- May 8, 2001
- 5,696
- 873
- AFL Club
- Adelaide
- Other Teams
- CDFC (SANFL), Port Melb (VFL)
Hi Footy fans...
For the previous seven years, the senior representative football arena had become the domain of just two states. South Australia and Western Australia committed themselves to continuing a tradition that has been abandoned at the highest level and even to this day, still has its knockers at state league level. The prize, the Haydn Bunton Junior Cup. A trophy named after an Australian football journeyman who while born in Victoria, made his name on the fields of the SANFL and the WAFL as both a player and a coach. This season however, may have signalled the end of a two-horse race when it comes to interstate footy. The AFL's Gather Round spectacular in Adelaide brought a possible end to the exile of the Big V, with the SANFL taking on a gallant Victorian Football League side at Glenelg. While the Victorians did not prevail, it was the change of attitude within the VFL ranks towards donning the famous guernsey that spoke volumes of those wearing it compared to that of many years ago when some thought that its end had come after copping a hammering from the Sandgropers in Melbourne. Will we see a return of the old tri-state representative football cycle? Only time will tell.
Welcome to this special edition of the wrap... WAFL vs. SANFL 2024.
With a history of encounters going back to pre-World War One, in their first ever interstate outing the Western Australians defeated South Australia at Adelaide Oval in 1904. The Croweaters had to wait until 1911 to get their first victory, even longer until they were able to do so in the west. Fast forward to today and South Australia hold a two-game advantage on the all-time ledger which stands at 50-48, which prior to the mid-90's was ruled by the Sandgropers. The gap between them was reeled back during the SANFL's resurgence as a football power, after their reputation took at battering after the formation of the Adelaide Football Club. In the post-AFL era, South Australia lost three games to the Sandgropers (1991, 1993, 1994) as well as a defeat at the hands of Tasmania in 1995. The WAFL knew all too well how that felt after the inception of the West Coast Eagles, with three defeats to SA in 1987, 1988 and 1990. After some soul searching in the boardrooms at Football Park, their 1996 demolition of the WAFL at Subiaco saw a new golden age for the cherished red guernsey, going on to drop a mere four games since then. Three of those four losses were at the hands of Western Australia and for the Black Swans, it was a long time coming. For South Australia, that 2009 loss was all the more embarrassing considering the team on the park had only one player from the dominant Central District side of the time. The Sandgropers won by a point that day at Leederville. It wasn't until 2015 that they were able to not only win back the trophy after losing in 2012, but then go on to retain it with their first win in Adelaide since 1994. That 2018 triumph on away soil was actually their sixth consecutive interstate victory, with wins against the VFL, the NEAFL and Tasmania. Let's put a specific focus for a moment on 2017 against the Vics, a match that seemingly brought about the end of the Big V guernsey.
The Western Australians ended more than a century of pain in the Victorian capital, dealing out a 63-point hiding at North Port Oval. In the aftermath of the game, members of WA media couldn't help but notice the VFL players' apparent indifference to the occasion. While the Sandgropers turned up at the post-match conference in uniform, the Vics did not. It made the papers in Perth and after this, the most famous guernsey in football disappeared, apparently for good. That exile came to an end in Adelaide just over a month ago, as the VFL returned to state football albeit in a 14-point loss to the SANFL. With this, is it safe to say that the days of just SA and WA duking it out are over? We'll have to wait until next year, I guess. From that line up, most of it was retained for this encounter including captain Joe Sinor along with fellow Eagle James Rowe. Jez McLennan (Centrals) , Casey Voss (Sturt), Harry Boyd (Norwood) and Frank Szekely (North) also return from the side that downed the Vics. Thanks to injuries during the season to key personnel, there would be several debutants in the red. Naming a few, first one is Redlegs' new cult hero Billy Cootee, as well as forwards Connor McFadyen (Sturt) and Aiden Grace (Centrals), the latter of which only just missed the cut for the side that took on the VFL. In the Black Swans camp, there would be a raft of experience in state football included. In defence they had Sharks premiership duo Cam Eardley and state captain Matthew Jupp, as well as Claremont's Bailey Rogers. Fellow Tiger Oliver Eastland would take again his place in the middle, hoping to find Swan Jesse Turner or perhaps last year's Simpson medallist in East Perth's Angus Schumacher. One of the Sandgropers' debutants is well known to SANFL fans, with 2022 Norwood premiership player Nik Rokahr joining Swan Districts this season. He also played in the successful Croweaters outfit that same year and one of the few players to have played in more than one representative guernsey.
Today's contest would be fought out at Optus Stadium in Perth, once again allowing only the most dedicated of WAFL followers to watch if they would buy an AFL match ticket with the West Coast vs. Melbourne match afterwards. As it would eventually turn out, any such supporters were about to get a rude shock. Despite missing 13 of the players that played against the VFL only a month ago, the Croweaters hit the ground running and slammed through six goals before the Sandgropers could score one of their own. Voss, Rowe and state newbies Grace, McFadyen and Amos Doyle did the early damage, while it was not until near the end of the opening term that Sokol goaled at the other end. At quarter-time, SA held a 27-point lead with the board reading 6.2 to 1.5. The Sandgropers were coughing up a litany of turnovers, South Australians just made it look far too easy with their ball movement. They continued to punish the home side in the second quarter, though some inaccuracy began to creep in for SA as they added a further 4.5 to their tally to WA's 2.2, with Milan Murdock and Trey Ruscoe getting on the goals column. By the long break, the gap was out to seven goals. The last time the Croweaters dished out a hiding like this was back in 2003, running over the top of the Sandgropers to a 56-point defeat, only nine points shy of that 1996 outing. It was going to go from bad to worse for the Westerners, their efforts not even coming close to their more competitive sides only a few short years ago.
The poor shooting on goal from the opening term was to dog them again in the third quarter, scoring a horrid five behinds. At least two of them could have made some kind of difference with Eastland and Hagan missing some chances. At the other end the Croweaters were also fluffing more than a few shots, but four goals during extra time including a second goal to Glenelg forward Luke Reynolds as well as one to Harrison Wigg put the visitors out to a 65-point lead at the final change. Eventually, mercifully, the mauling would come to an end, a comparably lowly final term saw both sides score two majors, WA's four behinds to SA's two would see the home side crash to a 63-point loss. Whatever the hell happened with the Sandgropers I'm not sure, but with both sides not having much of a training period together, the WAFL definitely needs to go back to the drawing board much like they did prior to their 2009 breakthrough triumph. Does it just come down to the talent SA had on the day? This result sure suggests as much with nine players pulling on the red for the first time. In the best afield department, it was back-to-back awards for Centrals' major mover Jez McLennan who again took out the Fos Williams Medal with 25 disposals and seven marks. Other notables were Grace and Rowe who combined for seven goals, as well Mitch O'Neill and Wilkinson with 10 tackles between them. For the vanquished, East Fremantle premiership player Milan Murdock was WA's standout and winner of the Simpson Medal with 25 disposals, seven marks & tackles, five clearances and two goals. Elsewhere for WA, Eardley to his credit never stopped either and got 26 disposals, Jacob Blight took 13 marks, while the tacklers department had Matt Parker, Rokahr and Jye Chalcraft combine for 17 tackles.
FINAL SCORES IN STATE FOOTBALL 2024...
Sunday May 19
THE HAYDN BUNTON JUNIOR TROPHY
South Australia 16.13 (109)
Western Australia 5.16 (46)
Optus Stadium, Perth
Next weekend in your state...
SANFL ROUND 7
Saturday May 25
West Adelaide vs. North Adeliade; Hisense Stadium, Richmond @ 2:10pm
Central District vs. Norwood; X-Convenience Oval, Elizabeth @ 2:10pm
South Adelaide vs. Port Adelaide; Flinders University Stadium, Noarlunga @ 2:10pm
Sturt vs. Adelaide; Thomas Farms Oval, Unley @ 2:30pm
Sunday May 26 @ 1:10pm
Woodville-West Torrens vs. Glenelg; Maughan Thiem Kia Oval, Woodville
WAFL ROUND 8
Saturday May 25
West Coast vs. Claremont; Mineral Resources Park, Lathlain @ 11:30am
Peel Thunder vs. South Fremantle; Lane Group Stadium, Mandurah @ 3:30pm
East Perth vs. Subiaco; Sullivan Logistics Stadium, Leederville @ 3:40pm
East Fremantle vs. Perth; Revo Fitness Stadium, Claremont @ 3:40pm
Swan Districts vs. West Perth; Steel Blue Oval, Bassendean @ 4pm
So until next time... see you at the Footy!
For the previous seven years, the senior representative football arena had become the domain of just two states. South Australia and Western Australia committed themselves to continuing a tradition that has been abandoned at the highest level and even to this day, still has its knockers at state league level. The prize, the Haydn Bunton Junior Cup. A trophy named after an Australian football journeyman who while born in Victoria, made his name on the fields of the SANFL and the WAFL as both a player and a coach. This season however, may have signalled the end of a two-horse race when it comes to interstate footy. The AFL's Gather Round spectacular in Adelaide brought a possible end to the exile of the Big V, with the SANFL taking on a gallant Victorian Football League side at Glenelg. While the Victorians did not prevail, it was the change of attitude within the VFL ranks towards donning the famous guernsey that spoke volumes of those wearing it compared to that of many years ago when some thought that its end had come after copping a hammering from the Sandgropers in Melbourne. Will we see a return of the old tri-state representative football cycle? Only time will tell.
Welcome to this special edition of the wrap... WAFL vs. SANFL 2024.
With a history of encounters going back to pre-World War One, in their first ever interstate outing the Western Australians defeated South Australia at Adelaide Oval in 1904. The Croweaters had to wait until 1911 to get their first victory, even longer until they were able to do so in the west. Fast forward to today and South Australia hold a two-game advantage on the all-time ledger which stands at 50-48, which prior to the mid-90's was ruled by the Sandgropers. The gap between them was reeled back during the SANFL's resurgence as a football power, after their reputation took at battering after the formation of the Adelaide Football Club. In the post-AFL era, South Australia lost three games to the Sandgropers (1991, 1993, 1994) as well as a defeat at the hands of Tasmania in 1995. The WAFL knew all too well how that felt after the inception of the West Coast Eagles, with three defeats to SA in 1987, 1988 and 1990. After some soul searching in the boardrooms at Football Park, their 1996 demolition of the WAFL at Subiaco saw a new golden age for the cherished red guernsey, going on to drop a mere four games since then. Three of those four losses were at the hands of Western Australia and for the Black Swans, it was a long time coming. For South Australia, that 2009 loss was all the more embarrassing considering the team on the park had only one player from the dominant Central District side of the time. The Sandgropers won by a point that day at Leederville. It wasn't until 2015 that they were able to not only win back the trophy after losing in 2012, but then go on to retain it with their first win in Adelaide since 1994. That 2018 triumph on away soil was actually their sixth consecutive interstate victory, with wins against the VFL, the NEAFL and Tasmania. Let's put a specific focus for a moment on 2017 against the Vics, a match that seemingly brought about the end of the Big V guernsey.
The Western Australians ended more than a century of pain in the Victorian capital, dealing out a 63-point hiding at North Port Oval. In the aftermath of the game, members of WA media couldn't help but notice the VFL players' apparent indifference to the occasion. While the Sandgropers turned up at the post-match conference in uniform, the Vics did not. It made the papers in Perth and after this, the most famous guernsey in football disappeared, apparently for good. That exile came to an end in Adelaide just over a month ago, as the VFL returned to state football albeit in a 14-point loss to the SANFL. With this, is it safe to say that the days of just SA and WA duking it out are over? We'll have to wait until next year, I guess. From that line up, most of it was retained for this encounter including captain Joe Sinor along with fellow Eagle James Rowe. Jez McLennan (Centrals) , Casey Voss (Sturt), Harry Boyd (Norwood) and Frank Szekely (North) also return from the side that downed the Vics. Thanks to injuries during the season to key personnel, there would be several debutants in the red. Naming a few, first one is Redlegs' new cult hero Billy Cootee, as well as forwards Connor McFadyen (Sturt) and Aiden Grace (Centrals), the latter of which only just missed the cut for the side that took on the VFL. In the Black Swans camp, there would be a raft of experience in state football included. In defence they had Sharks premiership duo Cam Eardley and state captain Matthew Jupp, as well as Claremont's Bailey Rogers. Fellow Tiger Oliver Eastland would take again his place in the middle, hoping to find Swan Jesse Turner or perhaps last year's Simpson medallist in East Perth's Angus Schumacher. One of the Sandgropers' debutants is well known to SANFL fans, with 2022 Norwood premiership player Nik Rokahr joining Swan Districts this season. He also played in the successful Croweaters outfit that same year and one of the few players to have played in more than one representative guernsey.
Today's contest would be fought out at Optus Stadium in Perth, once again allowing only the most dedicated of WAFL followers to watch if they would buy an AFL match ticket with the West Coast vs. Melbourne match afterwards. As it would eventually turn out, any such supporters were about to get a rude shock. Despite missing 13 of the players that played against the VFL only a month ago, the Croweaters hit the ground running and slammed through six goals before the Sandgropers could score one of their own. Voss, Rowe and state newbies Grace, McFadyen and Amos Doyle did the early damage, while it was not until near the end of the opening term that Sokol goaled at the other end. At quarter-time, SA held a 27-point lead with the board reading 6.2 to 1.5. The Sandgropers were coughing up a litany of turnovers, South Australians just made it look far too easy with their ball movement. They continued to punish the home side in the second quarter, though some inaccuracy began to creep in for SA as they added a further 4.5 to their tally to WA's 2.2, with Milan Murdock and Trey Ruscoe getting on the goals column. By the long break, the gap was out to seven goals. The last time the Croweaters dished out a hiding like this was back in 2003, running over the top of the Sandgropers to a 56-point defeat, only nine points shy of that 1996 outing. It was going to go from bad to worse for the Westerners, their efforts not even coming close to their more competitive sides only a few short years ago.
The poor shooting on goal from the opening term was to dog them again in the third quarter, scoring a horrid five behinds. At least two of them could have made some kind of difference with Eastland and Hagan missing some chances. At the other end the Croweaters were also fluffing more than a few shots, but four goals during extra time including a second goal to Glenelg forward Luke Reynolds as well as one to Harrison Wigg put the visitors out to a 65-point lead at the final change. Eventually, mercifully, the mauling would come to an end, a comparably lowly final term saw both sides score two majors, WA's four behinds to SA's two would see the home side crash to a 63-point loss. Whatever the hell happened with the Sandgropers I'm not sure, but with both sides not having much of a training period together, the WAFL definitely needs to go back to the drawing board much like they did prior to their 2009 breakthrough triumph. Does it just come down to the talent SA had on the day? This result sure suggests as much with nine players pulling on the red for the first time. In the best afield department, it was back-to-back awards for Centrals' major mover Jez McLennan who again took out the Fos Williams Medal with 25 disposals and seven marks. Other notables were Grace and Rowe who combined for seven goals, as well Mitch O'Neill and Wilkinson with 10 tackles between them. For the vanquished, East Fremantle premiership player Milan Murdock was WA's standout and winner of the Simpson Medal with 25 disposals, seven marks & tackles, five clearances and two goals. Elsewhere for WA, Eardley to his credit never stopped either and got 26 disposals, Jacob Blight took 13 marks, while the tacklers department had Matt Parker, Rokahr and Jye Chalcraft combine for 17 tackles.
FINAL SCORES IN STATE FOOTBALL 2024...
Sunday May 19
THE HAYDN BUNTON JUNIOR TROPHY
South Australia 16.13 (109)
Western Australia 5.16 (46)
Optus Stadium, Perth
Next weekend in your state...
SANFL ROUND 7
Saturday May 25
West Adelaide vs. North Adeliade; Hisense Stadium, Richmond @ 2:10pm
Central District vs. Norwood; X-Convenience Oval, Elizabeth @ 2:10pm
South Adelaide vs. Port Adelaide; Flinders University Stadium, Noarlunga @ 2:10pm
Sturt vs. Adelaide; Thomas Farms Oval, Unley @ 2:30pm
Sunday May 26 @ 1:10pm
Woodville-West Torrens vs. Glenelg; Maughan Thiem Kia Oval, Woodville
WAFL ROUND 8
Saturday May 25
West Coast vs. Claremont; Mineral Resources Park, Lathlain @ 11:30am
Peel Thunder vs. South Fremantle; Lane Group Stadium, Mandurah @ 3:30pm
East Perth vs. Subiaco; Sullivan Logistics Stadium, Leederville @ 3:40pm
East Fremantle vs. Perth; Revo Fitness Stadium, Claremont @ 3:40pm
Swan Districts vs. West Perth; Steel Blue Oval, Bassendean @ 4pm
So until next time... see you at the Footy!
