A host of young Crows have impressed in Adelaide’s opening SANFL trial against Sturt at Football Park.

Draftee Myles Poholke and fellow onballer Harrison Wigg were standouts in Saturday’s clash with the Double Blues.

The pair, who played in Adelaide’s first two JLT Community Series games, bullied their way to the ball around stoppages and were clean with their hands in close.

Poholke, 18, started the match strongly and claimed several contested marks throughout the contest.

Wigg kicked a classy goal in the final term and, although official stats were not recorded at the trial, the two youngsters were clearly Adelaide’s most prolific players.

The duo will not feature in Saturday afternoon’s final JLT Community Series match with Brisbane at Noarlunga.

The Crows lost the trial 11.11 (77) to Sturt’s 16.11 (107) despite kicking six goals to two in the final term, but there were positives all over the park for Adelaide.

Father-son recruit Ben Jarman showed his skill and flair with several nice touches and looked lively across half-forward.

New Crows SANFL co-captain Alex Keath had his game time managed in his return from groin soreness. The 25-year-old was a vocal presence playing up forward and had a hand in several Crows scores.


Defender Kyle Cheney and midfielder Matthew Signorello both got through their first games of the year unscathed and were rested after half-time.

Cheney took several telling intercept marks while Signorello showed his prowess at stoppages, bursting away from a pack at half-back and sprinting to half-forward in one of the most impressive passages of the contest.

Key-position player Elliott Himmelberg also showed promise, claiming two big contested marks and slotting a nice set shot from limited supply.

Harry Dear (two goals) and Paul Hunter (two) shared the ruck duties and were Adelaide’s only multiple goalkickers.

Willunga midfielder Braden Atlus was hard at the ball and among the best of Adelaide’s 21 development players in action.

Rebounding backman Peter Elfenbein was solid in defence and claimed a courageous mark in the second term, while Kurt Waterman and Brad Oates also competed strongly down back.

Northern Knights best and fairest Lachlan Murphy got better as the game wore on and slotted a classy left-foot goal in the final quarter.

The match was initially planned to run over six terms, but full-time was called after four quarters of play.

Adelaide’s next SANFL trial is against Woodville-West Torrens at Football Park on Saturday, March 25.

ADELAIDE   1.3   4.5   5.6   11.11 (77)
STURT         5.3   9.5   14.8   16.11 (107)

Crows Goals: Dear 2, Hunter 2, Min, Hunt, Himmelberg, Blythe, Hoey, Wigg, Murphy
Crows Best: Poholke, Wigg, Atlus, Elfenbein, Keath, Waterman, Murphy