Every available player not selected against the Swans lined up in the SANFL League competition with Mason Shaw playing his first game for South Adelaide’s senior team.

But it was Nathan Blee who was the standout after a strong showing for North Adelaide against Sturt at Prospect Oval.

Club recruiter Brett Knowles was at the ground and spoke highly of Blee’s ability to restrict his opponent significantly while himself winning close to 30 touches.

“Nathan had a good, steady game playing defensively and at times was able to break free from his opponent and win the footy well,” he told portadelaidefc.com.au.

“I thought he was able to defend well when required but also have the ability to push up and impact through the middle.

“He capped it off with a nice goal at the end.”

Daniel Stewart also played a significant role for the Roosters by kicking five goals in a return to the strong form he displayed throughout 2012.

“North won easily in the end and ‘Snowy’ had a hand in that with five goals,” said Knowles.

“He was a bit slow to get going early in the game but really came on in the second half.

“He got more of the ball and used it to kick five goals – two in the second quarter and three in the third.”

Port Adelaide scraped home against Central District on Saturday afternoon with six Power-listed players taking to the field for the victorious Magpies side.

Brett Ebert made his long-awaited return from injury and played in midfield and forward roles for the victors.

“It was Brett’s first game back and I was expecting him to struggle a bit going into the game after such a long time away (from playing),” development coach Stuart Cochrane told portadelaidefc.com.au.

“He was a bit rusty up forward early but the Maggies then moved him on-ball where his work inside the play was very good and he ended up in the their best players.”

Aaron Young and Ben Newton both played solid games for the Magpies but will need to have a greater impact for the club’s SANFL side if they want to push for AFL selection.

“I thought Youngy did some good things in close but didn’t have the same impact around the ground and in stoppages as he did last week,” said Cochrane.

Young was the football development team’s Player of the Week last week for a strong effort in the Port side that defeated Norwood.

“Most of Newts’s possessions were around stoppages and he was able to get ‘first hands’ at the footy quite a few times.”

“The next step for him is to make those ‘first hands’ more damaging and work a bit harder around the ground.”

Brendon Ah Chee and Justin Hoskin had quieter games for the Magpies while rookie-listed Danny Butcher was again serviceable in his defensive 'shutdown' role.

“Brendon was a little quieter than normal and Danny played a disciplined game with some good defensive stuff during the day,” said Cochrane.

“’Hosko’ played through the middle but is still a little way off in terms of what he can do when he gets the ball.”

“He’s working pretty closely with Tyson Edwards to improve his ball use.”

Port Adelaide’s development manager Daniel Healy was positive about Mason Shaw’s League debut for South.

Healy said despite Shaw not impacting the scoreboard, he was pleased with the way the prospective key forward was able to make the most of limited opportunities with the ball.

“Mason played up forward and the question was always going to be whether he would be intimidated by the occasion (of a first League game),” Healy told portadelaidefc.com.au.

“But I’m pleased to say that he did all of the good things he’d been doing in the Reserves right from the start.

“He got to a number of contests and looked every bit a League player, even in a side that was struggling to get supply to him.”

Norwood made short work of the Panthers, with three Power-listed players lining up for the Redlegs.

Brent Renouf dominated the ruck against a number of South opponents and finished with 41 hit outs, while Lewis Stevenson and Darren Pfeiffer both had consistent showings across the match.

Healy was particularly impressed with Pfeiffer's game.

“Pfeiff had a pretty good game – one of his better games for the year – and it was good to see some good solid running and energy from him,” said Healy.

Tom Clurey again performed for Glenelg’s League side and restricted his opponent significantly.

But after several solid weeks playing well on one opponent, Healy says the task for Clurey is to now become a “ruthless” defender.

“On a couple of occasions we saw him (Clurey) leave his man and try to stop the ball going to another opponent.

“But we do want to see him be a bit more ruthless and give no inch in trying to dominate defensively and really impact when he peels away from his man to try and stop other players as well.