Round 3 Hostplus SANFL Snapshot – Easter Thursday

By ZAC MILBANK

No James Battersby, no worries.

Sturt might have been playing without its fearless captain for the first time in 149 games but its midfield reigned supreme against Norwood to earn a 41-point win at The Parade.

Shooting out to a 3-0 win-loss record while condemning the Redlegs to 0-3, the Double Blues had star centre square trio Will Snelling, Mitch Crowden and Tom Lewis take control through the middle.

Winning the clearance count 48 to 29, the visitors had Snelling, Crowden and Lewis combine for a massive 99 possessions and 28 clearances while being fed nicely by rucks Amos Doyle and Daniel Fahey-Sparks, who tallied 59 hitouts between them in the absence of Magarey Medallist Harry Boyd.

Magarey Medallist Snelling finished with an astonishing 20 tackles to go with his 40 disposals and eight clearances.

Leading at every change, Sturt wasn’t able to put Norwood on the back foot until the second stanza when it booted a match-defining 5.1 to 0.2 to take a 33-point advantage into half-time.

Smalls James Mathews, Jared Dakin and Sam Conforti hit the scoreboard with two goals each for the contest, the latter also collecting 20 disposals in a clean display.

Zac Becker (16 disposals) was composed across half-back for Sturt while Oli Grivell also booted a pair of majors.

Still without several first-choice players including Baynen Lowe, Luke Surman and Tom Donnelly, the Redlegs worked hard in the second half after appearing to react to new coach Jade Sheedy’s message at the main break.

Billy Cootee (31 disposals, one goal) and Nik Rokahr (28 disposals, seven tackles) battled hard in the midfield for the hosts but were overwhelmed by Sturt’s depth.

Izaak Twelftree, sporting Matt Panos’ No.4 guernsey for the first time, made a welcome return from an ankle injury to kick a long range goal while AAMI Rookie Jacob Newton impressed in his first outing with a strong mark in the second quarter.

From Elliston, Newton was presented the famous No.29 guernsey before the match by club great Michael Taylor, who wore it with distinction for the Redlegs during the 1970s and 1980s.