Dion Hayman

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Payne's high five - SANFL

Dec 18, 2024 | sanfl.com.au | Dion Hayman

By DION HAYMANDavid Payne still rates his fifth goal against Central in the 1984 first semi-final as the “biggest” of his career. Playing just his 14th league game, the then 19-year-old fired Norwood ahead in the shadows of full-time, the second of four remarkable majors in the final seven-and-a-half minutes. “That goal sticks in my mind,” Payne declared.
John Roberts' Sweet 16

Dec 18, 2024 | sanfl.com.au | Dion Hayman

By DION HAYMANOnly four players have kicked more goals in an SANFL game than John Roberts. Still two months shy of his 21st birthday, Roberts announced himself to the football world with a breathtaking 16-goal haul at Football Park against Central in 1977. It’s an achievement even more astounding because just a few weeks earlier he had been playing at full back.
1984's After the Siren Long Bomb

Aug 15, 2024 | sanfl.com.au | Dion Hayman

By DION HAYMANDarren Harris cast himself into South Adelaide folklore, sending the Panthers to the top of the ladder with a booming 60 metre goal after the siren to sink Port at Adelaide Oval in 1984. The matchwinning kick was all the more astonishing because it underlined that even four-time Magarey Medallist Russell Ebert was fallible. Ebert, in his second year as the Magpies’ captain-coach, miskicked short across goal, where his pass was intercepted by a galloping Harris.
Every Boy's Dream - SANFL

Aug 1, 2024 | sanfl.com.au | Dion Hayman

By DION HAYMANPeople still approach Kym Dillon to tell him they saw him kick the winning goal against Glenelg in 1985. “You’d swear there were 100,000 people who said they were there that day and saw that,” Dillon laughed. The reality is there were 6626 but it sounded like the MCG on grand final day when Dillon’s expertly executed checkside punt curved around the left goalpost at the northern end of Thebarton Oval to sink the visitors by a single point.
Whelan's Ton of Pain for Panthers

Aug 1, 2024 | sanfl.com.au | Dion Hayman

By DION HAYMANWhat were the odds of seasoned defenders Brenton Adcock and Stuart Palmer kicking a goal on the same day? Palmer scored only 28 in a club-record 337-game career spent primarily in defence while Adcock booted just six goals in 259 from his back pocket where he featured in six Sturt premiership teams. Mathematically, the answer is one chance in 519 and that day arrived in the final minor round game of 1973 on a cold, wet and miserable afternoon at Unley Oval.
49 Goals, 49 Years Later

Jun 5, 2024 | sanfl.com.au | Dion Hayman

By DION HAYMANIt’s 49 years since Glenelg booted exactly that many goals against a punch-drunk Central District, tattooing the league’s record books with a score never to be rivalled. John MacFarlane has long been haunted after hitting the post on the siren with what would have been the magical 50th goal. The Bulldogs were still in finals reckoning when they arrived at the Bay in Round 17, 1975, one win and percentage behind fifth-placed North.
The Great Grand Final Heist

Dec 10, 2023 | sanfl.com.au | Dion Hayman

By DION HAYMANCraig Balme has lifted the lid on one of the most famous and iconic SANFL grand finals of all time, admitting the pre-match incident with Port full forward Tim Evans in 1984 was planned. “Oh, absolutely. I make no apologies for that,” Balme said from Brisbane. “It was a very serious effort to diminish his influence.
83 Grand Final Hero almost didn't play

Dec 10, 2023 | sanfl.com.au | Dion Hayman

By DION HAYMANGrand final folklore is littered with tales of players who carried injuries into the premiership decider. A few beat the odds to taste ultimate success but most were battered and vanquished. But one of the biggest heroes of West Adelaide’s 1983 triumph has revealed he took a hamstring strain into the match and didn’t think he would play.
Magnificent Sevens | CDFC v WTFC 1988

May 10, 2023 | sanfl.com.au | Dion Hayman

By DION HAYMANSANFL BUDGETRudi Mandemaker, Derek Kickett, Gavin Chaplin and Robert Handley kicked themselves into the record books on a dark day for West Torrens at Elizabeth in 1988. All four booted seven goals against a battered and bruised Eagles side that could muster just 14 fit men by the finish. The record-breaking quartet was captured for posterity after the game – the photograph still takes pride of place in Handley’s home.
The Super League War and its impact on rugby league with Steve Mascord

Apr 19, 2023 | thebigdeal.au | Dion Hayman

In 1997, rugby league in Australia was turned on its head. The 20-team ARL was sliced in two, reduced to 12 clubs as a breakaway “Super League” was formed. The new league included eight defectors and two new sides, the Adelaide Rams and Hunter Mariners. On The Big Deal podcast, long-time rugby league journalist and author of Two Tribes Steve Mascord lifts the lid on the forces at play that triggered this incredible divide and the bitterness that still lingers even today.