League Match Report – Round 19

Our final game of our 2024 campaign was out at Prospect versus the North Adelaide Roosters. We welcomed Riley Corbett, Liam Delahunty, Sam Davidson and Judd Hansen into the lineup as we looked to finish the season with momentum and set a foundation for season 2025.

Our first quarter was dominant as we played 54% of the quarter inside our forward-50. We won the contest battle and held field position for long periods but failed to apply scoreboard pressure on North Adelaide as we kicked 1.9 from 16 entries to North Adelaide’s 3.1 from 6 entries.

The second quarter saw an increase in intensity and work rate by North Adelaide as they established dominance at stoppage, kicking 5.0 from stoppages for the term. We went into the main break with much to work on, as we trailed 9.2 to 3.11.

Our start to the third quarter was poor. For the first 23-minutes of the term we were outworked both inside and outside the contest as North Adelaide kicked 4 goals to 1 during this period. The final 8-minutes of the term set a blueprint on how we needed to play the final term as we got to work in the contest, we gained control of possession and held field position, kicking 3 goals in this time to go into the final term trailing by 21 points.

The final term produced some exciting football from both teams as we went goal for goal with North Adelaide. We would end up ruing the inaccuracy in front of goal from our first quarter and the drop off in work rate / intensity for much of the third, as North Adelaide took out the contest by a margin of 17 points.

We will take invaluable learnings out of this concluding game of our 2024 season.

I thought Riley Corbett played his best game for the club. I felt Sam Frost and Kobe Ryan continued to work tirelessly around the ball. Tom Morrish showed us what he is capable of, rebounding strongly from half-back and hitting the scoreboard. And Joel Stevens and Dylan McCormick showed promising signs in a restructured forward mix, kicking 5 goals between them.

Thank you to all that have supported the West Adelaide Football Club in 2024. To our sponsors, our support staff, our volunteers, our members, our loyal supporters – thank you for your ongoing backing of our club. I speak on behalf of our playing and coaching group that we will remain hungry for continued improvement and success and to get back playing finals football as quickly as we can.

Best: Riley Corbett, Tom Morrish, Sam Frost

Goals: D. McCormick (3), T. Morrish, J. Stevens (2), R. Corbett, S. Davidson, H. Ellem, J. Hansen, J. Obst, B. Searle

Senior Men’s Coach – Adam Hartlett