A SCINTILLATING third term turnaround has seen South Adelaide defeat Woodville-West Torrens by 13 points in our SANFL Under 18s match of the round. The Panthers trailed at the first two breaks, but piled on five goals in 10 minutes to take the lead at Maughan Thiem Kia Oval en route to running out 10.14 (74) to 9.7 (61) victors. In South’s first win of the season, we highlighted the top performers before taking a look around the grounds.

SCOUTING NOTES

Woodville-West Torrens:

#5 Jedd Thomson 

Thomson split time through the midfield and across half-back where he found his fair share of the football. He was typically safe with his disposal, though an uncharacteristic loose handball in the goalsquare cost the Eagles a goal in the first half. Despite that mistake, Thomson looked relatively settled at the level and proved to be one of the Eagles’ better ball winners on the day.  

#6 Archer Charles 

Charles opened his scoring account midway through the first term, taking advantage from a free kick to run into an open goal. If his first goal came with ease, the same could not be said for the rest of his haul. Charles added three final quarter goals to take his tally to four for the game. His last three included a miraculous finish from the boundary, an incredible snap finish under extreme pressure, and a long bomb from 50m out which capped off a quality individual performance.  

#7 Riley Davey 

Davey was impressive at stoppage, winning a team-high six clearances and showing great strength to stand up in tackles and release the ball to teammates by hand. His best moment came when he converted a long-range set shot goal late in the first half.  

#17 Rome Burgoyne 

It was a bit of a mixed bag for Burgoyne. He had some moments where he was a little shaky under pressure but for the most part was pretty composed down back. Shouldering the kick-out duties for the majority of the game, the younger brother of Jase was at his best when he used his long, penetrating kick to clear defensive 50 and hit up teammates on the wing.  

#25 Thomas Luck 

Luck was near best afield at quarter time. The bottom-age tall was influential through the middle of the ground, winning plenty of the ball, dominating the ruck and even managing to push forward and hit the scoreboard. Though he wasn’t able to sustain the same level of influence after the first break, Luck still had some nice moments where he used his size and athleticism to lead up at the footy and jump up and over his opponent in the ruck.  

South Adelaide:

#3 Sid Draper 

Whilst it wasn’t a high possession game for Draper, the bottom-age midfielder still flashed some of the speed and class that he’s built his reputation on. He hit a beautiful, attacking kick through the corridor from half-back that opened up the opposition, and showed some nice work by hand around the contest. Unfortunately he was unable to convert in front of goal, missing two set shot opportunities.  

#6 Benny Barrett 

Barrett is an excitement machine and always looks dangerous when he’s around the football. He consistently used his speed to apply pressure inside forward 50 and found some reward in front of goal. His first major came off some great defensive pressure which allowed him to intercept the ball in the goal-square and convert truly. His second came from textbook front and centre work where he read the ball beautifully off the pack and finished with a snap shot that bounced through.  

#10 Jack Delean

The possession numbers don’t jump off the page, but Delean just looked a class above the level. Though he did miss some gettable opportunities by his standard, his first and third goals were truly elite. After contesting a deep forward entry in the air, Delean followed up his effort on the ground, tapping the ball through traffic and snapping over his left shoulder with a classy finish. His third goal came from an incredible drop punt finish on the boundary line that opened up a game-high lead for the Panthers.  

#12 Phoenix Hargrave 

Hargrave was the Panther’s most prolific player through the middle of the ground, finishing with a team-high 22 disposals and eight clearances. The bottom-age prospect did some heavy lifting on the inside and showed great strength to battle for the contested ball. When he didn’t have possession, he worked hard to apply pressure and was waiting to capitalise on any mistake made by the opposition. Hargrave had a great opportunity to cap off his performance with a goal late in the last quarter but unfortunately couldn’t get the reward he deserved.  

#23 Tom Wheaton 

Wheaton’s size and power were impressive, particularly at stoppage where he earned a great deal of attention from Eagle, Jett Hasting. Undeterred, he still managed to win his fair share of the football inside the contest, demonstrating clean hands to extract the football and distribute to teammates on the outside. Wheaton moves through traffic so smoothly and absorbs the tackling pressure without allowing it to impact his disposal. When not playing through the middle he spent some time forward where he used his size to present as a marking option inside 50.

AROUND THE GROUNDS

Glenelg kicked things off on Thursday night with an even two-goal win at Stratarama Stadium, handing West Adelaide its third-consecutive defeat. The Bays led from the first goal but were pushed all the way by a valiant Westies side in the 8.8 (56) to 6.8 (44) result.

Beau Symonds topped the disposals tally with 24, while Conor Gluyas booted a goal from his 22 touches and leading draft prospect Ashton Moir snared two majors in yellow and black. Defender Will Patton was again resolute for Westies with 21 disposals, while Judd Hansen snared three goals.

North Adelaide was the other victor on Thursday night, as the Roosters downed Central District by seven points at X Convenience Oval. The visitors shot out of the blocks with five goals to one in the opening term and managed to hold on 9.7 (61) to 8.6 (54) to join the Bulldogs on two wins.

Angus Tully and Trent Tattoli led all comers for either side with 31 disposals apiece, while National Academy member Kane McAuliffe won seven clearances and kicked a goal for his 28. North’s Kalan Caputo and Central’s Liam Fawcett also claimed three majors each at opposite ends of the ground.

Fast forward to Friday, and Sturt came away with the biggest winning margin of Round 3 after downing Norwood by 61 points at Wigan Oval. The Double Blues poured on nine goals to two in the first half and got a nice percentage boost atop the ladder with their 17.12 (114) to 7.11 (53) thumping.

Jasper Maher starred with six goals, while the likes of Loch Rawlinson (29 disposals, two goals) and Luca Slade (26 and two) stuffed the stats sheet. Impressively, Norwood’s Jay Polkinghorne snared four majors in a losing effort.

There were a couple of juniors plying their trade at League level too. Norwood’s Logan Evans impressed with a classy goal from 12 touches in a loss to Sturt, while tall forward Patrick Weckert took two marks and kicked a behind as Woodvile-West Torrens went down to South Adelaide.