THERE was a theme to three of the Round 1 SANFL Women’s winners, with almost identical scores for Woodville-West Torrens, South Adelaide and Central District. While each of the teams put up a total score of 52 or 53, they also kept their opponents to under five goals in comfortable victories to kick off their respective seasons.

>> SANFLW Round 1 MOTR: Lishmund draws first Blood for West

OTHER ROUND 1 RESULTS:

Woodville-West Torrens got on the board with an impressive 35-point win over Sturt down at Ottoway. The Eagles and Double Blues went toe-for-toe for parts of the first term though the accuracy of the Eagles had them ahead by 11 points. After that it was all the Eagles on the scoreboard, booting 4.4 to 0.4 to run away with the contest.

The Eagles tough inside midfield lead the way with a clearance dominance of 38 to 24 despite narrowly losing the hitouts (34-39). Feeding off the experienced Leah Cutting in the ruck, the likes of Christina Leuzzi (19 disposals, 10 clearances and nine tackles), Marlie Fiegert (14 disposals, nine clearances) and Poppy Waterford (12 disposals, nine tackles and seven clearances) crashing and bashing their way around the inside.

Youngsters Lucy Moore and Imogen Trengove looked good in their first games for 2025, while debutant Maia Freemantle was a natural off a wing. For Sturt, Isobel Kuiper battled hard on the inside as she always does, amassing 19 disposals, eight tackles and seven clearances in the loss. Alex Ballard made a successful SANFLW return playing on all three lines, while Jasmin Fejo enjoyed a great contest with Cutting.

Sturt will look to bounce back in Round 2 against Central District, while the Eagles host Glenelg in a second successive match at Ottoway looking to go 2-0 to start the season.

WWT EAGLES 4.1 | 5.1 | 7.3 | 8.5 (53)
STURT 2.2 | 2.4 | 2.5 | 2.6 (18)

GOALS:
WWT Eagles: K. O’Neill 2, A. Baker, R. Zerella, O. Evans, M. Fiegert, L. Moore, B. Walling
Sturt: A. Gepp, G. King

RMC BEST:
WWT Eagles: L. Cutting, P. Gikas, C. Leuzzi, I. Trengove, M. Fiegert,
Sturt: I. Kuiper, A. Ballard, J. Fejo, A. Gepp, C. Edmonds

South Adelaide flexed its muscles and ensured a repeat of Round 1 from last year did not occur again with a commanding last quarter to shake off a determined Norwood in the grand final rematch. Though the Panthers got hold of the Redlegs in the decider to win their third SANFLW flag last season, Norwood beat South Adelaide in the earlier two fixtures between the sides, including a Round 2 contest and then keeping the eventual premiers to their lowest ever score.

After only being 11 points up at the last break, the Panthers kicked three goals to one in the final quarter to put an exclamation mark on the result and start their premiership defence on a high by 24 points.

The impact of Shae Archbold (three goals from 16 disposals) was great in the over-ager’s second season back from an ACL injury, while the trio of bottom-agers in Taya Maxwell (24 disposals, four marks, six clearances and five inside 50s), Emma Charlton (21 disposals, three marks, nine tackles, four clearances and a goal) and Layla Vizgaudis (22 disposals, six marks, five tackles and five inside 50s) were aaso among the best.

For Norwood, the valuable experience of Jade Halfpenny (21 disposals, three marks, nine tackles and four rebound 50s) was crucial, while defenders Sophie Arkun (18 disposals, three marks and six rebound 50s) and Emily Bartsch (14 disposals, four marks and six rebound 50s) tried hard all game, as did the skilful Sarah Branford (17 disposals, three marks, three inside 50s and two rebound 50s).

South Adelaide hosts North Adelaide at Noarlunga next Sunday, a day after the Redlegs welcome West Adelaide to The Parade.

SOUTH ADELAIDE 0.4 | 3.6 | 4.9 | 7.11 (53)
NORWOOD 0.3 | 2.3 | 3.4 | 4.5 (29)

GOALS:
South Adelaide: S. Archbold 3, E. Brockhurst, M. Anderson, L. Baxter, E. Charlton
Norwood: E. Lineage 2, K. Lee, S. Simmonds

RMC BEST:
South Adelaide: E. Charlton, T. Maxwell, S. Archbold, L. Vizgaudis, J. Hickey
Norwood: S. Branford, S. Arkun, J. Halfpenny, E. Lineage, E. Bartsch

Central District essentially showed that preseason results mean little, with the Bulldogs finding their best form when premiership points are on the line. Losing both of their trial matches, Centrals came out to play against Glenelg in the battle of two revamped sides, winning by 31 points at The Ponderosa. Both teams unveiled a host of new and returning faces for the clash, and thanks to a dominant first three and a half quarters, the Bulldogs always looked on top.

Talented top-age AFLW Draft prospect Sophie Eaton racked up an impressive 25 disposals, four marks, six tackles, three clearances and six inside 50s in the win, setting up numerous scoring chances as well going inside 50. She worked well alongside the contested Jovanka Zecevic (22 disposals, six tackles, three clearances and three inside 50s), while new recruits Tesharna Maher and Alysha Healy both hit the scoreboard. In a real team effort, Madison Lane and Lauren Breguet were also among the better players on the day.

Glenelg star midfielder Jessica Bates shrugged off a slow start by her standards to shake off the defensive attention around the stoppages and finish with a more typical Bates statline of 37 touches, four marks, seven clearances, four inside 50s, five rebound 50s and a goal. Surprisingly she did not lay a tackle – after averaging 12.9 last season – though that was left to new recruit Asha Dufour who laid eight to go with 18 touches. State Academy members Georgie Fielder (25 disposals, six clearances) and Tessa Davis (24 disposals, four marks and 14 rebound 50s) were also clearly among the best Bays.

Central District takes on Sturt at X Convenience Oval next weekend, with Glenelg heading down to Ottoway to face Woodville-West Torrens in a bid to bounce back.

CENTRAL DISTRICT 0.3 | 3.5 | 7.7 | 7.10 (52)
GLENELG 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.2 | 3.3 (21)

GOALS:
Central District: A. Healy 2, K. Rosenzweig 2, L. Breguet 2, T. Maher
Glenelg: J. Bates, J. Horne, T. Morriss

RMC BEST:
Central District: S. Eaton. T. Maher, J. Zecevic, M. Lane, L. Breguet
Glenelg: J. Bates, T. Davis, G. Fielder, S. Franson, A. Dufour