2022 North Adelaide Pocket Profile

SANFL’s ZAC MILBANK breaks down all you need to know about the Roosters heading into the 2022 Hostplus SANFL League season.

Saturday March 5
North 13.10 (88) d Adelaide 12.15 (87) at West Lakes

Friday March 11
Glenelg 17.14 (116) d North 6.7 (43) at Thebarton Oval

Saturday March 19
North 11.9 (75) d Port 10.10 (70) at Alberton

Jake Patmore looms as a genuine wildcard for North Adelaide such is his versatility.

The 23-year-old, can play at either end of the field, with his latest club – WAFL team Claremont – using him primarily as a dashing defender in 2021.

The former Port Adelaide senior list member, who measures in at 184cm and 82kg, was trialled as a high half-forward due to his elite running patterns.

Either the West Australian is very much a welcome addition at Prospect.

”We were looking for a running half-back after Mitch Clisby decided to pull the pin,” North coach Jacob Surjan explained.

”Jakey wanted to get back to his roots and play across the half-back line so he’s been amazing for us so far with his ability to use the ball and composure.

”He’s crafty with ball in hand so we are very excited to have him.”

A natural accumulator of the ball off half-back in last year’s U18 Torrens University Cup, North’s Blayne O’Loughlin will be looking to replicate this in the Hostplus SANFL League in 2022.

Having been overlooked by AFL clubs, the 19-year-old small defender could potentially fill the void as the Roosters’ go-to man kicking the ball in after a behind, with the move of Jarred Allmond to the Eagles.

Measuring in at 171cm and 74kg, O’Loughlin will be playing with a point to prove as he looks to establish himself at League level.

”He’s a beautiful left-foot kick,” North coach Jacob Surjan noted.

”He’s just got great awareness to make great decisions by foot.”

Torrens University SA U18 coach Tony Bamford profiles the Roosters’ players

Billy Dowling
Medium-sized midfielder who is able to play inside and outside. Had an interrupted 2021 season due to some lower back issues that kept him out of some games early in the year. Billy has an ability to win the ball well off ground level while also impacting around stoppage. He is a smart footballer who sees the game well. Billy is working to improve his ball use efficiency this season along with finding ways to impact more defensively.

Isaac Keeler
Isaac is an Next Generation Acadamey aligned player with Adelaide. Fortunately, he has been provided an opportunity to train with the Crows AFL squad during preseason. He played in our SA U17 State team last year as a key forward while also playing key forward and as a second ruck for North’s U18s in 2021. Isaac has elite skill sets and the ability to impact the game in the air and on the ground. We are challenging him to continue to develop his workrate in both offence and defence this year.

Max Blacker
Max is a small midfielder/forward who has played his best footy in the past two years as a midfielder. Due to his size, he will need to learn to play as a small forward/pressure player this year to add to his ability as a ball-winning midfielder. We want to see him win the ball off the marking contests inside the forward 50, convert his scoring opportunities, as well as pressure and defend the opposition as they try to exit the ball. Athletically, Max ranks as Elite in both endurance and speed.

Kelsey Rypstra
Kelsey exploded onto the scene in 2021, playing for North’s U18s as a bottom age, high half-forward. His GPS high-speed running data is at an elite level already and he needs to now learn to use this to his advantage in games. He is strong over the ball in the contest, able to create overlaps for his team in offense and also very good at creating an outnumber ahead of the ball because he runs as hard as anyone in our U18 competition. We are looking for Kelsey to continue to build his game by improving his ability to hit targets going inside forward 50 by foot.