Grand final 2021

Ok guys it’s grand final time next week
We take on the tigers
Hopefully there’s no surprises from our club

Should we read anything in to your post mate? Expecting a surprise?

Gazz wrote:Should we read anything in to your post mate? Expecting a surprise?

Nah just a spur of the moment post
I’m excited for the GF

Weather forecast for next Sunday not looking flash at this stage, 20 degrees with 80% chance of 3-10mm of rain.

Good weather forecast for Eagles. Takes McBean out, more groundball for Menzels and Stengle

hawke wrote:Good weather forecast for Eagles. Takes McBean out, more groundball for Menzels and Stengle

Agree. Play to our strengths. SA just bombed the ball in last Friday. We cant get caught doing the same.

Got my tickets
Hopefully we can lift the eyes entering the forward 50 and not bomb it in .

Injury report

Rory Lehmann
Hamstring
Test
Matthew Goldsworthy
Hamstring
Test

Forecast has been updated.

19 degrees, 80% chance of 2-5mm most likely during the morning

If Goldsworthy doesn't come up, who comes in?

Haylock was pretty good last week and I thought he was also one of our better players against Sturt when he last played league. Mitch Hardie has been in good form.

Or does Lehmann come back in if fit and shuffle Cameron forward?

I was an advocate for Von Bertouch back in, but watching the Reserves last week, he looked spent.

With the weather potentially being wet and two wins in the finals from Sheedy's smaller set up, up forward, I think Haylock's running ability and strong form will see him slot in to the team.

2 more hours of unrelenting pressure, team work, gut running and belief in each other and themselves to go above and beyond and get the job done. Go Eagles! History to be made.

Vonnie has been a big disappointment of late. I wonder if what I was told a month or so ago that Norwood wanted him as had any bearing on his form

Aerie wrote:If Goldsworthy doesn't come up, who comes in?

Haylock was pretty good last week and I thought he was also one of our better players against Sturt when he last played league. Mitch Hardie has been in good form.

Or does Lehmann come back in if fit and shuffle Cameron forward?

I was an advocate for Von Bertouch back in, but watching the Reserves last week, he looked spent.

With the weather potentially being wet and two wins in the finals from Sheedy's smaller set up, up forward, I think Haylock's running ability and strong form will see him slot in to the team.

2 more hours of unrelenting pressure, team work, gut running and belief in each other and themselves to go above and beyond and get the job done. Go Eagles! History to be made.

Comma for all his good work cost us 3 goals I recall. Must be on the cusp. Haylock or McFarlane?

I'm guessing that Sheedy will choose Rory Lehman. Then Haylock will put pressure on Comitogianni's position. The forecast suggests that the rain may have cleared by the time the match starts, unfortunately, and McBean remains a matchwinner with his overhead marking. Lehman gives us more options, while Cameron (up forward) and Haylock gives us an important different look

Another forecast change now 19 with 70% chance of 1 to 3mm.

At the rate its changing it could well be Sunny and 30

Sheedy on C7 tonight saying Stengle has to pass a fitness test tonight for a hamstring strain.

goddy11 wrote: Sheedy on C7 tonight saying Stengle has to pass a fitness test tonight for a hamstring strain.

Geez I hope he’s fit

Sheedy was on 5aa last night and said Stengle was tight in the hamstring at the end of the 2nd Semi, but the scan came back clear and he was already passed fit to play. Presume, provided he got through training last night he’ll be fine. Goldsworthy on the other hand, had a 10 week hamstring injury.

Does anyone know if any players will be playing their last game on Sunday?

Eagles star ruled out

WOODVILLE-West Torrens has been dealt a cruel blow, with star veteran Matthew
Goldsworthy ruled out of Sunday's clash against Glenelg through injury.
Scans have revealed the dual premiership utility’s hamstring injury is serious, with
tendon damage keeping him on ice for 10 weeks.
The 30-year-old hurt his hamstring in the Eagles’ fourpoint second semi-final win
against the Tigers and, while the club had hoped that the damage might be minor, it
is worse than first feared.
“He won’t play,’’ Eagles coach Jade Sheedy said.
“He ruptured the tendon in his hamstring and it’s a 10- week injury.’’ Sheedy said
Goldsworthy was a top-five player at the club and “probably the smartest footballer
I’ve coached’’.
“Goldy is an important part of our team and sees the game really well,’’ he said.
“He’s really dynamic for us, he can play through the midfield or forward, he’s going
to be hard to replace.’’ Sheedy said tall defender Rory Lehmann, who missed the
second semi with a slight hamstring strain, was fit and would be Goldsworthy’s
logical replacement, while Mitch Hardie, recruited from Canberra, would also come
under consideration after strong form in the reserves.
“Hardie is playing some really good footy and has played a lot of good state league
footy before and Lehmann gives us some real genuine height with Glenelg’s
forwards, so there is a couple there we will consider,’’ he said.
Sheedy is trying to steer the Eagles to consecutive premierships for the first time,
following their 2020 trouncing of North Adelaide.
He has done a superb job in getting the club back to the grand final after it lost eight
members of last year’s premiership team.
“We always want to get better each year and I think the footy club has done a really
good job of recruiting what we lost,’’ Sheedy said.
“It’s been pretty well publicised, and I’m not here to make excuses, but we did lose
eight premiership players, so it’s a really good show of strength from our footy club
to be able to get back here and give ourselves a chance to compete.
“Although we want to keep blooding juniors, and that’s our philosophy as a footy
club, we understand that we want to be the best we can be every year as well and
that means blooding juniors and also getting some topend recruits in.
“That’s how we tried to stay in the fight and I think our footy club has done a really
good job of that to give ourselves an opportunity.
“Going back-to-back is not our focus, our focus is to win a premiership,.’’ Sheedy,
who last week signed a three-year contract extension tying him to the club until the
end of 2025, said the Eagles were not expecting any retirements after Sunday,
revealing Magarey Medallist James Tsitas and former Crow Riley Knight had already
signed for 2022.

By PETER CORNWALL

It’s the grand final that’s loomed as most likely for most of the season between the premiers from the past two seasons. And, like the AFL’s premiership decider, it’s the showdown between the best two teams of the year.

Glenelg and the Eagles were No. 1 and No. 2 on the premiership table for the last 10 rounds of the season, their second semi-final clash was a heartstopper that went right down to the final siren and they loom as an epic match-up between the best attacking side in the league and the strongest defensive line-up.

In a historic first grand final between the sides, there is huge midfield talent and plenty of X-factor. Minor premiers the Tigers, whose only loss in the home-and-away season was in the last game against a Port Adelaide side packed with AFL talent at Alberton, had six players in The Advertiser SANFL Team of the Year. And the Eagles had five representatives in the elite side.

Glenelg mentor Brett Hand was named coach of the Team of the Year and he will be looking to emulate the feat of Jade Sheedy, who coached the Eagles to their memorable flag last season in his first year in charge at senior SANFL level.

Just how epic the battle of the midfield shapes up is made clear by the on-ballers and wingmen from these sides who made the SANFL’s best side. The Eagles have James Tsitas and Riley Knight, the Tigers Luke Partington, Matthew Snook, Brett Turner and
Matt Allen. Glenelg’s triple Ken Farmer Medallist Liam McBean is full forward of the team, while the Eagles have dangerous trio Tyson Stengle, Jack Hayes and Daniel Menzel in attack in the top line-up. Between the sides, they have the four leading goalkickers for the year – McBean (56), Stengle (41), Menzel (40) and the Tigers’ Luke Reynolds (37).

Glenelg, looking to emulate the feat of Norwood in 1978 by winning a flag in its centenary year and gunning to be the first club to claim the women’s-men’s league double, will now be glad for the extra, tough hit-out in the preliminary final against South Adelaide, kicking away to win by 28 points. If the Bays had advanced straight through to the grand final with a second semi-final win – the Eagles won by four points – they would have played just five games in 10 weeks in a Covid-disrupted season.

But the Eagles surely were glad of the break. Had they had to play in the preliminary final, they would have been backing up on successive six-day breaks, their experienced line-up undoubtedly glad of the time to recover and refresh. This all adds to the anticipation of a grand match-up.

Both sides have outstanding captains who lead from the back – the Eagles’ Luke Thompson and Glenelg’s Chris Curran and Max Proud. And both have their unsung heroes. Defenders Dylan Landt and Sam Durdin have been outstanding recruits for Glenelg and they, along with hugely improved Alex Martini, were crucial in the Bays’ preliminary final win. And the Eagles’ Sam Rowland, Jesse Lonergan and Kobe Mutch keep getting the job done.

The ruck duel between the Eags’ Jarrad Redden, who always seems to be in the right place at the right time and has the quickest of hands, and Jack Hannath, behind only Port’s Sam Hayes and the Crows’ Kieran Strachan for hit-outs this season, will be crucial. So will the battle for the clearances – the Eagles had a 35-29 edge in their second semi-final win.

The Eagles, who have won 12 of their past 14 games but were beaten by Glenelg twice in the minor round, are the biggest possession-winning side in the league thanks to the likes of Tsitas, Knight, Joseph Sinor, Kai Pudney and Jimmy Toumpas. But it’s likely to come down to which side makes the most of its chances. And both sides have plenty of attacking options with the right amount of star quality.

The Eagles have strong-marking Jack Hayes, the mercurial Menzel brothers – Daniel and Troy – and dangerous Stengle who can bob up at any time, the Tigers have McBean, Reynolds, Lachlan Hosie and Marlon Motlop who can make their mark on any game.

There are always fond farewells in finals and the premiership decider will be our last chance to admire the special skills of Tigers favourite Motlop. Is there any chance he has any magic moments like his dodging, weaving checkside goal in the ’19 grand final in store for us in his final appearance?

Zac Milbank's Key Match-Ups
James Tsitas (Eagles) v Matthew Snook (Glenelg)

One of the joint winners of the 2021 Magarey Medal, Eagle James Tsitas, will get his first chance to bask in the glory of his victory with a strong performance in Sunday’s SANFL Grand Final. He and his in-and-under Tigers opponent, Matthew Snook, are the top two in the competition for total handballs. They regularly burrow into the bottom of the packs to farm the ball out to their fleet-footed teammates, producing vital clearances from the centre square in pivotal moments.

Luke Thompson (Eagles) v Liam McBean (Glenelg)

Woodville-West Torrens’ longest-serving captain, Luke Thompson, is set to have his hands full in the title-decider with the job of quelling triple Ken Farmer Medallist Liam McBean. Last year’s premiership skipper is a master at timing his spoils to perfection but he may also need to work higher up the ground considering McBean pushed as high as half-back during the Preliminary Final. McBean didn’t hit the scoreboard until the final term against South Adelaide but he can impact the contest in other ways as evidenced on last Friday night and the 2019 SANFL Grand Final.

Tyson Stengle (Eagles) v Alex Martini (Glenelg)

Former Crow Stengle is the sort of player who can turn the game on its head in the space of three or four kicks. The lightning fast Eagle is incredibly elusive and certainly knows where the goals are considering he’s not surprisingly in the mix to win the Channel 7 Goal of the Year. But he won’t have it all his own way as Bays defender Alex Martini is enjoying a career-best season and was again exceptional against South in the Preliminary Final. Playing with significant confidence, Martini laid an equal game high 11 tackles against the Panthers.

I went to watch training last night. Tyson Stengle only jogged laps. Thought Joe Sinor was also looking proppy (slow and protective of left leg) but nothing's been said so must be ok. Interesting that Sheedy said that the Eagles had a lot of sore players after the 2nd semifinal and would have had a tough time fronting up for a prelim final had we lost the 2nd semifinal.

Eagles team a big bench
Maybe wimpy or Hawke could have an idea on whose in and out
https://wwtfc.com.au/news/wise-grand-final-team-selection/

No surprises except that Haylock not in the group - pulled up sore after his good game last week. Lehmann in for Goldsworthy ( if you read Sheedy's comments) and maybe a close decision between Commy and Hardie.
Would expect Firns and Jungfer to be the other 2.

hawke wrote:No surprises except that Haylock not in the group - pulled up sore after his good game last week. Lehmann in for Goldsworthy ( if you read Sheedy's comments) and maybe a close decision between Commy and Hardie.
Would expect Firns and Jungfer to be the other 2.

You could be spot on

I think it will be last games 22 less Goldy plus Lehmann and Hardie.
Weather might determine if both Cameron and Lehmann play. At this stage I think Hardie might be the 23rd. Could not possibly see Comma missing out after his sacrifices for last years G/Fs.