AFL Tasmania has announced the third legendary team of Tasmanian football, the Sandy Bay team of 1971, which has been selected for induction into the Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame in 2007.
The Sandy Bay Seagulls team of 1971 was coached by Victorian (Hawthorn) hard man Rod Olsson and rested the Tasmanian Football League (TFL) and the State titles from reigning champions Clarence and Latrobe respectively. The win in the TFL decider began a sequence of 8 consecutive grand final appearances from 1971 to 1978, which created a record that still stands for consecutive grand finals by one Club.
The Seagulls won a further TFL premiership under Rod Olsson in 1972 and then suffered three consecutive grand final defeats in 1973, 1974 and 1975. The era continued under Hobartian Paul Sproule who returned from a successful career in the VFL with Richmond. He led the Seagulls to the TFL premiership dais in emphatic fashion in 1976, 1977 and 1978.
The official induction of the `Team' will take place on 6 July at the Hall of Fame gala function at Wrest Point Casino.
The following Sandy Bay players who were members of the 1971 team were in attendance at today's media conference at the home of the Seagulls, Queenborough Oval:
? Committee - Bob Purden
? Players - Graeme Mackey, Michael Elliott, Barry Joyce and Kerry Doran.
Below are:
? Results of Sandy Bay's 1971 Finals Campaign.
? The Seagulls Golden Era - 1971 to 1978.
For more information please contact:
Scott Wade - 0419 024 406
Daniel Smedley - 0418 114 414
ENDS
THE SEAGULL'S GOLDEN ERA - 1971 TO 1978
? The Seagull's completed a pulsating and long series of finals games to annexe the TFL title in 1971. After finishing 3rd following the roster season the team led by Rod Olsson had to defeat Glenorchy in a hard fought 1st semi final by 9 points. The final score was 15.28 (118) to Glenorchy 16.13 (109). The Preliminary Final followed and this epic against New Norfolk took two weeks to finalise. The first game finished in a draw - Sandy Bay 15.8 (98) to New Norfolk - 13.20 (98). The replay was played in front of more than 13,000 fans and the Bay prevailed by 10 points to advance to the Grand Final against reigning premier Clarence, which was coached by renowned Tasmanian and St.Kilda premiership player - John Bingley.
? The TFL Grand Final of 1971 began with more than 20,000 people in attendance and Sandy Bay coming in as firm underdogs having had to withstand 3 gruelling finals just to make it to the game. The reigning TFL premiers, Clarence, were rested but came out of the blocks slow and the Bay built a handy lead up until
Last Modified on 08/05/2007 12:07