Round 15 disappointing against Sturt

In what was a cracking game of SANFL football, there is absolutely no hiding from the fact we are not playing at a level that we expect for long enough right across the ground. Credit to Sturt for the way they went about it over the entire game, they are playing strong football in all departments and are certainly along with Norwood the teams to chase at this point of the season. We don’t hide from where we are at the moment, we are not good enough and have plenty of work to do. The positive we can take out is it is still July and there is still a hell of a lot of footy and twists and turns to come and we will keep turning up, learning, working, and see where we can end up when it gets to the pointy end.

Another poor start where we were out hunted around contest, out worked to the next ball often and doubled with some poor turn overs when not under pressure, we again found ourselves well behind in the game. We have certainly tried different things and will continue to search for the right answer, sometimes in searching for those answers it comes back to effort and intent. For most part that is the defensive side of the game for us at the moment. We are not working hard enough, and our desperation is not at a level consistently. We see some great periods when we are locked in and hunting and forcing turnovers, when that is the case, we are able to get the offence going and play at a high level. The second quarter was evidence of this with some strong football and score board reward from that. For the majority of the 3^rd quarter we were pleased with how it looked and had some opportunity to put ourselves in front in the game, however the 5 min lapse and conceding 3 goals was bitterly disappointing to say the least. It really does sum up the inconsistency in where we are at right now. We did give ourselves enough chances in the last qtr to be right in the contest and that is pleasing but Sturt deserved to win the game and we will get back to work and look to find ways to keep improving.

Another exciting win for our Reserves group with a late point sealing a 1-point win against the second placed Sturt team. Recording back-to-back wins against the 2 top teams is an outstanding effort over the last 2 weeks. An even younger group took the field due to some injuries across the group, but they continue to compete an in all areas and find ways to stay in games and get results from that effort level. Lots to like across the ground, it certainly wasn’t pretty at times but the endeavour and willingness to play roles is and continues to be a highlight.

Another short turn around into Saturday’s Round 16 clash with Norwood at Stratarama Stadium. It will be a big day for the club with our past players cash lottery day, a 5-year reunion of our 2019 Premiership team and one of our club greats, Matthew Snook, playing his 200^th game. An outstanding achievement for a fantastic player not only for our club but within the SANFL competition. It will be great to see a big crowd there to celebrate that occasion.

Most importantly it’s a big game for us to get back doing what we know we are capable of and doing it for the full 4 quarters. We look forward to the challenge.

Go The Bays

– Darren Reeves, Senior Coach

Goals: Reynolds (4), McBean (2), Bailey, Bell, Stagg, Window

Best Players: Allen, Reynolds, Gerloff, Lyons, Stevens