SANFL Round 14: Redlegs running hot, Tigers in trouble, team of week

Who’s hot, who’s not, team of the week and all you need to know from Round 14. We take you behind the scenes of Australia’s best state league competition.

Andrew Capel

@andrewcapel

5 min read

July 12, 2022 - 6:00AM

Replay: SANFL – Norwood v North Adelaide (League)

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Norwood on fire, Glenelg in trouble, a son of an Adelaide gun makes his mark and a former Crow in line for the Magarey Medal.

They were the headline grabbers in round 14 of the SANFL, where a series of upsets left just one win separating second from sixth.

Here’s all you need to know about an action-packed round where South Adelaide clawed off the canvas to save its season and Sturt pulled off a crucial win against the high-flying Crows.

Eagles debutant Connor McLeod cops a high tackle from Port Adelaide’s Steven Motlop. Picture: Brenton Edwards

Rooster Reed van Huisstede marks strongly against Norwood at The Parade. Picture: Brenton Edwards

ROUND 14 SCOREBOARD

Central District 12.11 (83) d West Adelaide 7.12 (54)

South Adelaide 10.10 (70) d Glenelg 3.7 (25)

Woodville-West Torrens 13.11 (89) d Port Adelaide 4.5 (29)

Norwood 17.8 (110) d North Adelaide 11.8 (74)

Sturt 13.4 (82) d Adelaide 11.5 (71)

POWER RANKINGS

1. North Adelaide

(10-3: Lost a 19-point second quarter lead to slump to a six-goal loss to red-hot Norwood at The Parade, with coach Jacob Surjan saying, “I thought defensively we were a bit off’’. Still sitting pretty, a win clear at the top of the table).

2. Norwood

(8-5: Fighting to make the finals a month ago, the Redlegs are now the in-form team, having won four on the trot and claiming the big scalps of Sturt, the Eagles and North).

3. Adelaide

(9-4: The late withdrawals of Luke Brown (knee) and Andrew McPherson (illness) proved costly in a tight loss to Sturt. Like Port, will live and die by how many AFL-listed players are available each week).

4. Glenelg

(9-4: Alarm bells should be ringing at Tigerland after a heavy loss to the Crows at home followed by a shock seven-goal road defeat to an injury-riddled South, when Glenelg managed just three goals. Ruck is a key issue).

5. Woodville-West Torrens

(8-5: Daniel Menzel put on a seven-goal show to rip Port apart at Woodville on Saturday. He has a stranglehold on the Ken Farmer Medal, having booted 46 goals – 14 more than nearest rival Abe Davis from Sturt).

6. Sturt

(8-5: Got its season back on track with a hard-fought 11-point win against the Crows after blowing a big early lead. Faces a danger game against an in-form Central at Elizabeth this week).

7. South Adelaide

(6-7: Dug deep to produce a comprehensive and brave win against the Tigers, given its best midfield unit of Magarey Medallist Bryce Gibbs, Mitch O’Neill and Ollie Davis were sidelined by injury. “Our boys were sensational and had a real thirst for the contest,’’ said coach Jarrad Wright.

8. Central District

(4-9: After a few tough years, the Bulldogs have turned the corner, reeling off three wins in their past four games. “There are certain signs of improvement in areas where we want to challenge the opposition,’’ coach Paul Thomas said. “We know we will defend strongly based on our will and effort but we need to challenge opposition sides with our ball movement.’’)

9. Port Adelaide

(3-10: Port – with AFL ruckman Scott Lycett in its team after three months out following shoulder surgery – was super competitive early against the Eagles, kicking the first two goals, before running out of steam after fielding only 11 AFL-listed players).

10. West Adelaide

(0-13: The hapless Bloods have now lost 26 consecutive matches. Their best hope of a drought-breaking win comes against an injury-riddled Port at Richmond Oval on Saturday in what looms as a huge game for the club).

Nik Rokahr sends Norwood into attack in its come-from-behind win against North Adelaide at The Parade. Picture: Brenton Edwards

NUMBERS GAME

(Top 12 Champion Data ranking points)

Jacob Kennerley (Norwood) 187

Jay Boyle (Adelaide) 162

Patrick Fairlie (West) 158

Kyle Presbury (Central) 156

Kieran Strachan (Adelaide) 150

Daniel Menzel (Eagles) 149

Guy Page (Sturt) 146

Andrew Moore (North) 143

Harry Boyd (Norwood) 141

Hamish Hartlett (West) 140

Justin Hoskin (Central) 139

Riley Knight (Eagles) 139

THE STAT

Disposals on debut for son of a gun Connor McLeod for the Eagles against Port.

The 22-year-old was among the Eagles best after starting on the interchange bench and then being stationed on a wing.

The son of Crows great and dual Norm Smith Medallist Andrew McLeod also took eight marks and had two clearances in the Eagles’ 10-goal win, earning high praise from coach Jade Sheedy.
“I was really pleased with what Connor did, he was excellent,’’ Sheedy said.

Port Adelaide ruckman Scott Lycett celebrates kicking a goal against the Eagles. Picture: Brenton Edwards.

FLYING HIGH

(Mark of the week)

Guy Page (Sturt)

Double Blues defender displayed great courage to run back with the flight of the ball against oncoming traffic to haul in a crucial mark when the Crows were making a late charge at Unley Oval.

Adelaide had closed to within 12 points 14 minutes into the final term when Page threw himself in front of the fast-leading Fischer McAsey to take the best of his game-high 15 marks for the day.

SAY WHAT

(Quotes of the week)

“Our pressure around the footy was back, which is what the Eagles brand needs to look like. Credit goes to our playing group and leaders of our footy club because they’ve been first class in the past couple of weeks in trying to work out how we can fix a few things. Our training’s been better and the result showed this week.’’

Eagles coach Jade Sheedy.

“A couple of Guy Page’s marks, a couple of Will Coomblas’s contests, Luke Edmonds … they all had stages where they won their one-on-ones and played really well. I’ve been really pleased with how our back seven has been playing all year.”

Sturt coach Martin Mattner.

“Courage is not a thing which has bothered Aaron (Nietschke). It was good to see him back playing league footy, get a feel for the speed of it again and get confidence in himself and the work he has done over a long period of time. I’m super impressed and proud of him.’’

Central coach Paul Thomas.

“We’ve had a lot of AFL players in our squad week-to-week, so we haven’t had the opportunity to play a lot of those (top-up) guys. We know they all come from local footy. Hayden Kernahan played for Brighton on Saturday and he had to back up again on Sunday. For them to get that experience is just fantastic.”

Adelaide coach Michael Godden.

Bulldog Jarrod Schiller shows his jubilation after kicking a crucial goal against West Adelaide at Richmond Oval. Picture: SANFL Image/David Mariuz.

INSIDE WORD

A season after South Adelaide’s Bryce Gibbs was a joint winner of the Magarey Medal, another former Crow is a red-hot chance to claim the SANFL’s highest individual honour.

Eagle Riley Knight, who played 55 AFL games for Adelaide from 2014-20, chalked up another 33 disposals on Saturday to take his season’s average to 31.4.