Sportsbeat Friday August 17 2012

CK's previews of this week's SANFL rounds - will keep an eye on the tipping to see if it follows the run of the last few weeks - and the Opinion Piece, looking at where the SANFL may sit in 2037.

2012 SANFL ROUND 21 PREVIEWS

West Adelaide v Norwood (City Mazda Stadium) – Saturday 2.10pm

Top plays third on the ABC-TV Match Of The Day, with the Bloods making a run at second spot. There is no real benefit in finishing second, apart from the psychological boost, but a strong performance here will certainly provide encouragement to the Bloods. Norwood are unable to move higher or lower, so it is quite possible they will rest and rotate players for the remainder of the season to keep things fresh.

The style of footy that West played against Central is good enough to beat any side in the competition, but the trick will be sustaining it against the league benchmark. They will retain Joel Tippett and Scott Bricknell from suspension and may also have Adam Hartlett back to form a strong defensive unit. If they can move the ball as quickly around the flanks as they did against Central and find Brad Fisher in attack, along with Nat Caruso, they can pinch this.

TV: ABC-TV

Tip: West Adelaide 13-24


Woodville/West Torrens v Port Adelaide (Unleash Solar Oval) – Saturday 2.10pm

The shortest road trip in football, with the Magpies travelling 3.5km up Port Road to tackle the reigning premiers. After seeming to be so far off the pace all year, the Eagles looked ultra impressive in dismissing North Adelaide last week, and seemed to be playing with tons of confidence again. Mark McKenzie and Justin Cicolella both wound the clock back with stellar performances, but they had winners all over the ground in an ominous sign for Port.

The Magpies are sitting in the box seat to claim a finals berth, but also need to win games like this if they are to give themselves the best opportunity to stake a claim beyond week one in September. Their run home after this week – North Adelaide, West Adelaide and Sturt – gives them an ideal opportunity, but a win here would give them a slight buffer in anticipation of a loss to West. Their pace will be a real key here, and if James Mieklejohn can get first hand to it in ruck, they can set themselves up further. It will be a very tight game, however.

Tip: Port Adelaide 1-12

South Adelaide v Central District (Hickinbotham Oval) – Saturday 2.10pm

South’s season looks like being wasted completely, unless they can somehow turn things around, starting this week. They were very good for much of the night against Norwood, but the last ten minutes blew the margin out to a level that didn’t reflect South’s competitiveness. Unfortunately, teams don’t get two points for respectable efforts and the Panthers really need to start finishing off games a lot better.

The Bulldogs injury list continues to grow and the hunger of the playing group is starting to be questioned, particularly after how far off the pace they appeared against West last week. Late goals flattered them, and Justin Hardy continues to play a lone hand in attack, at a time when they need to be more multi-dimensional with forward movement. West double teamed him at times last week and he struggled to get adequate support.

South’s self-belief is the main thing stymieing their season. They should have a pace edge here and an advantage in attack, but unless they are switched on for four quarters, the Bulldogs should take this one.

Tip: Central District 13-24


Sturt v Glenelg (Commander Centre Oval) – Saturday 2.10pm

Winless since Round 14, Glenelg travel to Unley trying to haul their faltering finals chances back on track, against a team still licking their wounds from a 20 goal thumping at the hands of Norwood in round 19. The Double Blues are feeling the pinch after a long season with an undermanned squad, but still looked in a different league to Norwood in a worrying sign longer term.

The Tigers have a similar issue, in so far as a very young team overall that is also feeling the effects of the season as it draws to a close. They really need their senior players to stand up and reduce some of the pressure on the younger brigade, if they are to make a run at finals. They ought to be in a prime position to do so, but can’t afford to drop a match like this. That said, with the benefit of the bye, I suspect Sturt can bring about the upset.

RADIO: 5RPH

Tip: Sturt 13-24


SANFL IN 2037

It seems such a long way away, 2037, yet it is only 25 years away. Think back to where the SANFL was 25 years ago. We had ten teams, with all games played on a Saturday afternoon at 2.20pm. A number of radio stations covered the games, as well as commercial television with KG’s Footy Show at 5.30pm on a Saturday wrapping up all games, and The Big Replay at 6.30pm on Channel 7, with the Match Of The Day.

There was no AFL team based in Adelaide and while players certainly left the state to play in the VFL, it was common that draftees would either turn down the VFL, or play many seasons here first. It is often forgotten, for example that Craig Bradley and Stephen Kernahan played 98 and 136 SANFL games respectively before moving to the VFL to play for Carlton.

Things have, of course, changed considerably in 2012. Nine teams, only two radio stations calling minor round SANFL games, with ABC-TV the only television station. Two AFL teams, and it is now quite common for youngsters to not play a senior SANFL match before making the move to the AFL. Given so many changes in that time, let’s look into the crystal ball to see where the SANFL may sit in another 25 years:

1) Number of Teams: It is more than likely that at least one of the current teams will no longer be competing in its current form by 2037. Financial pressures continue to grow heavily on clubs and some clubs are already finding it very hard to make ends meet. There is also the issue as to whether there is sufficient talent to spread around nine clubs on a competitive level. Furthermore, the opportunities should exist for SANFL to spread to more regional centres with population growth expanding rapidly. I would expect two clubs to no longer be competing at this point, and one new club to have entered, possibly based at Mount Barker or Murray Bridge, to cater for two richly growing areas within 45 minutes drive of the CBD.

2) 16 players on the field, with 6 interchange: It seems conceivable to retain the current 21 players for a match, adding one more, but take away the wings, to speed the game further. To compensate for the increase in match pace, have four pure interchange players, who can rotate on and off the ground, and two substitutes, who will permanently replaced a player who has been subbed out of the main game.

3) Changes in club ownership structure: The financial pressures mentioned above are likely to eventually lead to changes in how clubs are managed. The strong possibility exists that, by 2037, we will have at least one fully privately owned club, either by an individual or a consortium, who are fully responsible for all ongoing costs etc, once revenue from football activities is accounted for. The possibility is also there for a club to fully floated on the Australian Stock Exchange, to allow fans to “own” a piece of their club, trade shares as club fortunes fluctuate etc, to allow for more opportunities for financial expansion of clubs. The more traditional financial structures may slide, as clubs seek alternate means of funding.

4) All matches covered by electronic media: Under the current structure of nine clubs, there are occasions when all four games are still played on a Saturday afternoon, but there are not enough traditional media outlets to cover the games. Costs of broadcast equipment, staff to maintain and utilise the equipment, transport of equipment etc is likely to see more and more matches be streamed on the internet, utilising a three camera setup for vision, with commentary still provided in the traditional manner. Live internet streaming is a much lower cost alternative to the current means and will allow clubs to, if they wish, provide their own Club TV for fans, hosted by club identities.

5) Ground rationalisation. Clubs are likely to find it much more cost effective to share grounds with other clubs, rather than incur the high costs of maintenance of ovals, infrastructure, match day staffing. It is highly possible that only six to seven grounds will be in use at this stage, and that some of these may have artificial, “all weather” surfaces to cope with any kind of weather conditions.