Tigers silence the Roosters

The opportunity to have members of the 73 Premiership team as a large part of our pre-game preparation, both in the change rooms and out on the oval, set the scene for a positive day and Round 6 clash with North Adelaide Football Club. It was fantastic conditions as both teams competed for the John Sandland Cup and Dean Higgins Medal.

We have been able to play some pretty good football at different times over the last month, and we felt we were building nicely. In our first half, particularly the second quarter, both sides of our game came together as we had hoped. Defensively, we continue to be very good, and the work of the collective group in this area of the game set the platform for our offense and ball movement to click into gear. Some exciting end-to-end ball movement, and some outstanding finishing in front of goal allowed us to have an impressive advantage at half time. Most pleasing from the coaching group perspective was the work rate and relentlessness in our method – a strong focus for us.

We expected North Adelaide to come back at us in the second half, as they are a quality team and football club. To their credit, they had the better of us in the third quarter – as is the case in any strong competition, if you drop off slightly, the opposition will take advantage.  We missed some of our chances through that period, but we were able to scramble and scrap enough to not let them right back into the contest. Pleasingly, we were able to play some solid football in the last quarter, getting back to some of our first half form. We finished the game with a 57-point lead to claim our fifth win in a row.  This sets us up nicely heading into the next phase of the season.

Our Reserves group put together their most impressive game of the season with an outstanding 104-point win. After a disappointing result the week before, the group hit the ground running and never let up, playing an exciting brand both offensively and defensively. Some outstanding performances across the team, none better than Nick Leck kicking 10 goals in an impressive effort. Well done to the group.

We head into a bye this weekend, which has come at a good time for a few of our guys that have some bumps and niggles to get on top off. We have several players that are in contention to play in the State Game this coming Friday and we wish them all the best. Finally, well done to Corey Lyons who continues to play some outstanding football and was awarded the Dean Higgins Medal for the most courageous player on the day.

We look forward to seeing all our supporters in two weeks at our Round 7 clash with Central Districts at X Convenience Oval.

– Darren Reeves, Senior Coach

Goal kickers: Liam McBean (6), Luke Reynolds (3), Riley Holder (2), Matt Allen, James Bell, Lachie Hosie, Brad McCarthy, Cam McGree

Best players: Corey Lyons, Liam McBean, Luke Partington, Matthew Snook, Cam McGree