Mr TARZIA (Hartley) (17:32): I rise to congratulate the Norwood Football Club on their back to back to back (three) premierships in a row at the weekend. By the way, the hearts of many on this side of the house beat true for the red and the blue, including but not limited to the member for Dunstan, the member for Flinders, the member for Morialta and, in the other place, the Hon. John Dawkins.
The Liberal Party is happy to support sport because it teaches our youth and older people about discipline, it teaches them about keeping a healthy and active lifestyle and it teaches them about winning and losing. Many go through sport not winning premierships and I am happy that so many constituents in our area have experienced three in a row for the Norwood Football Club. Their reign as the SANFL champions has stretched for the third successive year after the Redlegs conquered the mighty Magpies (Port Adelaide) by four points in the grand final at Adelaide Oval last weekend. It is the first time in over 125 years that this has been done by the Norwood Football Club.
There was a massive crowd of 38,644, I am led to believe, at Adelaide Oval and the Redlegs triumphed in what was an absorbing battle between arch rivals in the first title decided at the ground since 1973, which is before my time, before the member for Schubert's time and before the member for Bright's time as well. I congratulate Redlegs captain, Kieran McGuinness, who, by the way, I think should have been best on ground. He led the side to glory with a superb performance in defence. That is not to take anything away from the exceptional midfielder Matthew Panos, who was named the Jack Oatey medallist as the best on ground performer.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the president, Mr Paul Di Iulio, and the board of directors: Mr Joe Tripodi, Mr Bill Moody, Mr Ben Seekamp, the Hon. Michael Wright (believe it or not), Mr John Kassara, Mr Michael Taylor and Mr Grant Dalwood, and the senior coach, Ben Warren, for the exceptional support they have provided to the club throughout the year and, in several instances, for many years.
Apart from that, I think it is fitting to pay tribute to the success of other sporting teams in and around the area. While they were not successful, the Rostrevor Old Collegians team in the SAAFL Division 1 went down fighting to the Goodwood Saints in what was a tough battle. The Payneham Norwood Union SAAFL Division 2 team were successful; they have been elevated to the next division. I sincerely thank them for their great contribution to football in the Payneham zone and I wish them all the very best for the next season. I also congratulate the junior teams that had success, particularly the Hectorville Hounds under 14s, which won their premiership not long ago.
They are some fantastic results there, and obviously it is not all about winning but it is much more fun when that happens. I congratulate all those teams on their recent victories.
