PORT ADELAIDE v SOUTH ADELAIDE at Noarlunga Oval
| Player | D | M | T | HO | Cl | I50 | R50 | G.B |
| Newton | 26 | 4 | 5 | - | 11 | 7 | - | - |
| Ah Chee | 15 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | - | - |
| Neade | 13 | 2 | 2 | - | 2 | 2 | - | 0.1 |
| D. Butcher*# | 17 | 1 | 11 | - | 7 | 3 | - | 0.1 |
| Hoskin*# | 15 | 2 | 4 | 1 | - | 1 | 4 | - |
| Shaw* | 9 | 3 | 4 | 2 | - | 1 | - | 0.1 |
| * denotes reserves player, # denotes rookie-listed player | ||||||||
Development Manager Daniel Healy praised Newton’s clean hands in possession of the ball in a game where the going was tough for many of his opponents and teammates alike.
“On a day where blokes couldn’t kick more than 30 metres or take the ball cleanly, his class, strength and cleanliness around the ground and at stoppages were very pleasing,” Healy told portadelaidefc.com.au.
“He had 11 clearances, five tackles and seven inside 50s.
“He was very, very good.”
With Aaron Young a late call-up to the Power side against Gold Coast on Saturday, a reduced contingent of players made the journey down to a boggy Noarlunga Oval.
Healy was pleased with the progress of Jake Neade at SANFL level, particularly his work at ground level.
“Neadey was really clean on Sunday,” he said.
“We’ve done a lot of ground ball stuff with him after he struggled with it two games back.
“He was good on the ground and pleasingly his cleanliness with the ball was there as well.”
Brendon Ah Chee started well as an on-baller, but found clean use of the ball difficult at times.
“‘Arch’ played on-ball and started really well, but as the game went on he got caught out a few times and had the ball stripped from him,” explained Healy.
Three players lined up in the reserves match that morning and all showed positive signs, according to Healy.
Danny Butcher and Justin Hoskin played for the Magpies with Mason Shaw playing up forward for the Panthers.
“Danny played on-ball and the conditions obviously suited his style of play really well, it was a pretty solid effort from him,” said Healy
“Hosko was pretty good at half back and he tried some physical stuff, he looked more composed than most blokes out there when he had the footy in his hands.
“The conditions were really tough for a forward like Mason on a very low-scoring day, but he presented up really well, especially in the first half, and I thought he looked good for most of the game.”
NORTH ADELAIDE v WOODVILLE-WEST TORRENS at Prospect Oval
| Player | D | M | T | HO | Cl | I50 | R50 | G.B |
| D. Stewart | 14 | 9 | - | - | - | 3 | - | 2.1 |
| Mitchell | 25 | 5 | 4 | - | 1 | 1 | 5 | - |
| Salter | 13 | 1 | 5 | - | 1 | 1 | - | 3.1 |
On a day where everything went right for the Eagles, long-haired speedster Kane Mitchell had his best performance in the SANFL.
Starting at half-back and working hard all day, Mitchell was able to have a real contribution for the victorious Eagles, according to development coach Stuart Cochrane.
“Kane had a reasonably good performance and had the most touches he’s had in the SANFL,” Cochrane told portadelaidefc.com.au.
“He started at half-back and was playing with a real physical presence which I hadn’t seen from him before.
“He won his ball with hard running from turnovers and in the second half he continued that good work.”
His Eagles teammates Nick Salter started the game with a goal blitz but faded out of the match in the second half.
“Salts had a great first quarter - kicking three goals,” said Cochrane.
“He mixed his position between full-forward and further up the ground.
“His pressure was good but his impact faded away in the second half, which was a shame given his really exciting first quarter.”
Cochrane was pleased with the performance of a resurgent Daniel Stewart playing for North Adelaide.
“It was a much-improved Snowy for North on Saturday,” said Cochrane.
“He did really well with the opportunities he had, and he held a real presence up forward.
“Snowy went on to kick 2.1 in the first quarter but had to work higher up the ground after that with the Roosters struggling.”
GLENELG v NORWOOD at Glenelg Oval
| Player | D | M | T | HO | Cl | I50 | R50 | G.B |
| Logan | 18 | 2 | 8 | - | 3 | 1 | - | 1.0 |
| Clurey | 16 | 5 | 2 | - | 1 | 2 | 2 | - |
| Thomas | 17 | 4 | 7 | - | 7 | 5 | - | 0.1 |
| Pfeiffer# | 14 | 3 | 1 | - | 4 | 4 | - | 1.1 |
| Stevenson | 12 | 1 | 1 | - | - | 1 | 7 | - |
| Renouf | 10 | 1 | 4 | 48 | 5 | - | 1 | - |
| # denotes rookie-listed player | ||||||||
Just as conditions at Noarlunga were a boggy challenge for the Magpies and Panther players, so too did Glenelg Oval offer up its own fair share of mud and muck.
In a match where the bottom-ranked Tigers nearly scored an upset over the league-leading Norwood, it was Tom Logan who reveled in his trademark conditions.
“It was a real bog at Glenelg Oval, not much ball movement and a ridiculous number of stoppages!” explained Stuart Cochrane.
“Tommy Logan was the first man on the ground to get covered in mud and it took only two stoppages for that to happen!
“He only ended up with three clearances but was pretty busy all day long which is what we love to see from him.”
Tom Clurey was promoted back into Glenelg’s league team and showed promise, with Cochrane pleased with the physicality his displayed on his opponents.
“Tommy showed some really good signs today,” said Cochrane.
“It was good to see him using his physicality and he took a couple of great pack marks with a slippery ball.
“I was happy for him that he was able to come back into the senior side and have some impact.”
Despite a start that conceded the first two goals of the game, Lewis Stevenson had a solid game in defence for the Redlegs.
“Lewy gave away the first two frees of the game and both resulted in goals, but from there he got some good spoils playing really deep inside defensive 50 for most of the day,” said Cochrane.
“He didn’t get much of the footy in the first half but picked up a few more possessions in the second.
“The good thing is that he uses the ball well when he has it - not a lot of the footy but he didn’t do too much wrong on the day.”
Development coach Tyson Edwards observed the midfielders in the match and was most impressed with the ruck work of Brent Renouf.
“The most pleasing for me was big Renouf,” Edwards told portadelaidefc.com.au.
“He only had 10 possessions, but made up for that with 48 hit outs.
He kept following up with repeat efforts from stoppages which is what we want to see from him.”
Matt Thomas and Darren Pfeiffer had solid games for the Redlegs, but not their usual impact in a scrappy affair.
“Thomas didn’t have his usual influence around stoppages until the second half,” said Edwards.
“It wasn’t his normal output, but solid nonetheless.
“Pfeiff took a couple of nice marks running back with the flight of the ball and played his outside role reasonably.”
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