Under 18’s Coaches Report Round 15

Round 15 U18 Match Report

West Adelaide 19.18 (132) def. Sturt 4.6 (30)

Round 15 saw us play Sturt at home after the COVID lockdown and delay. This was the first time we’d played Sturt since round 3 and we had a number of changes to our side due to the college football season resuming. Amongst our 10 changes we welcomed Harrison Barker to the side for his first game of Under-18 football after some good local performances and solid training consistently.

Our first quarter wasn’t terrible but we looked quite rusty which was to be expected after not playing for 3 weeks. We had enough of the ball but were overusing it and should have led by more than 11 points at ¼ time. Our second and third quarters were very good and we were able to have 20 shots on goal during that period of the game. Our conversion wasn’t great but we weren’t far off with many of them and the post got in the way a number of times.

Our last quarter was excellent. I challenged the group to display our relentless value and we were able to score 7 goals in 22 minutes which eventually tipped the margin over 100 at the end. Tom Scully hit the scoreboard late and finished with 4 goals for the game. Of all the stats, I was most impressed that we won the tackle count by 15 despite also winning the possessions by 169. This is an excellent example of team first football and players putting their individual games second to that of the team.

Cade Kennedy was excellent again with 35 disposals, Charlie Pridham accumulated 34 touches from defence and Luke Young had a season high 31 touches and kicked 3 goals. Harrison Barker kicked 3 goals from 6 shots on goal in his debut game, Liam Westdijk led the tackle count with 7  and Dylan White took 12 marks in a solid display. Also a shoutout to our defenders who remained strong all day and keeping any opposition to 4 goals is a great performance.

This week we play Norwood at home on Saturday at 11:30am. We know their best football is very good and we will work hard on the track during the week to ensure we are improving each time we take to the field. There are still many areas that we are working to improve on, but I am pleased with the way the group listen and react to our messages. The players conducted themselves admirably during the COVID lockdown and this helped us continue our momentum on from previous matches.

Best: Cade Kennedy, Oscar Steene, Charlie Pridham, Luke Young, Dylan White, Harrison Barker

Goals: Tom Scully (4), Luke Young, Harrison Barker (3), Dylan White, Jesse Thackeray (2), Cade Kennedy, Kade Harkins, Dylan McCormick, Jaeden Watts, Saleh Baltagie (1)

Paul Streatfield

Talent Manager & U18 Coach