Although North Adelaide lost to Central District, Crows teenagers Tony Armstrong, Phil Davis and Rory Sloane all had their moments. Armstrong was good at half-back, earning 21 possessions and using the ball well, while Davis had 20 possessions across half-back and was composed under pressure.
Sloane’s work inside the packs was again the feature of his game and he had 12 possessions. Nick Gill injured an ankle early in the match and will be out for five to six weeks.
Rookie Ricky Henderson made a promising league debut for Central. Playing as a lead-up forward, he finished with 11 kicks, eight handballs, eight marks and kicked a goal. He led well and showed good speed.
Robert Shirley (24 possessions) and Jared Petrenko (15 possessions, five tackles) were both good for the Eagles on Sunday. Jarrhan Jacky made a bright start for the Eagles but after picking up six possessions in the opening term strained a hamstring.
For the Panthers, Shaun McKernan was among their best with a dominant ruck performance. He had ten possessions and nearly 30 hit-outs. Myke Cook collected 17 possessions and kicked a goal.
Brodie Martin (17 possessions) spent large periods of Friday night’s game in defence but played his best football on a wing for Sturt. He booted a great goal from the pocket late in the match. For Glenelg, James Sellar was again solid and although he had only nine disposals he went well when used in the ruck (19 hit-outs) and kicked a goal.
SANFL reserves
Will Young (14 kicks, five handballs, eight marks) continued to press for a return to Norwood’s league side with an impressive effort at centre half back.
Aaron Kite (12 possessions, one goal) was okay for Norwood. He started at full forward and then went to half-forward, where he had more of an impact.
Greg Gallman returned from a finger injury and worked hard for his 12 possessions but Brian Donnelly had a quiet game for Glenelg.
