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Adelaide Oval a factor in Sanderson sacking

Sep 19, 2014
Happy Power fans at Adelaide Oval: fear of Port dominance at the Oval led to Sanderson's sacking.

Happy Power fans at Adelaide Oval: fear of Port dominance at the Oval led to Sanderson's sacking.

Poor performances at Adelaide Oval next year would leave the Crows in “serious trouble” and the risk of that happening was a factor in the sacking of coach Brenton Sanderson, says club chairman Rob Chapman.

Chapman told 891 ABC radio today that the club’s board had axed Sanderson because it feared a scenario where the dominance of cross-town rivals Port Adelaide would sideline the Crows.

When asked for the real reason why the coach was booted, Chapman raised the prospect of the team not making the most of the opportunities presented by the revamped Oval.

“If we don’t maximize Adelaide Oval next year and we lose more home games, mate, we’d be in real serious trouble,” he said.

“I know that’s a hypothetical but we’re in real serious trouble

“Football people will get it – your club will sit then in a period of mediocrity for a long, long time because so many people get disengaged – (not) least of all your members and fans.”

READ MORE: Danger denies players drove sacking, but…

When asked about Port Adelaide’s dominant performance in the first season at the revamped Adelaide Oval and the risk of the Adelaide Football Club being sidelined, Chapman said: “I think it underpins what I was trying to say. We can’t sit idle and allow that to happen – please accept that we need change.”

Chapman also defended the board’s decision to grant Sanderson a two-year contract extension at the end of last season.

He said a lot had changed since then, and the board had to “mitigate the risk” that the team’s performance would not improve.

“If you understand football, a lot can change in a year,” he said.

“If you don’t improve and you’re going with hope more than going with a plan and clear direction, I think that’s foolish and we have to go into next year with some changes made to eliminate, or at least mitigate the risk.

“Now there’s no guarantee to that. No guarantee whatsoever.”

He said the Crows board met yesterday and had formed a committee to search for the next coach.

Sanderson was sacked on Wednesday after three years in the job.

He took the team to a preliminary final in 2012, but has missed the finals in the past two years.

However, he leaves the job with the best win-loss ratio of any Crows coach.

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