Round 13 Hostplus SANFL League Match Previews

This is a clash to be excited about. You only have to look back to these sides’ Round 3 encounter to know how big it is, the Crows holding on by four points against the fast-finishing Tigers that day.

The past eight clashes between these sides are split 4-4. And then there’s the matter of just 0.02 of a per cent splitting them on the premiership table.

Glenelg is 9-3 and 60.63 per cent, Adelaide 9-2 and 60.61.

Their percentages show just how strongly they have been playing – anything over 60 is outstanding and it is clear how impressive Sturt, the Bays and the Crows have been that they all are topping that mark.

A win here will start to make one side feel reasonably comfortable about their top-three position. Reigning back-to-back premier Glenelg has had impressive back-to-back wins against Norwood and West and coach Darren Reeves was particularly delighted with the Bays’ fighting comeback win despite an undersized backline against the Redlegs.

Adelaide is up to four wins in a row and the past two – against North (84 points) and the Eagles (the odd 100) – have been devastating displays.

Coach Matthew Wright was particularly delighted with the Crows’ smashing of the Eagles, in the top five so clearly no slouches. “Really pleasing,” he said of his men, who banged on eight of the last nine goals to finish the job in style.

“It was a really consistent performance over four quarters, which is pretty rare in footy these days.” “The Crows were too good,” Eagles coach Sam Jacobs said.

“Their class shone through. They’re an exceptional team, they’ve got limited injuries – they’re a team at the top of their game.”

While they are strong and seemingly getting stronger, the Bays have some concerns. A shoulder injury to key playmaker Patrick Parnell in the 50-point win at Westies was a worry for a side that lost a couple of tall defenders in the AFL’s much-discussed mid-season draft and has midfield superstar Corey Lyons sidelined.

As the Bloods saw, they still have plenty of firepower, Lachie Hosie bagging six goals and Liam McBean booting four.

And revitalised Luke Partington keeps getting better – up to 31 disposals.

The Crows firepower? They had 11 goalkickers against the Eagles and Chris Burgess, who kicked seven the previous week against North, kicked two this time but their score was even bigger than the previous week, amassing 22.17 after kicking 23.10 against the Roosters.

They will be a huge test for the Tigers’ backline that is refusing to be caught short.

They’ve both had their share of hiccups this campaign but right now things are looking up.

So this is an important clash to maintain positive momentum and, in Norwood’s case, it’s just about critical if it is still a chance to snatch an unlikely finals spot.

The Legs are the highest they’ve been on the ladder this season, up to sixth.

Helping their hopes of storming into the major round is the fact they’ve already played the top two sides Sturt and Glenelg twice – for four losses, making their 4-8 record more reasonable.

The fifth-ranked Eagles are two wins ahead but seriously stuttering and with a percentage almost four behind the Legs. And the Eagles made the finals last year with an 8-10 record.

So it’s all to play for after finally nailing a close one – after tight losses against Sturt, the Eagles and Central – at Alberton. Against a strong Port Adelaide side, Norwood trailed by three points early in the last quarter and it could have all seemed a bit hard after an arm wrestle in which the lead changed hands 10 times.

But, with skipper Jacob Kennerly leading from the front, the Legs banged on the next 4.2 to set up a 17-point win and show they simply won’t be ruled out. We all know Central doesn’t go away in a hurry.

The Dogs had to show their fight after South Adelaide banged on four goals in a row to take a 16-point lead into the first break at Noarlunga.

Central simply booted the next 10 goals in a row over the next quarter-and-a-half to make sure of the win and to be firmly entrenched in the five – and, at 8-4, still with an eye on a possible double-chance.

The Dogs claimed the Mayors Cup, which the sides have played for since 2004, with the 28-point win and Bulldogs coach Paul Thomas was pleased with the way his men “were able to get momentum from stoppage, which was a different way for us to win”.

It doesn’t matter what way you win. Whoever wins this will be delighted with the two points. They might be priceless at the end of the season.

It would be an understatement to suggest these sides would be keen for a win.

The Eagles will be looking forward to being home, sweet home again after losses at Alberton, Unley and Adelaide Oval.

It seems like ages ago the Eags beat Central by 38 points at Woodville to be 6-3, with a percentage of 54.7 and just one win from second.

The past two weeks in particular have been a horror show with losses of 124 points against Sturt and 100 points at the hands of the Crows, their percentage crashing to 46.9.

Injuries most definitely have played their part in their slipping fortunes and the Eagles now have 20 on their official injury list, joining the team they’re facing this week – who happen to have lost their past seven games – as the teams with the most players sidelined. Some positives.

Ball-magnet Kobe Mutch continues to set high standards – only Sturt superstar Tom Lewis (326) has more than his 313 possessions for the season – and defender Jack Cook – fresh from his role of joint vice-captain of SA’s championship-winning under-18 team – impressed on debut with 24 touches and 11 rebound-50s against the side his dad Tim played AFL footy with.

For the Bloods, Brady Searle picked up 23 disposals, eight clearances, eighth tackles and kicked a goal against his old club in a 50-point loss against Glenelg.

And, speaking of setting a standard, the way Kobe Ryan courageously put his body on the line in a marking contest that could have ended up pretty messy showed his undoubted courage and commitment.

He’s sixth in the SANFL for disposals, second for clearances and fourth in tackles. Will Mutch or Ryan be rewarded for their efforts this week?

It’s fair enough to argue the merit of Sturt’s winning run.

After all, their remarkable 25 successive home-and-away wins were broken by two shattering finals losses.

But the Blues aren’t the ones making the noise about passing the 100-plus year-old minor round record of this week’s rival, Port Adelaide.

They are just quietly setting their sights on continuing winning when it really counts in September, clearly driven by what happened last time.

And you have to take your hat off to coach Martin Mattner and his men for the way they are playing.

Wow! Kicking 24.15 to thump the Eagles by 124 points and 25.13 to crunch North by 115 is about as empathic and as exhilarating as you can get.

And, most importantly, they are rectifying the issues that led to their 2024 finals demise – not making the most of their chances to kick winning scores.

While they have the best defensive record just as they did last minor round, they have leapt from the fourth-highest scoring side (74 points per game) to top (a touch over 100).

And their scoring accuracy has jumped from 10th in the league (47 per cent) to third (56.2, just 0.5 per cent behind top-ranked Central).

“It’s nice to keep ticking boxes and have these achievements (record consecutive minor round wins) along the way but our group is looking at a bigger picture of where we want to go,” Mattner said.

Port would love to put an end to the Blues’ run.

And the Magpies need the win after a 17-point loss to Norwood, sitting two wins behind the fifth-placed Eagles but with a game in hand.

Jeremy Finlayson and Ollie Lord each kicked five goals but Port fell short late, coach Hamish Hartlett saying, “it seemed like there were a lot of really small moments in the game that cost us”.

It will be a really big moment if Port can end the Blues’ run.

Roosters coach Sam Mayes is hoping it will be home, sweet home as his side tackles the Panthers in Port Pirie.

It was here he started out in footy, on a journey that’s taken him as far afield as Brisbane and, as North’s interim coach, he would love nothing more than grabbing a win in the Roosters’ country zone.

They could do with it after big losses to Glenelg, Adelaide and Sturt in the past month, broken up by a four-point win against West.

The Roosters may have been on the receiving end of a 25.13-to-7.6 loss at Unley but most long-term fans will know it’s not the end of the world and they will be back.

Sturt fans could only have dreamt of that result when the Blues back in 1990 copped an even bigger shellacking – 27.18 to 3.2 – at the hands of North.

Rooster Angus Schumacher continues to show the way forward, fourth for disposals, second for inside-50s and third for clearances in the league.

The Panthers were competitive for three quarters but let the game against Central get away from them in conceding eight goals in the second quarter.

Ollie Davis was brilliant with 34 disposals and nine clearances but his team-mates will be looking for four consistent quarters, like they put together to stun Port Adelaide the week before.