Round 2 Hostplus SANFL League Match Previews

Coaches don’t like to use injuries as any sort of excuse but, jeez, they can make life pretty difficult.

The Eagles, who were just about running out of troops late in their hard-fought first-up loss against Central, have 15 names on their injury list.

Norwood’s list, shockingly, has 20. Taking that into account, it’s not hard to see why wins were out of reach to kick off the season. The Eagles were unlucky.

Down to 16 fit players in the end, they almost hung on against Central, which claimed a one-point win thanks to a 31st-minute long bomb. Eagles coach Sam Jacobs justifiably was proud, describing his men’s effort as “gutsy”.

Debutant Deakan Jackson (ribs), key defender Cam Fleeton (knee), returning midfield ace Kobe Mutch (head knock) and five-goal star Connor Ballenden (hamstring awareness) were among those struggling to complete the game, while Nick Hayes is sidelined by a quad injury.

New Redlegs coach Jade Sheedy has been buoyant about what Luke Surman can offer as lead ruck this season but his being sidelined by an ankle injury was a big blow.

And classy midfielder Baynen Lowe, who had a stunning, breakout season last year, is out until Round 8 after shoulder surgery, while key defender Tom Donnelly and exciting forward Izaak Twelftree were missing for the opener.

But Sandover Medallist Nik Rokahr, cleared from WAFL club Swan Districts in the nick of time, was in great nick with 29 disposals and six clearances. Now, which of these injury-hit sides can nick a win?

These inexperienced sides suffered losses to experienced opponents to kick off the season but it’s fair to say they were defeats that were pretty much polar opposites.

The Panthers, who led late in the third quarter, gave as good as they got from Sturt, one of this year’s premiership favourites, before the Blues kicked away with the last two goals of the game in time-on to win by 26 points.

West, on the other hand, did not kick a goal for the first three quarters and trailed 13.14 to 0.6 at the last break against Adelaide, fielding 17 AFL-listed players and also talked about as a flag threat – even more so after the season-opener.

Thankfully the Bloods, who had only four players who have played 50 or more SANFL league games – Isaac Johnson, Callum Park, Hamish Ellem and Tom Morrish – hit the scoreboard in the last quarter with four goals but a 95-point defeat was a nightmare start no-one would have expected and went against everything the club has built over the past two seasons as it has become strongly competitive and last year lifted two places on the premiership table.

The Bloods beat South by 67 points early last year but the Panthers won the return clash at Noarlunga by 21 points, Olivier Northam impressing in ruck and Corey Grocock kicking three goals.

Northam again looks like he’ll be a danger, while Grocock, one of 11 locally-zoned youngsters who debuted for South last year, bagged four goals against Sturt to show he and the Panthers are heading in the right direction.

“We are here to win games and create winning habits but we can take a lot of learnings out of that,” coach Jarrad Wright said after the season-opener. “It has set a minimum benchmark and a really good foundation for our season.”

Here we go again!

Reigning premier Glenelg kicked off the season with a 64-point win against Port Adelaide, showing it is primed to defend its title.

And if that feels like some sort of deja vu, here’s what happened in 2024.

Reigning premier Glenelg kicked off the season with a 66-point win against Port Adelaide, showing it was primed to defend its title.

It’s business as usual for the Tigers as they set their sights on a historic premiership hat-trick, kicking away from the Magpies with nine goals to nil in a dominant second half at Alberton.

There will be a moment to reflect on past glories before the Bays’ first home game of the year, against Central District, when last year’s premiership flag will be unfurled, giving their loyal fans cause for celebration.

But the players will be quickly back into the now and getting back down to business and they will need to because they will be facing the team that’s most recently beaten them.

Central secured the finals double-chance at the expense of Glenelg by pipping the Tigers by one point in an epic Round 18 clash last season.

It triggered a remarkable Glenelg run, winning five games in five weeks to claim the flag. When they led 5.4 to 0.5 in the third quarter, the Tigers seemed to have a top-three spot safe and sound.

But the thing we love about Paul Thomas’s Bulldogs is their unwillingness to concede defeat. Their fightback to pip Glenelg was remarkable and, in some more deja vu to kick off this season, Central came up with another come-from-behind triumph last week against the Eagles.

The Doggies trailed by as many as 27 points in the third quarter and, after regaining, then losing the lead again, were five points down at the 30-minute-mark of the final quarter.

“Our guys have worked a lot on those pressure moments,” Thomas said. “It was good to be able to execute that in a big game against great opposition.”

It’s no place for the faint hearted these days at the Ponderosa but the good thing is knowing Central will keep coming.

And keep coming the Doggies did, Nick Lange nailing a sensational shot on the run from 40 metres to snatch another incredible one-point win.

Glenelg certainly knows how to win. Central is forgetting how to lose. It all points to an epic match-up at the Bay.

The Double Blues took up the attack and coach Martin Mattner was pretty satisfied as they claimed a 26-point away win against a South Adelaide side that kept on fighting.

Looking to create more and make the most of their chances, one of the strong flag fancies took a positive step after the disappointment of last year’s finals.

There’s still work to do as, with a decisive 49-38 advantage in inside-50s, the Blues led by just 14 points in time-on of the last quarter, but they showed composure under pressure to finish the game off with goals to Oliver Grivell and Sam Conforti.

They bagged two goals each, along with the returning Tom Emmett and Josh Hone as the goals were shared around in a good sign.

Port simply couldn’t buy a goal in the second half of its opener against Glenelg.

The Magpies looked right up for it as they threw everything at the reigning premier in a hard-fought first half when they trailed by just 10 points.

But they came up short after the break, far from helped by kicking nine successive behinds after at one stage having 4.1 on the scoreboard.

Former North Melbourne VFL captain Jack Watkins showed what a big impact he can have by picking up 26 touches, Rory Atkins had 24 and Dante Visentini stood tall with 35 hit-outs and 12 disposals.

These sides could not have hoped to kick off the season in better fashion.

The new-look Roosters lived up to Jacob Surjan’s promise of greater speed, power and run through the midfield but even their optimistic coach must have been slightly surprised when they were leading 6.9 to 0.2 approaching half-time against last year’s runner-up Norwood at The Parade.

And Adelaide, helped by the Crows’ lack of AFL injuries and with a more experienced and strengthened SANFL contingent, actually kicked the first 13 goals against Westies.

Both sides claimed emphatic wins and it makes this match-up at Prospect a mouthwatering prospect.

Big 203cm recruit Alex Van Wyk, who joined the Roosters after winning the past two reserves best-and-fairest awards at Norwood, impressed with 21 disposals, eight marks, eight clearances and 30 hit-outs, giving his new midfielders first look.

Among them, highly-touted WA recruit Angus Schumacher racked up 26 disposals and 10 clearances.

Van Wyk’s battle with Lachlan McAndrew looms as a key to this week’s clash, the new 211cm Crow gathering 37 hit-outs and 11 disposals against the Bloods.

Adelaide’s 95-point win was its biggest against West, beating by a point the margin at Berri in 2016.

And there were some big numbers led by Luke Nankervis (28 disposals, two goals) and Harry Schoenberg (28 touches), while new marquee player Blake Drury showed he has what it takes with 19 possessions and kicking 2.3.

And a youngster with a famous name at Adelaide and in the SANFL – Ned Atkinson, son of former Crow and Sturt Magarey Medallist Brodie – earned 15 disposals and kicked a goal in another positive.