Scott Welsh, the club’s leading goalkicker in 2005, made his return from a stress fracture in his leg and kicked three goals from full forward for West Adelaide.
And defender Jason Torney, who tore a quad late in the pre-season, also played his first game for 2006 and was among South Adelaide’s best in its 56-point win over Central District. He had 21 possessions and also kicked a rare goal.
Chris Knights, dropped from the Crows side to play Richmond, was one of the stars for Woodville-West Torrens in their win over West Adelaide. He had 29 possessions and kicked two goals, a great performance considering he travelled to Melbourne as the emergency and didn’t return to Adelaide until just a few hours before the game.
Rover Hayden Skipworth also had a good game for the Eagles, collecting 25 possessions.
Ruckman Ivan Maric started slowly but dominated the second for the Magpies. His strong work ethic – he had six effective tackles – was again a feature of his game.
John Meesen continued to show improvement in his game for Norwood on Friday night, when he had 16 possessions and 23 hit-outs.
Glenelg’s Richard Douglas hurt a knee early in the game against Port and will miss about six weeks, while Bernie Vince (quad), Jason Porplyzia (knee), Chad Gibson (quad), Adrian Bonaddio (quad) and Luke Jericho (shoulder) sat out the round.
John Hinge, who had been battling glandular fever, returned to Glenelg’s league side and fought hard in a variety of roles.
Jonathon Griffin was named among the best for Central District in the reserves and Alan Obst kicked three goals from limited opportunities in the same game.
Scott Welsh (West Adelaide)
Jason Torney (South Adelaide)
Hayden Skipworth (Eagles)
Chris Knights (Eagles)
Ivan Maric (Port Magpies)
John Meesen (Norwood)
John Hinge (Glenelg)
