A seventh placed finish saw Norwood miss out on finals action in 2022 with several key players missing chunks of the season.
Norwood
Ladder Position: 7th (7-10-1, 100.08%)
Best and Fairest: Tom Maloney
Leading Goalkicker: Blake Pearson (32)
Summary:
Not everything went to plan for Norwood this year, facing a series of key injuries that put the club in a tricky position early on in the season.
After a 57-point thumping of the Sharks in Round One, Norwood lost the next four matches before returning to the winners’ list.
Throughout the year, they missed several of their key players for periods of the season. This included star midfielder Lochlan Dickson, Daniel Beddison and Michael Wenn.
The club gave themselves a chance to make a late push to qualify for finals but they weren’t able to knock Blackburn out of the top six. They finished seventh at the end of the Home and Away season, just missing out on September action.
Key Players:
Blake Pearson capped off an incredible year, winning the Chandler Medal, the equal top vote-getter with South Croydon ruckman Max King. Pearson finished with 32 goals, the most of any player on the side, also averaging 20 disposals and four inside 50’s per game.
Tom Maloney won the club’s best and fairest, averaging an impressive 27 disposals and 9 clearances per game. Eight times this season, the midfielder had 30 or more disposals in a game.
Coming Runner Up to Maloney in Norwood’s B&F was reliable key defender Tristan Tweedie. All three made the EFNL Premier Division Team of the Year in 2022.
Also having a great season at the club was Jamie Bennell, finishing the year with 25 goals.
Best Win: Round 16 – Norwood 18.15 123 def. Park Orchards 7.10 52 @Domeney Reserve
Needing everything to go right for them in the final three rounds to make the finals, Norwood wasn’t going to leave anything left in the tank. Their Round 16 game away from home against the Sharks was a one-sided belting. The Norsemen won by 71 points, their highest-scoring game since Round One.
Norwood kicked 17 goals to 6 after three-quarter time with Chandler Medalist Blake Pearson kicking seven of those and Rhett Jordan adding another five.
Off-Season Focus:
Despite losing this year’s Chandler Medallist, Blake Pearson who joins the Oakleigh District as a playing coach, the club have done well with their early off-season recruits. They’ve brought in multiple big inclusions such as the ex-Balwyn small forward Yarran Jaffer-Williams, a best and fairest winner from Woori Yallock Liam O’Dea and former Port Melbourne player Callum Searle.
This year, the club kicked a lot of their goals from their midfield, with the likes of Pearson and Dickson finishing in their top five goal-kickers for the season. That’ll certainly be a focus over the off-season with recruits such as Jaffer-Williams entering their forward 50, a dangerous small forward. Defensively they’re not far off the top contenders but there’s still plenty to improve up the other end of the ground.
This year may not have gone to plan but it’s still a very strong list and if they can manage to stay healthy, there’s no reason why they shouldn’t finish inside the top six in 2023.
Norwood Juniors
Norwood Juniors fielded 13 teams in season 2022. They had one premiership, Under 14 Girls won the flag after finishing on top of the ladder in the home and away season. The Under 11 and Under 13 and Under 16 Boys all made the finals, capping off a solid year for the junior club.
