Port Adelaide broke through for their first win of the season, the Bulldogs put South to the sword and the Eagles cruised past the struggling Crows.
Read all about it in this week's SANFL wrap.
Central District 14.8.(92) def South Adelaide 4.5.(29)
Central District powered past an undermanned South Adelaide to cement their place in the top five with a 63-point win at Elizabeth.
The Panthers challenged early and took a six-point lead into the first break but managed only one more goal for the afternoon as they ran out of steam.
South's score of 4.5.(29) is their lowest ever against Central District, as the Panthers were held scoreless during a second quarter in which the ball was camped in their defensive 50.
The visitors lost Sam Skinner, Elliot Dunkin and Oliver Megins to injury, leaving them with just one rotation on the bench in the second half.
Critical turnovers and skill errors proved costly for South Adelaide, too often giving the ball back to Centrals who were able to punish them going the other way.
Two of Centrals' first three goals came directly from rushed South Adelaide kicks exiting the defensive 50, while numerous other Panther attacks broke down through basic skill errors.
On the back of excellent pressure around the ball and an impenetrable set-up behind it, the Bulldogs were able to lock the ball in their half for much of the day, enjoying a 48-27 inside 50 advantage.
Brinn Little and Rhett Montgomerie in particular were impassable in defence, taking several important intercept marks and halting much of South Adelaide's attacking ball movement.
Central also benefited from a significant midfield advantage, winning clearances by 11 and extracting the ball from stoppages with ease.
Harry Grant was outstanding in his second game back from injury, racking up 26 disposals, 10 tackles and a goal, while Mani Liddy (21 disposals and seven clearances) and Kade Ditmarr (19 disposals) were strong in the clinches.
Rookie ruckman Harvey Howe had a big influence with his 43 hitouts and six clearances, as did Kai Pudney on the wing as he gathered 27 touches.
Billy Iles provided his usual run and dash at half back and collected 19 possessions, while first-gamer Louie McLennan looked assured in handling the dangerous Liam Fitt.
With Jez McLennan sidelined with an ankle injury, Nick Lange was switched to defence and completely blanketed Bailey Pilmore, while Zac Buechner was equally effective on Sam Hindes.
Up front, Aiden Grace and Jake Gasper were dangerous threats again and kicked three goals each, while Beau Thomas competed hard all day and eventually finished with two.
For South Adelaide, Kobe Mutch (28 disposals and 13 tackles) and Ollie Davis (22 disposals and seven clearances) fought valiantly in the midfield and never stopped trying.
Hayden Sampson was prolific as usual in gathering 27 touches and six clearances, working hard all over the ground to get involved.
Finn Emile-Brennan was prominent throughout, with his attacking run and precise kicking setting up two of the Panthers' early goals.
Sam Skinner and Jake Summerton were pivotal down back for South Adelaide, providing much-needed stability with their intercept marking.ย
Sam Hindes was moved to defence after Skinner went down and played superbly on Hugo Munn, while first-gamer Hayden Kernahan had a tough initiation on Jake Gasper but never looked out of his depth.
On a tough day for forwards, Liam Fitt fired early with two first-quarter goals from strong lead-up marks but was kept quiet thereafter.
Port Adelaide 15.7.(97) def West Adelaide 10.17.(77)
Port Adelaide chalked up its first win of the season with a gutsy 20-point victory over West Adelaide at Alberton on Saturday.
The win also marks Hamish Hartlett's first as Magpies coach after eight successive losses to start his first year in charge.
West Adelaide were cruelled by injuries, with Darcy Minchella, Jordan White and Hamish Ellem all going down in the first half, while Brady Searle and Joel Stevens played on while severely hampered with injuries of their own.
In their 1000th SANFL game at Alberton, Port Adelaide burst out of the blocks with the aid of a strong breeze, kicking six goals to one in the first term to take a 30-point lead into quarter time.
While the Magpies were kept scoreless kicking into the wind in the second term, West Adelaide failed to capitalise, kicking 3.5 as they wasted several golden opportunities in front of the sticks.
The Bloods continued to fritter away chances in the third, with their only goal the result of an extraordinary quadruple 25-metre penalty against Hugh Jackson that took Dylan McCormick from half-back to the goal line.
Trailing by 22 points but with last use of the breeze, West kicked the first two goals of the last term and closed within eight points, looking winners for all money.
Port then rallied to kick five goals against the wind to close out the contest and record a memorable win.
Ruckman Jordon Sweet was enormous for Port Adelaide, winning 43 hitouts and six clearances in a dominant display.
Jeremy Finlayson was influential throughout with 25 disposals, with his move into the centre square in the final quarter helping Port seize the momentum.
Young key forward Tom Scully played his best game for the year, beating Will Paton all ends up to finish with four goals including two in the final term.
Hugh Ferrari was a constant presence at ground level with his three goals, while Charlie Dixon had his moments and booted two majors.
Dixon has come under scrutiny from the Match Review Panel for a high bump on West Adelaide's Jordan White that left him concussed and unable to take any further part in the action. Dixoin has been offered a three-game suspension.ย
Lachie Jones' move into the centre square in the last term proved pivotal, winning two centre clearances, one of which led to a goal for Will O'Brien.
Cody Szust (24 disposals) and Murphy Short (26 disposals) were damaging users on the outside, while Tom Clurey, Tom McCallum and Xavier Walsh all won crucial defensive contests.
Despite losing hitouts 64-20, West still managed to win the clearance battle by nine as the Bloods' midfield brigade worked tirelessly all day even in the face of a mounting injury toll.
Sam Frost (29 disposals and 11 clearances) and Kobe Ryan (29 touches and eight clearances) were relentless through the middle, while Brady Searle fought through injury to finish with 22 disposals and a goal.
Josh Gore came in for his first game of the season and was lively in attack, kicking two goals in the final quarter to help give West Adelaide a sniff.
State full-back Josh Ryan was given the tough task of minding Charlie Dixon and stood up magnificently, with Dixon kicking only one goal against him.
Woodville-West Torrens 15.12.(102) def Adelaide 7.7.(49)
Woodville-West Torrens overcame some errant goalkicking to claim a commanding 53-point win over Adelaide at Adelaide Oval on Saturday.
Acting as the curtain-raiser to Saturday night's Adelaide v Sydney AFL clash, the Crows suffered their first home-and-away defeat at the venue since late 2022.
Despite having much of the play early on, the Eagles missed several gettable set shots while the Crows took every opportunity to lead 4.0 to 1.3 at quarter time.
Adelaide were able to move the ball with great fluency during the first quarter, with two of their goals resulting from transition play starting in the defensive 50.
Brodie Smith was a key playmaker in this period, gathering seven disposals and four rebound 50s before going off with a knee injury late in the first term.
The Eagles took complete control after quarter time, kicking 14 goals to three in the final three terms and the last five of the contest to blow the game wide open.
Winning clearances by 19 and inside 50s by 20, the Eagles owned the midfield battle all day, overpowering their less experienced Adelaide counterparts with their strength and skill.
Captain Joe Sinor returned from a hamstring injury and picked up from where he left off, gathering 28 disposals and nine tackles in a blistering display.
Adam D'Aloia continued his rich vein of form in collecting 27 disposals and 11 clearances, while Riley Knight enjoyed a superb outing with 27 touches and a game-high 13 tackles.
Zane Williams is looking right at home in the midfield, with his speed and agility adding a different dynamic as he picked up 24 touches, five clearances and a goal.
Ruckman Jarrad Redden played out of his skin and convincingly won his duel with Adelaide's Reilly O'Brien before going down with a hamstring injury in the final term.
Big man Connor Ballenden was influential once again, taking 11 marks, three of which were contested, to finish with 1.3 and also replaced Redden in ruck and won 19 hitouts.
It was the smalls who did much of the damage for Woodville-West Torrens in the forward line, with Zac Buck and second-gamer Jack Wheare finishing with three goals while Max Beattie chipped in with two.
Patrick Weckert was impactful early and kicked two goals during the second term before being shut out of the game by Stephen Tahana after half-time.
Jack Firns played another strong game in defence and curbed the influence of Lachie Gollant, while Luke Thompson and Josh Morris played important intercepting roles across half-back.
Zac Taylor performed strongly again through the midfield, spending some time on Adam D'Aloia and gathering 26 disposals of his own.
First-year draftee Charlie Edwards played more midfield time and held his own with six clearances, while Luke Pedlar was a solid contributor throughout with 19 possessions and seven tackles.
Oscar Ryan (22 disposals) and Dan Curtin (18 disposals) both found plenty of the ball in defence, while Darcy Clifford moved to defence and looked sound in match-ups against Jack Wheare and Patrick Weckert.
