Round 3 Hostplus SANFL League Match Previews

It’s been quite a rollercoaster ride at The Parade over the past four years.

From snatching an improbable last-gasp one-point grand final win in 2022, to shockingly losing their first eight games of the ’23 season, to claiming the minor premiership last year before copping a five-point grand final loss after pretty much leading all day. Now, two defeats to start the new season.

The ride’s had so many quickfire ups and downs Redlegs fans’ heads are spinning. With new coach Jade Sheedy and without Magarey Medal-winning ruckman Harry Boyd – and with a long injury list that’s included next-up ruck Luke Surman – it was always going to take a bit of time to gel but at The Parade they’ve continually showed how quickly things can turn around.

And this is Norwood we’re talking about, whose Fortis in Procella – strength in adversity to us Aussie folk – has been so strong for so long the people there even seem to thrive on it. It’s sure to be there under the spotlight of the Norwood Oval lights this Thursday night. Especially against such a fierce local rival.

One that hasn’t quite had the same recent ups and downs as it is already nestled in the top three, where it’s consistently been over the past few years. Sturt has the same coach – Sheedy’s 2002 premiership team-mate Martin Mattner – who has been at Unley the past five years after coaching the Blues to back-to-back flags in 2016-17. But, like the Legs, they’re also evolving.

Sturt’s midfield is elite and defensive pressure continues to be outstanding but making the most of its opportunities and kicking bigger scores has been a work in progress.

And this season clearly there has been progress. The Blues ranked 10th in the league for goalkicking accuracy (47 per cent) last year, while Central was top with 56.3. In the qualifying final that proved the difference, the Bulldogs snatching an 8.2-to-5.9 win after the Blues were all over it, leading 5.8 to 1.2 in the third quarter.

Sturt’s efficiency going forward may have had fans concerned at half-time against Port Adelaide when the Blues had 30 inside-50s to the Magpies’ 20 but scores were level – 4.8 to 5.2.

But the work is paying off and when it counted Sturt’s ball movement was sharp as it slammed on 12.3 to 7.4 in the second half, a comfortable 29-point win what you’d expect when you win inside-50s 55-38, big Daniel Fahey-Sparks stepping up with four goals.

This came after the Blues, who have had 10 goalkickers already this year, had slotted 12.9 against highly-competitive South at windy Noarlunga to set the season on the right track.

But there will be something missing out on The Parade – Sturt skipper James Battersby, after 149 successive games for his beloved Blues. A knee injury has finally stopped the run of SANFL’s Iron Man one short of another remarkable milestone. We can’t wait to see him back out there on the footy field, leading the way again.

Two histories, one bright future.

We at the Footy Budget love the Old Eagles group that gets together regularly to celebrate the old West Torrens history but has also completely embraced the merger with Woodville and everything about the old Peckers/Warriors.

We even enjoy rocking up at Woodville Oval for these monster lunches ourselves. And, as the club kicks ahead, we love it when Woodville-West Torrens pulls out epic old guernseys from these proud histories and has them there for all to see on one afternoon.

While we think it is almost impossible to beat, the iconic West Torrens Eagles guernsey was switched at half-time and Sam Jacobs’ men flicked the switch and kicked on in a Woodville guernsey for a win for the ages.

The Eagles trailed Norwood by 28 points at the main break but showed how much spirit there is at the club to snare a gutsy six-point win, Riley Knight celebrating his 100th game in style after picking up 27 touches, while Daniel Sladojevic booted four goals – and showed he enjoyed the jumper as well.

It wasn’t just a game of two halves for the Eagles, it was for the Bloods as well. And just as well. Because their first half wasn’t what you want. A week after trailing 0.6 to 13.14 at three-quarter-time in what ended up being a 95-point defeat at the hands of Adelaide, West was behind South 0.4 to 6.3 at half-time at Noarlunga.

“That first half was just not good enough. We have to be ready to go and we weren’t,” concerned coach Adam Hartlett said.

But the Bloods showed pride in their guernsey as they mounted a fightback of such velocity they almost snatched a miracle win.

Kobe Ryan, Sam Frost, Tom Morrish and Callum Park led the charge in a stunning seven-goal final quarter that saw them fall just four points short. Now they’ve adjusted to non-daylight savings time, can Westies kick off in style at home this week?

After outstanding wins to kick off the season these sides had five-goal losses to teams already talked about as grand final hopefuls but Jacob Surjan and Paul Thomas have been in charge long enough to know they only amount to a bump in the road over a long season – particularly if you can turn it around here with a win in a game shaping as a toss-up.

North let it slip with just one poor quarter against the Crows, outscored 5.8-to-0.2 in the second term. “We got spooked and didn’t move the ball,” Surjan lamented.

“We just kept going long down the line and that’s not what we want to do.”

For the other three quarters the Roosters were excellent, boom midfield recruit Angus Schumacher up to 56 disposals and 19 clearances after two games.

Thomas will be looking for the Bulldogs to make the most of their chances after having just two fewer inside-50s than back-to-back premier Glenelg (46-48) and splitting clearances 33-all.

North and Central are closer than last round’s margins indicated. A win here and the bump in the road will be forgotten.

While Glenelg raised its latest flag before its home win against Central last round, it might just be facing its latest flag challenger this week.

Coach Matthew Wright gave a pre-season warning Adelaide’s aim this season was “winning” and they’ve been doing that with some authority to kick off 2025, overwhelming West by 95 points before swatting away a strong North challenge by 29 points.

But there have been a few injury concerns creeping in at AFL level and in the SANFL, forward/ruckman Toby Murray fracturing his fibula and damaging his syndesmosis against the Roosters, requiring surgery.

Lachlan McAndrew stood tall in ruck with 21 disposals, 32 hit-outs and nine clearances, Chris Burgess was on fire with five goals, while Billy Dowling was in everything with 21 touches, nine marks and a goal.

The Crows’ first big test comes at the Bay. Glenelg’s most recent loss was in its second-last minor round game last year against Central but facing the Bulldogs again at the Bay, the Tigers always looked pretty comfortable in setting up a 30-point win.

Classy Matthew Allen just about rated 100/100 as he played his 100th game without a miss for the Tigers since 2020, celebrating his milestone game with three goals from 22 possessions and 13 marks.

Four consistent, quality quarters is something all coaches strive for. Port and South came close in their most recent match but neither could quite sustain it, with differing results.

Hamish Hartlett’s Magpies slipped out of the game against Sturt in the last 15 minutes and ended up 29 points short. Jarrad Wright’s Panthers seemed to have it in the bag at three-quarter-time against West, up by 38 points, only to scrape in by four.

Coaches will always look for positives, and rightly so, and Wright, naturally buoyed by the two premiership points, saw plenty.

“We got a lot right early and used the ball very well,” he said.

Olivier Northam again showed what an impact he can have in ruck with 32 hit-outs and 15 disposals but he may have his work cut out for him against the Magpies.

Ivan Soldo dominated hit-outs with 44 as Port, fielding just 13 AFL-listed players against highly-rated Sturt, were within four points 12 minutes into the last quarter.

“We’ve got some ruckmen who can get their hands on the ball enough, so we just need to keep working away at building some connection in and around the footy,” Hartlett said.