Stephen gave the following speech in Parliament on the 24th September, 2019.
"Here in parliament today I take the opportunity to speak about a fantastic 2019 season for a much-loved team in Morphett, the Glenelg Football Club. Sunday 22 September 2019 will go down in the club's history as a great day that saw 39,000 people fill Adelaide Oval to watch the Glenelg Tigers defeat their arch enemy, the Port Adelaide Magpies, by 28 points. The Tigers took advantage of the breeze in the first quarter to score the first four goals of the match while holding the Magpies goalless. Key forward, Luke Reynolds, kicked the opener followed by Carl Nicholson.
The remaining three quarters were an arm wrestle with plenty of skilful highlights from both teams, including Marlon Motlop's freak individual goal in the forward pocket in the third quarter. The Magpies kept pressing and the Tigers' defenders were called upon throughout the match, including captain, Chris Curran; vice captain, Max Proud; previous captain, Andrew Bradley; Jonty Scharenberg; and Aaron Joseph, who will be remembered for his desperate dive on the goal line to touch a certain goal. Finally, the siren sounded and, while the players celebrated on the field, the roar of the Tiger fans was deafening. Matthew Snook was the Jack Oatey Medallist and judged best afield.
Congratulations to SANFL CEO, Jake Parkinson, and his team for putting on a fantastic grand final, coming in the same season as the AFLW grand final, which saw a full house at Adelaide Oval. It is therefore disappointing to South Australians that the AFL has locked in the AFL grand final at the MCG until 2057 instead of being visionary and rotating it across the nation. The 1990s saw the dismantling of the entitlement of the MCG to host a final each week, and this last vestige of the VFL should go the same way.
Glenelg's premiership tops off a remarkable season, which saw the Bays finish top of the ladder after the minor round with 13 wins and two draws as well as win the Stanley H. Lewis trophy as the best performed SANFL club. The Magarey Medal was won by Luke Partington. The Ken Farmer Medal was won by leading goal kicker, Liam McBean, for kicking 46 goals, with Luke Reynolds one behind on 45 after the minor round. Coincidentally, both finished on 53 goals after the finals had finished. Congratulations to the players, senior coach, Mark Stone, and reserves coach, Paul Sandercock, on winning the club's first elusive premiership in 33 years.
In modern football it is very apparent that to win a premiership also requires a well-run club off the field. Club president, Nick Chigwidden; CEO, Glenn Elliott; manager, Kristin Jeffery; and the board, which includes incoming president and club legend, Peter Carey, David Whelan, Justin Scripps, Michael Michaels, Rob Gillies and Catherine Sayer who make up this off-field team and deserve a lot of credit for laying the foundation to give Mark Stone and the players the chance to succeed last Sunday.
Going back to the end of 2015, the club had just announced a combined loss of $1 million over the 2013 to 2015 seasons and the club was on the brink. David Whelan stepped in as interim CEO until Glenn Elliott was appointed CEO at the start of 2016. Glenn soon realised the big challenge ahead but, as he said, 'There was a pulse,' and he launched the 'Save the Tigers' campaign. The first step was to recognise the problem and prioritise finance over football, which involved tough decisions to longstanding programs.
This ultimately meant that the footy side would suffer in the short term, but the legacy was to ensure the club that means so much to people, especially in the local Morphett community, would survive. This focus, and working closely with the SANFL and the Holdfast Bay council, has seen the club running at modest profits since the 2016 season and being able to reduce debt. At the same time, the club was able to steadily improve on the field, going from six wins in 2016 to eight wins in 2017.
In 2018, Mark Stone was appointed coach and he finished the season with nine wins and just outside the finals, then seizing the opportunity this season with the premiership. The premiership celebrations continued back at the footy club at Brighton Road on Sunday night, and Glenn Elliott said that for all the tough decisions and effort over the years, to see the authentic joy on past players, volunteers and supporters' faces was priceless as the club song rang out We're from Tigerland."
