Round 1 Norwood v Sturt

[tnt]

Crowd 4424

[pmackk]

Crowd 4424

Looked to be a few more than that.

[Ronnie]

How long is Casey Voss out for? He is normally a major factor for Sturt

[am Bays]

How long is Casey Voss out for? He is normally a major factor for Sturt

Rumours are it’s a bad one

[PatowalongaPirate]

Sturt started its premiership defence by holding on for a gritty five-point win against Norwood in an enteratining opening to the 2026 Hostplus SANFL League season at The Parade.

In front of a healthy crowd of 4424 at Woods Street, the Double Blues survived a late scare from the fast-finishing Redlegs, who proved they will be genuine challenger for this year’s flag.

Leading by as much as 23 points in the 12th minute of the final term, Sturt was suddenly overwhelmed by Jade Sheedy’s men, who clawed their way back into the contest.

Norwood skipper Jacob Kennerley booted the first of three consecutive goals when he nailed his set shot before lively small forward Matt Harms bobbed up for consecutive majors.

Harms, recruited from GWS’ VFL outfit, caught the eye with his defensive pressure, holding on the arm of Sturt defender Will Coomblas to earn a holding-the-ball free kick.

His converted major trimmed the deficit to just five points and when fellow forward recruit Josh Murphy marked in space, he had the chance to snatch the lead for the hosts in the 23rd minute.

But his set shot missed narrowly, allowing the Double Blues to clear through the outer wing after a vital intercept grab from Coomblas, followed by two important marks from debutant teammate Morgan Ferres.

Norwood tried to slingshot the Sherrin from its back half in a last ditch play but Sturt’s Charlie Fryer forced a turnover, allowing teammate Alex Holt to lace out comeback king Daniel Schoell on the lead.

While Schoell’s set shot after the siren missed, it didn’t matter as the big man celebrated a successful comeback by booting 2.3 in his first League outing since Round 10, 2022.

Ferres also impressed in his opening League contest by booting 3.1 while captain Tom Lewis was back to his Magarey Medal best with 27 disposals, 12 tackles and seven clearances.

Sturt vice captain Will Snelling racked up 25 disposals and an amazing 19 tackles while Holt tallied 20 touches.

The Legs had Cooper Murley lead their disposal tally with 25 while former Bulldog Kade Dittmar collected 23 disposals in his club debut in red and blue.

Nik Rokahr (23 disposals) and Baynen Lowe (20 disposals) worked hard in the clinches for Norwood while star recruit Aaron Francis had 19 disposals and five marks in his return to SANFL after an AFL career with Essendon and Sydney.

Magarey Medallist Harry Boyd had 15 disposals and 30 hit outs in his return from St Kilda, as he locked horns with Amos Doyle in an entertaining duel. While Doyle didn’t have as much as the ball, he chalked up a massive haul of 46 hit outs.

Norwood was also hampered by the absense of key forward Jackson Callow for the majority of the match after being sidelined early in the contest.

[Jimmy_041]

Gees,it was like watching 20 E Wasps buzzing around a steak

Amusing moment when there were handbags out amongst 4-5 75kg kids.