Round 16 of the SANFL season saw three matches taking place with three teams having the bye, albeit with one involved in the Foxtel Cup.
The Magpies were that side, heading west to face Claremont in the Foxtel Cup semi-final, getting off to a slow start and despite a spirited comeback they couldn’t quite conquer the Tigers of WA.
Back home in SA, Sturt were defeated by the Panthers on Saturday afternoon, while the concurrent game saw Central District continuing their winning way, knocking off West Adelaide. The Sunday match saw something of an upset, with the Eagles defeating Norwood comfortably.
North Adelaide and Glenelg both had the bye.
All games were watched closely by development manager Daniel Healy and development coach Matthew Nicks. Their full report is below.
Marlon Motlop (for Bloods reserves vs Bulldogs)Marlon was ill with a bug, but battled away as hard as he could in an on-ball roll. He struggled to get around the ground a little bit, amassing 14 possessions and did okay, but needs to increase his urgency and sharpness - it’s entirely possible that his sickness affected that.
Matthew Westhoff (for Bulldogs reserves vs Bloods)
Matt played at centre half back for most of the day and showed some promising signs playing down there. He picked up 12 possessions and will be looking to continue to improve and push for a spot in the league side - the Bulldogs have been hit by injuries, and Matt needs to work hard to push for a spot while he’s a chance to cement a spot there.
Jason Davenport (for Bloods vs Bulldogs)
Jase played across half forward and a little bit up on the wing. He had 19 possessions and laid three tackles in what was a steady game, without doing anything outstanding.
Daniel Webb (for Bloods vs Bulldogs)
Webby played in the ruck as well as spending time deep in the forward line, and did okay in the ruck as well as kicking 1 goal 1 up forward. It was an okay game without anything that really stood out about it, so he’ll be looking to improve next chance he gets.
Mitch Curnow (for Double Blues reserves vs Panthers)
After a couple of weeks playing in the underage competition against blokes his own age or a little bit younger Mitch got promoted this week. He obviously found it tougher against the bigger bodies and he’ll continue to work on building his strength so that he can compete with more physical opponents.
Daniel Bass (for Panthers vs Double Blues)
Bass performed pretty well again, gathering 13 possessions and a number of hit-outs. Souths are really happy with his competitiveness as well, which is a really good sign that he’s getting the confidence to believe that he belongs at this level.
Jarrad Redden (for Eagles vs Redlegs)
Jarrad was the highlight of the weekend - he rucked and played forward, had around 10 possessions and clunked a couple of big marks, kicking 2 goals 1 when in the front half of the ground. He was one of the shining lights on the weekend.
Jacob Surjan (for Magpies vs Claremont Tigers)
It was the same Surj that we’ve come to expect - he was very competitive playing mostly through the midfield, picking up a number of touches and having a number of competitive acts, like smothers, chases and tackles. He continues his solid form.
John Butcher (for Magpies vs Claremont Tigers)
Butch played his first league game after coming back from injury and having played reserves last week. He had 10 possessions and took four marks, as well as having four shots on goal - unfortunately he didn’t have his kicking boot on and he didn’t kick any of them. We’ll continue to work with him on the development of his goalkicking, but he looked very sharp, very lively, and very competitive.
Previous SANFL Reports
SANFL Wrap - Round 15
SANFL Wrap - Round 14
SANFL Wrap - Round 13
SANFL Wrap - Round 12
SANFL Wrap - Round 11
SANFL Wrap - Round 10
SANFL Wrap - Round 9
SANFL Wrap - Round 8
SANFL Wrap - Round 7
SANFL Wrap - Round 6
SANFL Wrap - Round 5
SANFL Wrap - Round 4
SANFL Wrap - Round 3
SANFL Wrap - Round 2
SANFL Wrap - Round 1
