Sturt vs Centrals Grand Final Review Thread

[doggies4eva]

Yes Sansbury did suprise me how clean and efficient he was in the last 2 finals, never seen him like that, he even snapped goals hey UK Fan? I did have have a friendly crack at him when he went past me after the game...

In all seriousness I think part of the Dogs success comes from getting the most our of players that havent made it in the AFL, they continually get them to improve their game where as a lot of returning AFL players at other clubs have peaked and tend to go thru the motions and rely on their natural ability....

Good to hear you reconsider your views on Sansbury after bashing him for the past year. I agree that we are excellent at recruiting and developing fringe AFL players but I think we are also just as good at developing the home ground talent - like Dutsche and O'Hara, McKenzie .....

[CUTTERMAN]

Congratulations to Centrals, out played us all day apart from a few minor bursts. 1 all now. I can't see any stop to their reign as yet, financially secure, excellent training facilities and a club structure that seems bullet proof, you should be proud.
Great turnout for the game, great to see BBQ's everywhere, it's a great tradition we have in our state. I'm not aware of any trouble between supporters but the Weslo situation is confusing and frustrating. As an example, on the eastern wing some Sturt blokes had a banner, raised it after a goal, not overly large and were told not to raise it or they would be outed, I was standing next to them with a banner and nothing was said, 20m down the walkway Centrals supporters had a banner and no problem, meanwhile flares are going off, this is just bullshit.

On the topic of flares, I went to see a band last night and was talking to a Doggies supporter about flares, I think he's going to write a letter to the club asking them to do more about stamping it out. I can't think of any other aussie rules club in any other comp in Australia that has flares go off at games pretty often. It needs to stamped out by the club and by the SANFL, get tough on it now before it's picked up by other morons at other clubs. I realize that it's hard to search everyone, but it's pretty easy to work out where they'll be let off, so man the area arrest the wanker and charge him, fine him, then ban them for life, then the club needs to get the senior players and coach to front them and let them know what dickheads they are.
Stop it now, it's the only blight on a great Centrals era.

[The Apostle]

I'm not having a go but did she seriously go to the club? I think that's great if she did but i'd be surprised. Once again i'm not having a go but most high profile people would have personal security wherever they go, did she? (this is not suggesting going to Elizabeth requires security, i'd be asking the same if she went to any SANFL club).

I like to state the following (and most of these apply to my friends and family and most Central Supporters too):

1. I was conceived and born in wedlock.
2. I've had the same fulltime job now for nearly 8 years.
3. Don't take drugs, i'm a social drinker, and have the occasional punt.
4. Currently privately renting, looking to own soon.
5. Only been in a courtroom once...for a year 11 Legal Studies excursion.
6. I am highly regarded by the police...so much so they regard me as a fit and proper person to own over a dozen firearms (A, B and H Class).

Finally...

7. There are worse places in Adelaide than Elizabeth (some depending on the time of day) and I personally feel safe living in Elizabeth (North). I'm not saying that the place doesn't have it's problems (graffiti and a few ratbags) but personally I feel safe walking thru Elizabeth whether it be day or nighttime.

[Dutchy]

these Weslo guys are freindly!

[fish]

Speaking of the Weslo staff I must commend the work of the Weslo woman who was at the entrance door to the changerooms behind the members stand - she resisted all our attempts (some feeble and some quite decent) to get past her and into the changerooms after the game. Deception, grovelling, distraction, rushing with numbers - we tried it all but she didn't budge. Nice work!

[The Apostle]

Anyone see that guy, who jumped on the ground up the Northern End after the final siren, get arrested and hauled off??? It took about 4 coppers and 3 We're Slow wallys to drag him off!!!

Reminds me of what Ned Kelly wrote in his Jerilderie Letter:

I have seen as many as eleven, big & ugly enough to lift Mount Macedon out of a crab hole more like the species of a baboon or Guerilla than a man. actually come into a court house and swear they could not arrest one eight stone larrakin and them armed with battens and neddies without some civilians assistance and some of them going to the hospital from the affects of hits from the fists of the larrakin and the Magistrate would send the poor little Larrakin into a dungeon for being a better man than such a parcel of armed curs.

[UK Fan]

Have to say though... giving your side credit, I would have thought you'd appreciate the unbiased view. I was genuinely surprised how well Centrals played today, really surprised... can't help that feeling, that's what I honestly thought.

We lost, its just our bad luck, but thank the makers that we snatched one from you this decade. Plus people shouldn't take my humble words in defeat to mean I don't care, I would have LOVED to smash you and go 2-0 up...

... and oh my word I would have loved rubbing it in. !

Well seeing that you got handed a footballing lesson. Allow me to take over those duties for you Sturt Fans.

Oh yeah... well we've won more flags than you... THIRTEEN... suck on that... in fact, we've won FIVE, count'em, FIVE in a row, how many have you won in a row, three? Well I spose that's kinda good, but its not FIVE is it <edited by mod> Oh and we've won more finals than you, been in more grand finals, won more bloody games, been around longer than you, won back to back flags 4 years apart, try and do that, that takes magic.... we actually won our flags against Port Adelaide when they were still kings of the league!

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! ...

All that and we still kicked your aish.

What a shame the only thing Sturt has done in 30 years was the fluke of 2002. And now you cant even brag about it. Such a shame.

Was that two Sturt fans fighting each other in the last quarter ???

Yesterday was amazing. Still cant believe it, being allowed to do the victory laps with the boys was incredible. Something I will never forget.

[ca]

In the end a good choice to play Thurstans and Chambers. In my eyes it was never going to be proven correct or incorrect by if Sturt won or not. If you watch the game without any bias both made contributions and although Chambers in particular didn't look fit he still added to the strucutre of the Sturt forward line. I thought Thurstans moved like he always does which can often look slow. In my opinion they would have lost by more without them. You could argue if they dropped the right players though.

Great atmosphere, reasnoble game but shame it wasn't a bit closer.

[Ash59]

Left Footy park yesterday and went straight to a restaurant on Unley Rd to meet friends for dinner. A few double blue balloons on stobie poles but otherwise dead quiet. A bit sad really...

[fish]

Hey doggies4eva you need to change your signature.

[doggies4eva]

Hey doggies4eva you need to change your signature.

Just did

[Apachebulldog]

cbowes get your stats right Dogs played their first league game in 1964.

So since1964 Central have won 8 Premierships thus equalling The Blues 8 Premiership since 1964 am i right.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[UK Fan]

Congratulations to Centrals, out played us all day apart from a few minor bursts. 1 all now. I can't see any stop to their reign as yet, financially secure, excellent training facilities and a club structure that seems bullet proof, you should be proud.
Great turnout for the game, great to see BBQ's everywhere, it's a great tradition we have in our state. I'm not aware of any trouble between supporters but the Weslo situation is confusing and frustrating. As an example, on the eastern wing some Sturt blokes had a banner, raised it after a goal, not overly large and were told not to raise it or they would be outed, I was standing next to them with a banner and nothing was said, 20m down the walkway Centrals supporters had a banner and no problem, meanwhile flares are going off, this is just bullshit.

On the topic of flares, I went to see a band last night and was talking to a Doggies supporter about flares, I think he's going to write a letter to the club asking them to do more about stamping it out. I can't think of any other aussie rules club in any other comp in Australia that has flares go off at games pretty often. It needs to stamped out by the club and by the SANFL, get tough on it now before it's picked up by other morons at other clubs. I realize that it's hard to search everyone, but it's pretty easy to work out where they'll be let off, so man the area arrest the wanker and charge him, fine him, then ban them for life, then the club needs to get the senior players and coach to front them and let them know what dickheads they are.
Stop it now, it's the only blight on a great Centrals era.

SOUR GRAPES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[zipzap]

Great atmos at the game and the carpark bbqs, much bigger crowd than I anticipated. If only all those 'supporters' became 'members'!

Centrals were clean, methodical and tackled ruthlessly all day - they thoroughly deserved their win.

I had a horrible feeling that some of the doggies might go the biff early, especially clean up young Trengove for example, but to their credit it was one of the most disciplined performances I have seen from them ever.

In hindsight Herring's omission was a mistake. He paid for one bad game last week but he would have added a bit more flexibility up forward than Thurstans could provide and would have allowed Toby to go back where he was SORELY MISSED.

Sturt looked tired (were made to look tired?) and a few of our young guns like Jaensch and Trengove, looked a bit overawed for the first time in the finals series.

Umpiring was really good until the exact moment in the third quarter when I made the mistake of saying "the umpiring's really good" and it all turned to crap.

Had the pleasure of sitting amongst some genuinely humble, warm and intelligent Centrals fans (who knew?) who were the first to offer us commiserations at the end of the game. One thing that struck me was how casually Dogs fans around us took the win. Sure there were the usual suspects going troppo at the goal shooting end which had more to do with thumbing their noses at authority than a genuine love of their club, but the vast majority seemed to shrug their shoulders, put another notch on the belt and check their punch cards like those Sam & Ralph cartoons - meh, just another day at the office. I'm not bagging that, it's an amazing club culture where premiership wins are the norm - awesome.

The Sturt wake was filled with a sense of 'what could have been' but there was a positive air about it and by all reports, Normo's after match speech to the players was something to behold.

Next year Blues!

[UK Fan]

James Gowans addressing the boys after the win.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PV1rnUE_vyU

[Cambridge Clarrie]

looking forward to reading cambridge clarries posts,

Sorry I've kept you waiting Stampy - only just stopped crying

I'd been hoping that this, my 1000th post, would be celebrating a brilliant Sturt victory, but it just wasn't to be...

The Blues came out with the intensity that I was hoping for from the first bounce. They were hard at it and I thought the Dogs found the first ten minutes tough going but then they clicked. Their pressure on the Blues lifted and they started moving the ball forward too quickly for us. Our defence, which has been brilliant this year, found themselves four or five yards behind too often and Central were able to put the score on the board. Experience is a big thing and Central are so well drilled and accountable and stifled the Blues run brilliantly.

Some of our players were certainly not able to produce their best today, but hopefully the pain of losing a GF will stick in their memories for next time we make the big day. Best IMO were Crane, Coad, Gum, McGlone, Wark and Sheedy. As for those who are taking the opportunity to stick it up Chambo, whether he played or not had no bearing on the result. As other have said, when your mid field is being beaten and your delivery isn't up to scratch it's pretty hard to look good as a full forward.

As for the Dogs, hats off to them. I thought that they were off the boil this season to an extent I hadn't seen for a few years, but to their credit they turned it on at the right time of year (as usual). As much as I hate them, the Gowans boys are that club. When they depart I'll be interested to see the impact it has. They're not only good players, they're motivators and demand the very best from those that they play alongside... And then there's Mackenzie. Despite the fact he was holding on to Bowen all day, he is clearly the benchmark big man of the comp. The work he did around the ground yesterday was exceptional.

Overall, very proud of the boys and what they almost achieved this year. We've been the third best team and we've finished second... The experience gained by our young crop of players will only see us improve next year. Beating the Bays (the minor premiers, who were the first team since South to go out in straight sets) put me on a high all week and I really enjoyed the buildup to yesterday. Great media coverage, great night at Unley on Wednesday and yesterday, despite the result, was great to be a part of.

Always a devastating experience to lose a Grand Final but I can see some good signs in players like Jaensch & Vassal particularly and I'm sure that in the next couple of years we'll hold that cup aloft. Well done Dogs, but don't think that Sturt won't be doing everything possible to bring and end to your lucky run ( ) of premierships in 2010...

[doggies4eva]

looking forward to reading cambridge clarries posts,

Sorry I've kept you waiting Stampy - only just stopped crying

I'd been hoping that this, my 1000th post, would be celebrating a brilliant Sturt victory, but it just wasn't to be...

The Blues came out with the intensity that I was hoping for from the first bounce. They were hard at it and I thought the Dogs found the first ten minutes tough going but then they clicked. Their pressure on the Blues lifted and they started moving the ball forward too quickly for us. Our defence, which has been brilliant this year, found themselves four or five yards behind too often and Central were able to put the score on the board. Experience is a big thing and Central are so well drilled and accountable and stifled the Blues run brilliantly.

Some of our players were certainly not able to produce their best today, but hopefully the pain of losing a GF will stick in their memories for next time we make the big day. Best IMO were Crane, Coad, Gum, McGlone, Wark and Sheedy. As for those who are taking the opportunity to stick it up Chambo, whether he played or not had no bearing on the result. As other have said, when your mid field is being beaten and your delivery isn't up to scratch it's pretty hard to look good as a full forward.

As for the Dogs, hats off to them. I thought that they were off the boil this season to an extent I hadn't seen for a few years, but to their credit they turned it on at the right time of year (as usual). As much as I hate them, the Gowans boys are that club. When they depart I'll be interested to see the impact it has. They're not only good players, they're motivators and demand the very best from those that they play alongside... And then there's Mackenzie. Despite the fact he was holding on to Bowen all day, he is clearly the benchmark big man of the comp. The work he did around the ground yesterday was exceptional.

Overall, very proud of the boys and what they almost achieved this year. We've been the third best team and we've finished second... The experience gained by our young crop of players will only see us improve next year. Beating the Bays (the minor premiers, who were the first team since South to go out in straight sets) put me on a high all week and I really enjoyed the buildup to yesterday. Great media coverage, great night at Unley on Wednesday and yesterday, despite the result, was great to be a part of.

Always a devastating experience to lose a Grand Final but I can see some good signs in players like Jaensch & Vassal particularly and I'm sure that in the next couple of years we'll hold that cup aloft. Well done Dogs, but don't think that Sturt won't be doing everything possible to bring and end to your lucky run ( ) of premierships in 2010...

Quality post CC for your 1,000th. Yes I wonder what will happen when the Gowans do hang up their boots - at least they will be there next year. I am hoping that their personal qualities have rubbed off on the younger blokes - Goodrem, Dutske, O'Hara etc and that the culture will continue. Time will tell. This year's GF had great atmosphere and this year's finals series was highly entertaining. For me a happy end to a good year of footy.

[SABRE]

All seems quiet on the Far Northern Front.
One can only imagine the pain being experienced by legendary hangovers.

I look forward to hearing all the stories describing various feats of gross over indulgence.
What bawdy tales of epic Elizabethan lawlessness are about to unfold ?
Or can't anyone remember what happened last night ?

[RustyCage]

these Weslo guys are freindly!

He must have stepped on a yellow line

[blackcat]

Agree with most candidates for the Jack Oatey medal, but Ithought Tommo was sensational all day, his 1 percenters were brilliant. He was my pick for the medal even though I had $50 at 10 to 1 on Jimmy gowans.