West End State Game Teams

By ZAC MILBANK

SANFL v WAFL | Adelaide Oval | 3:35pm | live streamed exclusively at theadvertiser.com.au | live radio broadcast on SEN SA & SEN WA

Curtain raiser to the AFL Port Adelaide v Western Bulldogs match

West End State Team

SANFL will have as many as 14 players make their West End State Team debut against the WAFL at Adelaide Oval on Saturday.

Magarey Medallists Luke Partington an Campbell Combe will be among the stars donning the cherished red guernsey for the first time at State League level.

Captain Jack Hayes will start at centre-half forward while Glenelg co-captains Chris Curran and Max Proud will hold down key defensive posts as they did in 2019.

Fos Williams Medallist Michael Knoll will get things rolling in the centre square with AFL-experienced pair Bryce Gibbs and Cam Sutcliffe among those to win the contested ball.

Five players have been named on the extended interchange bench, including pacy South Adelaide debutants Hayden Sampson and Eamon Wilkinson.

F: (8) Stengle, (28) McBean, (10) Partington

HF: (21) Reynolds, (18) Hayes, (7) Knight

C: (4) Goldsworthy, (14) Nunn, (17) Haines

HB: (11) Allmond, (15) Curran, (27) Broadbent

B: (6) Spina, (19) Proud, (5) Rowland

R: (30) Knoll, (16) Gibbs, (22) Sutcliffe

INT: (3) Combe, (20) Hosie, (9) Wilkinson, (2) Sampson, (23) Thompson

DEBUT: Tyson Stengle, Luke Partington, Campbell Combe, Matthew Nunn, Eamon Wilkinson, Hayden Sampson, Alex Spina, Sam Rowland, Bryce Gibbs, Lachie Hosie, Matthew Broadbent, Luke Reynolds, Riley Knight, Liam McBean

KIA WAFL Team

F: (5) Ninyette, (20) Keitel, (13) Marsh

HF: (7) Parker, (17) Delahunty, (4) Thorne

C: (9) Fisher, (24) Clark, (8) Edwards

HB: (14) Eardley, (30) Schlensog, (16) Rogers

B: (19) Pearson, (29) Strom, (10) Martinis

R: (23) Gault, (22) Bolton, (1) Kitchin

INT: (15) England, (12) Mountford, (3) West, (18) Schoenfeld, (27) Pegoraro

By STEVE BARRETT

2019 – SA by seven points at Optus Stadium
The hometown favourites, gunning for three-in-a-row, stormed 22 points clear 10 minutes into the second period before the underdogs in red staged a withering fightback.

Fos Williams Medallist Michael Knoll got on top in ruck as Carr’s Croweaters, after pegging the deficit back to four points at half-time, hit the lead for the first time following majors to Troy Menzel and Lewis Hender.

Suddenly with all the momentum and the territory, SA hammered nine of 11 goals either side of half-time to lead by 18 points before finally staving off WA’s hard finish-line charge.

2018 – WA by 26 points at Adelaide Oval
A four-goal-to-nil first quarter had the Croweaters humming but the home side was soon left shellshocked when the Sandgropers replied with an even more emphatic eight-goal-to-zilch second term to hold sway by 24 points at half-time.

SA closed to within a point when Matthew Panos goaled midway through the third stanza but it was as near as the Croweaters would get as the Black Swans reasserted their dominance in the fourth.

SA skipper Zane Kirkwood (36 disposals, eight tackles, a goal) reaffirmed his greatness and thoroughly deserved his third Fos Williams Medal.

But not even the Sturt champion’s virtuoso was enough to deny WA its first victory on Adelaide soil since defeating Andrew Payze’s SA team at Football Park in 1994, wiping away 25 years of pain.

2015 – WA by 45 points at Lathlain Park
Legendary Graham Cornes made a shock return to the Croweaters’ hot seat for the first time since 1999.

Under Cornes, SA’s all-time most successful State coach by winning percentage, the Croweaters famously went undefeated from 1986-94 during the golden era of State of Origin football.

However there would be no fairytale comeback as WA proved far too slick and precise on Lathlain Park’s wide expanses.

SA kept up with the pace at quarter-time before the Black Swans got motoring, slamming six goals to one to take complete control and run the Croweaters ragged.

2012 – SA by 14 points at Glenelg
Eagles forward Adam Grocke slotted seven majors to earn the Fos Williams Medal as SA, coached by Michael Godden and skippered by Paul Thomas, held off WA’s spirited second-half challenge.

The Croweaters led handsomely by 22 points at half-time before the Sandgropers raised the bar in the third stanza, wiping the deficit clean and drawing level at three-quarter-time.

But with Grocke dominant and midfielders Nick Liddle and Chris Schmidt prolific, SA regained the ascendancy and had enough in the tank in the final term.