Round 6 Hostplus SANFL League Match Previews

“That was so good.” The words of proud West Adelaide coach Adam Hartlett were echoed by plenty of Bloods supporters but also most of the SANFL world as Westies, who have been up against more than their fair share of adversity, defied the odds to overcome North Adelaide by 13 points.

Injuries have been a constant hurdle over the past few years as the Bloods have battled to rebuild and again there were more than their fair share of them at Prospect.

“We had every right to roll over and not get that done but these boys genuinely care,” Hartlett said.

“Really gritty. It’s pretty special.”

After bursting out to a five-goal headstart, the Bloods had been overtaken by late in the third quarter and an honourable loss might have been acceptable to some. After all, West virtually had no bench. Co-captain Sam Frost injured a shoulder at the start of the second term, Lachlan Squire exited for hospital with a nasty leg laceration, Tom Morrish, in his return from an ankle issue, badly injured his ‘good’ ankle, while big Ned Stevens suffered a soft-tissue injury but soldiered on.

And Kobe Ryan’s right shoulder slipped out of its socket in a bump late in the third but he was back out for the fourth and was heroic on one good shoulder. Now that’s commitment and passion for a club that refuses to be counted out.

While the Bloods aren’t as strong on paper this week because of this injury toll, now is the time for everyone at West to get right behind the players and officials and make sure they keep heading in the right direction.

Of course it’s no easy task against Central, which is continually heading in the right direction these days. The Doggies are winning the games they are expected to win and they proved too strong for South in kicking away by 54 points.

They are up to second after finishing fourth in 2023 and third last season, able to gradually take charge against the inexperienced Panthers before booting the only five goals of the final quarter. The ability to work your way back into a game when it’s not on your own terms early is a sign of the maturity that’s becoming evident in Paul Thomas’s team.

It may be in the SANFL rather than the AFL but it’s still a Showdown, so it’s more likely to be a toss-up than most other match-ups.

The Crows are 4-1 and the Magpies 1-4 but that makes it all the more critical for Port to put its best foot forward.

The AFL Showdowns are locked together at 28-all and the SANFL battles couldn’t be much closer, the Crows holding an 11-10 edge after winning both Adelaide Oval curtain-raisers last season when Port slipped to a rare wooden spoon.

Coach Hamish Hartlett will be looking for a strong start after the Magpies couldn’t make the most of their chances against the Eagles in kicking 1.7 in the first quarter. They trailed by 27 points at half-time, the final margin 25 points. Port won the inside-50s 50-36 and had the same number of scoring shots, so the first quarter and missed chances – it booted 7.10 – were costly but the bottom line is it isn’t far away, inspirational Jack Watkins maintaining his average of 30 possessions per game.

The Crows were the polar opposite in windy conditions last week, kicking 7.1 with the wind in the first quarter against Norwood in Port Lincoln and winning by 21 points despite having less scoring shots and losing inside-50s by a whopping 21.

Chris Burgess kicked 4.1 and Luke Pedlar four straight as the classy Crows did kick straight (14.5) and make the most of their chances to win the Teakle Cup. Burgess has 14 goals for the season, in second spot in the Ken Farmer Medal race, just three behind Lachie Hosie. But when it comes to ruckwork, Lachlan McAndrew is way out in front – with 206 hit-outs in five games, 65 clear of anyone else.

Both these teams are looking to turn competitive performances when you haven’t been able to make the most of your chances into wins.

The Redlegs will have felt they had more than enough chances to have put Adelaide away in blustery conditions in their annual regional match in Port Lincoln.

The final scoreline of 8.20 to 14.5 was staggering, Norwood having 61 forward-50 entries to just 40 and with the wind in the second and final quarters finishing with 6.19 for all their efforts.

But there were plenty of good signs for coach Jade Sheedy as they won the clearances (41-37) and tackle count against their high-ranking opponents and kept fighting it out – even though their last five scores were behinds.

In his third game, 19-year-old Jacob Newton showed what a bright future he has with three cracking goals (he defied the yips with 3.1). It’s hard to see a breakthrough win being far away from the Legs.

The 1-4 Panthers will be desperate to make sure this is not the week. After being strongly competitive to start the season, letting it slip in the second half in a 54-point loss against Central will not sit well, so there’s no doubt they will be hard at it and determined to maintain it for four quarters. Olivier Northam gives it all he’s got to create a spark in ruck and he will be looking to get South going.

Woodville-West Torrens coach Sam Jacobs was delighted with his side’s strong win against Port Adelaide but it wasn’t long before he was looking forward to a looming litmus test – tackling the back-to-back premiers at Tigerland.

“It’s where we want to be, playing some good teams and big games and Glenelg at Glenelg on Mother’s Day is as big as it gets,” he said.

The Eagles weren’t at their best against the Magpies – but what coach doesn’t love getting a 25-point win in those circumstances? Having racked up four successive wins, the Eags are perfectly placed to tackle the Bays, who have teams coming for them every week, as top-placed Sturt did last week.

While the Blues prevailed by eight points at Unley, there were plenty of positives for Tigers coach Darren Reeves.

Glenelg trailed for much of the day before storming out to a one-goal lead approaching time-on in the last quarter but, as Reeves said, Sturt “won more big moments” in a ripper contest between two outstanding sides bound to have a big say come finals time.

In the last quarter Reeves felt the Bays had “some flow and energy back in our ball movement” and that will be a worry for other sides going forward. Winning the big moments is something Glenelg has been great at in recent times. It will be back to winning those again any time.

No wonder Martin Mattner was happy as the Blues maintained their unbeaten start to the season with a win against the team to beat, Glenelg.

After conceding the lead late in the last term only to bang on 2.2 without reply in time-on to beat the back-to-back champs by eight points would have been good enough on its own.

But Sturt was down a couple of rotations with Oliver Grivell (ankle) and Henry Carey (shoulder) injured and Flynn Perez having copped a bad knock. This was a win of great character, the grit it showed to snare an unlikely triumph more pleasing than kicking away from South, Port, Norwood and West in the first four rounds.

North will be determined to show plenty of grit after a win slipped away last week when it seemed to have West Adelaide’s measure.

The Bloods kicked the first five goals of the game with the wind but the Roosters were in front late in the third quarter.

But they managed just 1.7 for the last quarter and despite having 60 inside-50s to 45 fell 13 points short – 7.16 to 10.11. It’s all about making the most of your opportunities. Last year in this clash at Prospect, North kicked 10.3 to beat Sturt 8.9. Can the Roosters take their chances this time?