UNBEATEN Woodville-West Torrens will look for a remarkable fourth straight win against last year’s grand finalists Norwood, while both North Adelaide and Glenelg will be desperate for a victory before the first league-wide bye of the season.

FORM

Woodville-West Torrens is on a massive high at the moment, having won three consecutive games and is in its best position to challenge for a maiden finals series, albeit early in the season. The Eagles now confront a Norwood side that finally got its season underway, winning in a thriller over North Adelaide last week to move to 1-2 for the year thus far.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

Woodville-West Torrens: 3
Norwood: 8

Norwood comfortably has the edge in the two sides’ head-to-head with the encounters splite at Maughan Thiem Kia Oval. However despite the Redlegs making the grand final last season, it was the Eagles who upstaged Norwood twice, knocking their higher ranked opponents off by five points on both occasions.

TEAMS

Woodville-West Torrens:

B: Marlie Fiegert – Annie Falkenberg
HB: Sophie Zuill – Audrey Holt – Imogen Trengove
C: Popi Gikas – Christina Leuzzi – Ashley Baker
HF: Ruby Lynch – Klaudia O’Neill – Amie Blanden
F: Rosette Zerella – Cheryllee Waters
R: Zahlia Niemann – Poppy Waterford – Lucy Moore
INT: Leah Cutting – Olivia Evans – Julia Faulkner – Bianca Portaro – Brianna Walling

Norwood:

B: Charliee Brooksby – Ashlee Gould
HB: Sarah Branford – Emily Bartsch – Sophie Arkun
C: Kiana Lee – Sophie Armitstead – Sarah Branford
HF: Shai Hiscock – Jade Halfpenny – Charli Hazelhurst
F: Amelia Rusden – Grace Whittaker
R: Kate Alexander – Georgina Birchall – Stephanie Simmonds
INT: Candice Belbin – Emma Clark – Jazmine Egan – Coby Morgan – Lana Schwerdt

CHANGES

Woodville-West Torrens lose Under 16s talent Maia Freemantle to the state program, with Julia Faulkner returning to the side. Norwood regains some experience through midfield with reigning best and fairest winner Tahlita Buethke playing her first match of 2025, while the explosive Coby Morgan also returns from injury. The Redlegs made the tough choice to drop experienced defender Nicola Burns as well as Elle Lineage.

AFLW DRAFT WATCH

Earning the Breakthrough Player award last week, top-ager Imogen Trengove looms as a key player again for the Eagles, this time named at half-back. As versatile as they come, Trengove creates plenty of run and carry, and along with Lucy Moore, has been very strong to start the year. Tall Ruby Lynch is another Eagle to watch, while the Redlegs have young ruck Kate Alexander, as well as smooth moving defender Charlee Brooksby and athletic tall top-ager Charli Hazelhurst.

PREDICTION

It really is hard to tip against the Eagles given their form and they remain at home, albeit moving to Maughan Thiem Kia Oval rather than Ottoway. Norwood looked better last week but will need to up the scoring to match it with the red-hot Woodville-West Torrens.

FORM

Glenelg seemed to slip back in Round 3 after a promising Round 2 effort, but is on the verge of cracking through for the first win. That might come against a North Adelaide side that is also still building despite sitting at a solid 1-2 with only a pair of competitive defeats as negatives. It is the battle of the new coaches as well with Kelly Barltrop (North) up against Talia Radan (Glenelg).

HEAD-TO-HEAD

North Adelaide: 10
Glenelg: 6

North Adelaide made light work of Glenelg in the early days of the competition, winning eight of the first nine clashes between the sides. Since then, it has been 5-2 in the way of the Bays, though the Roosters did win the last encounter between the two, in a breakthrough victory at Prospect Oval in Round 11 last season.

TEAMS

North Adelaide:

B: Bailey Murray – Jamie Parish
HB: Ella Metcalfe – Laela Ebert – Lauren Hoffmann
C: Erin Sundstrom – Ash George – Sasha Hardin
HF: Polly Turner – Zara Molloy – Hannah Ewings
F: Amber Ward – Aprille Crooks
R: Anja Bancevic – Djimila Totham – Julia Clark
INT: Lara Harding – Tiara Hatchard – Lucy Reddaway – Libby Taylor – Brooke Wilson

Glenelg:

B: Lauren Edwards – Mackenzie O’Dea
HB: Ella Quinn – Tessa Davis – Marie Martino
C: Lakeisha Sheffield – Ellie Kellock – Samantha Franson
HF: Eloise Mackereth – Cassie McWilliam – Jordan Horne
F: Kaitey Whittaker – Asha Dufour
R: Shaylee Dayman – Jessica Bates – Georgie Fielder
INT: Astrid Gooley – Kiahni Russell – Ellen Tyminski – Lucy Weatherald – Matilda Wilmore

CHANGES

North Adelaide will be minus Under 16s talent Iris Newman who has state representative duties on Sunday, though there is a pretty handy in – Adelaide-listed Hannah Ewings. While AFLW players have been restricted from playing SANFLW this season as a blanket rule, Ewings’ taking the year off last season has the Crows keen to get her match fit.

As for Glenelg, Matilda Wilmore returns alongside potential debutants Kaitey Whittaker and Lakeisha Sheffield, while Ash Dyer-Pietsch misses due to personal reasons, and Tamsyn Morriss and Elizabeth Johnson have been omitted.

AFLW DRAFT WATCH

Glenelg has no shortage of young talent ready to explode if given the opportunity, with tall forward Eloise Mackereth and her partner in crime Jordan Horne inside 50. Georgie Fielder and Tessa Davis have had some big games this season, while Wilmore will get a second shot at proving herself in 2025. North forward Polly Turner is proving a handful for opposition defenders, while Lucy Reddaway is similarly dangerous inside 50 and Bailey Murray has provided run out of defence.

PREDICTION

Ewings’ return is the X-factor in the match with plenty of eyes keen to see how she fares. The Roosters have been more consistent this season and are at home, though it feels like the Bays are jsut waiting for everything to click before going on a winning run.