Adelaide’s SANFL side was overrun by ladder-leaders Norwood at Norwood Oval on Sunday afternoon.

The Redlegs took control of the match early, booting the first four goals, while Adelaide was unable to make the most of its chances, and went down 19.7 (121) to 7.13 (55).

 Here are SANFL Coach Matthew Wright’s five key takeaways from the match.

 Maley provides strong target

Forward Finnbar Maley provided the Crows with a solid target ahead of the ball and was the team's main avenue to goal, finishing with five scoring shots and two goals.

Maley competed hard, making a contest each time the ball was in his area, and was rarely out marked.

“Finnbar forward, ahead of the ball, competed really strongly and this is probably the first week we have seen him not knock in his chances,” Wright said.

“We can see what he does in contests and when we give him chances one-on-one he is rarely beaten.”

Maley finished with 13 disposals, and six marks

Draper building back to peak fitness

On-baller Sid Draper continued to build his way back to full match fitness following an interrupted first half to the season by performing well against the Redlegs, where he was damaging in the forward half.

Draper showed his endeavour to impact, and worked hard to create opportunities to swing the momentum in the Crows' favour.

Wright was pleased with his efforts.

“He is one we have to be patient with, but he was one that I thought tried his hardest all day today,” he said.

 “We know how important he is to this footy club, so he is one we want to continue to build, so when he gets up to the AFL we don’t see him again hopefully.”

Draper amassed 20 disposals, three tackles, four clearances and booted one goal. 

Sholl leads in defence

Lachlan Sholl played off half-back for the second-straight week, where his rebounding and attack going forward was a highlight.

Sholl also played an important role as a leader for the Adelaide’s back six, being the side’s most experienced player in defence, where he had some strong moments, according to Wright. 

“I thought he attacked really well off half back, but he was one that was probably caught having to defend for large patches,” he said.

“He is playing a really important role, he uses his voice, sets up the players around him, I thought he had some nice contest moments today where he was able to win it or nullify it, his game is in good shape.”

Sholl finished with 26 disposals, three marks, six inside-50s and three rebound-50s.

Taheny shows versatility

SANFL Development player Cam Taheny was switched into defence against the Redlegs, and adjusted well to the unfamiliar position. 

Having spent the first 10 rounds of the season as a forward, Taheny showed his versatility, playing the role well, giving Adelaide flexibility moving forward.

“From playing a really important role for us ahead of the ball as he has done all year, to have to swing him back today, he did really well.” Wright said.

 “It was pleasing for him and the team.”

 Taheny collected 17 disposals, seven marks, four inside-50s and five rebound-50s.

 McGary stands up

SANFL Development Player Dayne McGary had to shoulder the responsibility of playing full-back in just his sixth SANFL League game, where he performed admirably.

 McGary was under pressure for large portions of the game, with the ball being in Norwood’s forward half, however McGary stood up in multiple moments, impressing the Crows coaching staff.

“He was undersized and under siege pretty much for the whole day and I thought the score could have been four or five goals more if it wasn’t for him,” Wright said.

“Particularly in that first half I thought he kept us in the game with his ability to intercept mark and nullify his opposition.”

McGary finished with eight disposals, four marks and four tackles.

The Crows will be hoping to return to the winners' lost when they face Port Adelaide in the second SANFL Showdown of 2026 at Adelaide Oval at 3.10pm.

The game will serve as a curtain raiser to the AFL Showdown.

SCOREBOARD 

ADELAIDE: 3.4  4.7  5.12  7.13  (55)

NORWOOD: 5.3  9.4  12.5  19.7  (121) 

GOALS:

Adelaide: Maley 2, Draper, Sholl, Dowling, Marsh, O’Brien.

Norwood: Callow 5, Hodges, Gale 3, Dittmar, Simpson, F.Heard, Murley, M.Ling, Molan, Binder, C.Ling.

BEST:
McGary, Taheny, Dowling, Maley, O’Brien.