Footy legend honoured at this weekend’s SANFL Grand Final
SANFL players will wear black armbands at this Sunday’s Grand Final at Adelaide Oval to honour the death of state footy legend Max Basheer.
The SANFL Reserves Grand Final will start at 11am, followed by the 2025 Hostplus SANFL League Grand Final at 2.30pm as Sturt takes on Glenelg this Sunday, as the two teams vie to take home the Thomas Seymour Hill Premier Trophy.
The winning team will also have their colours emblazoned on the West End Chimney at Thebarton’s Brickworks Marketplace.
The day also features the Festival of Footy, which promises to transform Adelaide Oval “into a carnival atmosphere with free activities, entertainment and giveaways in various activation zones, from the moment fans arrive until after the final siren”.
Sturt are favourites for this Sunday, despite captain James Battersby sensationally quitting the club earlier this week after not being picked for the Grand Final.
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Glenelg earnt a place in the Grand Final after beating Norwood by two points in last Sunday’s preliminary final with a score line of 57 to 55, while Sturt, who led this year’s SANFL ladder, defeated Glenelg in the semi-finals a week before with a score of 102 to 60.
Glenelg coach Darren Reeves said in response to his team’s loss in the semi-final that “we’ve got to change a little bit and we’ve got to play better”.
“Sturt were fantastic that day, in particular in the second half, and so, we need to do a lot better around the ball, and we need to make sure we get a better contest forward to the ball. That certainly wasn’t ideal for us that day, so that would be pretty important,” he said.
In relation to Sturt being the favourites for Sunday’s match, Reeves said, “In the background, it’s been three in a row and the history and that type of stuff … and I think if you were going in as a favourite, that would be a pretty big burden to carry”.
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“Being the underdogs is a good thing for us.”
Glenelg captain Liam McBean said he thought “playing out here in September is a pretty decent carrot to dangle in front of a group”.
“I think as well, we’ve got a senior playing list that’s probably been on the other side and hasn’t had a lot of success, so to get to this point now and be consistently challenging for premierships is something we don’t take for granted … that’s really exciting and I think that’s a motivation for anyone,” he said.
Sturt Captain Tom Lewis said the team has “unfinished business” following their loss to Glenelg in the 2023 Grand Final.
“Obviously disappointing how we went out last season … we’re dialled in, we’re focused and we’re ready to go,” he said.
He said that compared to last year, Sturt is “a lot more attacking”, with “deeper entries” and “better shots on goal”.
Sturt coach Martin Mattner said the past “four or five years” have motivated them ahead of Sunday’s Grand Final.
“You want to play these games on Sunday, and so when you don’t get there, you do everything you can, you go to review your seasons, you review your games, you try and get better and improve,” he said.
“I feel like over our past five years, we’ve gotten better, we’ve improved our list. We just want to be out there on Sunday and, like Glenelg, win the game, and everything over the last nine months has gone towards that, and we’ve put ourselves in the best position we can to perform on Sunday.”
