Round 17 Hostplus SANFL League Match Previews

Port Adelaide coach Hamish Hartlett best summed up the intriguing battle for the last place in the finals when he said: “It’s a weird season where that fifth spot seems to be up for grabs every week.”

And it’s still up for grabs. Hartlett’s Magpies have slipped into fifth with a comfortable win against West Adelaide but they are just percentage ahead of the Eagles, just a game ahead of Norwood – but quite a chunk of percentage behind the Legs – and two games clear of North.

With three rounds to go, that all means there’s still plenty to play for if only one of these sides can string some wins together.

Port has lost four of its past six, the injury-ravaged Eagles have lost their past six, Norwood has been W, L, W, L, W, L, W, L, W, L since losing its first five and North has lost five on the trot.

So there’s hardly any of these sides stating a compelling case. Norwood, which hasn’t been in the five all season, has an advantage over Port, the Eagles and North as it’s the only side in this bunch that doesn’t face any of the top four – Sturt, Glenelg, Adelaide and Central, who have very much proved themselves worthy finalists – in the last three minor rounds.

It’s up against bottom side West before it might have the chance to guarantee finals footy as it tackles North in Round 18 and Port in Round 19 in what might be a mighty conclusion to the home-and-away season.

There was a similar battle for fifth place last year when Woodville-West Torrens limped into finals with one win in the last eight minor rounds, the Eagles, Adelaide and North all finishing with 8-10 records but the Eags having the strongest percentage (51.78).

They have been smashed by injuries this year, so their dip in form has hardly been surprising and to add to their tough task ahead, they face unbeaten ladder leader Sturt this week.

Okay, it’s only a mathematical chance. And, right now, having suffered five losses in a row and facing up to a team having won five games – and two premierships – in succession, there really seems no way the Roosters will be playing finals footy.

But, with the way the teams eyeing fifth spot have kept losing when they have the chance to stake their claim for finals, who knows?

North never gave up the fight in a 45-point loss against Central after looking down the barrel of a possible heavy defeat when 34 points down at half-time.

It made a decent fight of the second half – winning the final quarter – despite injuries to Sam Cumming, Jake Patmore and Harrison Magor.

“That’s what I was really proud of, the way we dug deep and finished the game off,” coach Sam Mayes said.

Skipper Alex Spina deserved a better result as he shone in his 200th game but wins aren’t easy to find right now and it won’t be easy against the Bays.

It was business as usual for them as they kept the Eagles out of fifth with a comprehensive team performance in a 67-point win, looking dangerous in second spot with 12 wins and three losses.

The Redlegs may have a 5-10 record but they are looming as a strong chance to steal fifth spot.

But coach Jade Sheedy will be determined to take it week-to-week and make sure his men get it right against the Bloods or their fight for finals could be over before it really begins.

They are due for a win after they’ve alternated wins and losses over 11 successive rounds but there’s never been a better time to start stringing victories together.

They made more than a decent fight of it in a 20-point loss against the high-flying Crows, winning the inside-50 and clearance counts, but there were two areas of concern that need tidying up – their start – they trailed by 28 points at quarter-time – and their goalkicking – 8.15 to 12.11 tells a story.

With midfielder Billy Cootee starring with 24 disposals and three goals, they drew to within seven points early in the last quarter but they will need to be on from the start in the next three weeks if they’re going to play finals.

“You can’t let a good side start like that, get a jump on us,” Sheedy said.

“There were big parts of the game where it looked like a Norwood game but we just couldn’t finish in front of goal.”

These were sentiments echoed by Bloods boss Sam Elliott after having one more scoring shot in their 24-point loss to Port. “9.14 wasn’t ideal,” he lamented.

Lachlan Squire was sensational with 29 disposals and two goals, while Will Patton snared an impressive 15 marks in defence.

Who will make the most of their opportunities this week?

Double Blues coach Martin Mattner has hinted his men may have found motivation more difficult with the minor premiership all but sewn up from so early on.

But, there they were, 29 points down at half-time against South Adelaide at Fortress Unley and the motivation suddenly surged again.

This Sturt side is simply on a mission to keep winning.

And an hour of footy later, the Blues were 15-0 for the season, up to 18 wins in a row at Unley and 28 successive home-and-away victories.

Even without Magarey Medallist Will Snelling, skipper James Battersby – returning through the reserves – and Jared Dakin in their midfield, they kicked it up a gear to boot six goals to one in the third quarter, then six to three in the last, livewire forward Josh Hone booting five goals in the second half in a 19-point win.

‘Boom Boom’ Becker showed some boom again with another monster goal and Mattner was pleased in the second half “we got back to playing the brand we can play and want … we had a very even spread”.

The Eagles took a step in the right direction with their battling performance against Glenelg but yet another step in the wrong direction in a shocking battle with injuries this season, their injury list 24 players long right now.

The Panthers are continuing to close in on a big scalp and they get another shot at it against the Crows, who they were unluckily pipped by in a one-point defeat the last time these sides met.

South looked on track to snaring the biggest of scalps when it led unbeaten Sturt by an impressive 29 points at half-time at Unley, where the Blues haven’t lost since Round 5 last year.

“All credit to South, they were very good – especially in the first half,” Blues coach Martin Mattner said.

Sturt eventually slipped clear but the Panthers are taking huge steps forward right now.

“We were very good in the first half but they are a quality team and were always going to come back,” South coach Jarrad Wright said.

“I was proud of the boys’ efforts, there is a lot of good development going on. We just need to win a few of these close games.”

It wouldn’t come as a huge surprise if this is the week for it, even though the Crows are maintaining their push for an AFL-SANFL flag double.

They made it seven wins from eight after a barnstorming start of four goals in the first nine minutes against Norwood, pretty much cementing the top-three spot and finals double-chance they targeted at the start of the season.

Port Adelaide has been battling injuries at AFL and SANFL level and had just seven AFL-listed players – with only three of those having AFL experience – facing West Adelaide, which made its 24-point win to claim the Russell Ebert Memorial Match trophy and jump into the five all the more impressive.

Port seized control in the second term, kicking six goals to one to open up what proved a matchwinning 26-point lead at the main break.

Mid-season draft pick-up Ewan Mackinlay won the Russell Ebert Medal for best-on-ground with 24 disposals and two goals but coach Hamish Hartlett was right in saying, “it was a really well-rounded team effort and everyone played their part”.

The Magpies will certainly need that to beat Central to ensure they retain fifth place this week.

The Dogs were outstanding in the first half of a strong win against North, with 17-year-old Doug Cochrane making a spectacular entry to league footy with four goals before the main break.

The possible No.1 pick in next year’s draft banged on goals with his first two kicks, launching his second from inside the centre-square.

“Dougie did some stuff at an internal trial game at the start of the year that made everyone’s eyebrows raise,” Central coach Paul Thomas said.

Eyebrows sure were raised at the Ponderosa last Saturday.