Round 12 of the SANFL season saw three very one-sided contests in the local competition, then a tight game between two local sides in the Foxtel Cup.

Three games were played on Saturday afternoon, with Sturt convincing winners over West Adelaide, Norwood proving too strong for South Adelaide, and Central District crushing Glenelg.

In the Foxtel Cup, Port Adelaide took on North Adelaide at AAMI Stadium and proved too strong, getting home by 16 points in a low-scoring game.

All games were watched closely by development manager Daniel Healy and development coach Matthew Nicks. Their full report is below.

SANFL Player of the Week
David Rodan (for Redlegs vs Panthers)
D-Rod had a great day out, kicking 6 goals and picking up 18 possessions after resuming last week in the SANFL reserves following the injury to his knee. He played half-forward moving up onto the ball, and it was a strong day out for him in a side that was well on top of their opponents on the day.

Andrew Moore (for Roosters vs Magpies)
Moore played down back and just had one of those days where nothing seemed to go right for him, with his man beating him on the day.

Aaron Young (for Roosters vs Magpies)
As has been the case with Youngie throughout 2011, he showed a lot of exciting promise at times, but the wet and greasy conditions really didn’t suit his style of game, and he struggled to have a great impact upon the play.

Mitch Banner (for Magpies vs Roosters)
Mitch continues to pick up big numbers, winning contests around the stoppages and getting quick kicks out of congested situations. He kicked a goal and was one of the best players for the Magpies in conditions that suited a player who gets in and gets down and dirty in the contest.

Brett Ebert (for Magpies vs Roosters)
Ebo played midfield and forward and tried really hard without having a massive impact upon the play. He certainly flies for his marks at any given opportunity, attacking the contest with real intensity.

Steve Salopek (for Tigers vs Bulldogs)
Sal had really big numbers in terms of possessions in a side that was hammered by nearly 100 points on the day. He took 11 marks and picked up 28 possessions, but on occasion his kicks were ill-directed thanks in part to the pressure that Centrals were putting on the Glenelg ball-carriers. Nevertheless, to pick up those sorts of numbers show just how much he was trying for his side on the day.

Chad Cornes (for Tigers vs Bulldogs)
Chad tried really hard all day. He played forward and couldn’t get involved as a result of the Centrals domination, and was shifted to play as an additional backman to try and take up space as well as having stints in the midfield. He had 16 possessions for the day.

Danny Meyer (for Tigers vs Bulldogs)
Danny played down back and Callinan and O’Sullivan were rotated onto him in a day that was very tough for any defender in the Glenelg side.

Cam Hitchcock (for Tigers vs Bulldogs)
Hitchy played as the high forward for Glenelg, but he wasn’t able to really get back into the forward 50 and impact on the scoreboard as his side were well beaten. He had 15 possessions and took 8 marks but didn’t trouble the scorers this weekend.

Matt Westhoff (for Bulldogs reserves vs Tigers)
Matt had a heap of the ball in the first term, booting three goals in that quarter alone. After such a strong start it was disappointing that he wasn’t able to convert it into a big day at the office.

Daniel Bass (for Panthers reserves vs Redlegs)
Bass played predominantly in the ruck with the occasional stint down forward. It was another impressive performance - he really monstered his opponent in the ruck with his physicality, and had a number of hit-outs to advantage, forcing the opposition in the end to with a third man up at most stoppages to try and nullify his influence. It was another step up for Bassy as he continues to impress.

Mitch Curnow (for Double Blues under18s vs Bloods)
Mitch continues to show progress at this level, with his centre square work continuing to show improvement. It’s proving to be a good outcome sending him back to this level as you can see in his body language how much more he’s enjoying his football playing against players his own age and having much more game time.

Nick Salter (guest player for Bloods reserves vs Double Blues)
Salts played at centre half back as a guest player for West Adelaide’s reserves as he continues to work back from a long lay-off with injury over the first half of the season. His concentration as a defender improved as the game went on, and he covered his man well, adjusted well when out of position, and in the second half went on ball and it certainly didn’t hurt him to have a run around like that as his conditioning improves with match play. He finished with 28 possessions and worked hard around the clearances, kicking the ball well.

Marlon Motlop (for Bloods reserves vs Double Blues)
Marlon was playing on ball and played as well as he has all year. He had 27 possessions and kicked 2 goals, but the most pleasing thing was that when he got the ball he really used it well and looked really involved in the play - importantly he worked hard on his defensive awareness when he wasn’t in possession, and laid 6 tackles around stoppages.

Matthew Lobbe (for Bloods vs Double Blues)
Matt didn’t have a lot of the ball this week, pushed back into a predominantly forward role without much time on the ball as a ruckman. He still works hard to get to the contest and have an impact upon the play, and he’ll continue to improve as his match time increases following a long-term injury to his shoulder over the pre-season and the first half of the year.

Jason Davenport (for Bloods vs Double Blues)
Dav didn’t have as much impact upon the play this week as he has been having, picking up 14 possessions and kicking a goal in a side that was well beaten on the day. It was a tough day for all West Adelaide players.

Matthew Webb (for Bloods vs Double Blues)
Similar to Lobbe and Davenport, Webb wasn’t really able to get involved in the play as a forward in a side that was well beaten on the day. He flew for a lot of marks and tried hard, but there were minimal forward thrusts for West Adelaide this week.

Previous SANFL Reports
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
SANFL Wrap - Round 1