Five things we learnt from Round 8 of the 2021 SANFL season

SANFL clubs’ 2021 premiership dreams could hinge on this week’s AFL mid-season draft. That and more in our Round 8 SANFL wrap.

SANFL clubs are on tenterhooks in the lead up to Wednesday’s AFL mid-season rookie draft, with South Adelaide coach Jarrad Wright declaring he is “not a supporter of the concept’’ and Norwood mentor Jade Rawlings describing it as a “distraction’’.

With finals-bound teams fearing losing a key player midway through the season could cost it a premiership, Wright said SANFL clubs faced a nervous wait.

No club has been hit harder than the Panthers in the mid-season draft and pre-season supplementary selection period in the past two years and Wright said there had been strong interest from AFL clubs in his best small forward, Eamon Wilkinson, despite the State goalsneak suffering a hairline tibia fracture last week.

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“Eamon is still a strong chance to go, obviously anything can happen on draft night, but there has been a fair bit of interest in him,” Wright said after second-placed South’s 27-point win against Central District on Saturday.

“We wish him all the best if he gets an opportunity, he deserves a chance, but it would be to the detriment of our pressure in our forward half.

“I’m not a supporter of the concept, we have been robbed in the past of some key pillars of our structure and we can’t go out and recruit anyone now, so I’m not a major proponent of it.

“That being said it would be great for a young bloke to get an opportunity, as long as they play and get a chance at that level.”

South, which is chasing its first league premiership since 1964, has had its heart ripped out by AFL clubs in the mid-season draft and SSP since 2019, losing ace big men Hayden McLean, Keegan Brooksby, Michael Knoll and Paul Hunter.

Norwood’s Jackson Callow at Norwood Oval. Picture: Matt Loxton

Rawlings, who could lose ruckman Knoll and exciting teenage key forward Jackson Callow on Wednesday night, described the mid-year lottery as a “distraction’’ for clubs and players.

“I reckon it would be hard to mentally align yourself (as a player) if you are dealing with clubs calling you, wanting medicals, wondering whether you are going to go or not, thinking about whether your life is going to change,’’ he said after the Redlegs’ 47-point loss to Woodville-West Torrens on Saturday.

“They (Knoll and Callow) like being here and they did really well to decompartmentalize it last week (against Adelaide) and maybe this week (against the Eagles) it might have got hold of them a little bit more.’’

Eagles premiership coach Jade Sheedy is expecting to lose star small forward Tyson Stengle while Stengle’s former Crows teammate Riley Knight also has attracted AFL interest.

“I don’t think we’ll see Tyson again, I think someone will take him,’’ Sheedy said.

“He just does things that are too good for this level, he pops up and does them every week.

“He’s been really good for our club and I’d love to see him get an (AFL) opportunity.

“As for Riley, I really don’t know. We had a good chat the other day and he’s been a bit up in the air about it all, but I’ve backed him in.

“He has a really good balance in his life at the moment, with football and work, but I suppose like every kid who plays footy, your dream is to play AFL while you can and he’s clearly good enough, so we’ll wait and see what happens.’’

South’s Matt Rose celebrates a goal against the Eagles. Picture: Brenton Edwards

KEY MEN BITE THE DUST

SOUTH Adelaide’s grinding 27-point win against Central District came at a cost, with

captain Matt Rose suffering an AC joint injury.

Rose was hurt during the third quarter and coach Jarrad Wright said the club was bracing to be without its influential leader for an extended period.

“It looks like a pretty severe AC joint, whether it is grade two or three, we aren’t quite sure,” Wright said.

“If it is grade three it will require surgery and a grade two would be four-to-six weeks, so he will be missing for a bit.”

Rose is one of the SANFL’s unluckiest players, having a history of serious injuries.

The Eagles, meanwhile, will be without ace forward Troy Menzel for at least a month after he broke a wrist in the 100-point thrashing of West Adelaide in round seven.

Former Bulldog Menzel did not report the injury at the time, believing it was just soreness, but scans last week revealed a small break.

“It will probably be four-to-five weeks out for Troy but we have a bye in there, so hopefully he only misses three or four games,’’ Eagles coach Jade Sheedy said.

“He’s a big out for us but someone will step into his role.’’

Tiger Brady Searle celebrates his first league goal with teammates against Adelaide at Glenelg Oval on Saturday. Picture: Brenton Edwards

TIGERS FINALLY LOSE A GAME

GLENELG’S under-18 side was conquered by West Adelaide on Saturday.

So why is the four-point loss at under-age level so significant?

Incredibly, it is the first loss for the Tigers’ league, reserves or under-18 teams in the opening eight rounds.

And for the record, Glenelg’s women’s team will meet the Bloods in the SANFLW grand final at Thebarton Oval on Saturday.

The men’s league outfit remained unbeaten with a smashing of Adelaide at home on the weekend, while the reserves accounted for the Bloods to be 8-0.

Depth is crucial and the Tigers have that in abundance, with Saturday's reserves side featuring Brad McCarthy and Jonty Scharenberg, who were league premiership players in 2019.

There were only 11 players from the side which claimed the flag two years ago in the league line-up, illustrating the club has done an incredible job in remaining a powerhouse given the loss of so much talent since it broke its 33-year premiership drought.

“I’m big on the whole club philosophy, it is a one-club mentality,” said Tigers league coach Brett Hand, who has performed wonderfully well in his first season in charge after replacing premiership mentor Mark Stone, who joined the Brisbane Lions in December.

“It was a good spot for me to come into, it had a great base. We had a really good pre-season and it is a good position to be in.

“Gibson Turner had been putting pressure on in the twos and he comes in and kicks three goals, Jack Yates comes up after playing well in the reserves, Dylan Landt comes back in.

“The pressure down there (reserves) is making some of our (league) group play good footy.”

North Adelaide coach Jacob Surjan lays down the law to his charges. Picture: Dean Martin

SURJAN’S “CARDIAC KIDS’’

NORTH Adelaide coach Jacob Surjan must be pulling his hair out.

After brilliantly steering the Roosters to last year’s grand final and having them start this year as one of the flag favourites, Surjan's side has earned a reputation as the “Cardiac Kids’’.

Remarkably, five of their eight games this season have been decided by two goals or fewer.

North lost to Central District by nine points in round one, by 11 points to South Adelaide in round two, by three points to the Eagles in round four and by eight points to Port Adelaide in round seven.

It finally finished on the right side of a close result against Sturt at Prospect Oval on Saturday, winning by three points, despite not kicking a goal in the second half.

“We’ve lost four games by under two goals and to finally get one go our way, it feels a lot better,’’ a relieved Surjan said after the Roosters almost coughed up a 28-point second quarter lead.

“We had a lot of field territory (in the second half), we just couldn’t execute in front of the big sticks, but we’ll take it.

“In another close game situation we spoke to our blokes about trying to get repeat stoppages and just bring the ball in a bit closer and I felt like our guys – Andrew Moore, Campbell Combe, Aaron Young, Harrison Wigg and Kym LeBois, in particular – did a fantastic job in really controlling that stoppage space and I’m really pleased with them and the whole group for getting over the line.’’

North kicked 0.4 to Sturt’s 3.4 in the second half but survived, which was crucial as it tries to stay in touch with the top five.

The Roosters sit two wins outside of the top five with a 3-5 win-loss record but they have the fourth-best percentage in the league (54.3) after crushing Norwood by 92 points in round three and West Adelaide by 68 points in round six.

Port Adelaide’s Tyson Goldsack starred against West Adelaide. Picture: Tricia Watkinson

PORT VETERAN PROVES HIS WORTH

THERE’S plenty of life left in veteran Port Adelaide swingman Tyson Goldsack.

With scores locked at 27 apiece at half-time in a dour contest against West Adelaide at Alberton Oval on Saturday, Magpies coach Matthew Lokan shuffled the magnets on his whiteboard to find some speed and creativity up forward.

Giving star utility Hamish Hartlett, who was surprisingly dropped from the AFL side, some time in the centre, Lokan switched the 34-year-old Goldsack, a premiership player with Collingwood in 2010, from defence to attack pushing Ben Edwards and Jake Weidemann back.

It would prove to be a decisive move, with Goldsack collecting 12 touches for the half, bringing other forwards into the game while kicking two goals himself, including a crucial team-lifter deep in the third term as the ‘Pies slotted four in a match-defining, six-minute burst.

In a game with plenty of highlights forward of centre – including two long bombs from former Kangaroo turned Blood Tom Murphy and a pair of brilliant snaps from Port captain Cam Sutcliffe, who Lokan said was not 100 per cent fit following a shoulder injury, which bookended that six-minute spree – Goldsack’s effort stood comfortably beside them.

Roving his own marking spillage, the veteran, who retired from the AFL in 2019 before being rookie-listed by Port, kicked an inspiring major which put the home team 15 points up and had most of his teammates swarming to him like flies on a half-eaten pie.

The Bloods, who were missing last year’s best and fairest Isaac Johnson, who has nine goals for the year, would not get any closer.

Lokan said his team had lacked “a bit of energy” in the first half and Goldsack certainly provided that, plus strong on-field leadership, alongside Sutcliffe and Hartlett.

“Having those guys is very important for us,” Lokan said.

However, Hartlett’s omission could be a one-off as he was among the Magpies’ best contributors with 21 disposals.