Michael Godden – Senior Coach Report
This week has certainly been a happier one than the last one. The whole Club was under some real pressure to perform this week in all grades, and I am pleased to say although not all the games were perfect, to come away with 3 wins is a great result.
The League game started with a lot of pressure around the ball, which ultimately caused skill errors from both sides which made the game a fairly unattractive spectacle, but you do have to understand the importance of the game to both sides so pressure was high and the fact that we came out the other side on top was very pleasing. For the supporter who goes every week you would have seen a slightly different style from us, which was deliberate (maybe not to the extreme) but something we have been working on when we come up against different styles of play or when we have an adjustment in our personnel. It isn’t always going to be pretty, but you just cant keep giving the ball back to the opposition, so we are working hard on these changes to make sure whatever situation arises later in the year we are ready.
Over the next three weeks the games don’t get any smaller, with a huge game on Saturday against Sturt at Woodville who need this win as much as us, so I would expect a great contest and I know the players are really looking forward to this one.
Craig Smith – Reserves Coach Report
They say a week is a long time in football. That is particularly true when you have lost disappointingly the previous week. As a group we tried to pinpoint what went wrong and individually the players asked themselves what areas they could improve on. It was a real pleasure to see the approach that the Reserves boys brought with them on Saturday. After several less than impressive performances recently it was exciting to see the positive, intense mind set the players had.
As was the case last week we started very well and the quarter time score was 4.2 to 0.1.
I reminded the boys at quarter time that we were in a similar situation the previous game and that our intensity had fallen away badly, so the challenge was there to maintain their effort. The players responded well and we went into half time in front and in control of the contest. The third quarter saw us continue in this vein. The last quarter was a bit of a scrap, but the final result saw us run out 45 point victors. I believe this was a true reflection of the way we had controlled the game all day.
In the Reserves we endeavor to focus more on the processes we wish to put in place and to let the result take care of itself. A cliché I know but this is vital if we are going to move forward as a team and more importantly help the individual players push for senior selection. Of course we have to balance this with the desire to win and to start game day for the Eagles off well. This is the eternal juggling act of a Reserves group, but I hope that we may be starting to get that balance correct. I said to the players after the game that it was pleasing to win but what was more impressive was the way we went about it and the positive, intense, team based approach we had for the majority of the day. I also said that I hoped this was the turning point of our season. This will only be the case if we can back it up again this week against Sturt at home. Of course this is the challenge. Are we up to it? I encourage all fans of the Eagle to come to Woodville Oval early on Saturday to find out.
Terry Hutton – Under 18’s Coach Report
Another 5 o’clock game following the League game. Darkness fell rapidly and the lights coverage of the oval was barely adequate. Up in the grandstand coaches’ box it was difficult to see the far side of the oval. The ground conditions were reasonable with a very soft spot in the centre pitch. Rain had fallen over the last day or two. As a consequence players found it hard to hold their feet. Many scrimmages occurred with North taking the initiative. Handball fed out the back and breaking right saw them have 2 goals on the board before the Eagles scored.
The second quarter saw the Eagles starting to dominate the play with good back up handball and strong kicking forward. The intensity to tackle and to harass the opposition saw many forward thrusts and very few balls were allowed to enter the North 50 meters arc. Jacquier at CHF proved a strong attack with sound marking and clever evasion skills. Cashel and Mansell proved impassable in the back line while Brusnahan use speed to advantage taking the opposition on. Sinor, as an onballer, attacked contests strongly, playing his hardest game this year.
In the third quarter we had lost our main ruckman, Huppatz, by half time with a severe shoulder injury. Hobbs normally a CHF combined with Muller (U16) to carry the rucks very efficiently. Joyce dominated the ground with clever reading of the play, being decisive when attacking the contest and accurately kicking to the lead into space. Luke Dunstan (U16) was again cool under pressure and with clever play ended up kicking 4 goals. Harding kicked only 2 goals but when playing as a run on player, created many opportunities for his team mates.
In the last quarter, Sutcliffe used speed and long penetrating kicks from centre to play his best game for the season. Appleton chased hard and was rewarded with a free kick. His run through the centre and pass to Lutze (Goal 15) was an fine example of playing instinctively. Elfenbein came into the game in the second half, reading the play, attacking directly and driving forward. Overall considering the ground and light conditions a very good result.