Michael Godden – Senior Coach Report
It was a huge day for the Club and I can guarantee it wasn’t lost on the players. The way they attacked both body and ball was fantastic, along with the ability to finish off well again is a credit to the staff that prepare the players and the players themselves who make sure they are in great condition at all times.
Our ball movement was very good for the majority of the day, and it’s great to see the players are really taking ownership of their performances and every week I can see improvements. One pleasing aspect was our skill execution, as always you could point out times when it wasn’t great, but for the majority of the day it was much better than last week. Once again credit must go to the players who have been working hard in this area at training.
This result has put us in a good position to stay in touch with the top 3, which is where we want to be and need to be, so that makes this week’s game against Norwood a huge one and one that the guys are really looking forward to.
Finally I would like to say thank you to all the staff, members, supporters and past players of the Football Club for attending such an important day for all of us, and I am really pleased that the players could give something back by having a good win, and we now look forward to seeing as many Eagles faces out at Coopers Stadium this week to help the players get over the line.
Craig Smith – Reserves Coach Report
What a big day for the Football Club. With the launch of “The Best of Both Worlds” there were many past players on hand, and it was mentioned to the boys before the game that the long history of the Woodville West Torrens Football Club in its various forms was in our hands for the next two hours. Although we did not come away with the points there were many positive signs that hopefully all watching were happy with.
Sturt started quickly and at quarter time the score was 3.3 to 0.1, but we had managed to hang in there. In the second quarter the boys worked very hard and played some outstanding football to kick six goals to two. This meant that we led by 4 points at the long break. As expected Sturt came out hard in the second half and they took back the initiative. We just were not able to stay with them and they eventually ran out 26 point winners.
I mentioned to the boys after the game that it was pleasing that we had managed to continue with the intensity and team work that we had shown the previous week and that working at that level will enable us to be competitive against most sides. What did hurt us was some poor decisions and skill execution at critical times of the game. This is something we will continue to work hard on and look to improve as we get to the pointy end of the season. We will continue to strive for improvement and this starts on the track this week and next Sunday against another competitive side in Norwood.
Terry Hutton – Under 18’s Coach Report
The game was very tight for the first 10 minutes. Eagles applied tremendous pressure on Sturt who found difficulty in using their characteristic back play to create run and carry. Summerton laid a strong tackle and rebounded with confidence from CHB. Elfenbein used pace to read the flight of the ball and to rebound from the back lines. Cashel was cool and calm under pressure and his left foot turn put Sturt off balance. Sturt were quick to get back and often Von Bertouch had to fly against 3 opponents.
In the second quarter conditions were perfect for a high standard of ball movement. Sturt gradually worked back into the game with handball give, back up, give again end carry. They spread sideways and were able to get past the Eagles pressure. Some blind kicking into the forward lines by Eagles players gave Sturt many easy marking opportunities. By half time the game was evenly matched. Sutcliffe was constantly driving the ball into the forward line and picked up many possessions. Joyce as a run on player proved very skilful and evasive, setting up attacking moves. Poole was a live wire with strong aggressive attack on contests and working hard down the ground. Sumner is learning to play a team game, use his pace and to read off packs.
In the third quarter Sturt worked very hard to close the gap. They bustled, worked back, recovered quickly to the fall of ball and created running plays. The backs were under constant pressure as Sturt found space in which to move. Jacquier at CHF was proving a handful with strong marking and evasive movement. Sinor drifted in and out of the game but provided strong aggressive attacks and effective kicks.
The last quarter saw a very tight struggle with Sturt being 7 points in front in the early part due to hard running. But the Eagles played clever football. Harding was moved out to HF and proved a handful with strong marking and several direct long kicks to FF where Von Bertouch finished off an outstanding performance with 8 goals. He led well, marked strongly and was very accurate. Sinor and Luke Dunstan read the incoming ball well to add more goals. Eagles ran out winners by 6 goals. Cunningham and Brusnahan were strong in the backlines, providing leadership with voice and effort. Two inexperienced ruckmen battled hard all day. Promising (U16) Muller contested well around the stoppages and at kick outs. Broadbent played a very good team game, sweeping around the back of packs and not racing in to clog up scrimmages.
An excellent fight back.