League Match Report – Round 7

The challenge for our League side against North Adelaide was to bring the same effort and intent we had showed against quality opposition in Glenelg and Central Districts the weeks prior.

Our expectations of North were that they’d bring the heat around the contest (#1 in Ground Balls & #2 in Contested Possession) and with their speed and skill, look to transition the ball quickly on offence. We also made a focus of neutralizing North’s stoppage work and slowing their ball movement, and if we could execute in these areas we felt we’d be able to generate enough opportunities to kick ourselves a winning score.

The game was quite free flowing to start, with both teams having opportunity to go forward and score – North looking particularly dangerous with their outside speed. I felt we lost our shape / layers around stoppage and contest but made the necessary adjustments after quarter time to limit the impact North’s Wingmen & Half-Backs were having on the game.

From a numbers perspective leading into half time, we were happy with how the game was looking and it was nice to get a bit of reward on the scoreboard to take an 8-point lead going into the main break.

In the second-half the boys came with the same intent in the contest (+20 in total ground balls), defended strongly and rewarded themselves with some exciting passages of play leading to score on the board. Running out eventual winners by a margin of 31 points.

I spoke to our playing group post-game and congratulated them on their performance across each phase of the game. We also discussed how consistent each Division (Forwards, Mids, Backs) were on the day – no passengers. We spoke about some individuals on the day who may not get the plaudits outside of our group, but whose contribution to the team we valued highly – Harvey Bock for his job on Nigel Lockyer (4 disposals, 1 goal), Darcy Minchella for his job on Mitch Harvey (1 goal) and Luke Redfern for the job he did on Blayne O’Loughlin after quarter time.

Our connection with our past has been something that our playing group have been keen to explore this season, and it was fantastic to have 2015 Premiership Player and ex-Captain Tom Keough speak to the playing group throughout the week, as well as have many past-players from the 90s and early 2000s attend our game and join us in the changerooms.

Finally, in light of National Volunteer Week I would like to thank all of the wonderful volunteers we have at West Adelaide FC and those volunteers around the SANFL competition. Without your commitment and dedication to our clubs and players, we wouldn’t be able to implement the football programs we do.

League Coach – Adam Hartlett