Senior Men’s Match Sim & U18 Girls Trial

It’s official, football is just around the corner.

Saturday marked the first official trial match of the season, with Norwood’s U18 Girls taking on Glenelg at Richmond’s Hisense Stadium, as Round 1 continues to draw nearer.

The Redlegs played with a squad of 20 players in warm weather on Saturday, but got the job done over the Tigers, winning 8.8-64 to 3.4-22.

Chelsea Marshall kicked two goals for Norwood, while Hope Elliott, Kailee Coburg-Ware, Matilda Rose, Liana Rechichi and Keira Neill each kicked one.

Norwood played well from the outset, and escaped injury free which is always a good result from the first hit-out of the season.

The Redlegs AAMI Talent League Girls season gets underway on Saturday, February 28 at Coopers Stadium, taking on the Eagles from 3:20pm in what will be Norwood’s first match of the inaugural season.

Norwood’s Senior Men’s squad carried out a match-sim session on Monday night at Coopers Stadium.

The Premiers Bar was open for drinks and meals, as a “blue” side battled against a “red” side across three 20-minute periods.

The match-sim was the first hitout of the pre-season, ahead of a more official four-quarter internal trial at Coopers Stadium on Monday, February 23. The Premiers Bar will once again be open to the public for the trial.

Norwood General Manager of Football Daniel Menzel said Monday was a good night, as the squad prepares for two trial matches on March 6 against North Adelaide and March 13 against Glenelg and Round 1 on Friday, March 27 against Sturt.

“It’s an exciting time of year to be completely honest,” Menzel said on the Redlegs Review Podcast.

“Match simulation is here and then trial games are not far away, so there is plenty to be very excited about.

“Monday was really positive. Match-sim can be difficult with two teams playing the same way against eachother. There’s going to be some scrappiness this time of year, but there was also some really clean passages of play and some positivity from an offensive and defensive standpoint.”

Menzel was impressed with the midfield dynamic.

“Inside the center square and the ruck battle, it was so good to see Harry Boyd up and about moving around and every Norwood fan will love to hear that. He was obviously pretty dominant inside, but I loved what Marco D’Annunzio did against him and his growth and progression is going to be huge again this season, getting to go head to head with Harry at training.

“There was a really good battle in the midfield. It was great to see the likes of Kade Dittmar who came across from Centrals and did some really nice things, as did Mitch O’Neill. It’s fantastic to see Mitch up on about, and I guess it probably just reminds a few and just how good he actually is in the contest and his spread away from contest.

“Jacob Kennerley was really good when he spent time on ball, which he is going to do throughout this season. And probably the other one he is Ben Simpson who’s had another really good preseason.”

Menzel – who coaches the forward line at Norwood – said a lot of players rolled through the attacking zone on Monday.

“There’s a number of guys that have performed various roles this preseason, which is really exciting as opportunities come from that,” he said.

“I thought that Charlie Molan was really good last night. He played as a high forward, but got deep at times and I thought he was as dynamic as anyone in our forward line, which was which was great to see that progression from last year.

“A couple of guys that have had as good a preseason as anyone is the Ling brothers, Connor and Liam. Connor’s been in and around the ball and spent a little bit time at half forward. His explosiveness away from contest, but also his hardness, is what he has brought this preseason – he’s been one of the standout performers in preseason.

“Liam Ling showed that he can do that as well and he did some really good things in tight last night. It’s really exciting for what he can bring as a high forward for as well. I’ll touch on a recruit, Alex Swinnerton, who has been limited in his preseason, but he showed some of his lateral movement and agility around contest last night was really impressive.”

Menzel said former Sydney Swans swing-man Aaron Francis, and first-year defender Noah Daw were standouts in defence.

“I have to give a shout out to Aaron Francis, if anyone watched the first quarter last night, I think they would’ve been pretty excited by how he stood up in defence and just commanded that back line,” he said.

“We’ve got some young key position players, Noah is one who’s had an outstanding preseason. He showed last night that he can match it with the likes of Jackson Callow who was also really good on the night.

“ There’s a couple of young guys that have come up from the U18s from last year and are really exciting. I mentioned Noah Daw as a key position player, but there’s also Will Prescott, Jeff Rozenbilds and Micah Kretschmer who all hit the scoreboard and all did some really nice things throughout the game. Jim Kelly and Darcy Speyer were inside and did some good things as well.

“So there is some real positivity about our U18 group, which have come up and and you’re getting glimpses from those guys, which is extremely exciting for me as a coach to work with those guys on, but also for what the future holds for us.”

Listen to the full interview below, via the Redlegs Review Podcast.