South Adelaide win 2026 Reserves Premiership

By ZAC MILBANK

South Adelaide stormed home to win its first Reserves premiership in 35 years with a gutsy 10-point win against Glenelg at Adelaide Oval. 

Chasing their first Reserves flag since 1991, the Panthers showed great determination when it mattered most, piling on 4.1 to the Tigers’ two behinds in the final quarter.

After shocking Glenelg with an upset win in the Second Semi-Final, the Panthers proved it was no fluke when they backed it up again in the last SANFL Reserves title-decider ahead of next year’s move to an Under-23 competition.

Big-bodied South Adelaide midfielder Archie Van Dyk was a clear-cut choice to claim the Bob Lee Medal as best afield, providing a dominant presence inside the centre square and at stoppages around the ground.

Tipped to be among the South Aussies selected in this year’s AFL Draft, Van Dyk finished with 33 disposals and seven clearances to have 14 more possessions than any other player on the ground.

Coached by Jack Maher – who also served as South’s League team interim mentor this year – the Panthers came home hard with early fourth-quarter snap goals to Jesse Nye and Cohen Shortridge before Cain Florance made the most of a Tiger error to put his side in front in the 20th minute.

Then Panther Callum Bennett slotted his tough set shot from the boundary with less than two minutes to play to start the celebrations early for the blue-and-whites.

Panthers Sam Foley (17 disposals) and Tye McManus (16 disposals) were solid through the midfield supporting Van Dyk while Jesse Nye was efficient with his 16 disposals and two goals.

The Bays, seeking their fourth flag in six years and first back to back Reserves titles since 1981-82, seemed to run out of legs amid the warm weather late in the contest as their opponents appeared to benefit from the week’s rest.

Veteran Tiger Joel Thiele battled hard through the midfield to collect 19 disposals and six marks while Ben Dewhirst had 19 possessions and seven marks in defence.

Neat kicking Glenelg defender Luke Candy (15 possessions) used the ball well in the first half while tall Tiger utility Tom McKay also threatened early before half-time before finishing with 13 disposals and two goals.

Glenelg was wasteful in front of goal early in the contest, kicking 1.4 before South troubled the scoreboard operators.

The Tigers established a 14-6 inside 50m advantage at the first change which ended up being 25-17 at the half but the Panthers were hanging in due to their efficiency in attack.

Liveiwre Panther forward Corey Grocock kicked a classy bounce snap goal early before having to leave the field with the blood rule after a heavy bump in the opening term.

After a strong display in last year’s Reserves Grand Final Tasmanian Tiger Liam Jones was making his presence felt early with the the first goal of the game before slotting a second in on the run midway through the second stanza.