SANFL Round 5: Jade Sheedy has Eagles flying high along side South and North as Norwood big man dominates
The Eagles, Panthers and Roosters are setting the pace in the SANFL but are the boys from Norwood not far away from joining them? A stunning performance from the Redlegs ruckman headlines five things which caught our eye in Round 5
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South Adelaide, Woodville-West Torrens and North Adelaide are flying, Norwood is starting to hit back, while reigning premier Glenelg is dropping off the pace. It was another big weekend of SANFL action. Here are five things we learnt from Round 5.
SHEEDY IS THE MAN FOR EAGLES MAKEOVER
High-flying Woodville-West Torrens has been remodelled under new coach Jade Sheedy, with an emphasis on faster, more exciting football.
After missing the finals under Sam Lonergan last year, the Eagles lost their first game under Sheedy this season by a goal but have reeled off four consecutive victories, including the past three against teams who are in the premiership mix – Norwood, North Adelaide and Glenelg.
They have scored more points than any other team (432) and possess a potent forward line, with pocket rocket James Rowe, who leads the Ken Farmer Medal goalkicking race with 17, complementing talls Jack and Nick Hayes and Jake Von Bertouch.
But while their new game style has been eye-catching, propelling them to the top of the ladder, Sheedy – a Magarey Medallist with Sturt in 2002 – said he most valued the hard, disciplined stuff.
After the convincing 20-point win against reigning Glenelg at the Bay on Saturday, Sheedy made special mention of the spectacular goal-saving tackle by Tasmanian recruit Rhyan Mansell on star Tiger Marlon Motlop late in the third quarter.
With Glenelg mounting a strong comeback from 45 points behind, Motlop found space to gather a bouncing pass from teammate Luke Reynolds and appeared to be racing into an open goal.
But Mansell, 20, refused to give up the chase and dragged him down on the edge of the goalsquare, the ball going off the side of Motlop’s boot and hitting the goalpost.
It was that type of pressure that separated the teams on Saturday.
“That says a lot about our values,’’ Sheedy said.
“We do a lot of work on our values, our trademarks and what they are and Rhyan typifies that, defensively and offensively.
“He’s a terrific young man who is just a competitor.
“It was a great tackle and a really good thing to do in the game but it didn’t surprise me because he does that stuff at training as well, he does it in the pre-season.
“When we got him over (from Tasmania Devils) that’s the kid we knew he was. He’s a real competitor and a fierce tackler who we love having in our side.’’
A cousin of Glenelg’s Rulla Kelly-Mansell, Mansell adds a hard edge to a team which is going to take a power of beating this year.
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WHERE THERE’S A WEIR THERE’S A FIRST GOAL
He didn’t have a massive debut game but Glenelg forward Angus Weir kicked a first goal worth remembering against the Eagles on Saturday.
With his side trailing by 45 points in the third quarter, the clever 20-year-old gained possession in traffic deep in the forward pocket near the Glenelg grandstand on the western side of the ground and hooked the ball over his left shoulder and through the sticks.
The brilliant goal ignited a Tigers comeback as they clawed to within 15 points in the final term before the Eagles steadied to win by 20.
Weir’s goal came from one of his two kicks while he also had six handballs and laid two strong tackles.
HALF-TIME BAKE KEEPS ROOSTERS CROWING
After a horror 2019 campaign, North Adelaide showed glimpses on Saturday at Elizabeth Oval its best will take some beating this year.
Several times against Central District the Roosters flicked a switch, surging from 17 points down to one point up with a sudden burst in the second term.
Then, with the game in the balance midway through the third, it was suddenly put beyond doubt through Mitch Harvey’s marking, the commanding Tom Schwarz (31 possessions after quarter-time) and some silky work from Kym Lebois.
Coach Jacob Surjan’s half-time bake clearly did the trick.
BLOODS IN WITH A SNIFF TO HIT BACK
While West Adelaide only has a win and a draw from its five matches, the Bloods are nowhere near the non-competitive side many pundits were predicting pre-season.
After five rounds the biggest loss they have endured is 29 points to North in round one.
Last week they caused a massive boilover by upsetting premier Glenelg after a round two draw against Central when they coughed up a 39-point lead.
West looked set for a thrashing when it trailed by 51 points into the third quarter against South on Saturday but showed grit to kick the last six goals of the game to lose by 20 points. Kaine Stevens and Jordon Boyle were outstanding while former AFL player Dallas Willsmore bobbed up everywhere with 14 marks.
NO STOPPING KING OF THE RUCK
He is constantly a target of opposition supporters because of his size and bulk but who wouldn’t want man mountain Sam Baulderstone on their side?
His journey from playing with Great Southern Football League club Mount Compass and then having a crack at league footy with Norwood is well known.
Big-bodied players don’t always successfully make the step up from country comps to league ranks but ‘Bauldy’ has certainly earned his stripes.
Not sure how close it was to a SANFL record against Sturt last Sunday but the big man chalked up 61 hit-outs, 24 of those to advantage.
Those stats suggest you would rather be with Baulderstone than against him.
SCOREBOARDS
SOUTH ADELAIDE 4.2 9.4 12.6 12.7 (79)
WEST ADELAIDE 1.0 2.2 5.3 9.5 (59)
BEST – South: Highmore, Cross, Haines, Dumesny, Brown, Sampson.
West: Stevens, Boyle, Willsmore, Anderson, Allan, Turner.
GOALS – South: Wilkinson 3, Sampson, Cailotto, McCreery 2, Fitt, Schwarz, Overall.
West: Turner 2, Allan, Boyle, Kirk, Keough, Karpany, Thilthorpe, Fairlie.
INJURIES – West: Ryan (shoulder).
UMPIRES – M. Scott, M. Harris, T. Burke.
CROWD – 946 at Noarlunga.
NORTH 1.1 5.2 10.5 14.8 (92)
CENTRAL 3.4 6.6 7.7 9.8 (62)
BEST – North: Harvey, Schwarz, Allmond, Lebois, Moore. Central: Boyd, Habel, O’Brien, Durdin, T. Schiller.
GOALS – North: Harvey 4, Ramsey, 3, Schwarz, Lebois 2, Combe, Harvey, Hender, Szekely. Central: O’Brien, Durdin 2, Jenner, Olsson, Schiller, Gillard, Stephenson.
UMPIRES – A. Crosby, H. Hughes, T. Bryce.
CROWD – 941 at Elizabeth Oval.
EAGLES 4.2 11.3 14.6 16.7 (103)
GLENELG 1.2 4.5 8.9 12.11 (83)
BEST – Eagles: Sinor, Rowe, Hall, Von Bertouch, Redden, Mansell, Foote. Glenelg: McBean, Snook, Bradley, Partington, Proud.
GOALS – Eagles: Von Bertouch, Rowe 4, Firns, Hall 2, J. Hayes, Comitogianni, Poole, Carcuro. Glenelg: McBean 5, Reynolds 2, Kluske, Allen, Weir, Snook, Agnew.
INJURIES – Glenelg: Merrett (ankle).
UMPIRES – M. Schramm, C. Bowen, S. Morgan.
CROWD – 831 at Glenelg Oval.
NORWOOD 3.2 6.5 9.8 13.10 (88)
STURT 7.2 8.6 8.9 10.13 (73)
BEST – Norwood: Baulderstone, Grigg, Bastinac, Johnston, Panos, Hamilton. Sturt: Battersby, Colquhoun, Wundke, Hone, Kirkwood, Sutcliffe.
GOALS – Norwood: Pinyon 3, Panos, Grigg, Douglas 2, Barry, Bastinac, Wilkins, Hamilton.
Sturt: Hone, Sutcliffe 3, Davis 2, Slimming, Morrison.
UMPIRES – M. Sboro, G. Lewis, R. Hundertmark.
CROWD – 1825 at Unley Oval