Gotchy’s Match Report – Round 15 vs Port Adelaide Magpies

Going into the game Saturday our key message was to establish a four quarter effort. Throughout this season we have produced 2 or 3 quarters how we want to play but that isn’t enough to win games in the SANFL.

On Saturday we bought our identity for the whole game leading to our first win of the season. All 22 players played their role and achieved the behaviours we set when we pull on the West Adelaide guernsey. This is the standard that needs to be there for the remaining games of the season.

The weather surprised us a bit, so we had to play to the conditions. I felt we played really aggressively in the first quarter, which we had to with the wind advantage. Our defence were very proactive with their positioning; leading to intercept marks and generating multiple inside 50’s. It was pleasing to be able to make the most of our opportunities in front of goal early on to give ourselves a bit of breathing room. We knew the southern end would be the scoring end.

The 2nd quarter we were going against the breeze so our aim was to make it a stoppage game and to make it difficult for Port Magpies to control the football. The backline held up really well, winning most of their 1v1’s. We kept going at the game which was pleasing to see as this led to us scoring two goals in the quarter.

At halftime we again discussed the 4 quarter effort that needed to be produced to win the game. 3^rd quarter we were dominant in the scoring shots department but unfortunately our kicking was inaccurate – 2 goals 5 behinds. Our mids performed really strongly getting on top of the contested possessions and clearances.

Going into the last quarter, a big effort was needed as Port were always going to come hard at us. We were under the pump early in the quarter but it was clear the players mindset was to not be overrun as evident from desperate individual acts. To kick 3 goals in the last quarter and end up winning by 27 points in tough conditions was a great reward. The feeling when the siren sounded was amazing but it was when addressing the players that I really felt it. l could see the emotion on their faces, knowing that they have worked really hard and having put in a lot of time to get better. This has to be the standard we continue to strive for and we should be very confident going into this Saturday against Glenelg.

We had a lot of great performances on the day, l thought our forward line was very active with Jono Beech and Josh Gore kicking 3 goals apiece. Riley Corbett in his first game was fantastic doing everything we asked from him and was rewarded with 3 goals himself. Joel Stevens and Patrick Fairlie continued their good form in the middle and Michael Mattingly played a great game on the wing holding shape and being used as an outlet. Jye Sinderberry was solid in defence and Tom Morrish just continues to get better each week which is very exciting for the club.

Our leaders were magnificent. Tom Keough, Kaiden Brand and Josh Ryan were all very good in defence, with all three down there it’s one of the most imposing backlines in the competition. Hamish Hartlett led from the front in the middle and has been in exceptional form, his ability to win contested ball is another level. Jordan Boyle continued his strong patch and is slotting into the backline very well and Logan Hill was magnificent not only with his drive out of defence but with his proactive positioning, one in particular which led to a goal in the 2^nd quarter.

Thank you to everyone who supported on the day, we really appreciate it and look forward to seeing you all again this coming Saturday.

Best Players: Hartlett, Beech, J.Ryan

Goals: Beech, Corbett, Gore (3), Edwards, Ellem, Keough (1)

Brad Gotch