From this…
LIVING THE DREAM BY PETER CORNWALL
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on’t fret, your time is near. SANFL supporters who have been longing to see their club’s colours on top of the West End Brewery chimney have been living the dream in the past five years. With players coming and going at a frenetic rate and sides progressing from pretenders to contenders like never before, there’s hope for every club - and every fan. You don’t have to have been knocking on the door for even one season and there’s no talk these days about having to lose a grand final before you can win one. Rebuilding? Forget it. Get the right coach, strong 12
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leadership and players who are willing to work hard, work together and play with no ceiling and any drought can be smashed. South Adelaide has been rocked by last-minute player losses to the AFL in the past year. Panthers fans, without a premiership since 1964, are tearing their hair out after superstar ruckman Keegan Brooksby was snatched away by Hawthorn in March. But a premiership has never been closer for all clubs. Just a decade ago, all-conquering Central District snared its ninth premiership in 11 seasons. But, incredibly, the Bulldogs now are the seventh-most-recent flag winners,
the Eagles, Norwood (three), West, Sturt (two), North and Glenelg winning them since the Doggies’ remarkable dynasty ended. West Adelaide languished in ninth place in 2014, not having won a premiership since 1983. Bloods fans were pinching themselves after coach Mark Mickan orchestrated a stunning grand final win just a year later. Sturt jumped from eighth in 2015 to the flag in ’16. Coached by Martin Mattner, who had starred in the Blues’ previous flag in 2002, they completed back-to-back flags in 2017 - the first time they had achieved the feat since winning their fifth flag in a row way back in 1970. North Adelaide “won” the
