2024 Hostplus SANFL League Qualifying Final Preview

Qualifying Final – Sunday September 1

Sturt v Central District | 3.15pm | Live and Free on Seven & 7plus | SANFL Now | AFL.com.au & AFL Live App | Live radio on 1629 SEN SA & SEN App

Head to Head – Overall
Played – 144
Sturt – 77
Central – 67

Head to Head – Finals
Played – 8
Sturt – 3
Central – 5

Recent Form
Sturt has won the past eight and 19 of the last 20 matches

Last Finals Meeting
2023 1st Semi Final – Sturt 13.11 (89) d Central 8.9 (57) at Adelaide Oval

2024 Meetings
Round 17 – Sturt 12.14 (86) d Central 8.4 (52) at Thomas Farms Oval
Round 6 – Sturt 11.10 (76) d Central 6.5 (41) at X Convenience Oval

Will Coomblas (Sturt) v Aiden Grace (Central)
An intriguing one-on-one match-up looms inside Central’s attacking 50m arc when two West End State team members go head-to-head. Runner-up in the Ken Farmer Medal, Grace continues to hit the scoreboard when his team needs it, using a great mix of aerial ability as well as gathering cleanly at ground level. Coomblas presents as the ideal player to stifle Grace’s influence given he is similar in stature, as well as being able to defend grimly.

Josh Hone (Sturt) v Billy Iles (Central)
Dual premiership goalsneak Josh Hone is the type of player who can quickly turn a game on its head with his ability to read the drop of the ball before zooming into goal to finish with relative ease.
For the Bulldogs to win, Billy Iles will need to pay close attention to Hone, ensuring he finds the right balance between rebounding from defence and locking down on his crafty opponent.

On the surface of it, this looks like a Sturt win. The Blues just missed top spot to Norwood by percentage with a stunning 15-3 win-loss record that would have earned them the minor premiership in seven of the past nine seasons, the Bulldogs three wins further back. And Sturt has won its past eight games against Central – and 19 of their past 20 clashes – and beaten the Dogs home and away this season by 35 and 34 points.

But there’s no way those stats will be anything other than a bunch of numbers for coaches Martin Mattner and Paul Thomas as they prepare for an Adelaide Oval final. And it’s not like a surprise result like this hasn’t happened before at the same iconic ground. When Sturt and Central clashed in the knockout first semi-final of 1971 Jack Oatey’s rampant Double Blues had won the five previous premierships and were in their eighth successive finals series. They had finished three wins clear of the Bulldogs, who were in their eighth season in league ranks and had never played finals. And they had never beaten Sturt, the Blues having won 16 in a row against them. Sturt even led 7.14 to 7.9 at three-quarter-time.

But, like this Central side of 2024, this up-and-coming club just kept on fighting. In fact, they booted 6.4 to 1.2 in the last quarter to storm to the unlikeliest of wins, still one of the greatest in the club’s history.

They’ve had their own great dynasty, with Thomas as skipper for much of it in the first decade of the 2000s. The times had been tougher until last season but, now under the coaching of Thomas, it’s been an upward curve from ninth, to fourth and now up to third and the crucial double-chance.

The Dogs showed they have what it takes to beat more-fancied opponents when they stormed to a stunning one-point win against reigning premier Glenelg to knock it out of third. They could hardly have been more impressive in cementing that spot by thumping Port Adelaide by 68 points and handing the Magpies the wooden spoon. Livewire forward Aiden Grace booted four goals to miss the Ken Farmer Medal by just three from North’s Mitch Harvey, while Jez McLennan showed the sort of class and dash that won him two Fos Williams Medals within a month this year in picking up 26 touches and 11 marks.

Unfortunately, the Dogs copped what could be a shattering blow in this game – Magarey Medallist Harry Grant suffering a fractured jaw and concussion. Thomas conceded it would take a “minor miracle” for his gun midfielder to play at any stage in the finals. But he remains positive. “We have a lot of midfield depth across recruiting over a period of time,” he said.

But the timing of the injury to Grant, who had been back to the peak of his powers after overcoming a knee complaint, couldn’t be worse, coming up against a side that has won a staggering 13 games in a row. Dual premiership coach Mattner’s reputation continues to blossom as his team continues to be incredibly tough to score against. The Blues lead the league in conceding less than 50 points a game and Central has managed just 93 points in two games against them this year.

But it’s the midfield that looms as Sturt’s biggest weapon. Will Snelling has had a monster first season with the Blues, leading the league for disposals despite missing two games, averaging 29 per game, and also No. 1 for tackles (topping 10 per game) and handballs (16).

Iron Man skipper James Battersby keeps on keeping on, up to an  incredible 145 games without a miss in the longest streak in the league. And it’s not like he isn’t right there in the thick of it, fourth in the league for disposals, second for handballs, fifth in tackles and fifth in clearances. Then there’s powerhouse Tommy Lewis and skilful Jared Dakin. They deserve to be favourites. But we’ve learned over many decades to expect the unexpected on the finals stage.