Round 5 Hostplus SANFL League Match Previews

It’s fitting Lachie Hosie should add another medal to his growing collection on a day that’s all about them – the Bob Quinn Medal goes quite nicely with his Jack Oatey Medal, Ken Farmer Medal, a couple of premierships medals …

His standing as a quality big-game player has grown with his ability to be able to turn games around when they aren’t going for him. A perfect example was last year’s grand final when at half-time he might have wanted the ground to open up and swallow him but he worked his way into the game and when it was all on the line in the last quarter was sensational as the Bays turned a 13-point deficit into a five-point win.

He booted two last-quarter goals before unluckily hitting the post with a tough shot that would have sealed the deal.

At half-time in the Anzac Day grand final rematch it might have been a feeling of deja vu and he could have decided it just wasn’t his day. But, after just one goal in the first half, with the Tigers only a point in front and some concern on the bench, he responded with a stunning seven-goal second half to end up with a career-best bag of 8.0.

All this with forward sidekick and fellow Quinn, Oatey and Farmer Medallist Liam McBean sidelined with an ankle injury.

Glenelg has plenty of big-game players – but Corey Lyons might just be the pick of them. He also would have been a deserving Quinn Medallist – being a real chance until Hosie booted his last two goals in the final five minutes of the game.

After all, Lyons kicked three goals of his own – including the goal of the game with a stunning last-quarter snap from deep in the forward pocket – to go with 12 kicks, 12 handballs and five clearances.

He was pipped by Hosie for the Oatey Medal in the 2023 grand final win against Sturt as well, polling 18 votes, just two short of six-goal hero Hosie. Glenelg coaches rated Lyons slightly ahead of Hosie, 23 votes to 22, while after the Anzac Day grand final rematch coach Darren Reeves was again finding it hard to go past Lyons.

He deservedly snared a medal when he won the Fos Williams as SA’s best in this year’s interstate clash against Victoria, proving he’s as good as anyone in the league in big games.

And when it comes to big games, there have been plenty of them between Glenelg and Sturt over the past few seasons. And there’s an exciting element looming to this encounter.

The Blues have a new goalkicking swagger, kicking off the season with 57 goals in their first four games – last year they had managed 42. They have kicked more goals than behinds in all four games – in the first four games last season they did that only once.

Moving the ball quicker with improved connection they have been taking shots from better spots and the rewards are coming – they slammed on 10.7 to just 1.5 against West last week in a second half coach Martin Mattner described as “ruthless”.

It’s a quality coaches love to see and Sturt’s 76-point battering has them on top of the table and up and about. The Blues have won 17 of their past 19 games but won’t need to be reminded the only losses were the two finals last season, the final blow coming from Glenelg. The sort of footy they are playing right now gives them all the more chance of continuing their winning ways in September at Adelaide Oval.

It was noted last week in these previews the Eagles were “quietly going about their business”. Okay, so now they’ve made some serious noise.

Their sensational win against the previously unbeaten Crows, who were being talked up as one of the teams to beat for this year’s flag, shows where they’re at right now and Adelaide coach Matthew Wright was impressed.

“They brought the intensity,” he said.  “We did not quite get our game going, but they were outstanding.”

As usual there’s plenty of young talent coming through the ranks and quite a few of the young guns stood up against a Crows line-up with 18 AFL-listed players.

No wonder the Eagles were delighted to regain midfielder Kobe Mutch from South Adelaide – he’s averaging 29 disposals a game.

You always know what you’re going to get from skipper Joey Sinor and his gutsy intercept mark against on-coming traffic as Adelaide was mounting a late charge set the standard. Coach Sam Jacobs spoke of the quality of performance over four quarters and praised his squad for its commitment.

“This is what I love about SANFL football, these guys have done a mountain of work on top of their jobs and they execute like that,” he said.

Now they have to execute again against another side with plenty of AFL talent but one which will be looking to be switched on from the start. Port Adelaide trailed by 38 points against Central District after a goalless first quarter and that proved decisive in a 46-point defeat.

VFL recruit Jack Watkins was again outstanding for the Magpies with 31 disposals, while young forward Jack Whitlock booted three goals. It’s hard to think they will be so slowly out of the blocks this time.

Peter Argent’s great pic of emotional Mitch Harvey leaving the ground showed exactly what it meant to him.

And his team-mates’ celebrations showed how much he means to them.

Harvey simply had to win it this time. And his fellow Roosters got him there in a frantic finish with a crucial come-from-behind seven-point win against South at Noarlunga.

In his 200th game, Harvey finally got his celebration. His 100th and 150th games had also been at Noarlunga and had ended in disappointing defeats. Even his 50th game, against the Crows at Prospect, was a loss.

Hence his delight after the Roosters showed huge spirit to snatch a win from the jaws of defeat after trailing going into time-on of the last quarter.

Considering the magnitude of a 76-point defeat at the hands of Central the previous week, it was an impressive fightback. North doesn’t have Harvey as motivation this week but it needs to find week-in, week-out consistency, starting against a side it can’t afford to take lightly.

West Adelaide has beaten the Roosters in two of their past three meetings with Kobe Ryan, Sam Frost, Isaac Johnson, Hamish Ellem, Callum Park, Lachlan Squire and Tom Morrish starring in one or both victories and desperate to have that winning feeling again – it might not be all that far away.

The Redlegs took a step in the right direction in SANFL’s biggest test – against Glenelg at the Bay – leading late in the third quarter and only having the game slip away in the last 20 minutes.

There were plenty of times in the Anzac Day grand final rematch Norwood appeared to have rediscovered its mojo.

Captain Jacob Kennerley was inspirational with 29 disposals, while Nik Rokahr continues to work hard and win plenty of the ball – he is the only player in the league averaging 30 disposals per game.

Matthew Ling and Mitch O’Neill also were in the thick of it, Ling chipping in with two goals and the Redlegs boasted 10 goalkickers.

They are not far from stringing four quarters together and the Crows will be prepared for this to be the week. Other clubs are targeting them after their impressive first three games and it showed as the Eagles stunned them by 21 points, coach Matthew Wright noting the dangers if “you are just four or five per cent off” and the opposition brings its A-game “in such an even competition”.

Adelaide was right in it until time-on of the last quarter and having more inside-50s (48-45), clearances (39-24) and scoring shots – it was beaten 9.15 to 14.6 – will feel it could have won.

Making the most of their hard work and chances will be the key for both these sides this week.

The Doggies’ upward curve shows no sign of slowing. They continued on the attack last week against Port, banging on 6.3 to 0.1 in the first quarter on the way to a 46-point win.

Fans are loving the upward scoring curve and Central booted 17.8 (110) after ramming on 23.9 (147) against North – topping 100 points in successive games for the first time since 2017.

Late last year the Dogs were struggling to reach three-figures – when they kicked 15.14 (104) in the final minor round game against Port they broke the 100-point barrier for the first time since 2018 – a run of 119 matches.

Suddenly bagging big scores is becoming a regular occurrence in the next stage of Paul Thomas’s side’s evolution.

Central led by as many as 65 points and was never really threatened after its quick start. “Port have heaps of talent, so it was really important to get a start and we played some really good football,” Thomas said.

They did. And they are.

South Adelaide coach Jarrad Wright will be desperately hoping the next step in the young Panthers’ evolution will be to win the close ones, get reward for effort and build confidence.

They’ve had more than their share of heartbreaking finishes and at home last week against North they led for large chunks of the match and at each of the breaks before being pipped by seven points.

Excitement machine Corey Grocock is one young gun who looks like he has what it takes – he booted four goals and with 13 for the season he’s only one behind Ken Farmer Medal leader Lachie Hosie – and his deadly shot from a pocket gave South back the lead 17 minutes into the last quarter.

Wright rightly said: “We are building a good method and system with a new-look team, there are plenty of positives.”

The feeling at Noarlunga will be way more positive when competitive efforts are converted into wins. They will come when his up-and-coming side is brave enough to keep taking on the contest when it’s all on the line.