SANFL Round 7: Casalini headlines mid-season draft hopes; Blues equal 1974 record

Wednesday’s AFL mid-season rookie draft looks set to bypass the state competition, with only one or two local league players likely to be picked – and possibly none. Get the inside word.

SANFL clubs are not expecting to be raided at Wednesday’s AFL mid-season rookie draft.

Unlike a year ago when six players were plundered from the SANFL, the eight stand-alone clubs think they will dodge a bullet this year.

It is expected that only one or two local state league players could be picked at the contentious draft – and possibly none.

Athletic North Adelaide ley forward Noah Casalini heads the queue of SANFL talent following his five-goal haul against Port Adelaide at Prospect Oval last Saturday.

His handful of majors followed his six goals against Norwood in the Anzac Day clash at The Parade, which saw him win the Bob Quinn Medal as best afield and propel his name in front of AFL recruiters.

“Noah is probably the only one (from North) that I would have thought could go,’’ said Roosters coach Jacob Surjan.

“Frank Szekely might have a little bit of interest but Noah is the main one.’’

The 21-year-old, recruited from GWS’s VFL side in the off-season, possesses AFL traits.

He is a good size (191cm, 88kg), quick and has a high leap, strong hands and a booming left-foot kick.

Last year, Glenelg’s Brett Turner (Adelaide) and Sam Durdin (Carlton), South Adelaide’s Jye Menzie (Essendon), Woodville-West Torrens’ Zane Williams (Geelong), West Adelaide’s Josh Carmichael (Collingwood) and North’s Jacob Bauer (Richmond) were among the 17 players claimed by AFL clubs in the mid-season draft.

Losing Turner and Durdin in the middle of the year ripped the heart out of the Tigers and arguably cost them a genuine shot at the flag.

Eagles captain Joseph Sinor leaps high over West Adelaide’s Owen Mulady to mark at Richmond Oval on Saturday. Picture: Dean Martin.

Woodville-West Torrens’ Connor Ballenden takes a strong mark against West Adelaide at Richmond Oval. Picture: Dean Martin.

This year’s mid-season talent pool is not as strong, with reports there might only be about a dozen players taken Australia-wide.

There has been some interest in Sturt state players Tom Lewis, who leads The Advertiser SANFL Player of the Year voting, and Martin Frederick but coach Martin Mattner said that had cooled in the past few weeks.

“Chatting to a few recruiters there seems to be less interest in the mid-season draft this season,’’ he said.

“Three weeks ago I would have said we could have had maybe one or two players taken but now I have no idea what will happen. We may not lose any.’’

Former Giants key forward Zach Sproule has been impressive in his first season with South but coach Jarrad Wright said, ‘no-one at this stage has contacted the club about our players’.

Glenelg coach Darren Reeves said there had been “a bit of interest’’ in small forward Matthew Coulthard, who kicked four goals in a breakout game against Central District on Saturday.

But the 22-year-old has only played three games for the Tigers – and kicked four goals – since joining the club from Port Noarlunga this year.

He previously played six games for South.

“Matty has lots of high-quality attributes – we love his pressure and speed – and there’s been a bit of interest in him from a few clubs,’’ Reeves said.

“I’m not sure whether he’s mid-season draft material, that’s yet to be determined.’’

West’s Kobe Ryan and Central’s Harry Grant are other players who have caught the attention of AFL clubs.

ROUND 7 SCOREBOARD

Adelaide 8.12 (60) d Norwood 5.6 (36)

Woodville-West Torrens 14.10 (94) d West Adelaide 5.8 (38)

Glenelg 8.5 (53) d Central District 6.8 (44)

North Adelaide 15.10 (100) d Port Adelaide 14.8 (92)

Sturt 7.9 (51) d South Adelaide 7.7 (49)

POWER RANKINGS

1. Sturt:

(7-0: Continues to go from strength to strength. Conceded the first three goals to South in the opening six minutes at Noarlunga and still found a way to win – the sign of a good side. Its seven-game winning streak to start the season equals its previous best start in 1974, when it won the flag).

2. Glenelg:

(6-1: Became the first team to beat Central at Elizabeth this season when it prevailed by nine points. It wasn’t pretty in the wet conditions but, like Sturt, the Tigers showed plenty of grit to find a way to consolidate a precious top-three spot).

3. Adelaide:

(5-2: Kicked only one goal in the first half against a desperate Norwood but broke the game open in the second to win at The Parade for the first time in four years. “I’m rapt because we haven’t beaten Norwood here since 2019,’’ coach Michael Godden said).

4. North Adelaide:

(4-3: Had to dig deep to fight off a strong challenge from Port at Prospect. Aaron Young returned to his Magarey Medal winning best but – with the AFL mid-season draft looming – has the club seen the last of ace forward Noah Casalini?).

5. Central District:

(3-4: Lost at home for the first time this season but didn’t lose any admirers with the hard-fought defeat to the Bays. Has been super-competitive all season).

6. Woodville-West Torrens:

(3-4: The tide has turned for the Eagles as they claimed consecutive wins for the first time this year following a convincing victory against West. With key players returning from injury – Ken Farmer Medallist Daniel Menzel starred in the reserves with five goals – the Eagles are back on track).

7. Port Adelaide:

(3-4: Pushed North to the wire at Prospect, with its young AFL-listed players continuing to show great signs of progression. 2021 first-round draft pick Josh Sinn was the latest to shine, having 24 disposals and kicking two goals against the Roosters).

8. South Adelaide:

(2-5: Turned its form around against Sturt but still didn’t get the chocolates as it slumped to a fifth straight defeat. But there were some positive signs against the Double Blues and coach Jarrad Wright will be hoping it’s the start of a form reversal).

9. West Adelaide:

(2-5: After being very competitive in the opening six rounds, the Bloods took a big step back with a poor performance against the Eagles where they were smashed at the contest. “We were taught a lesson,’’ coach Adam Hartlett conceded).

10. Norwood:

(0-7: Showed tremendous spirit in restricting the Crows to one goal at halftime and leading into the third quarter before Adelaide’s class told. The reigning premier is still winless after seven rounds and needing a miracle to play finals).

Norwood’s Matt Panos seems to have the ball on a string against Adelaide at The Parade on Friday night. Picture: SANFL Image/David Mariuz.

NUMBERS GAME

(Top 12 Champion Data ranking points)

Aaron Young (North) 183

James Rowe (Eagles) 179

Luke Partington (Glenelg) 167

Joseph Sinor (Eagles) 166

Noah Casalini (North) 140

Casey Voss (Sturt) 138

Harry Schoenberg (Adelaide) 133

Tom Lewis (Sturt) 132

Nik Rokahr (Norwood) 130

Mitch Harvey (North) 128

Brett Turner (Glenelg) 127

Harry Grant (Central) 125

THE STAT

21

Tackles by Sturt’s Tom Lewis against South.

Crow Sam Berry breaks the tackle of Norwood’s Declan Hamilton in his team’s hard-fought four-goal win at the Parade. Picture: SANFL Image/David Mariuz.

FLYING HIGH

Mark of the week

Josh Hone (Sturt)

The Double Blues small forward leapt high to take a spectacular chest mark against South at Noarlunga Oval on Saturday.

SAY WHAT

Quotes of the week

“We know sides are going to come after us but we stuck at it, especially getting some control in the third quarter and then in the last. We showed a lot again when needed.’’

Sturt coach Martin Mattner

“We won three quarters against the top side and were closer than any team to them this season, so that was a positive. We won five of our six metrics, so we did most things right. But they did us around the contest when it counted and we lost some 50/50s we needed to win.’’

South coach Jarrad Wright

“They (Bulldogs) play this ground (Elizabeth) really well, they work bloody hard and get from contest to contest. They make it difficult for opponents and they did that today. At halftime we had 30 mid-zone turnovers, which is unlike the way we’ve been this year. We played some nice football in that third quarter. That was a big tick. We get the result and move on. We’re 6-1 now and we can set ourselves up over the next couple of weeks.”

Glenelg coach Darren Reeves

“In the third quarter, they (the Tigers) went inside-50 eight times for 5.1. They were pretty efficient – that’s the game. We went in 15-4 (inside-50s) in the second quarter and couldn’t capitalise. We didn’t just compete, we challenged and played the better footy at times, against Sturt, against Glenelg. It’s bittersweet – it (performance) gives me confidence but it’s frustrating that we didn’t get the ‘W’. We need to be more than ‘we had a crack and we got close to Glenelg’ – we need to put these wins on the board. The way forward is to convert those into wins, against Sturt, against Glenelg.’’

Central coach Paul Thomas

“We’re starting to get some good players back, our good players are starting to play well and our young kids have been able to grow off the back of that. It’s meant we’ve started to get our footy back on track and look more like an Eagles team and what that represents, which is hard to play against and setting up really well defensively. In the past two weeks we’ve kept the opposition to really low scores and been able to kick a winning score ourselves, so it’s a better balance in our game.’’

Eagles coach Jade Sheedy

“It was a disappointing day, we were taught a lesson in the contest. We couldn’t compete at the contest and then we had a few uncharacteristic mistakes with ball in hand and perhaps went into our shell a little bit from that. It was a step back for us, for sure.’’

West coach Adam Hartlett

Triple Ken Farmer Medallist Liam McBean is chaired from the ground following his 100th game for Glenelg against Central District at Elizabeth Oval on Saturday. Picture: Supplied.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

ROUND 7

REDLEGS v CROWS

Warren Partland’s votes

3 – Harry Schoenberg (Adel)

2 – Jack Heard (Norw)

1 – Lachlan Gollant (Adel)

BLOODS v EAGLES

Andrew Capel’s votes

3 – James Rowe (WWT)

2 – Riley Knight (WWT)

1 – Joseph Sinor (WWT)

BULLDOGS v TIGERS

Steve Barrett’s votes

3 – Luke Partington (Glen)

2 – Harry Grant (CD)

1 – Matthew Coulthard (Glen)

ROOSTERS v MAGPIES

Luke Marchioro’s votes

3 – Aaron Young (NA)

2 – Mitch Harvey (NA)

1 – Noah Casalini (NA)

PANTHERS v DOUBLE BLUES

Gordon Armstrong’s votes

3 – Tom Lewis (Sturt)

2 – Mitch O’Neill (SA)

1 – Casey Voss (Sturt)

West Adelaide’s Owen Mulady is caught in a flying tackle by Woodville-West Torrens’ Max Beattie at Richmond Oval. Picture: Dean Martin.

LEADERBOARD

11 – Tom Lewis (Sturt)

7 – Campbell Combe (NA)

7 – Mitch Hardie (WWT)

7 – Harry Schoenberg (Adel)

6 – James Battersby (Sturt)

6 – Patrick Wilson (Sturt)

6 – Jackson Hately (Adel)

6 – Lachie Hosie (Glen)

6 – Jez McLennan (CD)

6 – James Rowe (WWT)

5 – Liam McBean (Glen)

5 – Corey Lyons (Glen)

5 – Harry Grant (CD)

5 – Luke Partington (Glen)

4 – Harrison Wigg (NA)

4 – Callum Park (WA)

4 – Hugh Jackson (PA)

4 – Andrew McPherson (Adel)

4 – Joseph Sinor (WWT)

4 – Noah Casalini (NA)

4 – Mitch O’Neill (SA)

3 – Trent Dumont (PA)

3 – Sam Skinner (SA)

3 – Steven Slimming (Sturt)

3 – Luke Redfern (WA)

3 – Matthew Allen (Glen)

3 – Billy McCormack (CD)

3 – Matt Crouch (Adel)

3 – Kobe Ryan (WA)

3 – Nick Moore (PA)

3 – Aaron Young (NA)

3 – Riley Knight (WWT)

SHARPSHOOTERS

Leading goalkickers

22 – Lachie Hosie (Glen)

18 – Zach Sproule (SA)

16 – Josh Hone (Sturt)

15 – Connor Ballenden (WWT)

15 – Noah Casalini (NA)

14 – Keenan Ramsey (NA)

13 – Luke Reynolds (Glen)

13 – Jono Beech (WA)

13 – Liam McBean (Glen)

13 – Lachlan Burrows (Sturt)

UP NEXT

Round 8

Central District v Norwood (X Convenience Oval), Sat, June 3, 2.10pm

Glenelg v Adelaide (Stratarama Stadium), Sat, June 3, 2.10pm

Sturt v West Adelaide (Wigan Oval), Sun, June 4, 2.10pm

Port Adelaide v Woodville-West Torrens (Alberton Oval), Sun, June 4, 2.10pm

North Adelaide v South Adelaide (Prospect Oval), Sun, June 4, 2.10pm