PLAYERS from both sides stuffed the stats sheet as North Adelaide defeated Woodville-West Torrens (WWT) by 36 points at Prospect Oval on Sunday morning. The Roosters’ runaway win made for our Round 2 SANFL Under 18s match of the round; we note the top performers from that clash, before taking a look around the grounds at each other result.

SCOUTING NOTES

North Adelaide 16.16 (112) def. Woodville-West Torrens 12.4 (76)

By: Tom Wyman

NORTH ADELAIDE:

#5 Isaac Keeler

Exciting key forward Keeler had a quieter day in the Roosters’ win over Woodville-West Torrens, after booting two goals in the opening round. The Crows Next Generation Academy (NGA) prospect took a little while to work his way into the game, fumbling on a couple of occasions before getting going with a few spells in the ruck. It was encouraging to see Keeler have an impact on the game in the ruck when he wasn’t receiving silver service in attack. Keeler’s obvious athleticism and terrific mobility were apparent, as was his willingness to back his skillset around the ground. He was more involved as a forward in the second half and was rewarded for presenting well. It wasn’t a dominant day for Keeler, but he still managed to finish with 15 disposals, five marks, five hitouts, a couple of clearances and three inside 50s.

#7 Kane McAuliffe

Roosters midfielder McAuliffe was one of his side’s best at Prospect Oval. Predominately playing in the midfield but rotating forward at stages, McAuliffe’s foot skills separated his game from the rest. He used his damaging left leg to spot up target-after-target, making smart decisions and drawing his teammates towards the drop of the ball. Composed in traffic, the Prince Alfred College prospect also showed his overhead marking capabilities by taking a couple of strong grabs. After a strong showing in the Roosters’ Round 1 win, McAuliffe managed 26 touches, seven marks and five inside 50s to continue his quality start.

#14 Billy Dowling

Ball-magnet Dowling once again stuffed the stats sheet for North Adelaide, playing in a variety of roles throughout the contest. He started in the midfield and spent plenty of time on-ball, but also won a number of possessions playing behind the ball, where he was able to take a couple of intercept marks. Dowling also went forward and converted a regulation set shot to add to his trio of goals last week. However, he could well have finished with a few more, having booted three behinds. Regardless of his position, Dowling had no trouble getting his hands on the ball and read the play nicely. Clearly a natural footballer, Dowling accumulated a game-high 44 disposals, eight marks, five tackles, seven clearances and five inside 50s in a complete performance.

#21 James White

North Adelaide captain White was assigned the daunting task of standing Woodville-West Torrens gun Adam D’Aloia for much of the day. After a slow start, he worked his way into the contest and got his hands on the ball in some good spots. Although D’Aloia was dominant at stoppages, White still managed to find plenty of the ball himself, collecting 25 disposals along with five marks and two clearances. He’ll be looking to improve upon his foot skills as the season progresses.

#23 Hughen Wissman

Wissman was one of a handful of North Adelaide midfielders who found an abundance of the ball through the centre of Prospect Oval. A strongly-built midfielder, Wissman was heavily involved early, often managing to find himself alone with time and space. He booted a terrific goal late in the first quarter from a troubling angle, and his kicking in general play was clean. A run-down tackle inside 50 was another highlight, and saw him receive the subsequent free kick. With the Roosters clearly on top, Wissman booted another two goals in the second half to finish with three majors, 28 disposals, nine marks and four inside 50s.

#25 Max Blacker

The diminutive Blacker was outstanding for the victors, with his strengths clear for all to see. He lined up deep in attack, looking to crumb for the likes of Keeler and Oliver Dignan, and quickly made an impact. Blacker marked outside 50, recognised the goalsquare was vacant and bounced home the first major of the game for the Roosters. He rotated into the midfield and again had a say on proceedings, winning back to back clearances which led to Roosters inside 50s. His ball use by foot, but particularly by hand, was terrific – often releasing teammates into space and continuing the flow of the game. Composed and assured with ball in hand, he absorbed a couple of big hits but never looked rattled. Blacker’s work rate, endurance and running patterns ensured he racked up 32 disposals, five marks, seven inside 50s and a goal.

#30 Kelsey Rypstra

Small forward Rypstra had a nearly-game in his first Under 18s match of the season. He was quiet for the opening stanza of the game, before making an impact with his forward pressure and strong tackling. When he was able to find the ball in space, he used it typically well. Rypstra had a number of shots on goal, unfortunately missing his set-shots before a flying attempt from the pocket hit the post. After managing 17 touches and seven inside 50s against the Eagles, expect Rypstra to build into the year after a strong bottom-aged season in 2021.

WWT EAGLES:

#6 Jedd Thomson

Thomson played a key role down back for Woodville-West Torrens in his first Under 18s appearance of the year. Charged with the kick-in duties, the reigning premiers’ coaching staff placed their trust in Thomson’s long right-foot kicking when exiting the defensive 50. Although he missed a number of targets throughout the game which he would normally hit, Thomson was one of the Eagles’ better performers, finishing with 24 disposals, 10 rebounds and a fourth-quarter goal.

#17 Brody Mair

Mair tried hard for Woodville-West Torrens despite being outclassed by a strong North Adelaide outfit. He booted the first goal of the game after receiving a down-field free kick. He spent some time in the middle but found the ball all over the ground, accumulating 18 possessions, five marks, three clearances, four inside 50s and three rebounds.

#24 Adam D’Aloia

The Roosters would have been well aware of D’Aloia’s ability to dominate games through the midfield, but they weren’t able to stop the highly-touted midfielder. After an ultra-impressive 2021 season, which saw him win best afield honours in the Under 18 grand final and represent South Australia in the National Championships, D’Aloia played a lone hand at times in the Eagles’ 36-point loss. Strongly built already, D’Aloia won the opening clearance of the game following a holding free kick. The Roosters would continue to hold and apply physical pressure to D’Aloia in a bid to curb his influence (he won four free kicks), however it was to no avail. Reading the taps better than anyone else on the ground, D’Aloia was clean by hand, often releasing his teammates and getting things moving forward for the reigning premiers. Although his kicking wasn’t overly damaging, his skills were clean and his ability to get his hands to the ball first was a sight to behold at times. He managed 35 disposals, two marks, three tackles, 12 clearances, 11 inside 50s.

#25 Mattaes Phillipou

Phillipou managed to hit the scoreboard in what proved to be a solid showing from the potential draftee. A high-upside player, he started on-ball where his clean hands and contested ball winning was impressive. When shifted forward, Phillipou’s natural leap and overhead prowess offered something different for coach Shane Reardon‘s men. He couldn’t quite complete the big mark but certainly threatened. His set shot goalkicking routine looks very compact and sound, and clearly worked for him on the day. Phillipou finished with 24 touches, four marks, four tackles, three clearances and five inside 50s.

AROUND THE GROUNDS

By: Micah Hann

Round 2 of the SANFL Under 18 competition commenced with Sturt playing host to West Adelaide in a thriller. The Double Blues skipped out to a four-goal lead at quarter time, with talented bottom-ager Loch Rawlinson (20 disposals and a goal) kicking their first in the opening minute of the game. Chad Reschke extended their lead early in the second quarter when he kicked the second of his bag of five goals for the day, before steadiers from Kobe Ryan and Anthony Munkara stopped the bleeding for the away side.  

Ryan was prolific through the midfield again, finishing with 27 disposals, six clearances and a game-high nine tackles. He received great support through the middle of the ground from Tyson Coe who collected 29 disposals and an incredible 13 clearances, helping West get on top at the stoppages.  

Unable to close the gap going into half time, West turned to key forward Tom Scully (six goals), who piled on five in less than a quarter of football, to lead his side back into the contest. The teams traded goals in the last quarter, before back to back goals from Munkara and Scully drew West within a kick, with less than two minutes to play. The double blues were able to hold on late to win by five points and capture their second win for the season.  

George Pope was great at stoppage for Sturt (25 disposals, seven clearances and a goal), Luca Slade won plenty of it around the ground (23 disposals, nine marks and a goal) and Alex Holt rebounded all day out of defence (21 kicks and seven rebound 50s).  

South Adelaide demolished Central District on the road, to capture its first win of the season. Already with a seven-goal lead at half time, the Panthers piled on 11 goals to one in the second half, running out winners by an emphatic 107 points.  
 
Thomas Welk (29 hitouts, four clearances) gave South first look through the middle of the ground and midfielders Angus Bradley (29 disposals, nine marks, five clearances and two goals) and Jaiden Magor (22 disposals, nine marks, seven clearances and two goals) made the most of that advantage.  

Having spent much of last season as the lead ruck, Will Verrall was cast in a new role up forward, where he managed three goals for the match. Fellow SA Talent Hub member Jack Delean managed a bag of five goals with Blake Rodrigues also kicking three.  

Sebastian Wauer found plenty of the ball across half back for the Dogs’, amassing 41 possessions, including nine rebounds from defensive 50. Trent Tattoli collected 28 possession and also worked to provide some drive out of the back half, exiting defensive 50 on seven occasions. Brodie Tuck presented tirelessly all day, taking 11 marks and finishing with 24 disposals and a goal to his name.

Glenelg moved to 2-0 with a convincing win over Norwood. The Tigers kicked five goals to one in the first quarter and when Jayden Davis (five goals, 16 disposals and eight marks) kicked his third for the day inside the first two minutes of the second quarter, it looked an uphill battle for the boys in red and blue. Norwood closed within three goals at three quarter time, but Davis’ fifth and a second to Jake Walker (two goals, 26 disposals and six inside 50’s) to start the last quarter put the nail in the coffin.  

Archie Lovelock (28 disposals, 10 tackles) and Jakob Ryan (28 disposals, six tackles) found plenty of the ball, while Hayden Brokensha (27 disposals, seven clearances, six tackles and eight inside 50’s) and Bowen Payne (27 disposals, eight inside 50s and four clearances) were pivotal at stoppage and key movers for the Tigers.  

Riley Verrall was productive for Norwood, finishing with 20 disposals and a goal. Taj Rahui bounced back from a tough game last week, to finish with 17 disposals and six clearances, while Phoenix Foster was the only multiple goalkicker for the ‘Legs, finishing with two on the day.  

A couple of SA Talent Hub members got an opportunity at senior level this week, with the SANFL League and Reserves competitions getting underway for season 2022. Austin McDonald won 17 disposals and laid six tackles in a tight win for Central’s reserves side, while Nick Sadler had seven disposals and a goal in his League debut for Sturt.