West v South trial

[blackandred]

South named a league and a reserves side for this trial but Westies had a large squad which seemed to be split pretty evenly between the 2 games. The first trial was won by WA, 16.11 to SA 8.8 and the main game by SA 19.9 to a very ordinary WA 4.13. Even if you added the scores together Westies came out of the games looking clearly the inferior club.
The main trial introduced Brad Fisher, Sam Agars, Jack Carter and Ben Macreadie to the senior side and included Ryan Ferguson, Nat Caruso, Shane Birss, Chris Schmidt, Ben and Brayden Fisher, the Blesing brothers, Webb, Green and the young ruckman Peter Nelson (plus a lot of youngsters).
The following players didn't play in the main trial: Piasente, Silvester, Ezard, Anderson, F Caruso, Beech, Caire, Willets, Morris and Hartlett - all would be expected to be playing in the first game.
Having said this it was hard to find much to enthuse about when your team is walloped by 15 gls by last year's bottom side. South were faster, more direct, were able to take grabs in the fwd line, played as a team and did all the basic things better. Westies supporters looking for some forward system, a more direct style of play and a few big marking forwards were dissappointed.
The young ruckman, Peter Nelson, competed well. Shannon Green was probably our best, playing in defence he was certainly in the play all night. Ferguson would be better for the run. Macreadie has pace and toughness. Some of the younger players like Mathew Rankin and Michael Shearer showed promise. Daniel Webb had a shocker, dropping many marks. One, a simple chest mark in the first Q was downright embarrasing.
At the 3Q time huddle there was detailed discussion on transitions, stoppages and angles and the sea of blank faces didn't all belong to the supporters. We were hoping for some sort of fightback in the last Q but South goaled at the 45sec mark, again 1 min later, at the 4, 8, 10 and 17 min marks to run out impressive winners against a very ordinary opposition. Things can only get better.

[Thiele]

The following players didn't play in the main trial: Silvester, Ezard, Anderson, F Caruso, Beech, Caire, Willets, Morris and - all would be expected to be playing in the first game. Played the first game. Hartlett and Piasente didnt play at all.

Wouldnt take much out of the main trial. Mostly kids

[soapy]

Westies may have rested some senior players in the senior trial but take nothing away from South.
They were very impressive.
It is early days but they showed a much improved overall performance.
They will continue to improve on that..

[southee]

Westies may have rested some senior players in the senior trial but take nothing away from South.
They were very impressive.
It is early days but they showed a much improved overall performance.
They will continue to improve on that..

Agree with that Soapy.

Not a full manned side with a few new faces pulling on the jumper for the first time. A few new kids in there too.....so good start.

I shall keep a lid on things for now

[HOORAY PUNT]

Keep a lid on what ?

[Bunton]

South named a league and a reserves side for this trial but Westies had a large squad which seemed to be split pretty evenly between the 2 games. The first trial was won by WA, 16.11 to SA 8.8 and the main game by SA 19.9 to a very ordinary WA 4.13. Even if you added the scores together Westies came out of the games looking clearly the inferior club.
The main trial introduced Brad Fisher, Sam Agars, Jack Carter and Ben Macreadie to the senior side and included Ryan Ferguson, Nat Caruso, Shane Birss, Chris Schmidt, Ben and Brayden Fisher, the Blesing brothers, Webb, Green and the young ruckman Peter Nelson (plus a lot of youngsters).
The following players didn't play in the main trial: Piasente, Silvester, Ezard, Anderson, F Caruso, Beech, Caire, Willets, Morris and Hartlett - all would be expected to be playing in the first game.
Having said this it was hard to find much to enthuse about when your team is walloped by 15 gls by last year's bottom side. South were faster, more direct, were able to take grabs in the fwd line, played as a team and did all the basic things better. Westies supporters looking for some forward system, a more direct style of play and a few big marking forwards were dissappointed.
The young ruckman, Peter Nelson, competed well. Shannon Green was probably our best, playing in defence he was certainly in the play all night. Ferguson would be better for the run. Macreadie has pace and toughness. Some of the younger players like Mathew Rankin and Michael Shearer showed promise. Daniel Webb had a shocker, dropping many marks. One, a simple chest mark in the first Q was downright embarrasing.
At the 3Q time huddle there was detailed discussion on transitions, stoppages and angles and the sea of blank faces didn't all belong to the supporters. We were hoping for some sort of fightback in the last Q but South goaled at the 45sec mark, again 1 min later, at the 4, 8, 10 and 17 min marks to run out impressive winners against a very ordinary opposition. Things can only get better.

Black and Red, you seem like an intelligent person from your summary - can you please provide one explanation as to what was thought to be achieved from the farce of a side Collo picked for the main game?

[blueandwhite]

Impressive effort from South. A really good hit out.
Plenty of newcomers and most were impressive.
On a wing- Emmanuel Irra - a 16 yo local lad from our zone; from Uganda originally I believe -very impressive- remember that name, because you will hear it a lot more in the coming years.

[statsman]

Alot of the players tried in the 2nd game have had a few years of playing reserves and have been close to league selection without quite getting there. This was a chance to give these guys a chance to show their worth in a league hitout. West have not had an internal trial yet either and by spliting the teams evenly allowed all midfielders to get a good run under their belt. Judgement day on whether this was the right way to go will come in round 1 and it will be interesting to see what format is adopted for next weeks trial. South will certainly improve this season going by tonights showing but i wont read to much into Wests performance just yet.

South named a league and a reserves side for this trial but Westies had a large squad which seemed to be split pretty evenly between the 2 games. The first trial was won by WA, 16.11 to SA 8.8 and the main game by SA 19.9 to a very ordinary WA 4.13. Even if you added the scores together Westies came out of the games looking clearly the inferior club.
The main trial introduced Brad Fisher, Sam Agars, Jack Carter and Ben Macreadie to the senior side and included Ryan Ferguson, Nat Caruso, Shane Birss, Chris Schmidt, Ben and Brayden Fisher, the Blesing brothers, Webb, Green and the young ruckman Peter Nelson (plus a lot of youngsters).
The following players didn't play in the main trial: Piasente, Silvester, Ezard, Anderson, F Caruso, Beech, Caire, Willets, Morris and Hartlett - all would be expected to be playing in the first game.
Having said this it was hard to find much to enthuse about when your team is walloped by 15 gls by last year's bottom side. South were faster, more direct, were able to take grabs in the fwd line, played as a team and did all the basic things better. Westies supporters looking for some forward system, a more direct style of play and a few big marking forwards were dissappointed.
The young ruckman, Peter Nelson, competed well. Shannon Green was probably our best, playing in defence he was certainly in the play all night. Ferguson would be better for the run. Macreadie has pace and toughness. Some of the younger players like Mathew Rankin and Michael Shearer showed promise. Daniel Webb had a shocker, dropping many marks. One, a simple chest mark in the first Q was downright embarrasing.
At the 3Q time huddle there was detailed discussion on transitions, stoppages and angles and the sea of blank faces didn't all belong to the supporters. We were hoping for some sort of fightback in the last Q but South goaled at the 45sec mark, again 1 min later, at the 4, 8, 10 and 17 min marks to run out impressive winners against a very ordinary opposition. Things can only get better.

Black and Red, you seem like an intelligent person from your summary - can you please provide one explanation as to what was thought to be achieved from the farce of a side Collo picked for the main game?

[southee]

Impressive effort from South. A really good hit out.
Plenty of newcomers and most were impressive.
On a wing- Emmanuel Irra - a 16 yo local lad from our zone; from Uganda originally I believe -very impressive- remember that name, because you will hear it a lot more in the coming years.

The new cult figure.....amazing game

Agree B&W - people will be talking about the lad very soon.

[Thiele]

Really cant take much out tonight. Souths lights are good expect for at the goals where it almost looks dark. For record i was standing in the middle at 3/4 time giving the umpires a drink and it did look dark

[DOC]

The reserves for South included O'Keefe, Sandery, Redigolo, Cockshell, Ainger, Carter and Carey whom the club would expect would all press for consistent league selection, but as we know, you can select 21. They lacked voice and cohesion in the first half. Carey not eligible for selection until round 3 due to suspension.

In the league, South played 22 (West used 23) in near perfect conditions for footy. South played direct (helps with some forward options) and generally looked fitter and stronger which you would expect after starting on October 20. Notably, Jake Veide, Curtis Perrey and Xavier Gotch not only looked to have built significant upper body strength but have greater improved fitness. South tended not to interchange very much which for some players meant they had much longer stints on the ground than normal, especially for Midfielders like Gotch.

My view on the recruits:

Stribling: Nice to see him playing with Liddle instead of punching him. Servicable ( amongst many midfielders)
Wundke: Kicked 5, lead hard, used his height and strength to advantage and chased hard when it was turned over
Daniel: Played mostly off half back, ran very hard (kicked 2.2). Quite impressive
Macleod: Hard at the ball, very good tackler, ran extremely hard, determined to be at the contest and win and showed good disposal by hand and foot
Cross: Played in the middle and brought many others into the game. Looked good.

Cook and Talia from the crows played, both quiet.

16 year old Emannuel Irra has pace and already a reasonable size. Got crunched in the last quarter but got up and chased like he was not going to show he was hurt.

Overall, a good hitout against a depleted opposition but Westies were not given as much of a chance by Souths good disposal and hard tackling.

Goal Kickers from my reckoning: Wundke 5, Daniel 3, Gotch 3, Macleod 3, Veide 2, Cook 1, Horne 1, Cross 1, Murphy 1.

Luke Harrip who suffered a season ending face injury in last years trials played in the reserves.

Brad Fisher (Westies from Carlton) was not noticable but I may have mixed him with either Brayden Fisher or Brad Fisher. 3 B Fishers in one club. The two Phils will need to be on the ball.

[JK]

Luke Harrip who suffered a season ending face injury in last years trials played in the reserves.

Really glad to hear that, the lad could do with some luck.

[PhilH]

The two Phils will need to be on the ball.

Thanks for the heads up Doc ... so will Champion Data

[redandblack]

Easy.

Ben Fisher is a smaller defensive player and Braydn Fisher is a tall forward.

Brad Fisher is distinctive for reasons a stats caller would pick up immediately.

No drama

[PhilH]

No drama

... for some ... we will see

[redandblack]

Come on Phil

I have great confidence in your ability to easily differentiate them.

[HOORAY PUNT]

One tall and one small shouldn't be too hard , are they identical twins ? All else fails , they have a nuumber on their back.

[redandblack]

Not as simple as that, HP.

If they're coming towards you, you have to identify them immediately without the number.

If you have a chain of 5 handpasses as they stream out of defence towards you, you need to be quick.

[Thiele]

Souths away jumper looked good

[goraw]

clearly west are tanking and have their sights on the real prize, the foxtel cup