SANFL FINALS

all finals will be played on the sundays during the finals series, according to 5AN tonight

Great. I really love sunday footy ... not.

I reckon some of the early finals should be played at Thebarton. Football Park is like a morgue if there are less than 10,000 people there.

The problem there is that the SAAFL use that ground for their finals - A LOT! They are the principal owners/tenants are they not?

Friday night for an elimination final or first semi? Or SAAFL might be happy to play at Richmond or Norwood instead of Thebby.

Oracle wrote:Friday night for an elimination final or first semi? Or SAAFL might be happy to play at Richmond or Norwood.

West would be happy to play a final at Richmond & Norwood would be happy to play a final at Norwood, while i'll be happy just to make the finals

Norwood will be happy to play anywhere, as would any team who makes the finals.

Big oval and the ultra defensive Norwood maybe an issue ?

waddayamean wrote:Big oval and the ultra defensive Norwood maybe an issue ?

Is this the same "ultra-defensive" Norwood who has kicked more points than any other team this season? The same "ultra-defensive" team that has kicked more than 15 goals on 7 occasions this season (including 24 just 2 weeks ago)? Gee, if it's an issue for Norwood, imagine how others are going to struggle.

Oracle wrote:Friday night for an elimination final or first semi? Or SAAFL might be happy to play at Richmond or Norwood instead of Thebby.

If we're talking about shifting grounds...
I have often written to the SANFL and suggested on other forums to have finals played at neutral suburban grounds, i.e Central vs West at Norwood, North vs Glenelg at Alberton etc. Never got a response, but it makes more sense to me this way, rather than play at AAMI or demand that someone move away from their neutral oval.

Adelaide Hawk wrote:

waddayamean wrote:Big oval and the ultra defensive Norwood maybe an issue ?

Is this the same "ultra-defensive" Norwood who has kicked more points than any other team this season? The same "ultra-defensive" team that has kicked more than 15 goals on 7 occasions this season? Gee, if it's an issue for Norwood, imagine how others are going to struggle.

Good call AH.

howthewestwaswon wrote:

Oracle wrote:Friday night for an elimination final or first semi? Or SAAFL might be happy to play at Richmond or Norwood instead of Thebby.

If we're talking about shifting grounds...
I have often written to the SANFL and suggested on other forums to have finals played at neutral suburban grounds, i.e Central vs West at Norwood, North vs Glenelg at Alberton etc. Never got a response, but it makes more sense to me this way, rather than play at AAMI or demand that someone move away from their neutral oval.

Yes, or even the higher ranked team getting the final at their home gound all the way up to the Prelim, and the GF at AAMI. It would be a real bonus for the team finishing higher on the ladder.

Adelaide Hawk wrote:

waddayamean wrote:Big oval and the ultra defensive Norwood maybe an issue ?

Is this the same "ultra-defensive" Norwood who has kicked more points than any other team this season? The same "ultra-defensive" team that has kicked more than 15 goals on 7 occasions this season (including 24 just 2 weeks ago)? Gee, if it's an issue for Norwood, imagine how others are going to struggle.

Gee The Bloods have copped a fair bit of shite about being "ultra defensive" also AH, and we are 3rd on the ladder so we can't be doing much wrong either.

testy wrote:

Adelaide Hawk wrote:

waddayamean wrote:Big oval and the ultra defensive Norwood maybe an issue ?

Is this the same "ultra-defensive" Norwood who has kicked more points than any other team this season? The same "ultra-defensive" team that has kicked more than 15 goals on 7 occasions this season (including 24 just 2 weeks ago)? Gee, if it's an issue for Norwood, imagine how others are going to struggle.

Gee The Bloods have copped a fair bit of shite about being "ultra defensive" also AH, and we are 3rd on the ladder so we can't be doing much wrong either.

Do West continually cop "shite" about not being able to win on grounds other than Richmond, even though they do?

Seriously speaking, I think we have a rep of not being able to win full stop, which I think has been to our advantage this year.

Mind you, not playing finals in 8-9 years and winning 4 spoons along the way adds to that reputation. Not being able to win at Unley and Elizabeth until now has added to it too.

I know some out there (myself included) wonder about how we'll cope with the 'added' pressure of finals footy. Nothing like having a test against Central (most likely opponent) to find out.

Adelaide Hawk wrote:

testy wrote:

Adelaide Hawk wrote:

waddayamean wrote:Big oval and the ultra defensive Norwood maybe an issue ?

Is this the same "ultra-defensive" Norwood who has kicked more points than any other team this season? The same "ultra-defensive" team that has kicked more than 15 goals on 7 occasions this season (including 24 just 2 weeks ago)? Gee, if it's an issue for Norwood, imagine how others are going to struggle.

Gee The Bloods have copped a fair bit of shite about being "ultra defensive" also AH, and we are 3rd on the ladder so we can't be doing much wrong either.

Do West continually cop "shite" about not being able to win on grounds other than Richmond, even though they do?

Not so much where we play at, just the continious negative crap about the game style.

Yes, or even the higher ranked team getting the final at their home gound all the way up to the Prelim, and the GF at AAMI. It would be a real bonus for the team finishing higher on the ladder.

Seems a logical idea to me. A crowd of 5000 at a suburban ground would be a much better atmosphere than West Lakes.

Oracle wrote:

Yes, or even the higher ranked team getting the final at their home gound all the way up to the Prelim, and the GF at AAMI. It would be a real bonus for the team finishing higher on the ladder.

Seems a logical idea to me. A crowd of 5000 at a suburban ground would be a much better atmosphere than West Lakes.

This subject comes up every year but the SANFL still play the finals at footy park.
Nothing worse than a 50,000 seat stadium with only 8,000 attending, not a good look, but what do we know we are just the supporters.

I think the question was raised at the start of the year and I think the clubs themselves wanted it kept at AAMI.

Mainly to do with facilities, I think?

Are the gatetakings split evenly during finals? I'd assume they were.

to AH & testy,
i am making an observation about game plans, i'm not saying whether they are good, bad or indifferent (time will tell), West imho have changed their style a fraction (possibly with input from rubbers) & thus are scoring more than they were, my 'fear' for both teams is if (big IF) the normal plan breaks down are there any subtle or not so subtle changes to be made, for West i'd suggest Fisher & Ferguson would swap but does that rob Peter to pay Paul ? either Caruso one out in the goal square would be my other change....for Norwood i'd have Warren & Phillips in the forward 50 & intelligently bomb it in to their advantage & Jericho to a running wingman with a licence to roam................obviously match ups & whose in the opposition plays a part in all scenarios, anyway they are just my thoughts boys doesn't make them right or wrong

This subject comes up every year but the SANFL still play the finals at footy park.

Haven't really thought about it in past years with no West. But Footy Park seems a bad option for early finals.

redandblack wrote:I think the question was raised at the start of the year and I think the clubs themselves wanted it kept at AAMI.

Mainly to do with facilities, I think?

The clubs have requested that finals be played at Football Park, for a number of reasons.

One of these is to maximise the opportunity for their players to play on the surface, given they never play on it during the season (unless they are AFL listed). It would make little sense for the SANFL to have their showpiece ground barely used by the SANFL clubs otherwise.

Facilities are another factor.

I think the clubs need to have a look at the promotion of the game ahead of a playing surface to be honest.

It's not a good look 10,000 at a 50,000 seat stadium and this will be less this year . It has a TV audience and no atmosphere on the TV makes the game look bad , so it's damaging the SANFL brand IMO.

The facilities are fine for 24 weeks during the year so surely 3 more weeks won't hurt .

Think you will find there will be no TV (for the first 2 weeks anyway), as the ABC have requested they be played on Saturdays. The SANFL wont go up against a Crows final though which are likely to be played on saturday.