Norwood - Premiers

Norwood triumphed in a game that had a result that the SANFL would have been praying for. A crowd of nearly 40,000, a great and close game and an SANFL club defeating an AFL Reserves team,

First, full credit to Norwood. They lost several players, appointed an untried coach and still remained the premiership team. As I've been saying for years, they'll continue in that position until someone works out how to break down their system.

Perhaps that will happen to some extent anyway,with Keiran McGuinness retiring. He is a great player and the glue that binds Norwood's game. Full credit to him on a remarkable time at Norwood.

The vagaries of an AFL Reserves list meant that Baulderstone was always going to dominate the ruck and so it turned out to be. He was great and Panos fully deserved the medal.

I think it was the first game of football I've ever seen with not one holding the ball decision all day (unless I missed something).

It was generally well umpired though, although the 'sliding' free kick against Shaw's courageous attack on the ball was disgraceful.

Again, well done Norwood, deserved premiers for 2014 and likely to continue as the team to beat for some time.

Lee wrote:Norwood triumphed in a game that had a result that the SANFL would have been praying for.  A crowd of nearly 40,000, a great and close game and an SANFL club defeating an AFL Reserves team,

The vagaries of an AFL Reserves list meant that Baulderstone was always going to dominate the ruck and so it turned out to be. He was great and Panos fully deserved the medal.

This is exactly why I have lost total respect for this site. You amongst many others never shut up about it. Treat the league for what it is - a great football competition regardless of what's happened over the last 12 months. Clearly it has not been that much of an advantage as Port have been beaten a few times throughout the season; it's now up to every club bar Norwood to raise their game to another level rather than expect the few to lower their standards to the mediocrity that some clubs deliver and then go on bitching about it. Lift your game.

PS - My last post for a very long time.

Goes to show you can still buy an SANFL premiership if you really set your mind to it.

Yep , well i turned on the tv this afternoon and began watching a movie featuring Dean Martin and the 3 stooges...wtf! I channel surfed and eventually watched the GF...
A crowd of 38000...2000 more than last year... but a game between 2 "traditional rivals" you'd expect that.
Congrats to Norwood. They must be chuffed, attaining their 3rd consecutive premiership. Whilst I was slightly more pleased that Norwood got over the line than Port, I wonder if the result had gone the other way .......? .....something about .."you reap what you sew...?"

I guess the more cynical amongst us would say that they only managed to do it by changing their minds overnight on the AFL reserves vote; in return for the SANFL lifting their recruiting ban, thus enabling them to recruit 3 time Magarey medalist James Allen (whose price tag was too high for Norths..) and 4 year AFL player Callum Bartlett. Im sure that one of their major sponsors is pretty happy too ..for other reasons...but we wont go there will we!

As for Port I must admit I am quite bemused... They are not the Port Adelaide Magpies - traditional rivals and winners of 35 SANFL premierships, they are in fact an AFL team playing a reserves team in the SANFL under license. The club is not a traditional rival of anyone as its only been in existence since the clubs merged as ONE CLUB. Its quite interesting that the media have jumped on the tradition bandwagon this week when in my opinion there is no tradition at all.

I feel for Angus Bruggeman,a player of ordinary ability but considered good enough to be used as a battering ram for every game this year until being dropped for the grand final .AFL listed Butcher who replaced him proved to be as useful as an ashtray on a motorbike. I guess thats the way top up players are to be used though.....

RIP SANFL

br wrote:Goes to show you can still buy an SANFL premiership if you really set your mind to it.

Why haven't you done it then with all your recent breaches?

Warren out coached Hocking

Lee is correct the Shaw free was disgraceful, it may be in the rules/laws because of an isolated incident but it is Wrong, Shaw even GOT THE BALL & isn't that the object of the game ? other than that the umpiring was very very good

htwww, you may be 'upset' with comments but what did Lee say that was wrong/untrue ? because i can't see where he is incorrect

Port could have had a huge weekend & missed it by a total of 7 points, yesterday bad kicking cost them, today it was a slow start

todays game was almost as good as the last grand final played at the Adelaide Oval

good to see Nathan Basset there in his Norwood shirt, he & Ben Warren had a very long chat during half time of the reserves, my hats off to Ben Warren he was on a hiding to nothing when appointed coach & DELIVERED

HTWWW, this site is not responsible for posters' opinions, as long as they keep to site rules.

Are you saying we should censor comments you disagree with?

Well done Norwood

Admin wrote:HTWWW, this site is not responsible for posters' opinions, as long as they keep to site rules.

Are you saying we should censor comments you disagree with?

Not at all. I just have mentioned that I have significantly decreased my interest in this site, as I had stated about halfway through the season, because all I ever read now is anti-Port and compromised competition etc etc etc Once more interesting posts resume, and the fuddy-duddy 'band of brothers' site membership concept ends, I think I'll stay away.

At the end of the day, most SANFL clubs voted in the concept, including mine, so why don't we focus on the actual game itself, the spectacle, the contests, the rivalry etc? Oh no, couldn't possibly do that because it's all "compromised".

I thoroughly congratulate both CLUBS on providing us with a spectacular GF. I hope there are many more to come, no matter who it involves.

A bit tough, htwww. I'm one of the few on here who actually support the change and have said so constantly. I said it was a great game and merely stated what the SANFL would have wanted.

I said Port was an AFL Reserves side.

Was that wrong?

The only other site runs a premiership table without Port and Adelaide. You prefer that denial of reality?

Congratulations to Norwood, were too good on the day and in the finals series.

McGuinness and Bode were excellent across half back, although Port played into their hands for much of the second half with long kicks to 2 on three or 3 on four or in some instances one on four contests.

Baulderstone the best of the big men, he and Dawe beat Harvey comfortably, but Harvey could hold his head high, he battled his guts out all day.

Lewi Stevenson, Krakouer and the skipper Summerton did what they could to keep Port in it, but too many Port players had too little influence on the outcome.

Clearly the best man on the ground was Matt Panos, his clearance work around the middle of the ground during the first half set the game up for Norwood and in the final quarter he got some very important touches when it mattered most. Deserving medal winner.

So, 38,000 to the game and it seems many doomsdayers were also in attendance, good on you for all showing up. From what I saw on the road back from Melbourne on Sunday many Port people did as I did, got away early and back for the match at Adelaide Oval. ( Well, got there just before 1/4 time anyway ) Plenty on people were still getting tickets at or on 1/4 time.

In the end 2014 was a battle of the best defence against the best attack and as many astute judges say, premierships are built from the back half. Norwood also showed that process and structure are more important than personnel. People come and go, but if a sound structure and belief among the playing group that the structure will work exists, success will come.

Norwoods biggest test, however, comes with the loss of McGuinness. He's been the premier elder statesman in the back half for years in the SANFL, the 'Legs will struggle to replace him.

Well done to all that jumped on the bandwagon yesterday, it was certainly full to the brim!!

Congratulations Norwood. Back to back to back is a great feeling, I've been lucky enough to witness it twice in my lifetime.

Lee wrote:A bit tough, htwww. I'm one of the few on here who actually support the change and have said so constantly.  I said it was a great game and merely stated what the SANFL would have wanted.

I said Port was an AFL Reserves side.

Was that wrong?

The only other site runs a premiership table without Port and Adelaide. You prefer that denial of reality?

The powers reserve side is what they are.

Is this all the discussion on the match?

Brilliant performance from a very resilient and committed group of men representing the Norwood Football Club.  This was always going to be a very tough flag to win, on many fronts, so to achieve the ultimate this year is indeed a great achievement.

For the fourth time this year the banter around me (sitting in front of main scoreboard) was still down on what both sets of supporters would have offered up prior to the introduction of AFL players this year.  In fairness to Port, many supporters would have forked out for the road trip the day before and I am sure this most probably robbed the crowd of another several thousand.

I really feel that if the Power had won the day before, this would have put an entirely different complexion over this game.  The excitement of winning the Prelim would have rubbed off on the spectators and Magpie players, and I reckon this would have given the club that little extra boost entering the GF.

Pre game I had confidence that Norwood would acquit itself well.  We knew we could get hit by Port with an amazing quarter of football, and still respond to win a clutch 2nd semi.  Port struggled to get the ball out of Norwood's attacking 50 in the 2nd semi, and with our strong backline, it was whether our midfield could match, and/or better Port's.  As I said, in the 2nd semi, it worked in our favour.

In the GF however, despite one great quarter by each club, I felt Port had stepped up its ability and clearly worked out a strategy to move the ball out of our forward 50 with a bit more precision.  When Port found space they were very dangerous, as was to be expected. The midfield battle was tight all day, and while we won the rucks, Port certainly held its own in the clearances.  Panos' influence marginally outweighed Port's mids, but Mitchell always looked dangerous, Summerton was brave, and Aaron Young's influence was lesser than the pearler he played against us 2 weeks before.

The tension for the entire second half was quite incredible.  Neither team gave an inch, and it was football at its toughest, uninhibited best.  In previous decades Port would have found a more physical way to shake things up a bit, but the game was played in the right spirit by both clubs throughout the match, only one behind the play incident which disappointed me.

The match itself was a great spectacle - creidt to both clubs participating, and it goes to show the other 7 non-AFL affiliated clubs, that it is not impossible to win the big one if you are good enough on the day.

Finally, I want to pay testimony to South Adelaide's year, and to acknowledge Sturt.  Firstly, South's style and play caught all of our imaginations, and I think many people forget how many season-long injuries this club suffered over half a year or longer, and their massive injury list which their supporters never complained about, but clearly impacted the team's ability to get its best line up on the park.  Well done South, and I hope you are around the mark again next year.
Sturt's last third of the year didn't do justice to the huge ground they made on the pack this year.  The team just seemed to be a few percent down on their best towards the end of the minor round, but the signs are there that they are heading in the right direction.

Congratulations Norwood.

A well deserved win by the Redlegs to take out the 2014 SANFL premiership.

Who would have thought after round 8 with 3 wins and 5 losses that they would or even could turn there fortunes around and claim the ultimate prize.

Booney wrote:Is this all the discussion on the match?

Premiership Merchandise

$25 T SHIRT
$20 CAP
$10 STUBBIE HOLDER
$35 PREMIERSHIP SCARF
$45 PREMIERSHIP POLO [not Paul]
$20 PREMIERSHIP BEER GLASS
$100 PREMIERSHIP COMMEMORATIVE GUERNSEY
$3 STICKER
$5 POSTER SMALL
$10 POSTER LARGE
$45 DVD
$45 PREMIERSHIP TAWNY [And quite aptly it is a Port]

The committment from both clubs was what made it the epic contest it was. There has been a lot of speculation about the motivation of the Magpies AFL contingent, but anyone who has ever played the game knows you play to win, especially in the big games. Thought Harvey started well for Port and remained a presence around the ground but Baulderstone got on top in the middle. The Norwood midfielders jumped out of the blocks and crucially their forwards started well, before Port settled down. In the end the lead nigh well have changed hands several times, but Norwood were in front at the critical moment. A classic game in which neither side deserves to lose.

I was amazed that Hocking allowed McGuinness and Bode to do their own thing almost all the first quarter and again at the start of the last quarter.

Also surprised at how poorly Ben Newton kicked on several occasions.

Booney wrote:Is this all the discussion on the match?

Aaron Young shook hands with a Norwood player in the centre square.
He made his kind guesture a few seconds b4 the start of the match.