Sportsbeat Friday 22 June 2012

C.K's two columns - the weekly previews firstly, and then an article about preserving the history of the SANFL, including establishing a physical Hall Of Fame:

2012 ROUND THIRTEEN SANFL PREVIEWS


Glenelg v Central District (Gliderol Stadium) – Saturday 2.10pm

After Glenelg’s terrible performance against Norwood last week, their job doesn’t get much easier against the second placed Bulldogs. That said, Central took their time to overcome a gallant Port last week, and coach Roy Laird will be looking toward a stronger four quarter performance here.

Central had far more of the key indicators last week, with centre breaks and inside 50’s clearly their way, but they didn’t maximise their opportunities in doing so. While Glenelg were poor in the key areas last week, they will almost certainly bounce back in this one to prove their claims to a top five position. Their forward movement, in particular, was very stagnant against Norwood and their key forwards need to really try and work the Central defence hard if they are to be any chance here. Players like Ruory Kirkby and Josh Trembath, if unable to mark, have to work harder to bring the ball down for the crumbers. Central, however, should still have the answers.

RADIO: TBA
Tip: Central District 25-36

North Adelaide v Sturt (Prospect Oval) – Saturday 2.10pm

The Roosters thudded back to earth last week with a disappointing loss to the Eagles, after a stunning upset win over Norwood the week prior. Sturt would also have been expecting much better at home against South, but looked flat for much of the day.

Some of the usual theories about “no James Allan, no North” floated around, after the triple Magarey Medallist was held to only nine touches and struggled to find any space. Not many of his teammates stepped up to fill the void, but they will need to find their best this week, with the expectation that Sturt will try a similar had tag on the champion Rooster. The Double Blues themselves will also be wary of allowing North to set too great a tone here and allow the Roosters to get away from them if they have any aspirations whatsoever of major round action. Overall, however, the balance looks in favour of North here.

RADIO: 5RPH
Tip: North Adelaide 25-36


West Adelaide v Norwood (City Mazda Stadium) – Saturday 2.10pm
The Bloods are quietly going about their business and making genuine claims to a top three berth, and hosting the league leaders at home on the TV match, will be hell bent on making a statement about where they sit in the scheme of the season. Norwood coasted to a massive win over Glenelg that was their most clinical performance of the season and sent a more ominous warning to the competition.

West are playing a similar style to Norwood at present, but are not able to sustain it for the same length of time over matches. They are, however, restricting the opposition’s run and stifling their attacking options, while kicking solid winning scores of their own. The midfields look fairly evenly matched, and the attacks, if at their peak, are also similar in their setups, but Norwood tends to extract more scoring from theirs. If the Bloods do have a advantage, it’s in the ruck. Assuming Matthew Lobbe is released by Port, him and Ryan Willits form a potent combination and this could nearly give the home team the advantage in a ripper encounter.

TV: ABC-TV
Tip: West Adelaide 1-12

Port Adelaide v Woodville/West Torrens (Alberton) – Saturday 2.10pm

The western neighbours square off in the final match of Super Saturday, with plenty on the line for the loser. The Eagles need to keep stringing wins together if they are to have any chance of defending their crown, while Port cannot keep having honourable losses and expect to return to finals action.

That said, Port moved the ball quickly and efficiently for much of their loss to Central and certainly maximised their forward 50 entries on the day. Their key is speed of movement and the ability to take on the opposition, and when their confidence is high, they can push most teams in the league. The Eagles were certainly very impressive against North last week, with the added emotion of the passing of club legend Bob Hank, but now need to sustain that for full matches to prove their claims to the finals at this stage.

A really tough one to pick, but the Magpies look primed to follow on from last week here.

RADIO: TBA
Tip: Port Adelaide 13-24


PRESERVING THE HISTORY OF THE SANFL

For a league dating back to 1877, the SANFL has some of the richest history of all South Australian sporting leagues. Most of the current nine clubs have historical committees or dedicated staff who work assiduously to preserve the vast array of information about their club. The Norwood Historical Committee, for example, meet regularly to assess methods to keep their vast array of memorabilia kept safe and to look at the best methods to display the material.

Since television commenced in South Australia in 1956, the number of hours dedicated to SANFL has been insurmountable. At various times, all three active commercial networks and the ABC have all telecast the SANFL for extended periods. Unfortunately, over the years, many of these matches and ceremonies have been lost forever. Some members of past station management had policies of wiping over old tapes and reusing them, meaning some of the most important moments in our rich history have been lost forever.

Over the last few years, however, a new website has commenced that is committed to preserving the historical footage of the SANFL. http://safootballvideoarchives.webs.com (no www) has been building a massive library of footage from the league, going back as far as 1949 (silent film) to the present day, of matches, Magarey Medal telecasts, documentaries and all manner of material of our league. It is easy to get lost for a few hours, watching old games, memorable Medal nights and footage from years gone by, and marvelling at how game styles and fashions have changed over the years. The website is playing a massive role in ensuring that some of the rich fabric of our league is not lost forever and is to be widely commended for their work. If you happen to have footage at home, either on video tape or movie reel, then email: safootballvideoarchive@gmail.com with your information and you can also trade game footage.

One aspect of the game that has not yet been fully addressed, however, is a physical SANFL Hall Of Fame. The establishment in 2002 of the SA Football Hall Of Fame has been an excellent initiative by the SANFL, and many fine individuals in South Australian football history have been recognised for their contribution to our game. From 19th century goalkicking machine Anthony “Bos” Daly to current North Adelaide coach and 1996 Magarey Medallist Josh Francou, it is a rich testament to the finest our game has produced.

At present, however, there is not a significant physical recognition of these figures. Most certainly, AAMI Stadium does feature many a range of honour boards, portraits and pictures of many football figures, but the vast majority of the footballing public do not have the opportunity to visit it easily. One of the real keys toward recognising the history, is giving the next generation the opportunity to appreciate it.

AAMI Stadium is slated to close at the end of 2013 as a sporting venue, with Adelaide Oval being the host of AFL in South Australia. While the Adelaide Football Club will continue to use the ground for training and administration, there will still be significant surplus space at the ground that can be used for other purposes. The visiting changerooms, for example, may not be used any longer on a permanent basis. The upstairs media area would become largely redundant. This presents an outstanding opportunity for the SANFL to look toward establishing the first physical SANFL Hall Of Fame at the arena that has been the home of the league since 1974. Imagine, for example, being able to sit in a small theatre and for a fee, watch the 1976 Grand Final. Being able to wander a large room and view information about the Hall of Fame members, and hear snippets from their career on audio. Being able to purchase books and reference material about the league and the clubs, and viewing extensive dedicated displays for each club, such as old premiership cups, original guernsies from the era and match balls from historic games.

While, ideally, it would be excellent to house all of this at Adelaide Oval with the advent of AFL, space may not be possible with both cricket and football having a major presence at the ground. Football Park has been our home of football for two generations. The time is ripe, with 18 months to go, to start the planning for one major thing our league needs – the physical SANFL Hall Of Fame.