A number of Crows have pushed their case for an AFL berth this weekend with strong performances in the SANFL’s opening round.

Rookie Chris Schmidt was best afield for West Adelaide in their nine point win over North Adelaide at Prospect.

Playing through the midfield, Schmidt had 14 kicks, 11 handballs and kicked a goal, having a big influence on getting the Bloods back into the contest after half time.

Brad Moran played in the ruck and up forward for West Adelaide and had eight possessions and 17 hitouts.

For the Roosters, rookie Matthew Wright was named best, collecting 15 kicks, 14 handballs and kicking three goals playing in the midfield and up forward.

In the early game at AAMI Stadium, Norwood defeated Port by three points, with Rookie Tim Milera collecting 10 disposals and four marks for the Magpies.

Glenelg kicked 10 last quarter goals to produce an amazing comeback win against Sturt at Gliderol Stadium in Saturday’s twilight game.

Matthew Jaensch was among Sturt’s best with 14 kicks, eight handballs and used the ball well. Brodie Martin kicked two goals from a wing and had 24 possessions and was also one of the Double Blues’ best players.

Rookie Aidan Riley had nine kicks, six handballs and kicked a goal and his clearance work was again a strong point.

For Glenelg, 2010 draftee Jarryd Lyons was impressive in the first half in his league debut, but hurt his knee after half time, finishing with 10 possessions. James Sellar had 13 possessions and nine hitouts for the Tigers and was strong defensively.

In Sunday’s game, the Eagles defeated South Adelaide by 15 points at Woodville Oval. For the home side, Jared Petrenko played well in his return from injury, gaining 15 possessions and his workrate in defence was good throughout the game.

Luke Thompson also had 15 possessions for the Eagles in defence and was moved forward late in the game and kicked a goal.

Myke Cook was good for the Panthers with 19 disposals from halfback and he controlled his opponent well.

In the SANFL reserves, rookie Lachlan Roach played at half forward for North Adelaide and collected 19 disposals, four marks and kicked a goal.

Sam Martyn played one of his best games for the Eagles on a wing with 12 kicks and 16 handballs and ran hard all day to get involved in the contest.

Jake von Bertouch played forward for the Eagles, kicking two goals and when moved down back took some strong contested marks. He finished with 10 possessions and six marks.