Round 6 Hostplus SANFL League Match Previews

One versus two on the premiership table always appeals as a mouthwatering match-up but the two teams in this case have had very different build-ups.

Woodville-West Torrens won every quarter against North at Prospect in a commanding 69-point win, while Glenelg rarely looked a winning chance after conceding six goals to South in the second quarter, beaten by 22 points.

The Eagles seem to be getting better and looking more dangerous week on week and Sam Jacobs’ men are now a game and seven-plus per cent clear of the Bays.

“Our whole system is holding up,” pleased Jacobs said in his usual understated manner.

As if the Eags didn’t have enough matchwinners and big guns firing this year, 2021 Jack Oatey Medallist Jack Hayes was back to his best with a six-goal haul against North, when they again demonstrated their ability to kick runs of goals in a hurry and boot a decent score, despite tough conditions – they are averaging a league-best 98 points per game.

The opening four rounds of the season were maybe a bit too good to be true for new coach Matthew Clarke and his resetting Tigers, as they came crashing back to earth with their first loss, against South.

The Panthers’ defensive pressure proved hard to handle and they looked slicker in tricky conditions but Clarke has been around long enough to know how quickly things can change – just as they did after the Bays’ super Anzac Day triumph against Sturt.

“That’s the nature of football – it’s a challenging sport and we have to manage the disappointment of the loss and front up again,” he said.

You bet they will be up for this top-of-the-table clash.

Suddenly there’s a challenge for Sturt and triple premiership coach Martin Mattner after the Blues suffered a hat-trick of losses for the first time in five years – although two of them have been by less than a goal – and had long-standing winning runs ended in a four-point loss at the hands of the Bloods.

Sturt had won its previous 20 games against West and their previous 15 away games before falling just short at Richmond.

“We gave ourselves a chance but didn’t execute well enough when the pressure was on in the last quarter,” said Mattner, after the Blues had managed just 0.6 to West’s 2.0 in the decisive last quarter.

It was great to see skipper Tom Lewis back – he picked up the odd 19 kicks, 17 handballs and eight clearances – but the big turnover of players from last year’s powerhouse season and injuries to key players make it a tough challenge this week against the only side to beat them last year.

Any coach would love to master the on-off switch for his players.

Matthew Wright’s Crows could not have been more on-and-off in last week’s SANFL Showdown.

For 22 minutes of the final quarter they were ‘on’ but it proved too late, Adelaide outscored by 11 goals over the rest of the contest.

If they are ‘off’ for as much of this week’s match against Sturt – or at least for as long as the disappointing third quarter against Port – they will be up against it.

A big win has been brewing for the Panthers and snaring the scalp of Glenelg, SANFL’s powerhouse of the past three seasons, is a statement of intent.

South’s search for silverware goes on but the club in its 150th anniversary season has picked up its share of trophies lately, winning the Mayors’ Cup against Central, then six days later reclaiming the Carey-Darley Cup that had been residing at the Bay for five years.

Looking resplendent in their retro hooped away guernsey they turned it on to reign supreme in the rain, a six-goal second quarter setting up a win that gives a sniff of September action after four years out of finals.

“I thought the way we toughed it out was a credit to the boys and plus-35 tackles showed our contest was there,” coach Jarrad Wright said, his men having more of the ball while stunningly winning the tackle count 110-75.

While we expect Ollie Davis to be in there at the coalface making things happen, Finn Emile-Brennan, Arie Schoenmaker, Riley Baldi and Harley Sparks are making their mark and small forwards Eamon Wilkinson and Jack Delean are a constant threat, combining for five goals against the Bays.

North weren’t much of a threat to the high-flying Eagles, surprisingly thumped by 69 points.

But, despite being in eighth place, the Roosters are just one win from third in an ultra-competitive comp and you can expect a response as they try to keep pace with the top five.

The Legs ran riot at the Ponderosa, in command from go to whoa, kicking the first five goals and finishing the emphatic win with the exclamation mark of late goals to small forward Matt Harms and skipper Jacob Kennerley.

They had 368 disposals to 261, 79 marks to 45 and 56 inside-50s to 25, while even winning the tackle count by five, so, in making it a hat-trick of wins, they showed their game is looking in good shape all over.

“Our contest was super, right from the first bounce,” Jade Sheedy said. The Redlegs coach was especially happy with the defensive side of their game – restricting the opposition to two goals is usually going to make the boss happy.

A dual Norwood premiership coach was also happy last week. Nathan Bassett’s Westies aren’t just making ground this year, they’re winning games they shouldn’t be winning.

And they’ve broken the Blues hoodoo after 20 successive losses at the hands of Sturt, dating back to their 2015 premiership year.

They had to dig deep to do it, two men down in the second half after losing star midfielder Kobe Ryan (shoulder) and key forward Hamish Ellem (finger).

“The fight from these guys for the last two-and-a-half quarters was sensational,” Bassett said.

“Our players give everything they’ve got every week and I am super proud of their efforts. It’s a big win for us, for our belief.”

Midfielder Ben Ridgway showed how right his move from Glenelg was by gaining maximum votes from the coaches for the Shearman Medal, tallying 28 disposals, seven clearances and seven tackles.

West’s four-point win meant it replaced the Blues in fifth – and no-one can question them being worthy of their spot in the five.

But there will be only one of these coaches smiling this week after a match-up that at the start of the season may have seemed underwhelming but now promises to bring to Port Lincoln a hard-fought match-up between two strong sides.

The ups and downs of footy have hardly been more dramatically on display than at Adelaide Oval last Showdown Friday.

Mostly it was an up for Port Adelaide’s SANFL side, never headed all day in its breakthrough win but the scoring worm took a dramatic turn and gave fans their first bout of stress on a day and night there was plenty of it.

The Magpies could not have looked more impressive as they banged on nine goals to one in a commanding third quarter to lead by a surely impregnable 57 points.

But suddenly the Crows booted nine of the next 10 goals and with six minutes to go Port’s lead had almost vanished – just seven points up.

But Magpies coach Jacob Surjan was most likely just as impressed by what followed as anything that had happened in the third term as his men kicked the last 2.1, four-goal star Nick Moore and Harrison Elbrow sealing the deal in emphatic fashion.

Midfielder Will Lorenz continued on his way as SANFL’s leading possession winner, exactly maintaining his average of 32, while Jackson Mead, Jack Watkins, Will Brodie and skipper Jez McLennan showed the Magpies, now off the bottom, are intent on continuing to force their way up the table.

The Bulldogs fell into that unwanted 10th spot, their 49-point home loss at the hands of Norwood disappointing, never in the hunt and monstered in most stats.

Injuries to skipper Kyle Presbury and running defender Billy Iles haven’t helped but Central’s 2.10 was its fourth-lowest score of all time – two of those lowest scores were from the 1960s, while the third-lowest was 2.6 against the Eagles in 2021.

The Dogs need to regain their bite in a hurry, starting at Alberton.