SANFL round 9: Tackling frenzy, team of week, winners and losers

Who’s hot, who’s not, team of the week and all you need to know from round 9. The Advertiser takes you behind the scenes of Australia’s best state league competition.

Andrew Capel

@andrewcapel

5 min read

June 7, 2022 - 6:00AM

SANFL

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An extraordinary 337 tackles in one game – and another mark of the year contender from Roosters excitement machine Nigel Lockyer Jnr – highlighted a wet round 9 in the SANFL.

In a round where Norwood and South Adelaide lost touch with the top five, the game between Woodville-West Torrens and the Panthers turned into a slogfest played in a mud bath.

South, amazingly, had more tackles than kicks (198 to 184) while the Eagles laid 139 tackles in their gritty one-point win.

Here’s all you need to know about an action-packed round 9.

Sturt’s Abe Davis celebrates one of his six goals against Adelaide on Saturday. Picture: SANFL Image/David Mariuz.

Norwood’s Nik Rokahr is tackled strongly by North Adelaide’s Harrison Wigg at Prospect Oval. Picture: Brenton Edwards.

ROUND 9 SCOREBOARD

Glenelg 15.5 (95) d West 13.12 (90)

North Adelaide 9.9 (63) d Norwood 7.10 (52)

Sturt 11.10 (76) d Adelaide 8.7 (55)

Woodville-West Torrens 4.4 (28) d South Adelaide 3.9 (27)

POWER RANKINGS

1. North Adelaide

(8-1: Continues to go from strength to strength. The Roosters have produced some fast, exciting football this season but on Saturday they ground out a tough, slogging win in the wet against a good Norwood side at Prospect).

2. Glenelg

(7-2: Held off a fast-finishing West at the Bay to win by five points and move into second position on the ladder. Both of the Tigers’ losses have come by less than a kick but they were dealt a serious blow last week when they lost ace midfielder Brett Turner and gun defender Sam Durdin in the AFL mid-season draft. That could prove costly).

3. Woodville-West Torrens

(6-3: Had to dig deep to overcome a resilient South side in atrocious conditions at home but coach Jade Sheedy will happily take the points. The back-to-back premier is doing things the hard way this season but is still well placed to again challenge for the flag).

4. Adelaide

(6-3: Has lost two games in a row for the first time this season after falling to Sturt. Fielded only 14 AFL-listed players against the Double Blues following the late withdrawals of Fischer McAsey through injury and Andrew McPherson through health and safety protocols).

5. Sturt

(6-3: Rebounded from concerning defeats to North and the Eagles to get its season back on track with a convincing win against the Crows at Adelaide Oval, with key forward Abe Davis proving the difference between the teams with six goals in the wet).

6. Norwood

(4-5: Unlucky to post a negative win-loss record after being super-competitive in most games this season. The Redlegs were brave against the ladder leading Roosters and led by a point at the final change before failing to kick a goal in the last quarter, leaving them with a mountain to climb to make the finals).

7. South Adelaide

(4-5: Like Norwood, South has been in every game this season but has been on the wrong end of some tight results – on Sunday losing a thriller to the Eagles after leading for much of the day. Injuries and the mid-season loss of exciting small forward Jye Menzie (Essendon) hasn’t helped the Panthers’ cause).

8. Port Adelaide

(2-6: Had the round 9 bye).

9. Central District

(1-7: Had the round 9 bye).

10. West Adelaide

(0-9: Produced its best performance of the season after fighting back from 39 points behind against Glenelg to get within a point in the final term before losing by five. The loss was the Bloods’ 22nd in a row but there were big signs of improvement, which delighted coach Brad Gotch).

Mud-splattered Panther Eamon Wilkinson chases down the loose ball under pressure from Eagle Max Litster at Woodville Oval on Sunday. Picture: Cory Sutton/SANFL.

NUMBERS GAME

(Top 12 Champion Data ranking points)

Kieran Strachan (Adelaide) 170

Abe Davis (Sturt) 166

Casey Voss (Sturt) 148

Luke Partington (Glenelg) 146

Riley Knight (Eagles) 144

Patrick Wilson (Sturt) 139

Elliott Himmelberg (Adelaide) 135

Brayden Cook (Adelaide) 134

Josh Worrell (Adelaide) 134

Harry Boyd (Norwood) 133

Kaiden Brand (West) 125

Billy Frampton (Adelaide) 125

THE STAT

337

Tackles in the Eagles-South game at Woodville.

The remarkable figure came in the mud, where only seven goals were kicked between the two teams in a slogfest in icy conditions.

The Panthers had more tackles than kicks (198 to 184), while 12 players between the teams reached double figures in tackles, led by Eagle Dylan Clarke (19) and Panther Luke Bogle (18).

North Adelaide's Nigel Lockyer Jnr takes flight for his soaring mark against Norwood. Picture: Kurt Donsberg.

FLYING HIGH

(Mark of the week)

Nigel Lockyer Jnr (North)

The Roosters’ excitement machine has made a habit of producing individual highlights this season and he produced the goods again on the weekend.

With the game up for grabs against Norwood in the last quarter, Lockyer Jnr flew high on the back of Norwood opponent Cameron Ball to haul in a screamer in a standout mark of the year contender.

SAY WHAT

(Quotes of the week)

“That was a real gutsy win, a real character-building win for the boys. Norwood is the best defensive team in the competition for a reason and in conditions like we experienced it’s all about contests and having moments and I felt that in the last half, particularly in the last quarter, we won some decisive moments which gave us some momentum. It doesn’t matter how the wins come – rain, hail or shine – we just have to make sure that we play the style of footy that we need to play and I felt we adapted really well after quarter-time.’’

North coach Jacob Surjan.

“In the end we were happy to escape with the win. Our first quarter and a half was outstanding but from there West was really good. We just didn’t lift and why we dropped off we have to work out and address it. We have had two weeks of games with slogging

conditions so maybe that had something to do with it. But credit to West. They have really fought games out and have been in many games.’’

Glenelg coach Brett Hand.

“We are creating opportunities to win games but are not executing when we need to. We are 4-5 (win-loss record) instead of being probably 6-3 or 7-2 and we have a fight on our hands in the back half of the season.”

South coach Jarrad Wright.

“I am really proud of the way the guys stuck to it after being so far down and then having a chance to win it in the end. And to play so well for Tom Keough’s 150th game and in the

heritage jumper was great. We feel we are improving and making inroads. We are pushing

sides but good sides find a way to kick a goal when they need to. We feel we are not far off.’’

West coach Brad Gotch.

North Ãdelaide’s Aaron Young gets his kick away under pressure against the Redlegs at Prospect. Picture: Brenton Edwards.

INSIDE WORD

Could son of a gun Connor McLeod be close to making his league debut for the Eagles?

The son of former Adelaide star and dual Norm Smith medallist Andrew McLeod certainly pushed his case with a standout display in the reserves against South on Sunday.

McLeod shone in the muddy conditions, having 30 disposals, 11 clearances and laying a stunning 22 tackles.