Five things we learnt from SANFL Round 6: Glenelg’s rare streak, Billy Hartung stars, South becoming a footy factory
Glenelg’s rare winning run, a North Adelaide speedster and the Panthers’ latest young gun headline this week’s SANFL wrap.
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High-flying Glenelg will enter the SANFL bye week with the remarkable record of not having lost a game at league, reserves or under-18s level this season.
And in an ominous warning to rivals, first-year coach Brett Hand said his league team had not produced a four-quarter performance in the opening six rounds.
‘It’s good to be six-zip but we’re still only playing the type of footy I want us to play in spurts,’’ he said after the Tigers’ thrilling four-point win against Sturt at the Bay Oval on Sunday.
“We haven’t played four quarters of footy yet and that’s the challenge for any club, any coach, so I’ve got a bit of work to do there to make sure we stay focused so we don’t concede goals as easily as what we have been.
“But we go into the break knowing we have worked pretty hard.
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Lewis Hender kicked 8ï¸âƒ£ goals so one was bound to end up here for the @Ch7Adelaide Goal of the Week 😲
— SANFL (@SANFL) May 10, 2021
1ï¸âƒ£ Josh Hone (@SturtFC)
2ï¸âƒ£ Eamon Wilkinson (@southadelaidefc)
3ï¸âƒ£ Lewis Hender (@NorthAdelaideFC)
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“Darren (Trevena) has our under-18s going really well, the style of footy we are playing there is quite impressive and there’s some good young kids there.
“And we’ve got so much pressure coming through the reserves at the moment, they are hungry for success and hungry to get a game in the ones.
“There is a good vibe around the club and Jason (SANFLW coach Jason Fairall) and the girls had a really good win too against the Eagles, so it’s a really good feeling around the place.’’
One of the key men knocking on the door of a league call-up is 2019 premiership midfielder Brad Agnew, who has played three consecutive reserves games following ankle surgery.
“He looked really good in the reserves this week, so he’s close,’’ Hand said.
Former Melbourne midfielder Billy Stretch will be sidelined for another six weeks following ankle surgery while tough back pocket Aaron Joseph faces a longer stint out with a foot injury.
HARTUNG PROVES A DIFFERENCE MAKER
Under-pressure North Adelaide put a poor start to the season behind it to hit back with a vengeance against West Adelaide at Prospect Oval on Sunday.
The beaten grand finalist’s crushing 68-point win, which improved its win-loss record to 2-4, was made sweeter by the return to action of midfield speedster Billy Hartung for the first time in 2021.
The former Hawthorn and North Melbourne AFL player had 33 disposals, 10 marks and four clearances in an impressive return to action from an ankle injury and coach Jacob Surjan stressed the 26-year-old’s importance to the Roosters.
“He is a really important player because he gives us that outside run and balance,” Surjan said.
“He has exceptional leg speed and is a beautiful kick; he’s a very special player and we are really thankful to have him.”
Hartung’s game was even more impressive given that he spent the final 15 minutes of the match on the bench as North monitored his game time on his return to SANFL footy.
Now in his second season at North, Sunday also marked the first time that Hartung played at
Prospect Oval
“He missed a lot of footy last year, so it was actually his first home game, so I think he wanted to put on a show for the home fans and he certainly did that today,” Surjan said.
Surjan will be a part of the State coaching panel when SA takes on WA at Adelaide Oval on Saturday.
“I’m really looking forward to the state experience, everyone is really focused on beating WA,” he said.
“It will be great to work with some guys that we wouldn’t normally get to coach.’’
SOUTH BECOMING A FOOTBALL FACTORY
The work of Mark Clayton as talent manager at South Adelaide cannot be underestimated. And neither can the efforts of Tony Bamford before him, with the State under-18 coach building a tremendous platform for development in the Panthers’ zone.
The club is reaping the rewards of their efforts with a string of high quality young players advancing through the grades.
Jason Horne is destined to be taken as a high draft pick this year but the 17-year old excitement machine is not the only ace teenager in South’s league side.
Midfield ball magnet Matthew Roberts made his debut in the hard-fought win against premier Woodville-West Torrens at Woodville Oval on Saturday and did not look out of place, finishing with 14 disposals and kicking a classy goal.
Senior coach Jarrad Wright drives a healthy culture at Noarlunga and he is only too willing to back the young blokes to get the job done.
While there is a heap of young talent in the Panthers’ line-up, Wright was full of praise for the leadership of veterans Bryce Gibbs, Matthew Broadbent and captain Matt Rose after the eight-point win against the Eagles.
As for the Eagles, there are plenty of players from last year’s premiership side missing and coach Jade Sheedy noted there have been as many as 14 players make their debut for the club this season.
Sheedy has also had to rely on a new runner after former star Justin Cicolella ruptured his Achilles playing for Port Wakefield a couple of weeks back.
Cicolella, who has the injury protected by a moon boot and was on crutches at Woodville Oval on Saturday, said he was helping out the club and was on the field for just two minutes.
Eagles chief executive Luke Powell was the runner for Port Wakefield that day and heard Cicolella’s Achilles snap.
Just for the record, Cicolella was 25 when Roberts was born.
BYE COMES AT GOOD TIME FOR BLOODS
West Adelaide coach Brad Gotch said the bye had come at a good time for his group after a disappointing performance against the Roosters.
The 68-point defeat was the Bloods worst of the season and Gotch said that his team struggled against a desperate North Adelaide side.
“It probably has come at a good time for us,” said Gotch.
“I think from a mental perspective we just got outmuscled by an experienced team whose season could’ve been on the line.”
The Bloods will be boosted after the bye by the returns from injury of star midfielder Kieran Lovell and ace goalkicker Jono Beech and Gotch said both players would be integral to helping 2-4 West bounce back.
“It is vital we get those guys back in,” said Gotch.
“They are really important in helping us structure up and bringing the young guys through.”
While the experienced pair are slated to return, Gotch also highlighted some youngsters who were close to selection through the reserves.
“I’m a big wrap for Lachlan Squire, he is a big bodied midfielder and Luke Redfern as well, he might help us with some more pace through the middle of the ground,” he said.
CALLOW A SHINING LIGHT FOR REDLEGS
It might have been wet and miserable at Elizabeth Oval on Saturday but it only made young Norwood key forward Jackson Callow’s towering grab, just before halftime, shine even brighter.
The talented teenager soared over a pack to pull down easily the mark of the day, and one of the best seen this year in the SANFL, converting after the siren to put the Redlegs 28 points up against struggling Central District.
Callow would eventually finish with three goals, eight marks and 17 disposals, along with a sharp handball which set up Cam Shenton’s fourth major early in the third term as the 4-2 Legs maintained their authority over a Bulldogs outfit which lacked forward polish.
Callow, who trialled with Hawthorn before the season, offered something the Dogs were desperate for on Saturday, a marking forward.
After the game, coach Jade Rawlings said Callow was a work in progress but was showing signs of being a future star.
🎉 IT'S STATE GAME WEEK 🎉
— SANFL (@SANFL) May 10, 2021
Ahead of the West End State Team clash against the WAFL this weekend, we're throwing back each day to the best State Team moments!
What better way to start than with THAT goal from the Tony Hall Pocket 😲 pic.twitter.com/orv9McmOYs
“He’s got a lot to learn, a lot to get better, but his baseline of his marking is very good and he’s learning a lot about what it takes to play senior footy,” Rawlings said.
“He bobbed up and was able to mark the ball when not many other people could.
“We’ve struggled to take contested marks this year and we took 10 to halftime and Callow and Harry Boyd were able to impose themselves with their height and marking ability.”
Luckily, there were only four majors kicked in the final term with the game ending much like the 2007 Cricket World Cup in the Caribbean between Australia and Sri Lanka: in near darkness.
“If you were playing cricket you’d be bowling the spinners,” a Redlegs identity was overheard saying in the media box.
Rawlings joked that maybe the league needed to turn on the lights for the SANFL’s next “twilight match”, with the game starting at 3.05pm.
“It was pretty hard to see there late,” he said.
Originally published as Five things we learnt from SANFL Round 6: Glenelg’s rare streak, Billy Hartung stars, South becoming a footy factory
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