Round 14 Hostplus SANFL League Match Previews

Kerls would have loved it. Gritty. Never conceding. Fighting and scrapping. Overcoming the odds. And bottom line, a Westies win.

Now the Bloods will be battling it out for some silverware.

With Kerley’s name on it. Isaac Johnson and his men would have made Kerls proud last week in ending a seven-game losing streak by overcoming fast-finishing Woodville-West Torrens by 13 points.

It’s just the way the Bloods will need to play to get their hands on the Neil Kerley Memorial Trophy when they tackle third-ranked Adelaide at Richmond.

We all know how much Kerls loved his Crows as well, so it’s wonderful they remain a part of this rivalry that’s about more than just two premiership points.

And Adelaide is definitely hunting trophies this year, so captain Jack Madgen and his men will want to snare Kerls’ cup. They refused to concede in a tough match-up with reigning back-to-back premier Glenelg last week, beaten by 28 points but they have been looking every inch a top-three side as their 9-3 record and percentage of 59 illustrate.

West interim coach Sam Elliott and his players gained a well-deserved reward for effort in hanging tough against the Eagles.

The Bloods burst out of the blocks with the first three goals of the match, then bagged five goals in a row in the second quarter to lead by 35 points late in the term.

When the Eagles stormed back to be within 10 points at the final break, then had chances to get within a kick in a frantic final quarter West simply refused to crack and Jesse Thackeray’s long bomb on the run from just outside 50 was a spine-tingling sealer.

“It’s been a tough year, there’s been a lot of change and they keep buying in and showing up and it’s come at an important time for us to get some reward,” Elliott said of his men.

“I am really rapt for the boys.” The odds are tougher this week – the sort of situation Kerls thrived in – but the reward would be greater.

The Blues are up to a remarkable 13-0 on top of the table but they also are on quite a roll at Fortress Unley.

They have won 16 in a row at home and that means the Bulldogs have the odds against them, just as Neil Kerley would have liked – and, yes, he did coach Central as well.

Current boss Paul Thomas isn’t deterred by any odds either, just as he wasn’t when the Doggies met the Blues – on a roll with 13 successive wins then, too – in last year’s qualifying final.

Central pulled off quite a heist back then and, with wins in the past three rounds including a strong, fighting effort last week against Norwood, it will be feeling up for this latest challenge.

Down two soldiers, having lost Oliver Shaw (concussion) and captain Kyle Presbury (calf), and only seven points up midway through the last quarter, a crunching pack mark and goal from Beau Thomas and late Anzac Lochowiak snap sealed the deal on a win that not only pretty much made sure of a finals spot but kept the Dogs in the hunt for a top-three finish.

Central is 0-3 against top-three sides, so it will need to claim a win against Sturt, Glenelg and/or the Crows to get the finals double-chance.

And no-one could think this week’s game will be anything but a tough ask, the Blues crunching Port by 74 points at Alberton after beating the Eagles by 124 and North by 115.

Josh Hone had good reason to celebrate his 200th game as the Magpies were swept aside despite the absences of Magarey Medallist Will Snelling and Jared Dakin and with skipper James Battersby making his return from injury in the reserves.

Thomas was thrilled with his team’s spirit in a “gritty win” and “super impressed with our defence”.

It will need to be super impressive against Sturt, which has kicked 71 goals in its past three games.

Rival coaches Darren Reeves and Jarrad Wright will come into this clash with increased optimism after impressive wins last-up.

The Bays had illness on top of injury and other player losses but still kicked away from top-three rival Adelaide.

Half-a-dozen players, including some big names, were sick with flu in the lead-up to the Adelaide showdown but four-goal bursts in the first and third quarters set up an impressive 28-point victory that lifted them to a 10-3 record.

“We stressed all week about being up for the fight and just finding a way”, and that’s just what the Tigers did.

South is starting to find a way as well. When these sides met in Round 8, Glenelg won by 68 points to heap the pain on the Panthers, who had suffered their sixth successive loss.

But since then they have had an unlucky one-point defeat at the hands of Adelaide, beaten Port by seven points and knocked off North by 30 points to show solid signs of a youth-led resurgence.

Oliver Davis was in everything against the Roosters with 26 disposals, seven clearances, nine tackles and nine inside-50s, while Olivier Northam ruled the skies with 39 hit-outs, 15 disposals and six clearances.

Jarryd Lyons was dazzling for Glenelg again against the Crows but, although he’s now north of 200 games, is there anyone more valuable to the Tigers than Max Proud?

The Crows clearly reckoned he was a concern, tagging the key defender to try to stop him controlling the game from the back. He simply snared 15 marks, had 24 disposals and won the club’s best player award. Controlling the game from the back.

Do you reckon the Roosters have some incentive to be at their absolute best, to give it absolutely everything they’ve got in this standalone Sunday clash?

Do you reckon there will be some emotion at Prospect Oval?

It’s fitting North is back at Prospect for the first time in three weeks as the club pays its respects to the greatest of all Roosters after the passing of triple Magarey Medallist Barrie Robran, aged 77, on Wednesday.

The much-loved seven-time club best-and-fairest winner was highly respected among all SA footy clubs and followers – including those Port Adelaide supporters who watched SANFL footy in the halcyon years of the early ’70s who remember how he dominated as the Roosters swept the Magpies aside in the 1971 and ’72 grand finals.

Before Sunday’s game both teams will line up for a minute’s silence in honour of the humble champion.

At the 10-minute-mark fans are invited to join in a standing ovation to celebrate the legacy of the legendary No.10.

There’s also the tribute that’s been painted on the wing at the oval Robran graced so often that says, “Vale Barrie Robran, Forever #10”.

While Port will be helping give this clash the reverence it deserves, it’s only right it will be determined to claim a win that would keep it in the hunt for fifth place.

But you would reckon every North player will be inspired. Could North win by 10 points?

There’s no trophy up for grabs in this game but there’s plenty at stake.

Considering one of these sides has won just four of 13 games this year and the other has two wins in the past eight, it’s surprising the winner of this game will take a big step towards earning fifth place and playing finals footy.

But this week it’s pretty much do-or-die for Norwood, which is 4-9 – but with a percentage of 50.3 – in tackling fifth side the Eagles, 6-7 with a percentage of just 46.8.

The clash with fourth-placed Central at Elizabeth represented a huge chance to show how strongly the Redlegs were pushing for a finals place but, despite being within seven points midway through the final quarter, they conceded the last two goals.

Coach Jade Sheedy was surprised his men “didn’t play anywhere near the level we are capable of”, being beaten in contested possession and turning the ball over by foot.

They need to be at the expected level from now on with fifth spot up for grabs – but surely only for a limited time. He’s up against a coach who last week was similarly disappointed.

Sam Jacobs is facing a horror injury run but it was the fact the “non-negotiables, our contest and tackling” were down when it mattered in the Eagles’ 13-point loss to bottom-ranked West that was “really disappointing”.

One coach will have a much better feeling after this one. And either the Eagles will be looking relatively comfortable in fifth spot or the Legs will be showing it’s ‘game-on’.