Round 12 Hostplus SANFL League Match Previews

If you’d told new West coach Nathan Bassett the Bloods would be in the top five after Round 11 you would reckon he would have taken it.

His young guns took another positive step with a stirring final-quarter fightback to snatch a nine-point win against Port Adelaide at Alberton and snare the Russell Ebert Tribute Cup. “Our guys are getting better all the time,” Bassett said. “The team that was out there was silly young, seven guys who have played eight games or less.”

Joel Parker won the medal for best-afield, bagging three goals from 25 disposals, while leaders Kobe Ryan (36 touches and 13 clearances) and Brady Searle, with two crucial last-quarter goals, simply led the way.

Now they’re back home after the drama of the flooded changerooms at Richmond, on their home deck for the first time since their breakthrough win against Sturt on May 3. And their return is boosted further by the return of gun duo Chris Burgess and Sam Frost.

The Eagles are flying high with an 8-2 record but will know they’re in for a scrap. That’s what they found themselves in against South, but they were never seriously threatened in a strong 37-point win described by coach Sam Jacobs as a “pretty professional performance”.

After the challenges of the mid-season draft and again with a growing injury list Jacobs noted, “our players responded and have played seven really good quarters in a row and at 8-2, it really gives us a platform we can launch off after the bye”.

Is it launch time this week? Or will it be home, sweet home for the Bloods.

Another year, another premiership charge from the Tigers and Blues. Over the past decade these perennial powers have won three flags each, Glenelg from five grand finals and Sturt from four.

They have clashed in two of the past three grand finals and there have only been three premiership deciders in the past 10 years with neither of these clubs out there when it counts.

And they’re well-and-truly in the fight for the flag again.

The rivalry that kicked off with three grand final clashes between 1969-74 continues to pack in crowds and create huge interest and that’s certain to be the case again at the Bay this time around.

The Tigers are 8-2 and Sturt 6-4 – with three losses by less than a kick – and both are fighting for crucial top-three finals spots. And they both have players who have been there, done that inspiring them.

It’s Corey Lyons at the Bay. A dual premiership star and Fos Williams Medallist, Lyons just keeps on doing all the hard things and his 36 disposals, 12 marks and five clearances made all the difference in a fighting seven-point win against Central District at Elizabeth.

Premiership star, Fos Williams Medallist and Magarey Medallist Tom Lewis was the man who made the difference for Sturt in a 42-point win against Port in the absence of the likes of Will Snelling, Casey Voss and Zac Becker, racking up 31 disposals – 25 contested – nine clearances and a last-quarter goal to top off his 100th game for the Blues.

Glenelg and Sturt were made to work for their wins last week but when it counted they were well and truly up for it, the Tigers kicking four goals in a row from late in the third quarter to midway through the fourth and the Blues kicking six of the last seven goals.

Sturt’s efficiency and ability to find targets – it tallied an impressive 24 inside-50 marks – were critical and Ash Johnson provided a spark with four goals.

The livewire forward who can play tall or small shone in his first league game for the Blues since being nabbed in the 2021 mid-season draft by Collingwood. “We would have loved to have played him early in the year but he probably wasn’t ready then, so it’s been a slow burn but we got good reward today,” Sturt coach Martin Matter said. “He is a point of difference in our forward line.

Can he make the difference in this big clash?

It was a tick for returning coach Josh Francou as Roosters fans left Prospect Oval feeling satisfied after a hard-fought one-point win against the Crows.

“We want to develop a brand of footy where we’ve got an identity in how we play, so supporters can come to a game knowing what to expect and then walk away – win, lose or draw – satisfied we have delivered on that sort of expectation,” Francou said before the season kicked off, noting, “if we can do that, then the results will take care of themselves”.

The result did just that against the Crows and no wonder Rooster fans were making some noise when the final siren sounded. It was North’s first home win since May 31 last year against the Eagles, with 11 losses in a row to follow, its previous wins this year having been at Elizabeth, Alberton and Noarlunga.

Inspirational captain Alex Spina could not have been more desperate for the Roosters to end their home drought in the wet and mud and under enormous pressure, diving on the ball within metres of the Crows’ goals to save the day in the last frantic seconds.

Spina racked up 20 disposals, nine marks and five tackles as it was the old and the new that won it for North, second-gamer Kalan Caputo bagging 6.1 – a quarter of all goals kicked on a torrid afternoon. The Port Pirie product’s only behind was a snap that hit the post in time-on of the last quarter – he was a few centimetres from sealing the win then and there but it still proved the decisive score.

Francou said, “we defended so well for the game … our pressure was excellent … this win was great reward for the players and the whole club – we needed it.”

A win like this is just what the Bulldogs need. It’s incredible how often they’ve been right in games right to the end this year without snaring the right result.

And that goes back to Round 1 when these sides clashed, the Dogs leading at the 25-minute-mark of the last quarter before North snatched a five-point win.

Coach Paul Thomas said after last week’s seven-point loss to Glenelg, “we just couldn’t capitalise on our hard work with good results. We keep pushing the top sides but need to take that extra step.”

You wouldn’t bet against them taking the extra step this week.

It’s fair to say over the past fortnight as the other eight clubs had a bye Port and the Crows didn’t take their chance to make up ground, both losing both games.

They were pipped at the post in Round 10, Port by nine points by West in the battle for the Russell Ebert Tribute Cup and Adelaide by a meagre point against North.

But they both ended up off the pace against flag fancies in Round 11, the Magpies beaten by Sturt by 42 points and the Crows coming up 66 points short against Norwood.

This is a big game for both, Adelaide one premiership point behind fifth-placed West and Port just one point from the bottom.

The Magpies ended a run of six successive losses against the Crows with a spirited 20-point win in Round 5 and will be desperate to repeat the dose. But they will need to finish off stronger after conceding six of the last eight goals against West and six of the last seven against Sturt. In both games they were made to pay for not making the most of their chances early on.

Adelaide was unlucky to come up short against the Roosters and against the Legs they didn’t make the most of their chances either – the three-quarter-time scoreline was 5.12 to 12.5.

Eight wins in a row and it’s fair to say ladder-leading Norwood has a formidable look.

Ten Redlegs racked up more than 20 disposals, led by hard-running Cooper Murley with a career-best 41, as they ran the Crows ragged, amassing 210 handballs while tallying 162 more possessions and 45 more marks than their opponent in a 66-point drubbing.

Crows coach Matthew Wright gave his opponents a nod, saying: “Full credit to Norwood, they executed their game plan beautifully.”

It all adds up to a stern test for South, which has been looking to its youngsters with key personnel missing through injury. Harley Sparks stood up with 34 disposals, seven clearances and 14 tackles in the Panthers’ 37-point loss to the Eagles but Panthers coach Jarrad Wright is looking for his side to be stronger in the contest.

They are up for quite the contest here.