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Dear Members, Supporters and Sponsors,
Following the weekend’s extremely disappointing results we want to take this opportunity to communicate with everyone involved with the club and reiterate the work the club is doing to turn around our on-field performance. Some of these initiatives will have impact in the short-term and some will take a longer period of time to reap benefits.
Firstly, our Senior Coach, Ron Fuller accepts full responsibility for the results of the senior teams and is working very hard with the players, assistant coaches and the support staff to address the contributing factors toward the disappointing start to the season. The Chief Executive Officer attended a de-brief session with all the players held at training last night to kick-start a collective response to our current position. This is a testing time. The Club is fortunate to have a Senior Coach of Ron’s calibre and experience to turn around the disappointing recent performances and achieve success this season.
We have the players with the required talent that are capable of achieving success but currently there is a lot of improvement needed by the players in delivering the levels of intensity and confidence in themselves and each other that are essential to be successful in this competition.
As a club we must remain united in our support for the players and the coaching staff to address the areas identified for improvement, turn the season around and deliver more positive results. It will take all of us to collectively support each other to achieve the outcomes we want.
Over the off-season we strengthened the coaching support at the club with significant appointments at both senior and junior levels. Brett Backwell and Tony Bamford have both had an excellent impact in their first seasons with the club. We will continue to assess our coaching needs for the future as we strive to accelerate the development of our players. Tony, in particular is ensuring that our junior players are well educated on the South Adelaide Football Club game plan and what it takes to be an elite SANFL footballer and the amount of positive feedback from parents and key stakeholders from within our expanded SANFL zone has been overwhelming.
Following significant lobbying by our club we were rightfully given a bigger catchment area in our SANFL zone as an outcome of the independent SANFL Boundaries Commission Review that will bring more juniors to the club in the future. The junior players from that new area will include any player currently under the age of 14 and those junior players above that age that had not signed to play with the club they were previously zoned to. As a result the positive impact of this will not be seen at the club for 3-5 years as these juniors add depth and talent to our junior U16 and U18 teams and then subsequent impact on our senior football teams in 5-10 years.
As a club we are doing everything we can to turn around our performance and I would like to encourage all of our members and supporters to come out to our next game in force and in support of the players. Together, we can unite and make a difference.
We look forward to seeing you all at Hickinbotham Oval on Saturday May 18th with our Reserves kicking off at 4.55pm and the League kicking off at 7.40pm.
 
Andrew Luckhurst-Smith Evan Arnold
Chairman Chief Executive Officer
Caleb Daniel is Round 4 Macca's Cup MVP ! (April 23rd) SAFC U18
Caleb Daniel
7/7/96
Edwardstown
Midfield
22 kicks, 18 HBs, 9 marks, 14 clearances, 6 inside 50s
Caleb was clearly our most influential player today. his ability to work in and around stoppages was first class, his composure and poise with ball in hand a highlight. He continually brought others into the game by putting the ball to their advantage out in space while under pressure. He also managed to bring down a couple of contested marks against players much bigger than him.
Xavier Gotch reaches 50 Games! (April 19th) Xavier Gotch was drawn to The South Adelaide Football Club through opportunity and having his best mate by his side. He came over from Williamstown in the VFL at the end of 2009 to join the 2010 Panther Campaign. He is now entering his fourth year and plays his 50th game against Sturt this Saturday, which could have occurred earlier had he not had the setbacks of illness and injury.
Xavier grew up in a sporting family. His dad played for Fitzroy who he says has had the biggest impact on his football career. Last year his brother trained with the Melbourne Renegades. Xavier played both cricket and football as a kid. Then in Under 17’s played in The Oakley Charger TAC Cup and at that point had to make the choice many find themselves making-cricket or footy?
Outside of playing for The South Adelaide Football Club he is a Full-Time Carpenter for Schiavello. He also studies part-time doing a Building Construction Course.
Xavier also lives with team mate Brett Eddy who is a new recruit for the club this year. According to Xavier, “Brett can’t cook, he can’t clean, and he relies on our other housemate Jake Barker-Daish who plays for Adelaide United Football Club for girls.”
Xavier doesn’t want his Milestone against Sturt to be all about him. He would much prefer it be an incentive for the boys to get over the line. Make sure you head to Unley to see South Adelaide take on Sturt Saturday 20th April and support The Panthers and Xavier on his 50th game Milestone. Congratulations on reaching 50 games Xavier! 
The South Adelaide Football Club has agreed to the transfer of Adelaide Crows listed player Shaun McKernan (April 11th) The South Adelaide Football Club has agreed to the transfer of Adelaide Crows listed player Shaun McKernan to Glenelg Football Club.
Shaun played 44 games for the Club since joining in 2009 via the SANFL Mini-draft.
South Adelaide Football Manager Neill Sharpe said the Club was having difficulty in fitting Shaun into its forward line structure and was happy to facilitate a move.
“Our forward line just wasn’t functioning effectively with Wundke, Eddy and McKernan in it. Clearly it would have been unfair to Shaun’s chances of an AFL recall if he was to play predominantly as a ruckman.
“We are comfortable with the move and thank Shaun for his contribution to South Adelaide and wish him all the best with his AFL career.” MOUSE TRAPPED IN COACHING BOX - By ZAC MILBANK (March 28th)
Ask Brett Backwell if he’s looking forward to making his debut in South Adelaide’s coaching box on Friday evening and he’s refreshingly honest.
‘’I’d much rather be playing,’’ said Backwell, charged with guiding the Panthers midfield in 2013.
‘’My body, as far as footy goes, I still believe I could play at the level (SANFL) but there comes a time when you need to step away.
‘’And I’ve really enjoyed the challenge of coaching, being able to guide a group of guys who are pretty talented, structure them up and assist them in the way we want to play.’’
Any fear of Backwell feeling daunted is quickly quashed considering he’s itching to play his part in the demise of his former club.
Confronting Glenelg at Hickinbotham Oval on Good Friday is exactly the challenge ‘’Mouse’’ was craving in round one.
‘’It’s a good way to start,’’ said Backwell, who won the 2006 Magarey Medal playing for the Bays.
‘’Having played with a lot of the boys, especially in my midfield role I will be going up against a guy like Ty Allen who I have played a lot of footy with so I know his game intimately.’’
While the former Carlton rover already boasts an excellent understanding of the Tigers’ on-ball brigade, Backwell has also been doing his best to tap into Kris Massie’s gameplan.
Backwell lives across the road, in Glenelg, from former team-mates Tom Holmes and Lachlan Button.
And it’s fair to say he’s been doing his best to get under their skin this week.
‘’They live in our house across the road so I might take the spare key and steal the gameplan to see what they are doing,’’ Backwell said with a laugh.
‘’They (Glenelg) are a super footy club and it is a club I hold close to my heart because I love that footy club. But we (South) would enjoy nothing better than knocking them off on Good Friday.’’
Blessed with an exceptional midfield group to work with, Backwell is hoping to extract even more from Magarey Medallist Joel Cross, Nick Liddle, Toby Stribling and Nick Murphy.
And while gun recruit Brede Seccull (from Collingwood’s VFL side) is sidelined for 12 weeks with an ankle injury, Backwell is expecting big things from two Panthers yet to produce their best.
‘’A guy like Xavier Gotch, who has played a little bit of (league) footy, has really stepped up this year and will be a key to our midfield group,’’ said Backwell, who also spent a season in the SANFL with West Adelaide.
‘’He’s been in some great form during the pre-season and hasn’t missed a beat. Another guy in Todd McKay is a young one coming through who shows a lot of talent. He’s hard-at-it and is a tough midfielder so there is a really good group of young midfielders coming in behind those other senior guys.’’ 
Wednesday, 27th March - 'Ron's review of Norwood Trial' brought to you by Cathie Peters-The Good Guys.
It was good to finish our pre season on a positive note with a strong last quarter against Norwood on Friday night.
We had earlier dropped off in several areas in the 3rd quarter, when Norwood increased the intensity, but it was gratifying to stick to the task and have a few players reverse their form.
We did try a few different things during the game and whilst some didn’t necessarily work, a couple did for us, but more importantly it gave the players a chance to alter what they had been doing over the past month.
We now have to prepare to play Glenelg in a game for premiership points which will mean a higher level of everything involved in the game.
We have had some good moments over our trial games but we are also aware that any drop off in concentration can be exposed when there is more on the line.
We do believe that physically we couldn’t have prepared better and as such there will be no reason for not playing well provided, we come to play.
It will be great to have a big crowd at Hickinbotham on a very significant day, but at a time when most people’s commitments have been completed, to allow them to enjoy some recreation.
I look forward to seeing all our supporters at the game.
Ron Fuller. Thursday, 21st March - How are The Panthers tracking?
South Adelaide take part in their final trial at The Parade on Friday night in preparation for Round One on Good Friday.
The Panthers have been able to take a fairly settled line-up into its two previous trials, which has allowed it to carefully manage player’s game time.
Football Manager Neill Sharpe says that on Friday it will be a full dress rehearsal for Good Friday, with the Panthers taking 22 into the game. From last week’s League team Shaun McKernan has been recalled to the Crows and Port’s Mason Shaw will have a run in the Reserves.
“We’d like to think we are fairly close to our Round one line-up. It’s certainly not finalized yet with a few boys putting in good performances in the Reserves and we are unsure of what AFL contingent we will have.”
“We’ve been satisfied with our preparation so far with the only disappointment coming yesterday that four players will be requiring surgery and extended stints on the side-lines.”
Recruit Brede Seccull, after sustaining an injury in the Club’s first trial, will have surgery tomorrow to repair his ankle and be out for 10-12 weeks. Utility Jake Veide will have surgery early next week to clean up some damage on his hip and face a similar lay off.
Cam De Visser and Jackson McMahon have picked up knee injuries and will be operated on in the coming days, missing almost 8-10 weeks of football.
Sharpe said it is very disappointing for those players. “They’ve all put in excellent pre-seasons so to sustain such injuries on the eve of the season is really cruel. We do know that they’ll be diligent with their rehab and are confident they’ll make a significant on-field contribution around the middle and latter part of the season.” 
Monday 4th Feb-Saturday's (2nd March) Internal Trial Wrap by Zac Milbank
The Panthers were most impressed by the form of Nathan Daniel and Xavier Gotch, who both battled injury throughout last season.
Daniel, who underwent a shoulder reconstruction during summer, caught the eye playing through the midfield while Gotch, who has overcome his groin injuries, found plenty of the ball.
‘’It was a bit scrappy early but the intensity was pretty good,’’ South football manager Neill Sharpe said.
‘’Nathan is a lot lighter this year and he was pretty impressive in the half that he played. The new boys Brede Seccull (midfielder) and Brett Eddy (key forward) were good too.’’
Sharpe, who also said seasoned campaigner Toby Stribling posted a strong performance, reported no injuries from the match. 
Tuesday 26th February-Head injury sees Houlihan retire
The South Adelaide Football Club advises that a head injury has seen Tim Houlihan decide to retire from football. Tim suffered a concussion during the Panthers final round game in 2012. An MRI following that concussion found evidence of a head trauma suffered before his time at The South Adelaide Football Club.
Based on this evidence and the long and short term health risks this may pose by continuing to play a contact sport Tim has decided to retire from the game. South Adelaide Football Manager Neill Sharpe said Tim is clearly disappointed to finish his playing career at 24. “Tim enjoys playing the game and it has been a significant part of his life. However, he also feels fortunate that he has been able to make a decision before it is too late. The South Adelaide Football Club and The AFL Players Association have supported Tim through the process enabling him to come to his decision.
Houlihan joined the Panthers in 2012 and played 19 SANFL League matches. He joined the Club from the West Coast Eagles where he managed 15 AFL games after being drafted from North Ballarat in 2006.
Wednesday 20th February-Local Boys hard work set to pay off
In 2011 in the last game of the season before the finals against Norwood, Jake Veide broke his leg Ron Fuller said, “It was an unfortunate set back as Jake had been improving each game.” He returned to the track in 2012 missing half of pre-season, and after 3 weeks he injured his groin, which unfortunately affected him on and off all season. Before the last game of Season 2012 it was decided he would have surgery to remove the screws from his foot and begin rehabilitation in order to have a successful campaign in 2013.
After having such a disappointing couple of years Ron Fuller says “Jake Veide is one of the hardest workers on the track this year.” He is a local boy, originally from The Port Noarlunga Football Club in The Southern Football League, where his father Bernie Veide was last year named in The Southern Football League’s Greatest Team of all Time.
This is Jake’s 5th year at The South Adelaide Football Club and looking to be his best. Ron thinks he is definitely a player to watch this season, “a darkhorse.” 
Wednesday 13th February - Panthers announce Captain for 2013 The South Adelaide Football Club would like to announce that Josh Thewlis has been appointed Captain of the South Adelaide Football Club for Season 2013 and Bradley Crabb has been appointed Vice-Captain for Season 2013.
Josh joined the South Adelaide Football Club in 2006 and has played 101 games for the club.
The leadership group of the playing squad recently met for an annual review of their values and to consider the approach to the season ahead. An outcome from this review is the recommendation of the leadership group to the positions of Captain and Vice-Captain. The recommendation of Josh and Bradley in these roles has been fully supported by Senior Coach, Ron Fuller, the Management and the Board of the South Adelaide Football Club.
The South Adelaide Football Club would like to thank Nick Murphy for his excellent contribution to the club as Captain for the last two seasons. Nick is looking forward to a big year on the field supporting Josh, Bradley and the leadership group as we strive for the ultimate success this year.
The South Adelaide Football club kicks off Season 2013 with a huge Rd 1 Twilight Clash with Glenelg on Good Friday 29th March 2013 at Hickinbotham Oval and we encourage all Panther supporters to come along and support Josh in his first game as Captain of the South Adelaide Football Club.
The club would like to encourage all supporters to join up as Members for Season 2013 by calling the club on 81688200 or click on the Membership link at the top.
Get right behind Josh and the club in 2013. Go Panthers! 
Wednesday the 6th of February - "A Twist of Fate" The Players that represent The South Adelaide Football Club that are, currently on The Adelaide Football Club’s list, made their way to Hickinbotham Oval this week to visit The Senior Squad and Coaching staff. Among those players were: Nathan Van Berlo who is expected, to be re-appointed as Captain of The Crows imminently for the 3rd consecutive year. Players that also made the trip were: David McKay, Daniel Talia (2012 AFL Rising Star), Shaun McKernan, Andy Otten, and rookies; Ben Dowdell and Kyle Hartigan.
Kyle Hartigan was South Adelaide’s first pick in the 2012 Mini Draft. South Adelaide Coach, Ron Fuller said, “it was a twist of fate. The club tried to recruit Kyle for years from Werribee, but he decided to stay in Melbourne. We were fortunate enough to get Kyle, as our first pick in the mini draft.”
Kyle is a 21 year old mature-age Defender that played for Werribee in the VFL. His height is 194cm and Weight is 92kg. He was an AIS-AFL Academy Graduate who represented Victoria Metro in 2009 National Championships. Unfortunately, Kyle was over looked in the 2009 AFL Pre-Season draft, but has now been given the opportunity, as a mature age recruit on The Crows rookie list. 
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