Dylan Stephens and Cam Taheny reaffirm their status as top AFL Draft prosects as Norwood run out 19-point winners in the SANFL reserves grand final
Norwood has defeated Woodville-West Torrens in the SANFL reserves decider. And there were a number of standout AFL Draft prospects on show.
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If AFL recruiters went to Adelaide Oval on Sunday looking for one last standout performance from Norwood young-gun Dylan Stephens, they got it. And if they arrived wanting to catch one final glimpse of the undeniable talent of Cam Taheny, they got that too.
As the Redlegs overcame a fast-starting Eagles’ side to run out 19-point winners in the reserves grand final, Stephens dominated, highlighting his ability as an all-round ball-winner.
The hard-running, Andrew Gaff-like midfielder, who was a welcome inclusion to coach Gavin Hughes’ reserves side after eight consecutive league appearances, started in the centre square and was clean and clever, winning plenty of football on the inside.
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And it was a similar story on the outside of the contest, with Stephens’ trademark run and spread on show.
The 18-year-old, who looks a likely top-10 pick in November’s AFL draft, finished with 26 disposals, five clearances and five tackles.
A game-high 14 disposals, to go with 4 clearances, for Dylan Stephens in the first-half. Clean, clever and quick on the inside and the outside.
— The Phantom (@ThePhantomSC) September 22, 2019
Taheny has 3 of Norwood's 6 goals
McNiel (12) and Schoenberg (11) finding plenty of the ball for the Eagles.#SANFLGF #AFLDraft
Along with former Hawthorn-listed big man Luke Surman (21 disposals, 11 clearances), who was judged best afield after a dominant display in the ruck, and reserves Magarey Medallist Jed Spence, who tallied 27 disposals and six clearances, Norwood won the midfield battle, despite another impressive ball-winning performance from fellow top draft prospect and Eagle Harry Schoenberg.
Schoenberg, South Australia’s MVP at this year’s under-18 national championships, followed up his 21-disposal, two-goal performance in the preliminary final with an equal-team-high 20 disposals and six tackles in the grand final loss.
Lachlan McNiel, who has drawn interest from AFL clubs, despite receiving no invitation to the national or state combines, collected 20 disposals while Jack Gaffney finished with 19 touches and seven tackles.
But it was forward of centre where Norwood was too good.
After an inconsistent second-half of 2019, highly-rated forward Cam Taheny sent a reminder of his talent booting Norwood’s first three goals of the match.
In the first term, after Eagles small-forward Harrison Morgan booted two early opportunistic goals, the 185cm 17-year-old crashed a pack, forcing the ball to ground, before swooping and finishing with a clever left-foot snap for goal.
Not long after, Taheny, who proved a difficult match-up for the Eagles’ defence all day — as he has for most of his junior career — then highlighted his ability overhead, taking a strong contested mark before kicking truly from the set-shot.
Eagle defender Jake Westbrook fought hard to wrestle back ascendecy in the dual in the second-half but Taheny took another big contested mark — his third for the day — and put his side four goals clear at the nine-minute mark of the final quarter.
And the gun teenager wasn’t the only threat in attack for his side.
ðŸ†SANFL RESERVES PREMIERS FOR 2019🆠Congratulations @NorwoodFC 🎉
— SANFL (@SANFL) September 22, 2019
Norwood: 13.05.83
Eagles: 9.10.64#SANFLGF pic.twitter.com/OHmQMRHqtC
The Redlegs were too strong — and too big — inside 50, with Lachie Pascoe finishing with three goals and three contested marks of his own, while former South Adelaide small Cody Szust was dominant at ground level, tallying 17 disposals, three goals and six tackles.
At the other end of the ground, Kysiah Pickett was lively when the ball was on the ground.
The exciting 18-year-old had just four touches in the first half but one was a goal from a clever left-foot snap and another a lace-out pass inside 50.
Pickett, the nephew Byron, finished with six disposals, two goals and five tackles.
Port Adelaide father-son prospect Jackson Mead drifted in-and-out of the action, tallying 14 disposals, four clearances, three inside 50s and a goal.
RESERVES GRAND FINAL SCOREBOARD
NORWOOD 2.1 6.2 9.4 13.5 (83)
EAGLES 3.2 3.5 5.8 9.10 (64)
GOALS
NORWOOD: Taheny 4, Pascoe, Szust 3, Charlton, Coles, Pedro 1
EAGLES: Morgan 3, Pickett 2, Coff, McNiel, Mead, Westbrook 1
BEST
NORWOOD: Surman, Stephens, Spence, Taheny, Szust, Ball, Pascoe, Bower
EAGLES: Schoenberg, J. Gaffney, West, Morgan, McNiel, Westbrook