Norwood is Tasmania bound this weekend

Norwood’s Senior Men’s and Senior Women’s sides will head to Tasmania this weekend for a pre-season trip and Trial Match. 

The Redlegs have had a strong link to Tasmania in recent years, through former Senior Men’s coach Jade Rawlings and a number of players relocating to The Parade from the Apple Isle.

Baynen Lowe, Jackson Callow, Tom Donnelly, Ben Simpson, Mitch O’Neill, Jake Cresswell, Alec Wright, Oliver Sanders and Candice Belbin all hail from Tasmania and have had a huge impact in the red and blue.

Now the club is returning the favour, and heading down to Tasmania during this pre-season.

Norwood players and coaches will head to Hobart on March 1, before scheduled Trial Matches against a Tasmanian representative side on Sunday, March 2 at Kingston Twin Ovals in Hobart.

The Norwood teams will have a Captains Run training session on Saturday, March 1 from 2pm AEDT at Kingston Twin Ovals.

The games are scheduled for the following times on Sunday, March 2.

• Senior Women’s Trial > Norwood V Tasmania – 12:00pm AEDT @ Kingston Twin Ovals, Hobart
• Senior Men’s Trial > Norwood V Tasmania – 2:15pm AEDT @ Kingston Twin Ovals, Hobart

If you are heading down to Tasmania for the match, or a Norwood fan living in Tasmania you can get tickets via the link below.

The match will be live-streamed on Sunday – the link will be posted to the Norwood website when made available.

Norwood Football Manager Richard Kelly said this was an exciting prospect for the club.

“We jumped at the opportunity to head down to Tasmania, with both our Senior Men’s and Senior Women’s sides,” Kelly said.

“AFL Tasmania are looking to have some marquee games across the season and a trial there was a perfect opportunity to get involved.

“It will be a great experience for our playing group, and particularly exciting for the Tasmanians in our squad.

“We have some new players on board, including a few more form Tasmania so we are looking forward to seeing them in Norwood colours for the first time.”

Norwood forward Jackson Callow is one of many Tasmanians currently listed with the Redlegs.

“I’m very excited to be playing again at home,” the former Hawthorn forward said.

“It’s something special that you do miss when you’re away, so it’s special to be representing not only Norwood, but the relationship the club and Tasmanian football have.

“It will be a proud moment for me and all of us Tassie boys when we head out onto the oval on Sunday.”

The Tasmanian trial marks the end of the trial match period for Norwood’s Senior Women’s side, with Round 1 kicking off on March 15. Meanwhile, this Sunday in Hobart will be the Senior Men’s first hitout of the pre-season.

Norwood’s Senior Men have two further Trial Matches to round out the pre-season:

• Saturday, March 8 > Central District V Norwood – 2:10pm @ X Convenience Oval
• Sunday, March 16 > Port Adelaide V Norwood – 2:20pm @ Alberton Oval

The Redlegs have 10 Tasmanians suiting up in Sunday’s Trial match, with Alec Wright, Ben Simpson, Connor Ling, Liam Ling, Jackson Callow, Jake Cresswell, Mitch Nicholas, Josh Gillow, Tom McCallum and Ollie Sanders representing Norwood in their home state.

It will be the first time we see the Ling twins, Mitch Nicholas and former Power defender Tom McCallum in a Norwood guernsey, while Josh Gillow has his first glance at a League spot.

Fellow Tasmanians Mitch O’Neill, Tom Donnelly and Baynen Lowe will miss the clash as they continue their recovery from off-season injuries.

Candice Belbin and Ellie Poke have the chance to play in their home state of Tasmania. Belbin headed to Norwood for the 2024 season and had a huge impact in red and blue, while 2025 is Poke’s first at The Parade.

Ashlee Gould will play, which is a great sign after missing the 2024 season with injury.

This is Norwood’s final Trial match ahead of the SANFLW season opener on March 15, and have selected a strong side to face Tassie.

Coby Morgan, Charli Hazelhurst, Emily Bartsch, Steph Simmonds, Sophie Armitstead, Jade Halfpenny and Kiana Lee are all making the trip to Tasmania.