2010 After reaching the Grand Final the previous season, losing few senior players and recruiting ruckman Jonathan Giles, John Hinge and Salim Hassan, supporters hopes for season 2010 were high. In what was a frustrating season for everyone concerned, the club struggled all season to find form and consistency and just scraped into the finals by winning the last Minor round game against the Eagles at Woodville. As was season 2010, the club was then comprehensively beaten in the Elimination Final to the previous weeks defeated opposition, the Eagles and finishes a disappointing fifth. Ruckman Jonathan Giles in his first season at the club wins the P.T. Morton Medal. At the end of the 2010 season, the club lose a large number of experienced senior players including former Captain, P.T. Morton Medal winner and Premiership player Ben Nelson after 208 games in the Double Blue, who along with his father Sandy are the only father/son combination to have played over 200 games each at the same SANFL club. Also hanging the boots up is Champion full forward Brant Chambers, he played 204 games and kicked 672 goals, which included two seasons of over 100 goals, his total of 672 goals is a club record and also a total that ranks him at number seven on the SANFL All Time Leading Goal Kickers.
2011 Due to the loss of a number of experienced league players, season 2011 was as expected, a rebuilding year for the club, the club struggled all year and was only able to record 5 wins for the season and finished bottom for the first time since 1996, however on a bright note a number of young players made their debut for the club, including John Greenslade, Fraser Evans, Jack Stephens, Matthew Crocker, Tom Bartlett, Tom Harms, James Wundke and Ben Hansen. Luke Crane wins his second P.T. Morton Medal and new recruit Matthew Duldig kicks 52 goals.
2012 Former Captain and 2002 Premiership player Seamus Maloney was appointed Coach for the 2012 season and continued with the rebuilding program underway at Unley, he brought back to the club 2002 Premiership player,1997 Magarey Medallist and P.T. Morton Medal winner Brodie Atkinson as his Assistant Senior Coach. The club recruit Tigers Ben Kane and Luke Panozzo to bring in much needed experience to the team and the club was able to improve on 2011 by winning 6 games for the season, being competitive in most games played and being in positions to win a number more, but unfortunately the club once again finishes bottom. Young players to debut for the club in season 2012 included Christian Calabrese, Jack Kelly, Levi Krause, Harley Montgomery and Ziggy Vitkunas. Richard Tambling, while still playing for the Adelaide Crows wins the P.T.Morton Medal and Tim McIntye tops the goal scoring list with 49. Club Champion Jade Sheedy decided to retire at the end of the 2012 season, during his 13 seasons with the club he played 255 games, was Captain for six years including Co-Captain with Ben Nelson for two, won the 2002 Magarey Medal, played in the 2002 Premiership and won the club’s best and fairest four times, as well as winning numerous other awards throughout his illustrious career.
2013 Gun utility Michael Coad returned to the Blues after 3 years in the AFL with the Gold Coast Suns and with the retirement of Jade Sheedy was appointed Captain for season 2013. The club continued to improve and finished the season seventh, recording 7 wins, highlights included defeating the finals hardened Eagles twice at Woodville Oval, as well as defeating Grand Finalist’s North Adelaide at Unley and as in the previous season the club was competitive in most games played and also were in a position to win a number more. Players to debut for the club included Adam Hunter, Guy Page, Alex Stopp, Sam Smith and Dylan Matsen, former Tiger Ben Kane wins the P.T. Morton Medal to go along with his two best and fairests won at Glenelg, Matthew Duldig tops the goalkicking list again with 33 for the season and Sturt junior Chad Wingard who was taken at pick 6 in the AFL National Draft is named in the All Australian team. At the end of season 2013, the club said goodbye to Magarey Medallist and dual P.T. Morton Medal winner Luke Crane and Adam Thompson.
2014 Going into season 2014, the club had retained its senior coaching staff, had appointed former Eagle’s Premiership Coach Ron Fuller as the club’s Under 18’s Coach and recruited well to help cover the loss of AFL listed players who in season 2014 would be playing for their AFL reserves teams in the SANFL, recruiting Zane Kirkwood, Kory Beard and James Watt from the Port Adelaide Magpies, as well as signing former Adelaide Crow Richard Tambling and former Melbourne Demon Rory Taggert. The Blues got off to a great start to the season winning 7 of their first 9 games, including wins over the Adelaide Crows reserves side and reigning premiers Norwood under lights at The Parade and were sitting second on the ladder at the half way point of the season. Heading into winter, the Blues struggled on the heavy grounds and suffered a mid season form slump, losing to West Adelaide and then to Central District in close games to put their chances of finishing in the top three in jeopardy, however, with wins against North Adelaide and then Adelaide at home the Blues went into the last game of the season against South Adelaide at Noarlunga knowing they would secure the double chance with a win or by losing by less than 48 points. At three quarter time South Adelaide led by 31 points and it was a nervous last quarter for all those concerned until the Blues were able to steady and reduce the final margin to 24 points. The Blues finishing third with 11 wins and 7 losses after the minor round and heading into its first finals series since 2010. Sturt played Norwood in the Qualifying Final and even though the Blues dominated the game in nearly every statistic, especially inside 50’s, it was Norwood who hung on to win the game by only 9 points. The Blues then faced South Adelaide in the knockout 1st Semi Final and in a game that many thought would be close, it was the Panthers who recorded an emphatic 68 point win, an unfortunate way for the league team to end the season, but overall season 2014 was a fairly successful one with all grades playing finals and the Reserves and Under 16’s reaching the Grand Final. Zane Kirkwood capped off a sensational debut year for the Double Blues winning the Magarey Medal, Fos Williams Medal and the P.T. Morton Medal, while skipper Michael Coad won the Rick Davies Medal after booting 52 goals for the season. The club said goodbye to veteran defender James Mcleay, P.T. Morton Medal winner Ben Kane, former Tigers Luke Panozzo and John Hinge plus Tom Hurley who all decided to retire at the end of the season and also to Richard Tambling who decided to move back to the Northern Territory, as well as Assistant Coach Paul Jarvis and Reserves Coach Adam Silvy.
2015 Unley Oval is renamed Peter Motley Oval thanks to oval sponsors Australian Gas Networks and the long talked about picket fence is finally a reality after being erected during the summer. Magarey Medallist Zane Kirkwood is appointed joint Captain with Michael Coad and new faces to the club include former Magpie Angus Bruggemann, former Redleg Mark Evans and former Eagle Lee Staple, the club also welcomed back James Battersby after a year with the Adelaide Crows. Pre-season injuries to James Watt, Matthew Crocker and others meant that the club struggled to field its best side at the start of the season, but was still able to be at 4 wins and 3 losses at the end of Round 7, but unfortunately due to further injuries and bad form the club lost its next 6 games before bouncing back against Port Adelaide at Peter Motley Oval in Round 15 with a 27 point victory. Supporters hopes of a late season comeback were unfortunately dashed as the side then lost the next 3 games, but the team did give the fans something to cheer about in the last game of the season against North Adelaide with a comprehensive 46 point win over the hapless Roosters who only won 1 game for the season. The faithful were able to give co-skipper Michael Coad and Matthew Duldig who both had announced that this was to be their last game a rousing send off and after the game coach Seamus Maloney announced he was stepping down after 4 years in charge. A disappointing season that promised so much after an excellent 2014 with the Blues finishing in eighth place with 6 wins and 12 losses for the season, however the Under 16 team go through the season undefeated to claim the Premiership after being runners up in 2014. Players to make their debut include Sam Jonas, Jarrod Lienert, Rune Gilfoy and Jordan Dawson who is subsequently drafted to the Sydney Swans at pick 56 at the AFL National Draft. Co-Captain Zane Kirkwood wins his second P.T. Morton Medal in only his second season at the club and Ben Hansen wins the Rick Davies Medal with 23 goals, while former Sturt junior Chad Wingard is named in the All Australian team for the second time. The club for the first time in its history seeks a full time coach and appoints former Premiership player Martin Mattner, Marty played 222 AFL games firstly for Adelaide and then Sydney and also played in the Swans 2012 Premiership. The club says goodbye to Angus Kurtze and Tom Bartlett who both decide to hang the boots up along with assistant coach Brodie Atkinson.
2016 Zane Kirkwood is appointed stand alone Captain after the retirement of Michael Coad and recruits to the club include the return of Brodie Martin after his delisting from the Adelaide Crows, Aidan Riley who also had previously played for Sturt when on the Crows list from the Melbourne Demons, veteran Scott McMahon from North Melbourne and giant Jack Osborn from the Adelaide Crows who standing at 205cm becomes the tallest player ever to play for the club. All eyes were on rookie coach Marty Mattner in the opening game of the season against the best team in the competition, the Eagles, on a sunny Easter Monday at Peter Motley Oval. It wasn’t a good day for us as we lost to the Eagles by 39 points and also lost both Aidan Riley and Jack Osborn due to injury, next up was Central District also at home and by the 10 minute mark of the second quarter we were behind by 29 points and it was looking like it was going to be a long season, but then something just clicked and we fought back to win by 21 points. A win followed the next week and then another and another and by round 9 after 5 wins in a row we were on top of the ladder. The competition has a bye for the State game against Victoria and the club has 5 players selected – Zane Kirkwood who is also named captain, Fraser Evans, Jack Osborn, Aidan Riley and Brodie Martin, while Zane Kirkwood wins his second Fos Williams Medal as South Australia’s best in their 19 point win. After the State game the wins kept coming and after defeating Norwood at home we had made it 10 wins in a row, a feat not achieved by a Sturt side since 1978. Our undefeated run came to an end when Adelaide defeated us by 12 points at Thebarton Oval, unfortunately this game also saw Aidan Riley breaking his hand, 2 more wins over Central District and West Adelaide followed, before injury struck again this time to an inform Fraser Evans in a 39 point loss to the Eagles. Minor injuries also saw Brodie Martin, Ben Hansen and Tom Harms miss our next game against fellow Premiership contender South Adelaide and in a disappointing 49 point defeat matters were made worse with an injury to Jack Osborn. We needed to beat North Adelaide at home to secure the double chance, this we did, but not in convincing fashion and the next week a draw against Glenelg also at home ended the minor round with us finishing third with 13 wins, 4 losses and 1 draw. Importantly we welcomed back Aidan Riley and Jack Osborn for the Qualifying Final against South Adelaide and in a tight contest we were only able to break away in the last quarter kicking 6 goals to their 2 and run out winners by 27 points. Our first 2nd Semi Final since 2002 awaited us the next week against Minor Premier, the Eagles and they were able to get out to an early lead as they had done in our previous two games against them and even though we had reduced the margin to 15 points by the midway mark of the third quarter we never really threatened and they went on to win by 24 points. In the lead up to the Preliminary Final Zane Kirkwood becomes one of only 11 players to win two Magarey Medals after polling 24 votes to finish ahead of Eagle Nick O’Brien on 19. Our next challenge was an inform and strong Adelaide Crows outfit in the Preliminary Final and after a close first quarter we started to get on top, leading by 25 points at half time and further extending this lead to 29 points at three quarter time, Adelaide came at us in the last quarter, reducing the margin to only 16 points by the 10 minute mark, but we were able to steady and run out winners by 35 points. Our first Grand Final since 2009 and against our nemesis in recent times, the finals hardened Eagles, it was imperative that we didn’t let them get out to an early lead and this we did, behind only by 3 points after a close first quarter in which both teams only kicked 1 goal. The second quarter was a real arm wrestle with three lead changes, but importantly with a goal late in the quarter to Jack Stephens we led at half time by 3 points. We were able to get on top late in the third quarter and with a goal to Jarrod Lienert and then a goal after the siren to Kory Beard we went into the final quarter with all the momentum and an important 14 point lead. When the Eagles got the first goal of the last quarter within 2 minutes it was game on, with our lead reduced to only 8 points, but from then on our relentless pressure, which included an incredible 106 tackles for the match, broke the back of the Eagles and saw us kick the next 4 goals in succession and get out to a game high 33 point lead before a late goal brought the margin back to 27 points when the final siren sounded. Jack Stephens is awarded the Jack Oatey Medal as best on ground after playing the perfect game for a defender and our 14th Premiership is eerily similar to our 13th Premiership in 2002 – finishing third after the minor round, a rookie coach (Mattner/Phillips), a magarey medallist who wore the number 9 (Kirkwood/Sheedy), losing to our Grand Final opponent in the 2nd Semi Final and then recording our only win against them for the year in the Grand Final (Eagles/Central District). Younger players to make their debut for the club during the year include Henry Carey, Andre Parrella, Campbell Wildman, Brad Coulson, Steven Slimming and Lewis Young who is also drafted to the Western Bulldogs with pick 49 at the AFL National Draft, while Jarrod Lienert winner of the Powerade Star Search Award and son of former Sturt ruckman Brett Lienert is drafted to Port Adelaide with pick 42 at the AFL Rookie Draft. Brodie Martin announces his retirement from the SANFL and lion hearted skipper Zane Kirkwood tops off an incredible year winning his third successive P.T. Morton Medal, with young gun James Battersby coming runner up and former defender now turned key forward Kory Beard third. Kory also wins the Rick Davies Medal with 55 goals for the season and along with Mark Evans comes joint runner up in the Ken Farmer Medal with 46 goals. Zane Kirkwood, Kory Beard, Fraser Evans, Mark Evans and James Battersby are named in – The Advertiser SANFL Team of the Year with Zane named captain and Marty Mattner named coach of the team and at the 2016 Annual General Meeting it is announced that the club off the field has recorded a surplus in excess of $700,000 to cap off a truly remarkable year for the Sturt Football Club.
2017 Recruits to the club include former Central District and Port Adelaide Power player Sam Colquhoun, ex-Woodville-West Torrens player Byron Sumner, RMFL leading goal kicker Jake Sutcliffe and former junior Tom Read from the Geelong Cats. Would the club suffer from the “premiership hangover” in season 2017 or be able to go back to back? The club suffers from injury and poor form early in the season and after 4 games was still to record a victory, losing to Adelaide by 2 points, Glenelg by an embarassing 61 points, our minor round nemesis the Eagles by 14 points and to Port Adelaide by 60 points after having been down by an astonishing 71 points at half time and were sitting at the bottom of the ladder. It was looking like it was going to be a very long season, but just as it happened in 2016 something just clicked and along with being at relatively full strength we were able to fight back with wins over West Adelaide, North Adelaide, South Adelaide, Norwood and Central District and climb into the final five for the first time. After defeating Adelaide in round 11 we were back in the top three and we went on to lose only 1 game for the rest of the year, yet again to the Eagles and as happened the year before we drew in our last game, this time against Norwood in what was also a dead rubber after having secured third place the week before. Importantly we suffered no injuries in the last game of the minor round and went into the Qualifying Final against a strong Port Adelaide side and after being down by 45 points late in the second quarter we fought back and got to within only 2 points entering time on in the last quarter before the Magpies were able to settle and kick 2 late goals to run out winners by 15 points. We then faced Central District in the 1st Semi Final which was also the first time we had played them in the finals since the 2009 Grand Final. The Dogs were coming off an impressive 48 point win over Norwood in the Elimination Final and were the form team after finishing the minor round with 4 successive victories. We got off to good starts in all four of the quarters before Centrals would come back in each and after being 20 points up approaching time on in the last quarter looked to have the game in hand before yet again a late surge by the Dogs, but we were able to hang on and record a 7 point win. Next up was the Preliminary Final and the finals hardened Eagles, we lost Ben Hansen due to a serious back injury early in the first quarter and at half time we led by 10 points. We were able to extend our lead out to 12 points going into the last quarter and went on to record a hard fought 20 point win and importantly had no other injury concerns going into our second Grand Final in succession. We went on to win a classic Grand Final by just 1 point against red hot favourite Port Adelaide at the Adelaide Oval in front of the largest SANFL Grand Final crowd seen since the 1998 Grand Final. Marty Mattner’s brave charges managed to hold off a fast finishing Magpies outfit in one of the most thrilling finishes to a title decider seen in recent times, earning our first back-to-back titles since 1969-1970 and our 15th premiership overall. We got the start we wanted with goals to Kory Beard, Mark Evans, Tom Harms and Jake Sutcliffe giving us a 10 point lead at the first break. A much tighter second quarter in which both teams only kicked one goal saw us extend our lead out to 12 points at half time. The third quarter was a real arm wrestle and saw only one goal kicked, by Aidan Riley at the 25th minute mark with a fine snap from a stoppage which gave us a handy 17 point buffer at the last change. The lead was significant given the intense nature of the absorbing battle, but Chad Cornes outfit which was desperate to end the longest SANFL Premiership drought (18 years) in club history refused to lie down. Port Adelaide started to get their trademark running game going with goals to Jake Neade and Brendon Ah Chee and once Tom Gray converted a set shot from just 20 metres out on a slight angle, the scores were level 13 minutes into the last quarter. Not to be denied, we regained the lead once Kory Beard kicked truly in the goal square after receiving a free kick and a 25 metre penalty and when James Battersby followed up with what would turn out to be a golden point 3 minutes later, it gave us a 7 point break 21 minutes into the quarter. Brendon Ah Chee got his side back within a point when he kicked a pressure set shot from 45 metres out after receiving a free kick for being infringed in a marking contest, but we managed to lock the game down yet again. It was a nerve racking and intense final few minutes with the siren finally sounding with the ball inside our forward line leading to a deafening roar from the Double Blue crowd and was just the third time in 44 years that a team has recovered from a Qualifying Final loss to win the flag, following the Double Blues of 1976 and Eagles of 2011. Defender Fraser Evans was a fitting winner of the Jack Oatey Medal, playing an outstanding defenders game by not only blanketing his direct opponent, Brett Eddy, but also earning 13 disposals, 5 marks and 3 tackles as well as 9 rebound 50’s. Last year’s Jack Oatey Medallist, Jack Stephens, was also a tower of strength in defence, repelling many attacks and taking intercept marks along with Guy Page (10 tackles) as the back six absorbed a truckload of pressure from the Magpies. Skipper Zane Kirkwood had a blistering first half to finish the game with 22 disposals and 10 tackles while James Battersby, Aidan Riley and Patrick Wilson did a power of work at the stoppages, winning clearances and laying 29 tackles between them while Scott McMahon had several important moments and Kory Beard kicked 2 crucial goals as well as laying some clutch tackles late in the final quarter. On a truly unforgettable day we also became the first SANFL club to win the Premiership trifecta after our Under 18’s easily defeated the Eagles by 43 points in the early game and then our Reserves beat West Adelaide by 15 points before the main game. When Captain Zane Kirkwood and Coach Marty Mattner held the Thomas Seymour Hill Premiership Cup above their heads this became “the new finest hour in the history of the Sturt Football Club”. Younger players to make their league debut during the year included Mitchell Crowden, Joel Thiele and Jake Veale. The club, not unexpectedly, had the most players selected ever in the AFL Drafts with 5 players taken in the National Draft – pick 20 Callum Coleman-Jones to Richmond, pick 42 Charlie Ballard to Gold Coast, pick 49 Jordan Houlahan to Essendon, pick 59 Mitchell Crowden to Fremantle and pick 66 Brandon Zerk-Thatcher to Essendon along with Patrick Wilson selected at pick 17 to Adelaide in the Rookie Draft. Kory Beard, Fraser Evans, James Battersby and Marty Mattner (coach) were again selected in The Advertiser SANFL Team of the Year along with Jack Stephens and Patrick Wilson. Zane Kirkwood remarkably wins his fourth successive P.T. Morton Medal with new recruit Sam Colquhoun coming runner up and Guy Page finishing third while Kory Beard wins his second consecutive Rick Davies Medal with 62 goals for the season and James Battersby places third in the Magarey Medal. Unfortunately we have to say goodbye to dual Premiership players Kory Beard (returning to the Eyre Peninsula) and Scott McMahon (playing and coaching Imperials in the RMFL) along with Reserves Premiership coach Gianni Petrucci (coaching McLaren Vale in the SFL).
2018 The club creates history with our first senior women’s team joining the SANFLW competition. The club recruit the high flying Shane McAdam who is the nephew of Gilbert McAdam from Scotch Old Collegians to help cover the loss of Kory Beard up forward and also welcome back past player Rory Taggert. We get off to a good start with wins over Norwood by 12 points on Easter Monday at the Parade and then against an undermanned Adelaide by 49 points at home where we also unfurl the 2017 Premiership flag. A loss followed to North Adelaide by 3 points before the ANZAC day clash saw a huge crowd of 7,965 on hand at Peter Motley Oval to see us defeat Port Adelaide by 25 points. Another loss to our minor round nemesis the Eagles ensued before three wins in a row saw us sitting second on the ladder at the end of Round 9. Losses to South Adelaide and then Port Adelaide saw us fall to fifth but then with 6 wins from our last 7 games which included a 23 point win over the Eagles at Woodville we were back in second place going into the last minor round game of the season against Glenelg. Like in 2016 and 2017, win, lose or draw we would be playing in the Qualifying Final the following week after securing the double chance the week before, so it was important that we suffered no injuries. At half time Glenelg led by 11 points in an entertaining game before a horror third quarter saw both Fraser Evans and then Jack Stephens go off injured and then it got worse in the last quarter with Aidan Riley and John Greenslade also getting injured. After the disaster of the game the week before we went into our fourth Qualifying Final in five years against the Eagles without Fraser Evans and Aidan Riley due to injury suffered the week before and a number of other players under injury clouds. The Eagles controlled the game all day and ran out 21 point winners with us unfortunately getting another injury, this time to James Battersby. We then faced North Adelaide in the 1st Semi Final and were undermanned due to an increasing injury toll, this was compounded with further injuries to a number of players during the game and with us effectively only having 15 fit players on the field when the siren sounded on a 58 point defeat to end a disappointing season. Young players to make their league debut during the year include Luke Edmonds and Daniel Fahey-Sparks. Fraser Evans and Jack Stephens are once again selected in The Advertiser SANFL Team of the Year along with Zane Kirkwood, Mark Evans who also wins the Ken Farmer Medal and Shane McAdam. Shane McAdam is also drafted by the Adelaide Crows via Carlton (Pre Draft Priority Selection) while Riley Grundy (brother of Brodie) is selected by Port Adelaide with pick 73 at the AFL National Draft. Tom Harms wins the P.T. Morton Medal after a superb individual season with both Sam Colquhoun and Zane Kirkwood coming runner up. The club appoints former Central District and North Melbourne player Nathan Grima to replace the outgoing Marty Mattner who joins the Adelaide Crows as an assistant coach while big Jack Osborn announces his retirement. Off the field the long awaited and needed Stage 1 of the Unley Oval Grandstand Redevelopment is completed giving the club the best changerooms in the SANFL while also providing the women’s and junior teams there own changerooms in the McKay Grandstand.
2019 Recruits to the club include former AFL player Danyle Pearce with 258 AFL games of experience along with forward/ruck Josh Patullo from Footscray in the VFL. We went down to a strong Adelaide line up by 32 points at home in round 1, but were able to defeat the Eagles the next week also at home by 7 points. Losses to Norwood and Glenelg followed before wins over South Adelaide, North Adelaide, West Adelaide and Central District saw us sitting fifth after 8 games. By round 15 we were third on the ladder and looking good for the double chance before losses to Norwood and Port Adelaide saw us needing to beat Glenelg in the last round to stay in the finals hunt, this we did and meant that we played Norwood in the Elimination Final. Our first Elimination Final since 2010 saw us get off to a reasonably good start and trail by only 4 points at the first change, a horror start to the second quarter saw the Redlegs kick 5 goals in a row and get out to a 35 point lead by the 15 minute mark, but we were able to get back into the game by kicking 3 goals and reducing their lead to 14 points at half time. Norwood extended the lead to 30 points at the last break, but we fought back and in an exciting last quarter were able to reduce the final margin to 14 points. Young players to make their league debut during the year include Casey Voss, Will Coomblas, Oliver Grivell and Rory Illman. Jack Stephens and Sam Colquhoun are selected in The Advertiser SANFL Team of the Year while Sam Colquhoun also wins the P.T. Morton Medal after a great individual season. A changing of the guard at Unley at the end of the year sees Premiership players Fraser Evans, John Greenslade, Ben Hansen, Aidan Riley and Jack Stephens all announce their retirement.