REVIEW - Sturt v Port - Round 2

[GWW]

Sturt defeated Port by 6 points.

Well done by Sturt to hang on for a victory. Port a little disappointing in last 15 mins.

[StrayDog]

Entertaining match.

Sturt with a touch too much strength and run towards the end, certainly making their centre break wins count in the middle / late part of the last quarter.

Well done to Sturt. Port now beating last year's premiers and then going down to the wooden spooners, failing to go into the bye a useful 2-0.

[once_were_warriors]

Cracker of a game , good to watch on TV , would have been awesome there.

Could hear the crowd from the back yard especially in the last quarter and that's 1Km away , was extremely loud.

[Macca19]

Thud is the sound of the Magpies crashing back to earth. Very disappointing results. Scores went to the Northern end all day and to be up by 10 points twice in the last quarter and not give a whimper in the last 15 minutes was very poor. Decent sized crowd I thought.

The turning point was Cockshell going into the ruck in the last 15 minutes. Everytime he went near the ruck all day we couldn't get it out at stoppages and the last 15 minutes was the worst of the lot. Clearance after clearance after clearance, our midfielders were hopeless.

Thought it was a pretty arrogant performance from the Magpies for most of the day. It seemed that they thought things would just happen and weren't prepared to work hard for the ball. TOo many loose Sturt players all over the park.

Don't get me started about Wilson. If this club is serious about improvement and wanting to actually make the finals this year then he shouldn't play next week. Mcleay did a great job in keeping him from getting any clear run at the footy but a few times he quite visibly stopped going for the ball - one particular in the last quarter where instead of calling Gray in for an easy mark, he decided to spoil him and then sooked at the back of the play whinging how Gray got in his way. Just didn't work anywhere near hard enough to get things going his way, was constantly out of position. Make a stand Port and make him earn his pay cheque.

Apart from Mcleay I thought Sheedy was excellent for the Blues, especially in the last quarter. Gum worked his way into the game after a slowish start. Mcintyre was too good for a ridiculously loose Slattery who paid him no respect at all. Cahill barely had a kick all day then kicked the two winners in the space of 2 minutes in the last quarter. Anderson also good across half back.

For Port, Beard was the best. Led from the front at CHB. Gray very good around the ball, as was Banner and Dolling. Clayton a mixed bag. Harder worked hard to get into the game and had a good last half. Ebert strong through the centre.

Great game of footy

[Cambridge Clarrie]

Good summary Macca.

From a Sturt point of view, I was impressed by our own two Macca's (McIntyre and McLeay). Sheedy was good, as was Brodie Martin, Matt Jaensch and Tambling. I was also impressed with Duldig in the 1st, 2nd and 4th quarters; the big Dugong just never gives up and his second efforts today were great. The new big guy Jenkins showed great promise too.

Sturt seemd to be much better at getting it out of the middle than Port. Having said that, Port looked great kicking for goal on the run and were at their best when they moved the ball quickly.

Overall, very committed effort by Sturt and a great first up win for Seamus and his team. I expect a great game against South on Friday night.

Can't help but laugh at all the supposed experts who predicted Sturt as favourites for the spoon again. I still think we'll be battling around 5 or 6, but I think today's effort shows we're on the way up...

[CUTTERMAN]

Thanks for the write ups, was working out in the country and had no tv, radio or phone service but was content to come home to a recorded game.............girlfriend didn't set it properly so I'm back to being pissed that I missed it. Oh well, shit happens.
Was confident that we could at least make a game of it if not win, said it before but I still can't work out just how many have been writing us off this year. It's going to be tight from 3rd to 8th this year.
Well done Blues, I'm very proud.

[Pseudo]

Watched the first 3 quarters on the box, and at 3/4 time thought Port had it in the bag.

Got to the club to see Port had reeled Sturt in.

Watched the last 10 minutes or so and saw Sturt knuckle down and win something which they should have lost - great effort. Magpies let that one slip.

BTW great comments Macca, as always.

[JK]

Must admit I was channel surfing today so didn't see a heap, but I was surprised the Maggies didn't hold on, and I actually thought Cockshell was good - All from the bits I saw.

We thought last years comp was tight .. I reckon 2012 will be even tighter again.

[zipzap]

Awesome - well done Blues!

[Macca19]

Cockshell was good around the ground. Took some good marks and competed well, but we just had a losing midfield when he was in the ruck. Not that he couldn't get his hands on the ball, he just couldn't direct the taps to our players. I reckon Sheedy had about 4 consecutive clearances in that 5 minute period in the last when Sturt won the match.

Very disappointing.

[JK]

Cockshell was good around the ground. Took some good marks and competed well, but we just had a losing midfield when he was in the ruck. Not that he couldn't get his hands on the ball, he just couldn't direct the taps to our players. I reckon Sheedy had about 4 consecutive clearances in that 5 minute period in the last when Sturt won the match.

Very disappointing.

Thanks mate .. Didn't see the last 15-20 minutes so can't comment. Think he'll be a good asset for you.

The biggest improvement that I've detected in Port to last year is how much more often you're hitting your targets .. Last year you had no trouble winning the ball, but seemed to cough it up a bit.

[HOORAY PUNT]

Cockshell only had 3 marks.

[dedja]

But cleaned out most of the pie warmers ...

[HOORAY PUNT]

By quarter time he and Duldig had scoffed them all .

[Cambridge Clarrie]

Cockshell only had 3 marks.

He wasn't great in my opinion... Didn't seem to dominate the middle like I had expected him to. Some of the Port players were treating him as a bit of a NFL punter when they were kicking with the wind. Must admit he does have a booming (though usually mongrel) kick on him.

[HeartBeatsTrue]

Wow. Beat the reigning premiers one week, then lose to the reigning wooden spooner the next.

Tight comp indeed.

[Dutchy]

How did B Kane go?

[southee]

Cockshell only had 3 marks.

[RustyCage]

How did B Kane go?

6k 8h 3m 3cl 1behind

[HOORAY PUNT]

How did B Kane go?

He was alright , did a lot of hard stuff that many dont see as you would know. Hinge was also good . Duldig 4.3 was OK.