State of Excitement

The countdown is on as South Australia prepares to put our State pride on the line again and tackle old foe Western Australia.

The Croweaters, coached by Norwood premiership mentor Jade Rawlings, will face WA at Adelaide Oval in the Kia State game on Friday, May 19 at 3.10pm. And the latest battle for the Haydn Bunton Junior Cup looks certain to be another hard-fought encounter after SA beat WA by four points at Optus Stadium last May. Showing how intense the rivalry is between these States, the win edged SA ahead of the Sandgropers in all-time head-tohead clashes 49-48.

SA has a squad that’s up to the challenge. “It’s strong,” Rawlings said. It’s also in-form. Unbeaten Sturt and high-flying Glenelg and North Adelaide dominate representation in the SANFL West End State squad, boasting 21 of the 32 players between them. All three clubs had seven players in the squad.

The unbeaten Double Blues are well represented by powerhouse midfielders Tom Lewis and Patrick Wilson, speedy wingman Martin Frederick, defenders Will Coomblas, Connor McFadyen and last year’s Fos Williams Medallist Casey Voss and damaging small forward Josh Hone.

Last year’s State captain, Liam McBean, is among the Glenelg players selected, together with leading goalkicker Lachie Hosie, hard-running Matt Allen and Tigers captain Max Proud. Midfielder Brett Turner, small defender Darcy Bailey and ruckman Cam McGree all have an opportunity to make their State debut.

Bob Quinn Medallist Noah Casalini headlines the Roosters’ inclusions, with key members of last year’s victorious outfit Harrison Wigg and Keenan Ramsey strong chances to return. Other North inclusions are Frank Szekely, Harrison Magor, Cameron Craig and Mitch Harvey. All eight standalone SANFL clubs have at least one player in the squad. Norwood’s fall from grace this season resulted in only one Redleg being named – last year’s Jack Oatey Medallist Harry Boyd. South Adelaide Magarey Medallist Bryce Gibbs was ruled out with a broken thumb, while North’s Campbell Combe was unavailable. Rawlings said he was delighted with the talent and depth of the squad. “We’ve had a lot of eyeballs on all games right through the trial period onwards and we’ll continue to give everyone the best opportunity to be selected in Round 6 this weekend,” he said. “It’s pretty obvious looking at the quality of players in the squad it’s going to be really tough to narrow it down to a final 23.” Rawlings will have able assistants in North coach Jacob Surjan and Glenelg boss Darren Reeves, while Central coach Paul Thomas will don the fluros as team runner. It shows how united everyone is to claim another big State scalp.

Sturt speedster Marty Frederick is one of seven Double Blues selected in the West End State squad. Photo: Cory Sutton