Round 6 Hostplus SANFL Snapshot – Super Saturday

Sturt strangled the life out of high-flying Adelaide as it continued its irresistible start to the season with a 10-point win at Wigan Oval.

Restricting the normally potent Crows to just 56 points for the match and just 1.3 in the second half, the Double Blues stretched their unbeaten run to six matches.

Sturt had much less of the football – 64 fewer disposals and 23 fewer marks – yet won the inside 50m count by 44-37 as it defended every last inch of its Unley fortress in desperate fashion.

Leading by just four points when goalsneak James Mathews launched a snap wide for a behind in the 16th minute of the final term, the hosts found their match-winner in key forward Josh Rentsch.

The strong-marking Victorian clunked a vital grab in the goal square in the 22nd minute, his goal incredibly pushing the lead out to double-figures for the first and only time in the match.

Rentsch was at it again just two minutes later when he snared an equally important mark at half-back as Sturt was looking to protect the ball in the dying minutes.

Fellow bigmen Amos Doyle (12 disposals, eight clearances, two goals) and Lachlan Burrows (three goals) also had an influence as captain James Battersby racked up a team-high 19 disposals, eight tackles and six clearances.

Tom Lewis continued his tough tackling ways with 14, to go with 17 touches while Pat Wilson had 15 disposals, 10 tackles and seven clearances.

Classy forward Josh Hone kicked three goals for Sturt while Rentsch kicked a pair.

Adelaide, without ruckman Kieran Strachan (head knock) for the second half, kicked a goal inside the opening 41 seconds thanks to marquee signing Jack Madgen.

But it would prove to be false hope in terms of the frequency of majors as the visitors could only manage one behind in the fourth term.

Crow Matt Crouch tallied a game-high 31 disposals and 10 clearances while Brayden Cook impressed with 20 disposals, two goals and seven marks.

Defender Josh Worrell collected 23 possessions while Harry Schoenberg had 19 and seven tackles for the visitors, who lost just their second match of the season.

Nine goals in succession catapulted Glenelg to a highly-impressive 57-point win against North Adelaide at Stratarama Stadium.

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the club’s memorable 1973 premiership against the Roosters, the Tigers showed exactly why they are a genuine threat this season while banking their fifth victory in a row.

North’s Aaron Young tied up the scores with his side’s opening goal of the game nearing the 15th minute of the first quarter.

But by the time teammate Keenan Ramsey kicked the visitors’ second, the Bays had gone on an entertaining rampage as Ken Farmer Medallist Liam McBean booted three of his six goals for the game in the first 10 minutes of the second stanza.

After taking a back seat in terms of scoring while teammate Lachie Hosie has shined in 2023, McBean made his turn count as took 11 marks while collected 16 disposals in an eye-catching display.

Glenelg’s deep midfield rotation proved too strong for North as Corey Lyons (31 disposals, six clearances), Luke Partington (29 disposals, eight marks) and Matt Snook (29 disposals, six clearances) were well supported by Matt Allen (23 disposals, one goal) and Brett Turner (23 disposals).

West End State squad member Cam McGree put his hand up for selection with 18 disposals, seven marks, six clearances, 20 hit outs and a goal while Luke Reynolds kicked three goals and Riley Holder two.

North’s tireless hero in the middle Campbell Combe racked up a game-high 36 disposals, six clearances and eight tackles while captain Alex Spina had 26 disposals.

Roosters wingmen Frank Szekely (25 disposals) and Jake Patmore (24 disposals) battled hard as Young made an encouraging return from concussion to register 22 disposals, five tackles and two goals.

A spirited four-goal flurry turned the match in West Adelaide’s favour as it earned a hard-fought 12-point win against Norwood in Port Lincoln.

The Redlegs looked set to snap their shock five-game losing streak to start the season when premiership forward Baynen Lowe put his side 16 points up three minutes into the third quarter.

But the Bloods suddenly went to work on the scoreboard as Joel Stevens, Luke Redfern, Hamish Ellem and Michael Laudato struck in succession to earn a nine-point break just 10 minutes later.

Norwood – hosting the contest at Centenary Oval for the second year in a row – got within a behind 10 minutes into the fourth quarter but majors to Bloods goalsneaks Josh Gore and Redfern ensured the result on the Eyre Peninsula would be the reverse of last season.

West’s triumph was made more remarkable considering it conceded a whopping 64 inside 50m entries to the Redlegs while managing to kick a winning score from just 38 of their own.

Bloods ball magnet Kobe Ryan led the way with 28 disposals, 12 tackles and 11 clearances to be a standout for the visitors while Joel Stevens (25 disposals, one goal) and acting captain Isaac Johnson (23 disposals, one goal) were also active.

Ellem also strung together another encouraging performance with 16 disposals and two goals as Callum Park racked up a team-high 21 kicks from his 26 disposals.

Aside from its high inside 50m count the Redlegs found positives from c0-captain Matt Nunn racking up 29 possessions, nine tackles and five clearances and Nik Rokahr having 27 touches, eight tackles and seven clearances.

Lowe finished with 21 disposals and two goals while Jack Oatey Medallist Harry Boyd produced a monster display which included 20 disposals, six clearances, five marks and 59 hit outs.

Matt ”King” Panos continues to buiild nicely at League level after his delayed start to the season after chalking up 18 disposals, five tackles and two goals.

Woodville-West Torrens ensured it didn’t slip behind the competition’s pace-setters with a workmanlike 24-point victory against Central District at Maughan Thiem Kia Oval.

In desperate need of a win after losing their past four matches in succession, the Eagles got what they craved despite having 11 fewer inside 50 entries (32 to 43).

Seemingly headed for the two premiership points when inform bigman Connor Ballenden slotted his third goal in the seventh minute of the fourth term, the hosts were coasting with a 22-point buffer.

But two quick goals to Central captain Jarrod Schiller and wingman Luca Whitelum cut the margin to just 11 points nearing the midway point of the quarter.

A steadying long bomb launched by Will Pearce was followed by a second major to Eagles captain Jopseh Sinor though, as Jade Sheedy’s men locked themselves into sixth spot with one game to play in Round 6.

Sinor threw himself into the contest to reach 21 disposals, 10 clearances and 14 tackles to go with his two goals while Mitch Hardie tallied 24 possessions and nine tackles for the hosts.

Hard-running pair Luke Beecken and Jimmy Toumpas each collected 19 disposals for the Eagles as Richmond recruit Riley Collier-Dawkins finished with 18 disposals.

Central’s Harry Grant registered a team-high 21 disposals and 11 tackles while skipper Schiller had 19 disposals and eight clearances.

But the Bulldogs had very little else to speak about from an individual perspective as 15 players had 11 disposals or less.