SANFL Round 12: Crow cleared for Tiger takeoff, team of week, stars, flops

Crow cleared for Tiger takeoff, who’s hot, who’s not and all you need to know from Round 12. The Advertiser takes you behind the scenes of Australia’s best state league competition.

Andrew Capel

@andrewcapel

6 min read

June 28, 2022 - 6:00AM

SANFL

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Mid-season draftee Brett Turner’s first game for Adelaide is expected to be against his former club Glenelg on Saturday.

After “considerable deliberation and consultation’’, the Tigers have granted permission for the explosive midfielder to play against them in the 1.10pm blockbuster SANFL clash at Glenelg Oval.

Turner has yet to line up for the Crows because of a foot injury he sustained in the Bays’ round four Anzac Day win against Woodville-West Torrens, when he was injured.

But he was close to playing against South Adelaide last Saturday and is expected to prove his fitness at training this week.

Under mid-season draft rules, a club that loses a player to a local rival has the right to stop them from playing against them.

But Glenelg does not want to hold back popular clubman Turner’s development with the Crows as he pushes for an AFL spot.

Tigers chief executive Justin Scripps said he knows the decision to let Turner play in a game between the second and third-placed teams, which will have ramifications on finals positions, will upset some fans but that the club had taken a long-term view and backed itself to still be a major player in this year’s premiership race.

Adelaide mid-season draftee Brett Turner. Picture: Dean Martin

“We are deeply respectful that many of our passionate members and supporters would prefer us to enforce the provisions of the regulations and not let Brett play in this game,’’ Scripps said.

“However given Brett is returning from a long term foot injury, the club wants to support him to return to peak fitness in the SANFL and reach his dream of playing AFL football.

“Importantly, the club does not believe this decision will compromise our aspiration of winning the 2022 SANFL premiership and we reserve the right to withdraw this approval if we were to play against Adelaide in the finals.

“The club is proud of the fact that we are building a football program, environment and culture that is attracting strong interest from AFL clubs and that we are seen as a destination club for players wanting to maximise their potential.

“Even though we will continue to lobby the AFL and SANFL to remove the pre-season and mid-season drafts, we will not deviate from our purpose of winning premierships, driving exceptional standards and developing our people.’’

Turner, 25, was drafted by the Crows on the back of a standout 38-disposal, four-goal performance when Glenelg came from 41 points behind in the third quarter to beat them by 15 points in round three.

He remains close to his former Tigers teammates and was in the Glenelg changerooms following the Queen’s Birthday win against Sturt in round 10.

Eagle Jesse Lonergan tries to break the tackle of West Adelaide’s Kaiden Brand during the game at Richmond Oval on Saturday. Picture: Dean Martin

Crow Tariek Newchurch celebrates one of his four goals against South Adelaide. Picture: SANFL Image/David Mariuz

ROUND 12 SCOREBOARD

Adelaide 15.17 (107) d South Adelaide 7.6 (48)

Woodville-West Torrens 15.6 (96) d West Adelaide 11.10 (76)

North Adelaide 18.9 (117) d Central District 12.7 (79)

Glenelg 11.10 (76) d Port Adelaide 4.13 (37)

Norwood 11.10 (76) d Sturt 7.8 (50)

POWER RANKINGS

1. North Adelaide

(9-2: Showcased its power and brilliance by kicking six unanswered goals in the opening 11 minutes of the match against Central at Elizabeth to blow the Doggies off the park).

2. Glenelg

(9-2: Hasn’t missed a beat since losing Brett Turner and Sam Durdin in the AFL mid-season draft, winning three on the trot, but will be given a firmer test by Adelaide this week).

3. Adelaide

(8-3: Dismantled South at Noarlunga on Saturday, having 32 scoring shots to 13, with Matt Crouch standing out with 42 disposals and the exciting Tariek Newchurch booting four goals).

4. Woodville-West Torrens

(7-4: Came from 17 points behind to beat winless West on Saturday in a performance that wasn’t pretty but was effective. With key players to return from injury, still looms as a major flag threat).

5. Norwood

(6-5: Finally getting reward for effort. Leapfrogged Sturt into the top five by emphatically beating it at The Parade, with ruckman Harry Boyd proving a revelation this season).

6. Sturt

(6-5: Has gone from sitting top just over a month ago to falling outside the top five after losing four of its past five games. Is badly missing injured midfielder Tom Lewis).

7. South Adelaide

(5-6: After being super competitive for most of the season, the Panthers were destroyed at home by the Crows, with coach Jarrad Wright saying: “It is the first time this year we have been comprehensively outplayed.’’)

8. Port Adelaide

(3-8: Injuries and Covid health and safety protocols at AFL and SANFL level have ruined Port’s season. It fielded only eight AFL-listed players in the loss to Glenelg).

9. Central District

(2-9: After spectacularly upsetting the Eagles in round 11, the Bulldogs were quickly brought back to earth by North, which won the game in the first 11 minutes).

10. West Adelaide

(0-11: Coach Brad Gotch struggled to hide his frustration after his winless side coughed up a handy 17-point lead against the Eagles. The Bloods play well in patches but cannot string four decent quarters together).

West Adelaide coach Brad Gotch addresses his players at Richmond Oval. Picture: Dean Martin

NUMBERS GAME

(Top 12 Champion Data ranking points)

Aaron Young (North) 172

Joey Haines (South) 168

Matt Crouch (Adelaide) 163

Riley Knight (Eagles) 150

Harry Boyd (Norwood) 144

Harrison Wigg (North) 141

Lachie Hosie (Glenelg) 138

Frank Szekely (North) 137

Darcy Bailey (Glenelg) 135

Nick Moore (Port) 134

Max Proud (Glenelg) 134

Keegan Brooksby (South) 130

THE STAT

Disposals for Crow Matt Crouch against South after being controversially dropped from the AFL team.

Eagle Joseph Sinor bursts out of a pack in his 100th game against West Adelaide at Richmond on Saturday. Picture: Dean Martin

FLYING HIGH

(Mark of the week)

Cameron Craig (North)

The Roosters defender flew high on the back of Central’s Dylan Weaver in the third quarter at Elizabeth Oval on Saturday to pull in a spectacular mark.

Remarkably, he landed with great balance and poise to quickly dish off a handball to a teammate running past.

SAY WHAT

(Quotes of the week)

“I thought our last quarter was Sturt-like and that was probably it. Our first 10 minutes were okay but for 60-70 minutes in the middle of the game, we were no good. We fell away at the contest, uncontested, tackles, pressure, defence … everything. We didn’t play Sturt footy. We didn’t get enough guys to jump on-board. At the moment we’re not up to it. Our past five weeks have been pretty poor.”

Sturt coach Martin Mattner.

“We felt we needed to respond after our game against South. We put the foot down early and set the game up. After three quarter-time I felt that the boys zoned in to the way

we wanted to play. We know Central is a young team with plenty of talent and I

thought our whole midfield group was unselfish and did the job.’’

North coach Jacob Surjan.

“Harry is one of our most driven, most professional players and really lifts his teammates. There was some narrative in the off-season around ‘where is our ruckman?’ and we said, ‘he’s here and he’s a very good one’.”

Norwood coach Jade Rawlings on ruckman Harry Boyd.

Adelaide’s Luke Nankervis fights for the ball with South Adelaide’s Matthew Rose at Noarlunga Oval on Saturday. Picture: SANFL Image/David Mariuz

INSIDE WORD

Redleg Luke Surman has returned home to Norwood after a stint at Port.

The key position player was cleared late last week and played well in the reserves on Saturday, having 21 disposals and kicking a goal playing primarily in the ruck.

“It all happened very quickly,’’ Redlegs coach Jade Rawlings said.

“We played Port on the Sunday and it only really happened from the Monday. I had a good chat with (Magpies coach) Matty Lokan the other day and it’s never a nice feeling when you’ve lost a player.

“But it wasn’t an underhanded process that had been going for weeks – it happened from Monday through to 4pm Thursday.

“We’ve got a good player and good Norwood person back to our footy club.”