SA Footy

1945
Some parts of the world was in recovery mode , the SANFL resumed to a full league competition
The actions of WW2 made an impact in the SANFL in the season of 45

The 1945 Minor round finish
PA
NW
WT
NA
ST
WA
GL
SA


1945
FIRST SEMI FINAL 3/4 time
WT 6-10....8-12....10-14
NA 1-0.......8.4........10-7

2018
PRELIM FINAL final scores
WWT 4-1...7-4...10-7....14-10
NA....1-3...2-5....7-6......15-10

Some similarities in both finals
In both finals WT + WWT had BIG leads of 40+ points
In both finals NA fought back

Heres how the 1945 prelim final panned out
WT held a commanding 40 point lead at qtr time having 16 scoring shots to 1
WT 6-10
NA 1-0
It was a tight last quarter, when the electric bell rang to signal the end of the match, the scores were level
WT 13-22
NA 15-10
A crowd of 21,167 at that stage , had seen a draw in the resumption of SANFL finals after WW2
Most players had heard the electric bell , and stopped playing
Umpire Ken Aplin , one of the greatest SANFL umpires of all time, did not hear the electric bell
Jim Thoms , picked up the ball and took off bouncing the ball and eventually goaled
It was then that Ken Aplin realised the electric bell had rung and then signalled the end of the game
WT 14-22
NA 15-10
WT win controversially by 6 points , with a goal scored after the electric bell had sounded , instead of a drawn game

So that means 73 years ago NA were very very unlucky to be eliminated, as was WWT arguably unlucky with the 19 man controversy in 2018
One wonders whether NA protested to the SANFL or not ?
Should the game have been replayed ?
The result stood in 1945 as it did in 2018
NA barrackers could consider the 2018 win a payback for what happened in 1945 !

The relevance of WW2 is significant
Jim Thoms kicked the 'official' winning goal
Thoms had also played for Footscray 1937-1946
Footscray missed playing in the 1945 finals by 1 game
Carlton beat Footscray in the last minor round game of 1945 to take 4th spot in front of Footscray
With Footscray missing finals, and due to war service rules of the times, Thoms lined up and debuted for WT
So in effect Thomas played a VFL minor round season for Footscray and the 3 major round games for WT in the year of 1945
Had it not been for the war, he may never have played for West Torrens at all , hence the significance of WW2 on the 1945 SANFL finals series

So there we have it NA a bit stiff with he electric bell and then what you might call a RING in playing for WT !

A postscript to that first semi final was that on the Saturday night , disgruntled NA supporters broke into the Adelaide Oval and destroyed the bell
History now shows that from that ' time on' , a siren was used to signal the end of SANFL games

1900

Minor Round Premiership ladder
NA 21
WT 19
SA 18
NW 16
WA 6
PA 4

Finals

1900 Semi Final
SA 3-10
NW 1-8

1900 Grand Final
NA.4-3
SA 1-8

Once again there is another anoMALy involving WT V NA
NA finished minor premier
WT finished runner up
The question is, why didnt WT play in any of the finals ?
Another Jonah between the 2 clubs


Please note this was the first premiership won by NA in the SANFL

mal wrote:1900

Minor Round Premiership ladder
NA 21
WT 19
SA 18
NW 16
WA 6
PA 4

Finals

1900 Semi Final
SA 3-10
NW 1-8

1900 Grand Final
NA.4-3
SA 1-8

Once again there is another anoMALy involving WT V NA
NA finished minor premier
WT finished runner up
The question is, why didnt WT play in any of the finals ?
Another Jonah between the 2 clubs


Please note this was the first premiership won by NA in the SANFL

There was a very unusual finals system in 1900, Mal. What happened was at the end of the minor round the competition was split into two groups of three. The teams that had finished 1st, 3td and 5th were in one group and the teams that finished 2nd, 4th and 6th on the other group. Each team then played the other two teams in their group.

South beat North in a close game to win their group, Norwood won the other group.

Norwood and South then clashed in the semi final which South won.

North being the minor premiers had a right to challenge, hence North played South in the Grand Final.

The VFL had used a similar system in 1898, although they had four teams in each group.

In theory using this system, the wooden spooner could still win the premiership.

The following are the scores from the round robin series played after the minor round but before the finals :

Section A

Saturday, 11 August
North Adelaide 5.8 (38) def. West Adelaide 2.5 (17)
Adelaide Oval

Saturday, 18 August
South Adelaide 10.12 (72) def. West Adelaide 6.7 (43)
Jubilee Oval

Saturday, 25 August
South Adelaide 2.12 (24) def. North Adelaide 3.4 (22)
Adelaide Oval

Section B

Saturday, 18 August
Norwood 3.4 (22) def. Port Adelaide 3.2 (20)
Adelaide Oval

Saturday, 25 August
Port Adelaide 2.9 (21) def. by West Torrens 8.3 (51)
Alberton Oval

Saturday, 1 September
Norwood 4.1 (25) def. West Torrens 1.11 (17)
Adelaide Oval

Norwood defeated West Torrens on 1 September, despite being held scoreless in the first, third and final quarters of the game.