CONTINUING on with his senior exposure, Sid Draper got his first win at League level for South Adelaide this year in the Panthers’ 15-point victory over Port Adelaide on Sunday afternoon.

The slick midfield talent got his fair share of centre bounce attendances but predominantly featured on the half-forward line, where he rolled up to the stoppages in midfield.

Draper’s performance was mixed with poise, dare, and impact, featuring in some clutch moments late in the third quarter.

We put the Under 18 All-Australian’s Round 15 showing under the Player Focus microscope, dissecting his game quarter-by-quarter.

South Adelaide, South AustraliaMidfielder

Sid Draper

Height: 182cm

Weight: -

DOB: 05-07-2006

2024 SANFL League: Round 15
Port Adelaide 12.8 (80) def. by South Adelaide 14.11 (95)

#3 Sid Draper (South Adelaide)
Stats: 23 disposals, 5 clearances, 5 inside 50s, 1 goal
CBAs: 11/28 (match): Q1 6/7 | Q2 1/8 | Q3 2/5 | Q4 2/8

FIRST QUARTER

Draper started entrenched within the centre stoppages and chose his moments wisely to push forward and get first hands off the ruck tap.

It was a persistent theme all day, but his core strength kept his hands above his waist, resisting the tackle pressure, getting off a handball no matter what direction that tackle came from.

Draper was consistent with his defensive pressure acts, and while he struggled to lay tackles, his ability to rush an opponent was still as effective in forcing a turnover.

Efficiency was Draper’s foremost punishing aspect of his game, with nearly executing every disposal to the advantage of a teammate which made him consistently reliable across four quarters.

Ground balls were one of his early highlights, with a low centre of gravity that almost makes the pickup of the footy seamless running at pace.

At times in the centre bounce, he was pushed out of the contest by bigger-bodied opponents, and struggled to reassert himself in the contest, but his work rate contest-to-contest made up for it more often than not.

SECOND QUARTER

Draper spent most of his time from the second quarter onwards at half-forward but quickly rolled up into the centre stoppage after the first bounce.

His aggression was expressed in his brute strength powering through the opposition on the run in transition, and every possession felt like an opportunity for the Panthers.

The balance between power and poise carried Draper’s decision-making in the second quarter, analysing his options around the stoppage before the play which gave him a lot more time to set up an outside runner in transition.

Most of Draper’s run on the outside was overlooked in transition, but he found himself gaining separation from his direct opponent offensively.

Every time Port Adelaide got back within reach on the scoreboard, Draper was relied upon to return back to the centre bounces, and provided grunt work to run out the remaining seconds of the second.

THIRD QUARTER

The outside gut-running carried on into the second half, as Draper continued to make swift decisions on the run in transition, naturally opening the ground for his teammates with his running patterns.

Draper was emphatic with his choice of impact, and his first magic moment of the third quarter began with a crunching tackle sprinting from the outside of a contest, forcing a turnover, picking up the ground ball, and dishing off a handball for his teammate to slot the goal.

Only 60 seconds later Draper found himself entrenched within the action, extracting a ground ball on the run through the corridor and setting up the deepest forward over the top with a long kick, making it two assists for two goals in two minutes.

The two moments were impactful given the context of the game, where the Power had reduced the margin down to 15-points in the third quarter, his impact got the margin back out of reach.

The bar was raised even higher late in the third quarter, where Draper was able to use his acceleration to burst inside 50, burn off an opponent on his back, straightening up and composing himself to slot a lovely goal on the run from 30 metres out.

FOURTH QUARTER

Backing up such a quarter was almost impossible, even for Draper’s standards, although he was still sharp with his reflexes early, maintaining his strength to break out of tackles and release the footy in congestion.

His only moment of indecision was in the fourth quarter, getting loose in transition, fumbling a loose ball, regaining composure to gather, but almost doing too much running himself into trouble.

Draper was able to contain himself to impact smaller moments given his fatigue in the longer quarters, quick by hand to keep the footy moving, and maintaining run on the outside.

Again, he was relied upon late when the Power kicked three in a row late in the quarter, embedded in the centre bounces, which he was able to repeat his grunt work, similar to late in the second.

CLOSING THOUGHTS…

Draper has taken the step up the state league level with class, and his performances have been impact statements given his National Championships were slightly under his best.

Given his smaller stature for an inside midfielder, his ability to impact through his ground level capacity makes his assets desirable as a punishing source of power to force offensive transition.

Draper’s ability to withstand tackle pressure all day and find a way to get his hands loose was a level above in the contest.

Whilst unrewarded, Draper’s patterned running on the outside kept the ground spread out, and his work rate didn’t drop off contest-to-contest.

His third-quarter impact was phenomenal in completely reverting momentum back to the Panthers, and his instinctive decision-making was critical in impacting contests.

Although fatigue set in late into the fourth quarter, the extended game time didn’t impact his output, maintaining high efficiency until the end.