[Jim05]

We exist to give our AFL-listed players a run.

Exactly, why would Bruggerman hang around at a club that drops him after playing every game for a spud that is about to be delisted. Would be seriously thinking about heading back to Mallala id imagine

[RB]

Ummm, no ...

It's bad if there's enough doubt that they actually have to declare it on the banner, 5 minutes before the game.

[csbowes]

My first post for the season...

Congratulations to Norwood... having watched the match on TV, I feel that they were the only team in the league with the poise and the coolness under pressure to be able to withstand an AFL reserves team in the Grand Final.

I've been sitting back watching the season unfold, watching the banter here on SA Footy rather than taking part in it, reading each sides views on how the league is this year, was it a disaster, was it the adrenilin shot the league needed, where to from here...

My opinion...

The Grand Final was the result the SANFL needed. They will be able to point to it and say with confidence that if you have a well drilled, well trained SANFL team, then you are quite capable of putting an AFL reserves team to the sword. It pains me to say that because had it been a Power white wash, then the SANFL would probably rethink what they've done, but with Norwood getting up in a thriller, I think we all have to sit back and say, well you know what, Central of old probably would have beaten them too... and probably comfortably.

So what does that mean?

To me it means if your a top three side, a really good SANFL side without too many failings, then you're a good chance to beat an AFL reserves team, as Port fielded a full strength side today and couldn't beat Norwood.

Chances are that's about as good as a Power or Crows team will get, which means we have to accept the fact that if South Adelaide and Sturt and Torrens can improve a few goals next year, then they too should beat the Power and Crows.

Crowds...

Heaps of doomsdayers (which I'm one) said crowds would be crap. I specifically said watch the 2nd and 3rd years, not this year. But that said, crowds this year weren't really all that much worse than the last ten years from what I can tell. The AFL sides haven't helped one bit, bottom line is enough SANFL fans turned up to keep the average crowd numbers around the mark. The GF crowd of 38K or 32K if you're a conspiracy theorist is still a good crowd for a SANFL GF. Expecting more than that is heart over head...

As it was, they were a mere 5% away from 40,000, which would have been amazing... 11K at the WAFL one, that tells you something. I applaud those who tried to say crowds were a disaster, but I just don't buy it, even though I'd like to.

Membership. Club memberships are down. The clubs made a stupid decision against the will of their fanbase. Will they pay for it? I think they will, a fresh round of massive losses this year will show nothing has improved in that area.

To think some had the gaul to write to members and non-members asking for money after summarily dismissing their views a few months before, just incredible arrogance on their part and shows how out of touch they are and how condescending they can be.

AFL teams brought almost nobody extra to games...

AFL teams brought nearly no extra money to the clubs...

AFL teams brought no extra excitement to the games...

TV coverage was marginally better, if at all, Grand Final publicity was good on TV and radio, but that's the only area of improvement...

Written coverage was no better... in fact at times it was insulting...

AFL teams made no effort to promote the local league and in fact officials made statements that lowered its prestige... good onya...

One plus was the AFL media continually said "how great the SANFL is this year", too bad they didn't show that support in other years, its amazing how positive reinforcement can improve performance and result in more positive reinforcement. The AFL media left the league to die and now with some AFL teams involved, all of a sudden its a great league.

The nerve.

On here... this forum was rubbish the whole year, everyone was whinging and arguing all year and not about the games... I understand why and don't blame anyone, but it says something, it shows how ticked off people were and how uninterested a lot of us were with the games. I went to about 5-6 games this year, down from about 16-18. There were games where almost no one commented about the games. Live scores was p*** poor, again, no ones fault, just a result of people's lack of interest in the season.

The SANFL is hoping all of us diehards will be replaced by a new brand of AFLites who will watch the local game for a bit of a laugh... like I take an interest in Halifax Town in England, even though I follow Manchester United.

Will that work... I don't think so...

Overall, I'd say the season was a success for the SANFL, but not a success for me. I was more interested in the AFL and that says something considering I watch about 2-3 games a year during the minor round and that's it.

So are the AFL supporters right? For the moment, yes, but its 1/4 time, lets wait to half time which is GF day next year and check the scoreboard.

Are the anti-AFLers right? Not yet, but I think they will be.

My final thought for the season... commiserations to South Adelaide, deserved their day in the sun today.

[Rising Power]

Good game.

[spell_check]

We exist to give our AFL-listed players a run.

Exactly, why would Bruggerman hang around at a club that drops him after playing every game for a spud that is about to be delisted. Would be seriously thinking about heading back to Mallala id imagine

I don't know if he will want to or not, but we'll give him a second chance!

[dedja]

We exist to give our AFL-listed players a run.

Exactly, why would Bruggerman hang around at a club that drops him after playing every game for a spud that is about to be delisted. Would be seriously thinking about heading back to Mallala id imagine

KMac on Butcher ... the biggest mis-match I have ever witnessed in an SANFL Grand Final.

I think KMac is still pissing himself.

[Jim05]

We exist to give our AFL-listed players a run.

Exactly, why would Bruggerman hang around at a club that drops him after playing every game for a spud that is about to be delisted. Would be seriously thinking about heading back to Mallala id imagine

KMac on Butcher ... the biggest mis-match I have ever witnessed in an SANFL Grand Final.

I think KMac is still pissing himself.

Yep if that was his final game in the SANFL he couldnt of asked for an easier ride

[dedja]

We agree Choco ... twice in 24 hours

[heater31]

We exist to give our AFL-listed players a run.

Exactly, why would Bruggerman hang around at a club that drops him after playing every game for a spud that is about to be delisted. Would be seriously thinking about heading back to Mallala id imagine

Did his shoulder come up from the week before v South. Ended the game with it strapped which wasn't there at the start of the game....

[Ye Olde Place Kick]

We exist to give our AFL-listed players a run.

Exactly, why would Bruggerman hang around at a club that drops him after playing every game for a spud that is about to be delisted. Would be seriously thinking about heading back to Mallala id imagine

Cause he may be rookie listed by the Power for next year?