SA Footy

Contributed by Forum Member "redandblack"

I left at ¾ time.

Centrals had the premiership officially wrapped up today, but in reality, they won it 2 weeks ago. Today was merely about appreciating an experienced team playing a well-oiled game plan, against a tired team who knew their chance had disappeared the last time they had played each other.

As a Blood’s supporter who had watched both sides closely only when they had played West, the biggest surprise was that Sturt weren’t invincible. Far from it, they either decided, or were forced, to play wide with a style that required precision skill. Against some other teams, it works. Against a finals-hardened Central, it never looked like succeeding.

Before the siren, I had enjoyed Michael Godden’s success in a stirring Reserves comeback. An under 18’s premiership and a Reserves flag was only a partial redemption for the less-than-usual, but still loyal Snouts’ gathering. Could Luke Norman continue the ex-Bloods coaches run? The answer took about 10 minutes and was a resounding no.

Without Herring and with Chambers, Sturt looked vulnerable up forward and the problem with playing Coad up forward was that Coad was playing up forward. Central contained McGlone’s influence, a job that would have been much harder if Coad had been playing down back, but enough of Sturt. They could look back on a season far more successful than anyone could, or did, foresee. They’d lost several experienced players and had made a Grand Final with a new coach.

We all know about Central, so it’s hard to write anything new. I was pleased to see an ex-West water-boy amongst their better players, but I struggled to find any other West connection. Apart from that, it was obvious that the Centrals players trusted each other. They trusted their teammate to win a 50/50 contest and their trust was often rewarded. They trusted their ball-winners to play direct football and they did. That’s certainly easier when you’ve got Daniel Schell to mark the footy, or Ed Sansbury to cause havoc, or Scott Dutschke to punch above his weight in pack-marking contests, or James or Chris Gowans to kick a goal or find an unmarked player, but still they stuck to that trust.

They were also well served by some so-called unfashionable players, led by Jason MacKenzie, whose ruckwork and behind the ball efforts were so important and Heath Lawry, who must have thought it was his lucky day in more ways than one..

Until ¾ time the highlight had been the crowd figure announcement of nearly 36,000. I made a mental note to contact the media and remind them that Adelaide United almost never get half that, so how about some decent coverage. That’s when I left and Centrals fans will have to excuse me, but I’ve seen enough of their premiership celebrations to last me a lifetime. No disrespect, they fully deserved their win and they won’t stop winning until another team gets better than them. The way to do it is when they’re vulnerable; the earlier finals.

On the long walk back to the car, I contented myself with knowing that the team to do it will be none other than my own team – the mighty Bloods.

At least I’m sure our club song will be sung after the final siren.

Well done. Good to get another perspective.

redandblack wrote:I left at ¾ time.

Centrals had the premiership officially wrapped up today, but in reality, they won it 2 weeks ago. Today was merely about appreciating an experienced team playing a well-oiled game plan, against a tired team who knew their chance had disappeared the last time they had played each other.

As a Blood’s supporter who had watched both sides closely only when they had played West, the biggest surprise was that Sturt weren’t invincible. Far from it, they either decided, or were forced, to play wide with a style that required precision skill. Against some other teams, it works. Against a finals-hardened Central, it never looked like succeeding.

Before the siren, I had enjoyed Michael Godden’s success in a stirring Reserves comeback. An under 18’s premiership and a Reserves flag was only a partial redemption for the less-than-usual, but still loyal Snouts’ gathering. Could Luke Norman continue the ex-Bloods coaches run? The answer took about 10 minutes and was a resounding no.

Without Herring and with Chambers, Sturt looked vulnerable up forward and the problem with playing Coad up forward was that Coad was playing up forward. Central contained McGlone’s influence, a job that would have been much harder if Coad had been playing down back, but enough of Sturt. They could look back on a season far more successful than anyone could, or did, foresee. They’d lost several experienced players and had made a Grand Final with a new coach.

We all know about Central, so it’s hard to write anything new. I was pleased to see an ex-West water-boy amongst their better players, but I struggled to find any other West connection. Apart from that, it was obvious that the Centrals players trusted each other. They trusted their teammate to win a 50/50 contest and their trust was often rewarded. They trusted their ball-winners to play direct football and they did. That’s certainly easier when you’ve got Daniel Schell to mark the footy, or Ed Sansbury to cause havoc, or Scott Dutschke to punch above his weight in pack-marking contests, or James or Chris Gowans to kick a goal or find an unmarked player, but still they stuck to that trust.

They were also well served by some so-called unfashionable players, led by Jason MacKenzie, whose ruckwork and behind the ball efforts were so important and Heath Lawry, who must have thought it was his lucky day in more ways than one..

Until ¾ time the highlight had been the crowd figure announcement of nearly 36,000. I made a mental note to contact the media and remind them that Adelaide United almost never get half that, so how about some decent coverage. That’s when I left and Centrals fans will have to excuse me, but I’ve seen enough of their premiership celebrations to last me a lifetime. No disrespect, they fully deserved their win and they won’t stop winning until another team gets better than them. The way to do it is when they’re vulnerable; the earlier finals.

On the long walk back to the car, I contented myself with knowing that the team to do it will be none other than my own team – the mighty Bloods.

At least I’m sure our club song will be sung after the final siren.

Out of curiosity, which Central player is that?

whufc wrote:

redandblack wrote:I left at ¾ time.

Centrals had the premiership officially wrapped up today, but in reality, they won it 2 weeks ago. Today was merely about appreciating an experienced team playing a well-oiled game plan, against a tired team who knew their chance had disappeared the last time they had played each other.

As a Blood’s supporter who had watched both sides closely only when they had played West, the biggest surprise was that Sturt weren’t invincible. Far from it, they either decided, or were forced, to play wide with a style that required precision skill. Against some other teams, it works. Against a finals-hardened Central, it never looked like succeeding.

Before the siren, I had enjoyed Michael Godden’s success in a stirring Reserves comeback. An under 18’s premiership and a Reserves flag was only a partial redemption for the less-than-usual, but still loyal Snouts’ gathering. Could Luke Norman continue the ex-Bloods coaches run? The answer took about 10 minutes and was a resounding no.

Without Herring and with Chambers, Sturt looked vulnerable up forward and the problem with playing Coad up forward was that Coad was playing up forward. Central contained McGlone’s influence, a job that would have been much harder if Coad had been playing down back, but enough of Sturt. They could look back on a season far more successful than anyone could, or did, foresee. They’d lost several experienced players and had made a Grand Final with a new coach.

We all know about Central, so it’s hard to write anything new. I was pleased to see an ex-West water-boy amongst their better players, but I struggled to find any other West connection. Apart from that, it was obvious that the Centrals players trusted each other. They trusted their teammate to win a 50/50 contest and their trust was often rewarded. They trusted their ball-winners to play direct football and they did. That’s certainly easier when you’ve got Daniel Schell to mark the footy, or Ed Sansbury to cause havoc, or Scott Dutschke to punch above his weight in pack-marking contests, or James or Chris Gowans to kick a goal or find an unmarked player, but still they stuck to that trust.

They were also well served by some so-called unfashionable players, led by Jason MacKenzie, whose ruckwork and behind the ball efforts were so important and Heath Lawry, who must have thought it was his lucky day in more ways than one..

Until ¾ time the highlight had been the crowd figure announcement of nearly 36,000. I made a mental note to contact the media and remind them that Adelaide United almost never get half that, so how about some decent coverage. That’s when I left and Centrals fans will have to excuse me, but I’ve seen enough of their premiership celebrations to last me a lifetime. No disrespect, they fully deserved their win and they won’t stop winning until another team gets better than them. The way to do it is when they’re vulnerable; the earlier finals.

On the long walk back to the car, I contented myself with knowing that the team to do it will be none other than my own team – the mighty Bloods.

At least I’m sure our club song will be sung after the final siren.

Out of curiosity, which Central player is that?

Adam Switala i believe.

Ok classic, another one of those little facts that very little people would know. Good get wycbloods. Ill be sure to remind him of that at the Chimney ceremony tomorrow.

wycbloods wrote:

whufc wrote:

redandblack wrote:I left at ¾ time.

Centrals had the premiership officially wrapped up today, but in reality, they won it 2 weeks ago. Today was merely about appreciating an experienced team playing a well-oiled game plan, against a tired team who knew their chance had disappeared the last time they had played each other.

As a Blood’s supporter who had watched both sides closely only when they had played West, the biggest surprise was that Sturt weren’t invincible. Far from it, they either decided, or were forced, to play wide with a style that required precision skill. Against some other teams, it works. Against a finals-hardened Central, it never looked like succeeding.

Before the siren, I had enjoyed Michael Godden’s success in a stirring Reserves comeback. An under 18’s premiership and a Reserves flag was only a partial redemption for the less-than-usual, but still loyal Snouts’ gathering. Could Luke Norman continue the ex-Bloods coaches run? The answer took about 10 minutes and was a resounding no.

Without Herring and with Chambers, Sturt looked vulnerable up forward and the problem with playing Coad up forward was that Coad was playing up forward. Central contained McGlone’s influence, a job that would have been much harder if Coad had been playing down back, but enough of Sturt. They could look back on a season far more successful than anyone could, or did, foresee. They’d lost several experienced players and had made a Grand Final with a new coach.

We all know about Central, so it’s hard to write anything new. I was pleased to see an ex-West water-boy amongst their better players, but I struggled to find any other West connection. Apart from that, it was obvious that the Centrals players trusted each other. They trusted their teammate to win a 50/50 contest and their trust was often rewarded. They trusted their ball-winners to play direct football and they did. That’s certainly easier when you’ve got Daniel Schell to mark the footy, or Ed Sansbury to cause havoc, or Scott Dutschke to punch above his weight in pack-marking contests, or James or Chris Gowans to kick a goal or find an unmarked player, but still they stuck to that trust.

They were also well served by some so-called unfashionable players, led by Jason MacKenzie, whose ruckwork and behind the ball efforts were so important and Heath Lawry, who must have thought it was his lucky day in more ways than one..

Until ¾ time the highlight had been the crowd figure announcement of nearly 36,000. I made a mental note to contact the media and remind them that Adelaide United almost never get half that, so how about some decent coverage. That’s when I left and Centrals fans will have to excuse me, but I’ve seen enough of their premiership celebrations to last me a lifetime. No disrespect, they fully deserved their win and they won’t stop winning until another team gets better than them. The way to do it is when they’re vulnerable; the earlier finals.

On the long walk back to the car, I contented myself with knowing that the team to do it will be none other than my own team – the mighty Bloods.

At least I’m sure our club song will be sung after the final siren.

Out of curiosity, which Central player is that?

Adam Switala i believe.

Switty was definately a Westies fan growing up.

I'm positive that either Adam and/or his brother were in the Centrals Development Squads when they were helping Westies for a short time as young lads.

I'm stoked for Adam that he's enjoyed such a great career.

Nice write-up redandblack.

I think you have sumarised the game well. Sturt's weakness has been their indirect play, although I did think that they played more direct in the GF than they did in their previous games. Central's ability to put pressure on the ball carrier means that the more they hold onto it the greater the chance of a turn-over and if they have gone backwards trying to maintain possession and then lost it they are hit with a double whammy - given up ground and lost possession. I love it when an opposition takes the ball from the wing and goes back into their own 50. Saves us the trouble. Then everyone looks at the stats and says "how could they lose when they had more possession than the doggies?". These must surely be our golden years and I am loving every minute of it - even when we get belted in June and everyone writes us off - I have this feeling in the bottom of my stomach that come Spetember many of the brazen supporters of the April, May and June premiership teams will be eating their words.

redandblack wrote:I'm positive that either Adam and/or his brother were in the Centrals Development Squads when they were helping Westies for a short time as young lads.

I'm stoked for Adam that he's enjoyed such a great career.

Correct, Adam and Matt were both waterboys at Westies for a while.
Around 90/91 IIRC.
Another Elizabeth FC junior also used to be out there as well - Michael Wilksch.

Wilkschy organised me a free ticket to the blood bath GF against North. What a day!

Yes, DW.

As a trainer, I used to pick up Adam and Matt on some match days to go to the footy.

They were terrific.

As for the blood-bath GF, I was on the bench when the fights were literally on that bench.