Round 10 Hostplus SANFL League Match Previews

These rivals may have had contrasting Round 9 wins but we reckon they’ll still be on a high from them, Glenelg smashing North to give triple premiership favourite Max Proud the celebration he deserved in his his 200th game and Sturt stealing the points from Norwood with a fightback that proved miracles can happen.

The Tigers may have won two on the trot but they don’t reckon they’re done with yet. On the day they celebrated their 1985-86 back-to-back heroes they showed they could top them with an 81-point drubbing to snare another trophy – the John Sandland Cup.

And, just when you thought the day couldn’t get any better, Proud popped up for a goal – just the 18th of his career.

With elite skills and slick ball movement, highlighted by superb foot passing and accurate goalkicking in tough conditions, Glenelg banged on 20 goals by three-quarter-time.

“We stressed all week about ‘let’s play in the manner Max Proud does’, which is never beaten, tough, team first,” coach Darren Reeves said.

In achieving that aim, the Bays issued a warning to the top-of-the-table side they’re looking forward to tackling at home.

Sturt, having played some ordinary footy after a strong first quarter, had no right to beat Norwood as it trailed by 15 points at the 25-minute-mark of the last quarter at its Unley fortress.

Goals to Angus Anderson and Josh Hone turned the impossible to merely improbable with 30 seconds left.

But the Blues won the clearance and Casey Voss hurtled down the ground and met the ball as it spilt over the back, soccering the matchwinner from 20 metres.

These sides clashed just five rounds ago. But, wow, a bit’s happened since then – the Bloods and Roosters now coached by different mentors.

Westies grabbed a sensational 13-point win against the odds on May 4 at Prospect and by the time the Roosters lost the following week to Sturt, coach Jacob Surjan was gone, Sam Mayes appointed as interim boss.

The Bloods’ win didn’t turn their fortunes around as they were beaten by Central (56 points), Glenelg (87) and Norwood (104) in the next three rounds.

Coach Adam Hartlett, prioritising his wellbeing, stepped down, taking an extended period of personal leave.

Interim coach Sam Elliott had his introduction to the top role against Port and his men threw everything at the Magpies to be leading midway through the third quarter.

But injuries – to Sam Frost (shoulder), Hamish Ellem (foot) and Joel Parker (ribs) – as they have done so often over the past three seasons, made it tough and the Magpies banged on 11 goals in a row, despite the best efforts of Brady Searle and Kobe Ryan.

Mayes has had an impressive win since stepping up at North, against the Eagles, but his men were shown the way they are aiming to play at the Bay, beaten by 81 points despite another outstanding performance from Angus Schumacher, who racked up 36 disposals.

“Glenelg has won back-to-back premierships for a reason, is so well structured and applied unreal pressure on us, so we take a lot of learnings out of the game,” Mayes said.

Groundhog Day is one of those magical films you can enjoy over and over. But the nightmare you keep reliving in real life is anything but fun. Just ask South Adelaide coach Jarrad Wright.

As the Panthers have targeted developing the young talent of their area to rise back up the ladder, there has been a familiar script – minus the laughs.

Close losses when they have been unable to quite hang on, missed opportunities and costly lapses have been all too common.

A win against a strong Adelaide line-up would have been just the boost Wright’s young guns needed.

They could hardly have been more impressive in being up by 38 points at half-time. And when you lead for 80 minutes in a game, you’d think the odds are you’ll end up in front.

But South, which started off into a stiff breeze, led from the 21st minute of the first quarter until the 21st minute of the last, only to be pipped at the post by two late Crows behinds.

“We put ourselves in a very controlling position but to let it slip again is a bit of Groundhog Day,” said “heartbroken” Wright.

“The players are hurting because we’re having these same conversations every week.”

But the Panthers clearly are making progress. And they – and coach Wright – weren’t the only ones feeling pain after a desperate finish.

“I thought after quarter-time, until the last five minutes, we controlled the game,” Norwood boss Jade Sheedy said as the Legs were seconds short of ending Sturt’s unbeaten run.

You don’t often lose when you’re 15 points up at the 25-minute-mark of the last quarter but, despite tracking for a win for pretty much the whole second half, Norwood fans also were left “heartbroken”.

There will be a happier ending to the script for one of the coaches this time.