ROUND 7 of the SANFL season saw a number of Power players performing at both senior league and reserves level.

This week, Port Adelaide Magpies had the bye, but travelled to Sydney to take on the East Coast Eagles in the Foxtel Cup, where they had a resounding win at the SCG.

Back in Adelaide, West Adelaide continued their strong form in 2011, defeating Glenelg at home on Friday night. Perennial powerhouse the Bulldogs took on the Eagles at home and beat them, while North Adelaide lost to Norwood on Saturday afternoon. The evening match on Saturday night saw South Adelaide get home by a mere 4 points over Sturt despite having nearly 10 more scoring shots.

All games were watched closely by development manager Daniel Healy and development coach Matthew Nicks. Their full report is below, but make sure you watch the video report to see some highlights footage of Marlon Motlop, the ‘Player of the Week’ this week, and what it is that Heals and Nicksy took out of the Magpies one-sided win.

SANFL Player of the Week
Marlon Motlop (for Bloods reserves vs Tigers)
This was his best game for the year so far. He’s been really working on his change of pace and his hard gut-running. He had 31 possessions and all of those came about through hard running to get to the contest and it was a really consistent game over the four quarters - he now really needs to break lines and deliver the ball into the forward line over the coming weeks, and work a little bit on winning the hard ball as well. But this was a fantastic effort from Marlon this week.

Ben Newton (for Bloods vs Tigers)
It’s another game under his belt, playing just over 100 minutes. He started like a house on fire, having over 8 possessions in the first quarter and obviously with the lack of game time over the last 12 months he was struggling to blow a candle out at the end but his numbers are huge as far as GPS goes - he runs hard and works hard, and has very good composure inside at stoppages - when there’s a lot of pressure he seems to like it and to rise to the occasion.

Chad Cornes (for Tigers vs Bloods)
Chad played on the ball, changing forward, and had a real impact early, using his strong body around the footy - he was hard in the tackle and really used his body well at stoppages. He finished off the game with 27 possessions, and was a little bit sore in the last, but played really hard throughout the game, kicking a couple of goals and was definitely one of Glenelg’s better players.

Cameron Hitchcock (for Tigers vs Bloods)
Hitch started very well, spreading really well and finding a lot of space. His skills were exceptional for the whole game, and he took the game on, picking out a number of short options in the middle that other players simply wouldn’t attempt. He had 22 possessions and took 8 marks, taking those marks due to his hard running and he had really good GPs numbers this week, so he’s covering a heap of ground. He kicked 1 goal 2, and probably could’ve had 4 if he’d kicked straight.

Daniel Webb (for Bloods vs Tigers)
Webby started very slowly and was a little bit off the ball early after a fantastic game in Round 6 of the SANFL. He really came into the game in the last quarter when Wests started to turn it on and hit the front and he looked really dangerous down forward, taking a couple of big marks and kicking a few goals. It was a good effort to be around when Wests were getting on top.

Matthew Lobbe (for Bloods vs Tigers)
It was a much improved effort this week for Matt when compared to last week. He had a really strong presence, using his body well in the contested situations, and taking a couple of really aggressive marks playing as a push-up from centre half forward. Overall, he looked to have strengthened his body and increased his match fitness, kicking a couple of goals late when it counted and was part of the group that really got Wests over the line.

Jason Davenport (for Bloods vs Tigers)
Unfortunately, in the first contest that he was involved in he had a ball smothered off his boot by an opposition player’s foot, which bruised his foot and ankle area. He played on for a short time but wasn’t able to run the game out, playing for about a quarter. He had 8 possessions, which was a great effort, running through that pain to be aggressive at the ball and get involved but unfortunately he couldn’t go on with it.

Aaron Young (for Roosters reserves vs Redlegs)
He played on a wing and found plenty of space early, picking up 23 possessions and 9 marks with 4 shots at goal, and looked pretty sharp. He really used his legs to break through the lines, and used his change of pace to take off on runs down the wings and through the centre where he had a couple of bounces, which is what we want to see from Youngie. He’s played well the last couple of weeks in a row and is really getting some confidence in his game, and is definitely pushing for senior selection.

Tom Jonas (for Redlegs vs Roosters)
Tom played on the ball and it was the first time he’s been up on the footy so it was a really good experience for him. He had 19 possessions, kicked a couple of important goals to help get Norwood over the line, and he picked up Jimmy Allen in a ‘soft-tag’ who racked up a lot of possessions but Tommy was dangerous in his own right. It was a really good experience for him and I’m sure he’ll be keen to get back on the ball when the opportunity arises.

John Butcher (for Magpies vs East Coast Eagles)
Butch played well, really working hard and starting to run some really good routs through the forward line. He was unlucky not to get more of the ball, but it was good to see from a coaching point of view that he’s been developing the areas that we’ve been working on with him, and against an opposition that was probably a bit understrength when compared to Port he had a pretty good game.

Mitch Banner (for Magpies vs East Coast Eagles)
Banner ran through the midfield and again found plenty of the ball in a side that was winning quite easily. He still went in and made the tackle, and we’re looking for him to continue to play good footy and continue to work on some of the areas that he needs to work on.

Jacob Surjan (for Magpies vs East Coast Eagles)
Surj was probably one of the stand-outs. He kicked a couple of early goals and was involved a lot through the midfield - it was a really quality game, a leader’s game, and he used his voice and seemed to revel in taking control over the game at that level.

Mitch Curnow (for Double Blues reserves vs Panthers)
It was a pretty quiet one for Mitch playing second ruck. He didn’t get that much game time but he’ll continue to work hard in training to ensure that when the opportunity arises to play more football he’ll be ready to grab it with both hands.

Jarrard Irons (for Eagles reserves vs Bulldogs)
Irons picked up 20 possessions and kicked a couple of points, which is a pretty fair effort when you consider he came off in the second quarter after pulling up a bit sore and didn’t play for the majority of that quarter. He’s pulled up okay, and it was a steady effort from Irons again.

Daniel Bass (for Panthers vs Double Blues)
This was Daniel’s first league game for the year. He was second ruck and picked up 2 possessions but had 14 hit-outs, and laid a tackle or two in limited opportunity. It’s good that he got an opportunity at league level and a chance to run up against harder more physical bodies.

Paul Stewart (for Eagles vs Bulldogs)
Stewie had 15 possessions up until three-quarter time, and then his shoulder popped out in the last quarter. He went off and came back on again but it was no good, and it’s pretty sore, but it didn’t stay out for very long and he could be alright for this week. His game itself was solid and steady without being outstanding, dropping back into the hole and taking a couple of marks as well as running a bloke down. His kicking was better than it’s been, which has been something he’s been working on.

Previous SANFL Reports
SANFL Wrap - Round 6
SANFL Wrap - Round 5
SANFL Wrap - Round 4
SANFL Wrap - Round 3
SANFL Wrap - Round 2
SANFL Wrap - Round 1