South Adelaide has sent a reminder to the rest of the competition that they are still the team to beat in 2025, following a convincing 24-point win against Norwood at Magain Stadium.

In the first match of the Hostplus SANFLW League season, spectators were treated to a rematch of last year’s grand final decider and the unveiling of South’s premiership flag.

The tackling pressure from both sides to start the first quarter made it hard for players to get clean possession, resulting in turnovers between the arcs.

Layla Vizgaudis had the ball on a string in the early stages of the opening quarter, registering four touches in the first three minutes of play.

Despite a bit of rust, South started to get its ball movement going, highlighted by great link-up play from Esther Schirmer, whose clever handball resulted in a shot on goal for Caitlin Couch.

Norwood found it difficult to move the ball with any efficiency, thanks to exceptional tackling pressure from South.

Ruck Taya Maxwell was unstoppable around the ground, providing silver service to the midfield and taking some towering marks.

The forward line was looking dangerous, with Captain Jordann Hickey leading from the front with her strong marking and penetrative kicking, a feature of her opening quarter.

While there were multiple opportunities for either side, the first quarter ended goalless. South were the more dominant side but only had a one-point lead to show for their efforts.

Norwood kicked the first two goals of the second quarter against the run of play, but the scoreboard was far from reflective of South’s performance.

After several promising forward forays, Emily Brockhurst remained calm under pressure to kick South’s first from the goal square.

Manic forward pressure from Melissa Anderson was forcing turnovers from the Norwood defence, leading to strong scoring opportunities coming the other way.

Shae Archbold was proving to be a handful for her direct opponent, with her great gather and snap around the body giving South back the lead late in the second quarter.

The momentum was going all South’s way, and Norwood’s defence were unable to cope with the unrelenting number of forward entries.

Another fantastic snap from Archbold extended South’s lead to nine points moments before the half-time siren sounded.

Maxwell continued her dominant performance, collecting 18 disposals, four marks, three clearances, and five inside-50s in the first half.

Both sides turned up the intensity to begin the third quarter, with Jaslynne Smith, Tiffany King, and Brylee Kerrin displaying multiple selfless defensive efforts to stop Norwood attacks.

Archbold’s third goal for the match cancelled out Norwood’s breakthrough moments earlier and restored South’s nine-point lead going into the last quarter.

With it all to play for in the final term, South began to flex its muscles against a desperate Red Legs side.

Emma Charlton extended the lead to three goals after a classy goal from a handball receive, while Lily Baxterconverted a clutch set shot from an angle to put the game out of reach moments later.

Despite the four-goal lead, the tackling pressure from South continued to be unrelenting, with six players recording more than five tackles for the match.

After a consolation goal to Norwood, Anderson sealed the impressive 24-point victory with a goal on the run from 30 metres out.

With a fantastic opening-round win under its belt, South will be eager to secure its second win of the season when they take on North Adelaide for the Pinktails Right Tracks Program Cup at Magain Stadium on Sunday, 23 March at 12:30 pm.

Despite the blistering heat, very few could fault South’s effort against Norwood in its Development League clash at Magain Stadium.

Both sides struggled early in the difficult conditions, with scoring hard to come by in the first 10 minutes of play.

The majority of the opening quarter was played between the arcs, but the classy ball movement of Hope Taylor and Charlotte Dolan paved the way for some promising inside-50 entries.

After a scoreless first quarter from South, there was plenty to do in the second quarter against a fast-starting and dangerous Norwood side.

Brilliant tackling pressure applied by South started to turn the momentum early in the second quarter, resulting in quality forward entries.

Caitlin Ross proved to be a handful for her direct opponent, taking a strong one-on-one mark before kicking a classy snap around the body to deliver South’s first goal of the game.

The intensity increased after the first breakthrough, with the midfield starting to get busy.

Zoe Flesfadar displayed clean hands in contested situations, providing first use to her teammates.

South’s backline continued to stand up against multiple forward-50 entries, with Jaimee Millard going back with the flight to take a courageous mark in defence.

Despite being 10 points down at the commencement of the third quarter, South were far from out of the contest.

Shots on goal were at a premium in the first few minutes of the quarter, with Kate Chapman nearly soccering the ball home off the ground to bring the margin back to under a goal.

Eva Aldridge’s tireless work in the ruck provided her teammates with first use at the stoppages and dominance around the ground.

The work rate and tackling pressure from the entire South team resulted in many promising forward entries. However, they couldn’t get reward for effort on the scoreboard.

Ross had a great opportunity to reduce the margin to two points with a set shot on the siren but was off-line.

With it all to play for in the final quarter, South were desperate to kick the first goal and put pressure on the Red Legs.

Casie Coombe continued to stand tall in defence, while Halle James and Taylor put relentless tackling pressure on further up the ground.

After two goals against the run of play for Norwood, time was starting to become the enemy.

A goal in the 13th minute of play from Jaidee-Lee Shortridge reduced the margin to under two goals, but the Red Legs had just done enough to secure a 10-point win.