Round 7 Hostplus SANFL League Match Previews

Martin Mattner’s place in Sturt’s history goes from strength to strength.

The Double Blues’ fighting 23-point win against North was his 100th victory as Sturt coach.

If any fan of any club is told your side is going to win two-thirds of all games over eight seasons you’d take it in a heartbeat – Mattner’s winning percentage is 67.

Of his seven completed seasons as Sturt coach the Blues have made finals six times – they came sixth in 2021 when rebuilding in the first year of his second stint – for three grand finals and two flags.

And the Sturt 2002 premiership player has his club top and unbeaten after six rounds this season. Its win at Prospect was impressive considering the players missing with injuries and suspension – added to by star midfielder Mitch Crowden exiting with a knee injury – and the fact North had edged within eight points late in the third quarter.

The bye came at a good time for the Blues, who have Tommy Lewis and Will Snelling playing sensational footy and will be looking stronger for their big clash with Adelaide.

The bad news was Crowden, back with the Blues after his stint with Fremantle and in the WAFL, suffered an ACL injury, meaning he was facing surgery and missing the rest of the season.

The Crows made it five wins from six this season and five in a row against Port by overwhelming the Magpies by 45 points.

Brodie Smith responded to his AFL omission by racking up 30 disposals, with fellow defenders Jack Madgen, Charlie Edwards and James Borlase also in command. Adelaide draftee Sid Draper set the scene with nine first-quarter disposals and a goal.

There will be plenty of interest and lots at stake as two former Power players battle it out as coaches at Alberton.

The Roosters have made their stand in a push to play finals footy with their decision to part ways with coach Jacob Surjan, who history will look on as having been unlucky.

Surjan, who took North to the grand final in his first year in charge in 2020 and finished within a kick of coaching a premiership in 2022 when Norwood won a last-gasp one-point heartbreaker, had the Roosters in sixth place with a 2-4 win-loss record this year, with losses in their past two matches to West and Sturt.

North finished sixth and seventh in the past two seasons, with 8-10 records. Former Brisbane and Power AFL player Sam Mayes, who started with North and was the club’s head of development and assistant coach, steps up as interim boss.

North president Kris Mooney said: “We understand this news may come as a surprise, particularly early in the season. However, after careful consideration, we felt it was necessary to act decisively to give our team the best chance to achieve its full potential this year.”

While Mayes will be hoping his returning to an old home will kick off his coaching career on the right foot, Hartlett won’t want his side to make it a welcoming visit because the Magpies are 1-4, having lost last round’s Showdown by 45 points.

The biggest talking point of this game was the return of Travis Boak after a back complaint, racking up 35 disposals in his first SANFL game in 18 years.

Geelong-born Boak played six games with Glenelg in 2007 after being picked up by Port in the AFL draft, then selected by the Bays in the SANFL mini-draft.

He made his SANFL debut in Round 4 2007 as an 18-year-old, playing his first AFL game with the Power just 10 weeks later. Boak said he “had a lot of fun” and playing with the club’s up-and-coming talent “made me feel young”.

The Redlegs have remembered how to win and the Bulldogs have forgotten how to lose, so it all points to a bumper clash at The Parade.

Central has won its past four games with an average score of 116 points and margin of 58 to stay on track for a top-three spot.

Those wins have come against sides in the bottom half of the ladder but, as coach Paul Thomas said, “it’s good to be playing good footy because it builds confidence … we’re in a good spot”.

The Doggies sure are, in second spot after finishing fourth in 2023 and third last season.

The maturing talent that is stepping up has been a key to the continued renaissance – the likes of Kade Dittmar, Beau Thomas, Luca Whitelum and Wilson Barry have taken huge strides.

The ruckwork of Werribee recruit Kobe Annand and intercept marking of Rhett Montgomerie are imposing, while Harry Grant continues to show why he is a Magarey Medallist and Mani Liddy has been a revelation in the midfield.

Kyle Presbury has developed into an inspirational skipper and he and passionate goalsneak Aiden Grace are doing an outstanding job leading the way forward.

Leaders are a huge part of footy these days and for any proof of how critical their roles are, you only have to look at the quality of Glenelg’s leadership group and the culture that’s been a key to the Tigers’ success.

All leaders go through lean times but the strong ones step up stronger in these periods and Norwood coach Jade Sheedy has learned plenty about the character of captain Jacob Kennerley and vice-captain Jack Heard as the Redlegs battled through the first five rounds.

“We have great leaders and they have consistently stayed to task and believed in a certain way we want to play, so the boys have led it,” Sheedy said of his men living the club’s old mantra Fortis in Procella.

From the time Sheedy arrived at Norwood after 2022 premiership coach Jade Rawlings headed back into the AFL, he has been impressed with Kennerley.

“He has been a clear leader with his actions – he trains hard, he’s very role driven, very club driven, there for his team-mates,” Sheedy said. Kennerley, who kicked an early goal to show the way against South at Noarlunga, deserved the reward of a breakthrough 30-point win as the Legs led from go-to-whoa.

There’s plenty of life after Harry Boyd at The Parade and the return from long-term injuries of Tom Donnelly and Alec Wright against the Panthers was a step in the right direction.

And now gun midfielder Baynen Lowe is back after his shoulder surgery. Norwood jumped from 10th to seventh with one win and it’s easy to see the Legs continuing in that direction.

A win’s a win. As Tigers coach Darren Reeves said after his side fell over the line against the fast-finishing Eagles, “at this stage of the season it’s all about ticking off wins”.

It’s a long season and as Reeves found last year things don’t always have to go to plan on the way to winning a flag.

Not being at your best but still winning has always been the sign of a good side and Glenelg’s un-Glenelg-like last quarter – surprising after leading by 28 points – was proof of that and the Bays happily took the win and the bye.

The Bloods were always unlikely to tick off a win at the Ponderosa after losing a swag of players to an already-too-long injury list in their courageous Round 5 success against North.

Coach Adam Hartlett will be glad to tick off some returning stars – prolific midfielder Sam Frost and former Tiger Callum Park are back – to head to the Bay with renewed belief.

There’s a fine line between pleasure and pain, as Eagles coach Sam Jacobs and South boss Jarrad Wright know only too well.

Jacobs might well have expected to feel pleasure at the final siren against back-to-back premier Glenelg as his side again showed plenty of fighting spirit and kept coming in the last quarter, bombing on 4.3 to 0.3 but feeling nothing but pain in a hard-to-swallow four-point defeat.

With four quarters like the last when they were so strong around the stoppages, they could have had a win and Wright will be looking for four consistent quarters as well.

Add to that the ability to take their chances – the Panthers split inside-50s 42-42 with Norwood but lost by five goals.