SANFL club Norwood could be admitted as the 20th team in the AFL if Tasmania becomes the 19th side to join the league. According to South Australian sports commentator Chris Dittmar, the club is seriously thinking about asking to be admitted as an AFL side and would start competing in the league after the bid from Tasmania is approved. If both teams are allowed in the national competition, there would be 10 AFL games played each weekend.
Norwood Businessmen are Pushing the Bid
Dittmar said that two different people had informed him in the last week that Norwood would be the 20th AFL side. He noted that he didn’t know how likely that was or if it would happen at all.
However, he was told that “a group of Norwood business people” was in a strong position to get into the AFL, and that the SANFL club was “putting together a bid” to become part of the competition.
According to Dittmar, Norwood and Port Adelaide were planning a joint bid “some time ago” but then went their separate way. The two footy heavyweights in South Australia could now face each other in the top tier of Australian football. Norwood has won 31 SANFL premierships while Port Adelaide has 31 SANFL titles, the 2022 Grand Final victory over North Adelaide being the last one.
Norwood Would Need to Change Colours and Club Song
Popular AFL stars like Zac Bailey, Orazio Fantasia, Harrison Petty, James Aish, Kade Chandler, Max Michalanney, and Peter Ladhams have all been part of the Norwood roster.
If the Redlegs are admitted to the AFL, they would have to make a couple of changes to their club song and colours, though, as they share them with Melbourne.
Even though the Redlegs are not yet in the league, the club’s home, the Norwood Oval, will host two AFL matches this season in the Gather Round in Round 5 when all 18 clubs are coming to South Australia for “A Festival of Footy.”
Despite being certain that Norwood is serious about the AFL bid, Dittmar still didn’t know if it is the club that is making the move or a group of business people.
He said that two different people with insider info told him that “supporters of the club” were the ones making the bid. Dittmar added that if a Tasmanian team was admitted as the 19th AFL side, Norwood would look to become the 20th.
