A NUMBER of State Academy members caught the eye in Round 4 of the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) Women’s competition, with Glenelg and Norwood having a number of standout prospects from the weekend.

Note: All notes are the opinion of the individual author.

Glenelg:

#6 Violet Patterson

The exciting speedster showed her usual highlights package throughout the game, able to break away from opponents and trying to break the lines, which she managed to do on a number of occasions. At the first stoppage of the game, Patterson was run down by Falkenberg, but it did not slow her down. She used the ball more consistently by foot this week, and had one great play late in the game, coming off half-back and hitting up Caitlyn Swanson on the wing, then ran to half-forward, won it well and kicked inside 50. Patterson recorded 10 disposals for the match.

#8 Piper Window

Returned to the midfield in the absence of captain Ellie Kellock and picked up where she left off in Round 1. Her contested ball-winning and clearance ability is clearly among the best going around, especially for her age. Though she can sometimes dispose of he ball under pressure and be forced to throw it on the boot, she is often clearing it from the stoppage with regularity. Though most of her plays involved sharking it from the contest and pumping it forward, Window did spend some time inside 50, with a great burst out of a stoppage six minutes into the third term but her shot hit the post. Overall another impressive performance from the bottom-ager. Window managed 19 disposals, seven tackles, eight clearances, five inside 50s and two behinds.

#11 Sarah Goodwin

Goodwin was the standout for the week amongst the State Academy members with an outstanding four-quarter performance once again half-back. Her full performance can be read in detail in her Player Focus. Goodwin finished with 25 touches, four marks – one contested – two tackles, two clearances, five inside 50s and five rebound 50s.

>> SARAH GOODWIN PLAYER FOCUS

#28 Matilda Scholz

The athletic ruck was again lively at the stoppages, having a great battle with Brooklyn Kraft across the match. She started strong with a heap of touches in the opening five minutes. Scholz’s follow-up work which included some great tackling and pressure was very good for her size, and she was still able to remain involved. Scholz finished with nine disposals, 20 hitouts, three clearances and two inside 50s.

#43 Ella Boag

Breaking through for her debut game after a terrific Development League game against South Adelaide the week before, Boag had a really impressive first game, not looking out of place at all at League level. Initially lining up on Goody, Boag was able to go from keeping an eye on the talented speedster, to winning plenty of her own ball and using it cleanly by hand. She grew in confidence as the game went on and had some great follow-on efforts. On a couple of occasions where she knew she could not take possession, Boag tapped it to her teammates’ advantage, then had a flying shot in the final minute of the game which just missed to the right, following an early short that fell short. Regardless, a debut to be proud of. Boag amassed 16 disposals, two marks, two tackles and three inside 50s.

Woodville-West Torrens:

#47 (normally #2) Jemma Whitington-Charity

Donning a different number for the game, Whitington-Charity was able to buzz around the ground having some good impact in close, winning some quick touches. She bounced back from a knee to the back from fellow State Academy member, Patterson, late in the in the second term, but was straight back on in the third quarter. Whitington-Charity had a nice play late in the third term winning it in the defensive half, moving it on, almost getting run down but recovering and setting up a goal to McKenzie Dowrick to try and spark the Eagles into action. Though down on her usual numbers, Whitington-Charity still won nine disposals, four marks – one contested and laid six tackles.

#9 Jemma Whitington-Charity

The older Whitington-Charity sister was equally fierce on the opposition, laying a number of strong tackles and remaining active defensively. She attacked the ground ball hard early but was pinged for holding the ball, though had a couple of nice kicks in the second term where she won the majority of her disposals. One of her best was a great kick inside 50 to deliver to Dowrick, and even his up her sister in the middle of the ground. The defender managed the five touches and five tackles in the loss.

#20 Cher Waters

A quieter game from Waters after a couple of impressive efforts the last couple of weeks. Though her numbers were down, it was not through lack of desire, with Waters continually looking to pressure around the stoppage. She still got to ball-winning positions, but was often immediately tackled, and could not create the space she is accustomed to. When she did find space, she was clean and showed a nice pair of heels to sidestep an opponent seven and a half minutes into the second term and clear it well. She had a nice kick midway through the second term going inside 50, whilst trying to take the game on in the third term, got run down in the middle. Waters ended the game with six disposals and one tackle, though it did not indicate her pressure around the stoppages.

#30 Marlie Fiegert

Whilst some other State Academy Eagles might have been a little down on their usual production, Fiegert lifted hers with a strong performance at half-back. She stood up strong in a tackle early, and produced a good spoil on the wing late in the first half, signalling her intent on the match. She won a number of her touches in the second half, with a few clever plays late in the third term. With five minutes on the clock, Fiegert was taken high, then kicked to half-back to the wing after a 25m penalty, and also was able to hit-up Hyde. She showed clean hands a couple of minutes later to give it to Charlotte Dolan, then had a nice chip kick to Goody. She capped off the game in the final term with a good intercept mark in defence, though the kick out was intercepted.

#34 Shineah Goody

The incredibly talented bottom-ager found plenty of the ball and used her high work rate to advantage, but did not quite have the same influence on the game as she normally would. Goody was still very good, but not quite at her superbly clean level, making uncharacteristic errors by foot. Her hands were still clean, but the 2005-born Goody tended to rush when looking to attack down the corridor and turned over quite a few kicks, but despite the execution not going to plan, the hard-running midfielder was able to work hard defensively into the back 50 and win plenty of disposals behind the ball. Given her effort and work rate never dropped, expect a big game next week. Goody finished with a team-high 23 disposals and seven marks, as well as four tackles and six rebound 50s.

West Adelaide:

#8 Keeley Kustermann

Coming off a 31-disposal game the week before, Kustermann found her fair share of the ball in a struggling midfield. Though the team was stifled in terms of forward ball movement, Kustermann laid some fierce tackles where she could. A lot of her touches were under pressure forcing uncharacteristic mistakes fro m the normally clean ball user. Kustermann won a lot of the ball in the first 30 minutes of the match, and consistently put her body on the line. She had a quieter third term as Sturt continued its dominance, and whilst the West Adelaide midfielder kept having a crack, she could not find the time and space to do damage. Unfortunately Kustermann’s day ended early, going down with just over five minutes remaining, having to be helped off after clutching her leg.

#12 Charlie Scutchings

As predicted in the round preview, Scutchings went to Isobel Kuiper at the first centre bounce, and wore her like a glove early. Eventually the pair went their separate ways though, and Scutchings actually picked up the side’s first inside 50 which lead to Louella McCarthy‘s goal in the opening term. Scutchings had he six disposals, but was her typically-fierce side laying seven tackles for the match.

#41 Lucy Boyd

Like Kustermann, Boyd’s day unfortunately ended early, having to be helped off at the four-minute mark of the final term after sustaining a knock. Before that, she worked hard up the ground and tried her best, but it was hard for the talent to work into the match with the ball up the other end of the ground. She pushed her way up the field, and then was rewarded for some hard-running in the third term, kicking it off the deck for the Bloods’ second and final goal of the game. She concluded the match with six disposals.

Sturt:

#24 Lily Whitcombe

As a defender, Whitcombe did not a see a lot of the ball, but competed strongly when she did. In the first term, she had a quick kick from teh wing to half-forward after a two-against-one contest. She had another couple of nice kicks at either end of the game, with a good mark in the last two minutes of the match and neat chip to a teammate as the clock wound down. Whitcombe finished with six disposals.

Central District:

#21 Georgia McKee

The Under 16s talent had a lively first term, pushing forward after working her way into the midfield, and reading it brilliantly off hands to kick a goal. McKee converted her second a minute later after pouncing on a goal following a contest, making it five goals in two quarters after her three-goal final term heroics against West Adelaide in Round 3. Though she did not have the same impact later in the game, she still had a couple of nice moments, winning the ball on the wing and utilising her lovely kick in the second term, and then intercept the ball well late in the third term at half-forward to kick towards goal, but it fell short and was intercepted. McKee kept pushing up the ground, and collected 10 disposals, laid four tackles and kicked 2.1.

#38 Dakota Williams

Returning from hamstring tightness that ruled her out of Round 3, Williams made a steady return without quite having the same eye-catching moments as her first couple of games. She still had a nice intercept in teh second term, picking it up cleanly in the middle, reading the flight well and kicked it inside 50. Working hard behind the ball, Williams got back into defence to clear the ball to the wing late in the second term. Picking up a couple of more disposals in the second half, she had a couple of turnovers, as North took control late in the game. Williams finished with eight disposals and two tackles for the match.

North Adelaide:

#22 Amelie Borg

Again playing more of a lockdown defensive role, Borg picked up the four touches, but did not do anything wrong particularly. She had one kick intercepted late in the third term, but it came off a great tackle in the goalsquare. When she kicked from defence in the last quarter she was able to direct it more, and did well against a number of opponents.

#31 Hannah Ewings

Having another overall consistent game, Ewings just fared strongly across the four quarters and racked up the ball in each of the terms. Her first half was particularly huge, with not only accumulating the ball, but laying some fierce tackles. Ewings had a great battle with Central District skipper Shelby Smith, and often won the first clearance of the term to set her side up inside 50. The North Adelaide teenager put the ball into damaging positions inside 50, and was rewarded for her hard-running in the match, marking 30m out with a few minutes left on the clock to kick a goal with a perfectly timed set shot. Just another day in the office for Ewings who was again amongst the best on ground. She recorded 18 disposals, four marks, five tackles, five clearances, four inside 50s and a goal.

South Adelaide:

#38 Shae Archbold

After Norwood looked strong early in the game, Archbold slotted the first of the game, receiving the ball and slamming it home off the left boot and a step with brilliant precision. She had another nice kick inside 50 deep in the second term, but Norwood was able to rush it through, then her set third in the third just fell short in the goalsquare. Though she has had bigger games this season, she can still impact when in sight of the goal, and Archbold also applied plenty of defensive pressure. The forward picked up seven disposals, two marks – both contested – four tackles, two inside 50s and a goal for the match.

#49 Jemma Ellis

The young ruck stood up in the absence of injured captain Brianna Wedding who went down early in the first term. She spent a higher portion of time at the centre bounces than she normally work, but took to it well, providing a target around the ground and working incredibly hard. Towards the end of the game it started to wear on her a touch, but she then went forward and competed strongly inside 50, having a set shot from a tight angle to kick the only score – a behind – in the term. Overall her game was ultra-impressive, especially given the circumstances.

Norwood:

#4 Sachi Syme

Another consistent game from the hard-nosed midfielder who kept accumulating the ball and being clean around the coalface. Syme had a shot on goal right on the quarter time siren, but the snap around her body missed to the right. She worked well in the middle with good hands, then won a free kick late in the second term for a strong tackle on Nikki Gore. Syme is able to win the ball in close, extract it out via hand and even use a nice sidestep to evade opponents and get it inside 50. She tried to kick a late goal off the ground in the goalsquare but South won the free kick. Syme recorded 19 disposals, seven tackles, two clearances and two inside 50s for the match.

#18 Molly Brooksby

The midfielder had her fair share of touches, often in close and applying as much defensive pressure as she could. Winning the ball at the stoppages, Brooksby was able to extract it and boot it inside 50 on a number of occasions, and though she was caught holding the ball at one stage in the second term, she still managed to find some space during the game. In the final term she marked on the defensive side of the wing, and kicked it to a contest on the wing.

#41 Lana Schwerdt

Schwerdt had an outstanding game against the Panthers, earning a Breakthrough Player of the Year nomination for her performance. She cracked in from not having a lot of space and playing a contested game but she was still able to work hard to the wing, then get inside 50 to set up some goal-scoring opportunities inside 50. Schwerdt laid multiple tackles in close, and extracted from the clearances and kicked inside 50 on a number of occasions. She had a quick shot in the opening few minutes that just missed to the right. Schwerdt got involved late in the first term by receiving the handball from Halfpenny and kicking inside 50. As a whole, Schwerdt was one of the best on ground, and picked up 25 disposals, two marks, nine tackles, three clearances, four inside 50s and two rebound 50s.

#46 Rosie Boon

Returning to the side, Boon rotated through the ruck with Georgia Avery and shared the duties across the board with 16 hitouts each. When getting in space, Boon was able to use the ball well, hitting up Erika Sporn late in the first term for a goal. She also laid a great tackle inside 50 to win a free kick and deliver to a teammate in the middle of the third term. Boon managed the nine disposals, 16 hitouts, three tackles, two clearances and three inside 50s for the game.

RM CENTRAL SANFLW ACADEMY PLAYER OF THE YEAR ROUND 4 VOTES:

9 – Sarah Goodwin (Glenelg)
8 – Lana Schwerdt (Norwood)
8 – Hannah Ewings (North Adelaide)
7 – Piper Window (Glenelg)
6 – Ella Boag (Glenelg)
6 – Jemma Ellis (South Adelaide)
6 – Sachi Syme (Norwood)
4 – Shineah Goody (WWT Eagles)
3 – Keeley Kustermann (West Adelaide)
2 – Georgia McKee (Central District)
1 – Violet Patterson (Glenelg)

In each edition of Academy Watch, 60 votes are distributed amongst the Academy talents rather than the traditional 5-4-3-2-1 per-game system used with the NAB League Girls. This way, players who go above and beyond are awarded additional votes, with no cap on a minimum amount from teams. In Round 2, seven of the eight teams are represented.