2025 Hostplus Pocket Profile – Norwood

SANFL’s ZAC MILBANK breaks down all you need to know about the Redlegs heading into the 2025 Hostplus SANFL League season.

Saturday March 8
Central District 9.11 (65) d Norwood 3.4 (22) at X Convenience Oval

Sunday March 16
Norwood 9.9 (63) d Port Adelaide 6.9 (45) at Alberton Oval

Tom McCallum could have easily decided to head back to Tasmania when he was delisted by Port Adelaide at the end of last season. 

Instead, he did what a large portion of Tasmanians do – sign to play with Norwood in the Hostplus SANFL League.

Measuring in at 193cm, the 20-year-old will bolster Norwood’s already formidable defensive structure.

McCallum will offer new coach Jade Sheedy another pillar to build around, joining 2024 SANFL Team of the Year defenders Tom Donnelly and Jack Heard.

The athletic backman can also potentially be played in the middle as a big-bodied defender, something Sheedy may draw upon if he wishes to change the profile of his centre square rotation.

Jacob Newton was considered a strong chance to have his name called by an AFL club last November.

Instead, the strongly-built midfielder will now surge from a platform of playing senior footy with the Redlegs in the Hostplus SANFL League.

Originally from Elliston on the Eyre Peninsula, the left-footer last year also developed his forward craft with the SA U18 team, proving he can be equally damaging playing as a high half-forward.

Despite carrying a niggly foot concern during the preseason, Newton is expected to break through for his League debut in 2025, adding further depth to the Redlegs’ promising squad.

SANFL Head of Development Heath Younie profiles the Redlegs’ U18 SA Academy Members

Noah Daw
Noah has had a great preseason in the State Academy program considering he has had some injury challenges over the past two to three years. He is a medium-sized defender who has a great balance of winning or negating one-on-one aerial contests as well coming off his opponent to intercept the ball.  Noah has prioritised his time over the preseason, focusing on his footwork/movement as well as investing heavily in his body. He was part of the State program throughout the 2024 AFL National Championship phase, however, did not play a game due to injury. Noah has now got his body in a good position to start the season strongly.

Jim Kelly
Jim has had a very good preseason in the State Academy program where he completed over 90 per cent of the training program. He is a natural midfielder who can play both inside and outside on the wing. He has a great ability to win the ball inside the contest and use his power & movement to get outside quickly. He has spent most of the program working on his midfield craft as well as some exposure to high forward roles/patterns. Jim was part of the State U16 program in 2023 before splitting his time between St.Peter’s College and Norwood in 2024. He has now finished school and can focus on starting the year strongly for Norwood.

Fergus Myall
Fergus had no experience in the State Talent pathway before joining the State Academy program last November. Prior to this, he had only played a total of 10 games for Norwood in the U16 & U18 programs. He is a tall forward who has natural understanding on how to use his body in aerial contests. He has spent most of his time throughout the program working on further developing his aerial craft, in particular his footwork and body positioning. Given it was his first full preseason, he has adapted well to the increase in training load and as a result, we have seen significant improvement in his training standards as well as his physical development. Fergus is in Year 12 at Rostrevor College so will split his time between SANFL and College football in 2025.

Balyn O’Brien
Balyn has had no experience in the State Talent pathway before joining the State Academy program last November. Prior to this, he shared his time between playing for Norwood and Rostrevor College. He has displayed an ability to play on both tall and small forwards with great results due his appetite to defend strongly in aerial and ground contests. Balyn has also a great understanding of when to come off an opponent to intercept the ball which was a key feature in 2024. Throughout the program he has worked on continually developing his aerial craft, in particular his footwork, body positioning and experimenting with different starting positions. Balyn has now finished school and can focus on starting the year positively for Norwood.

Will Prescott
Will was in our State U16 program in 2023 where he played predominately as a small forward with great impact. He has shown throughout the past two years he can hit the scoreboard or set up scoring opportunities for his team. Throughout the program, he has spent his time in developing his ground level contest work as well as his kicking fundamentals particularly at speed which are specifically important to his role as a small/high forward. He has had a very strong preseason where he has invested in his training standards which have shown positive results in his testing data. He is now well-placed to start the season strongly. Will has finished school and will focus on his football at Norwood for the 2025 season.