STURT’S midfield has been humming in the early part of the SANFL Under 18 season, largely thanks to the combination of Richmond father-son prospect Louis Kellaway and Noah Roberts-Thomson. The latter is yet to drop below 20 disposals across five rounds as the Double Blues sit pretty atop the ladder.

A 180cm on-baller who works hard to win his own ball, Roberts-Thomson has been part of South Australia’s state academy pathway since Under 16 level. He’s the cousin of two-time premiership Swan Lewis, but is paving his own path to the top level. He’s our SANFL Under 18s Player Focus for Round 5.

>> SANFL U18s: Round 5 recap | Round 5 Scouting Notes

SturtMidfielder-Forward

Noah Roberts-Thomson

Height: 180cm

Weight: -

DOB: 29-03-2007

2025 AVERAGES (5 games):

23.8 disposals, 5.6 marks, 4.2 tackles, 4.2 clearances, 1.2 goals (6 total)

THE EXPERTS SAID:

“Noah is a strong, contested ball-winning player who also uses his strong running capacity to link the ball up on the outside as well. Throughout our program, he trained with the midfielders developing his stoppage and ground level craft. He also did some work with our defenders focusing on aerial and one-on-one defending fundamentals. Noah has had a very good preseason and has shown some great progressions both technically and physically.” – SANFL Head of Development, Heath Younie

>> FULL SQUAD: South Australia Under 18s

PLAYER FOCUS

2025 SANFL Under 18s: Round 5
Sturt 13.17 (95) def. Norwood 6.7 (43)

#26 Noah Roberts-Thomson (Sturt)
Stats: 22 disposals, 3 marks, 6 tackles, 3 clearances, 2 goals, 4 behinds

Centre Bounce Attendances: Q1 6/10 | Q2 3/4 | Q3 3/7 | Q4 1/1 | Total: 13/22

FIRST QUARTER:

It was easy to identify Roberts-Thomson, sporting a pair of bright yellow boots at the opening centre bounce. He lined up next to Jim Kelly and swooped on the loose ball, attempting a quick handpass but seeing it turn over off hands to Kelly as Norwood cleared.

That early possession set the tone for Roberts-Thomson’s game, as he went on to burrow in as Sturt’s primary ball winner. Redlegs ruck Sam Ainsworth dominated the hitouts, meaning the Double Blues onballer had to be proactive and read the taps.

Roberts-Thomson was clean at the coalface and his presence there mattered, as highlighted when Sturt broke to a 25-1 head start within 14 minutes, only for him to rotate forward out of the centre bounces and watch Norwood score in the next 60 seconds.

While sucked to the ball at times, Roberts-Thomson won it more often than not. He also applied himself defensively at stoppages, providing great pressure on one instance to prevent a Norwood clearance, which in turn saw Sturt break forward and score.

SECOND QUARTER:

Roberts-Thomson shifted tact slightly to more often be a receiver at stoppages, benefitting from the clean inside work of Louis Kellaway. He tracked the play well and timed his forward runs to gather on the move, while also opening his account on the scoreboard.

A terrific front-and-centre crumb yielded Roberts-Thomson’s first goal, positioning expertly under Ben Beaven to mop up the spilt mark and finish with the outside of his boot. That moment, and a loose ball gather on the spin showcased his power and attack on the ball.

While known as a workhorse who can win his own footy and help others shine, Roberts-Thomson’s crumbing game translates well inside 50. He’s quick to dispose of the ball and opportunistic when it hits the deck, which led to two gilt-edge shots in the second term.

THIRD QUARTER:

Roberts-Thomson continued to win plenty of inside ball and was sure to wrap up the opposition on the rare occasion he was beaten to it. He had another couple of moments where he simply wanted possession more, attacking the ball with vigour and spinning out of danger.

He missed over half of the centre bounces having rotated forward once the early deadlock was broken, and had another couple of opportunities. After missing a gettable chance on the run, he straightened up with a set shot late in the quarter to stretch Sturt’s lead.

Roberts-Thomson otherwise continued to join in at stoppages and extract the ball at will. He often showed good vision and awareness to hit targets with hot hands, and did not blaze away by foot, but perhaps lacked a sense of hurt factor aside from his scoring output.

FOURTH QUARTER:

It was more of the same from Roberts-Thomson as he rounded out a solid performance. His pressure acts in the attacking half often led to scores, with repeat efforts allowing Sturt to thwart threatening turnover situations and lock the ball up. He was clean as usual at stoppages and had one more ping at the big sticks, missing a late snap.

SUMMARY

Roberts-Thomson has maintained a strong level of consistency to start the season, racking up possessions and hitting the scoreboard at a good rate. His Round 5 performance fell in line with that trend, though was unique in the sense it was the only game he has had more handballs than kicks.

Boasting six scoring shots, only three of Roberts-Thomson’s disposals were kicks in open play, meaning much of his output revolved around feeding the ball out from stoppages. He did so extremely well, reading the ball shrewdly and proving clean and quick with his hands.

The midfielder also applied himself defensively to lay an equal team-high of six tackles, shutting down dangerous moments and forcing spills which allowed Sturt to turn the ball over and score. Compounding his impact were two terrific goals which again highlights his value as a midfielder-forward.

Roberts-Thomson seems to have made great strides in the early part of 2025. His ability to impact forward of centre will help him stand out in a South Australian engine room featuring high-end talent, though there is no reason he cannot hold his own either as a defensive midfielder, or primary ball winner.