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The SANFL tribunal will meet tonight to consider how to resolve a major on-field controversy from yesterday's preliminary final between North Adelaide and Woodville-West Torrens.
North Adelaide won yesterday's preliminary final against the Eagles by five points, but were found to have an extra player on the field during part of the last quarter.
Earlier today, the league confirmed that North Adelaide did have 19 players on the field and it's believed the extra player was on the oval for about five minutes and during that time, North Adelaide kicked a total of eight points.
The matter was then referred to the SA Football Commission.
But after hours of deliberations, a statement released by SANFL said that the commission resolved that the matter be referred up again.
The statement said that the commission had considered the issue of North Adelaide having 19 players on the field during the game at the request of Woodville-West Torrens.
"In accordance with the SANFL Constitution Rules and Regulations, the SA Football Commission resolved that the matter be referred to the independent SANFL Tribunal for determination," the statement said.
The commission appointed retired Supreme Court judge the Hon. Michael David QC to hear the matter, which began at 6:30pm at Adelaide Oval.
Both clubs will be in attendance to make submissions before the tribunal, the tribunal's decision cannot be appealed.
In Sunday afternoon's game, North Adelaide beat Woodville-West Torrens by five points, 15.10 (100) to 14.11 (95).
The Eagles were up by 47 points in the third quarter before North Adelaide hit back, setting up an enthralling game.
ABC football commentator Michael Maney was quick to spot the issue from the boundary.
"There's been some controversy down here, we think North Adelaide might have started with 19 men on the field," he told ABC Grandstand.
"A player has just come off, Alex Spina is off.
"They were sitting here with no players on the interchange bench just a moment ago … they may have had 19 players on the field."
ABC commentator Neil Cross said he believed it was unlikely the final score would be changed.
"My understanding is … the chance was there, the captain from the Eagles didn't call for a count, that moment's passed."
The ABC understands that Woodville-West Torrens told an official that it believed North Adelaide had an extra player on the field but couldn't get the message to the captain to organise a head count by the time the extra player had come off the field.
The NEAFL grand final had a similar controversy on Sunday, as the decider between Southport and the Sydney Swans was stopped early in the final quarter for a head count.
Southport, who were leading by 60 points, were found to have had 19 men on the field for a 20-second period, during which no points were scored.
Southport went on to win 14.6 (90) to 5.5 (35).
NEAFL officials said in a post-match statement that the breach of the rules had "no material impact on the outcome of the game and the score should stand".
Topics: sport, sanfl, adelaide-5000, sa
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