Rnd 1 - Sturt v Eagles @ Envestra POST GAME DISCUSSION

[Big Phil]

FULL TIME @ ENVESTRA PARK - UNLEY

LEAGUE:

Final Scores

Eagles - 18.14 = 122

Sturt - 15.6 = 96

Eagles win by 26 points




GOAL KICKERS:

Eagles - A.Ainger 4, L.Staple, L.Carey, M.Goldsworthy, C.Ellis-Yolman, A.Poole, C.Hall 2, A.Rowntree, A.Grocke 1

Sturt - Z.Vitkunas 4, M.Duldig, M.Coad, L.Krause 2, B.Kane, A.Riley, J.Greenslade, T.Hurley, A.Hunter 1

[The Big Shrek]

Ainger played well as did that Ziggy guy for Sturt. Duldig had a good first half but fell out when the rain came.

Sturt really let it slip. Graham looked like he didnt want to be out there except for a couple of isolated efforts. Needed to see more of Big Dog Pearce,

[Mickyj]

Just got home how the hell did that happen !!
Parry took over the ruck Sumner exploded as did Ellis yeoman .Ainger and Carey thank you Ron Fuller
Poole should have played last year!!
I'm still in shock loving footy again!!

[Aerie]

Great 2nd half by the Eagles. Terrible 2nd quarter. At half time it was looking Sturt by how far. Graham was dominating the ruck, especially against Borholm. Sturt midfielders were getting clean breaks and converting without much of a challenge in their forward line. Half time couldn't come quick enough and in hindsight the rain arriving halted Sturt's momentum.

Not many positional changes after half time, Goldsworthy to a wing and Parry contesting every centre bounce against Graham, two noticeable moves. Both worked.

Some really good signs from the new comers. Poole is ready made after serving his apprenticeship in the reserves and will be handy back up to Powell and Rowntree. Ainger looks really good and much needed to take the pressure off Grocke and Staple. Carey looks a similar type to Kane - solid, hard at the ball and good for our depth. Borholm has a long way to go - he at least attacks the pack hard - not sure if a ruckman or good enough to be key position forward?

Thought Goldsworthy and Rowntree were our two best. Sumner was good for most of the game as was Ainger. Giuffreda did some really important things and held McIntyre pretty well. Most of the Eagles players came in to it in the 2nd half. More need to step up when the going got bad in that 2nd quarter.

[MightyEagles]

U16s
Eagles 13.9.87
Sturt 8.7.55

U18s
Eagles 16.7.103
Sturt 7.8.50

[RB]

For something like the 7th year in a row I'm lamenting Grocke's apparent lack of goalkicking practice during the summer. Apart from that, great to be 1-0 instead of 0-1. Very little was going right for us in the first half but a win's a win, especially when it's not yet April. All the new players chipped in. From what I've heard Carey's a donkey but he scored a couple of handy goals and if he made the 1st XXI then he should be serviceable. Ainger looks like a guy around whom we can build our forward line. Could be a 60 or 70 goal man if we have a really good season. Defence was ordinary but when you kick 18 goals you can concede a few. Poole looks like being a small Luke Powell. Bring on Westies...

[eaglehaslanded]

Now that's a great effort to turn around a 32 point deficit at half time into a 26 point lead at full time. 14 goals to 4 after the half time break. Rowntree with 26 disposals, 10 clearances and a goal has to be Best On Ground. Parry with 41 hit outs and 11 disposals beat an AFL listed ruckman in Graham. Ainger and Carey look as though there going to be super recruits.

[JamesH]

The Double blues looked red hot at half time. I really thought they had the Eagles measure.

Bigger test next week....... some good signs for Sturt though

[am Bays]

Thought Benny Kane battled hard all game especially with his willingness to run to provide an option and to get to the contest (his diving effort at the 25 min mark of the 3rd qtr after he followed up his kick to create a contest). All this on an ankle that has been rooted for three years.

Hope for the sake of Hingey, Dulditch, Snoz and Slick Sturt go OK this year but with so many young kids playing it is difficult to maintain a consistent effort across the entire game as we found out last year.

[Mr Fuller]

Well done eagles.

The first qtr was pretty even. The second qtr sturt dominated us and the last half belonged to the eagles.

All week eagles supporters were saying our 'second tier' from previous seasons needed to stand up. Things were looking pretty grim during hte second qtr when all of Hall, Goldsworthy Lewis etc were not doing enough. The Advertiser claimed that Godden gave them all a rocket during the half time break which is what they needed. Seriously are the eagles a bunch of head-cases in that we need a coaches spray to get us prepared to play??? Well anyway, it worked and the desperation and willing to run to space appeared from nowhere after the break. All played really well. Special mention to the little fellow #52 Poole? who i think was his first game. He was excellent and a lot to look forward to. The challenge for him will be to back it up. We look really potent with Ainger up there as well and this frees up Grocke and Staple. You can imagine how we would have looked last year had Staple and Grocke been our only targets. We certainly wouldn't have kicked as many goals as we did. The only area we look really thin on at the moment is in the ruck. Of course Parry dominated when on the ground. But we all know at some stage during the season he will get injured or reported for a couple of weeks. Bornholm is clearly a better backup option than was Bock but he is too small to ruck and doesn't really do enough. We desperately need to hold out until midseason when Kirk is due to return.

Overall though, a really enjoyable contest. Sturt played like a team that will be a big danger to opposition teams. They have a great midfield and if they can sort out their turnovers they will show big improvement.

[SDK]

Caught the last quarter on ABC and Sturt were right in the game with a chance but Jeeeeeez what a weak effort in the last.
Sturt appear to have nothing to offer and it will be a long season for Double Blues fans.

Eagles will again be around the mark.

[therisingblues]

Couldn't even follow this one on the net as my I phone's playing gamesATM.
Nice to hear that we showed something. I think last year we tended not to finish games off or started them too late. Hope we can sort this out.
What was the crowd like?

[ORDoubleBlues]

Yeah the Double Blues started real well and seemed to be winning the ball very well out of the middle and Duldig and Vitkunas amongst others were taking the opportunities when the ball went forward. Graham I thought did do a good job but copped a bad finger dislocation in the third quarter and maybe conditions after half time didn't suit. (thought the club did well to take Graham in mini draft as it would be almost certain that Jenkins and him will never be in the same Crow side).
Thought Stopp started well on Ainger with only fault being he gave up front position too easily and Panozzo was providing some good drive off half back.
When it started raining I think there was a few of us concerned as we haven't played well in the wet for some time but you could see after half time the Eagles were playing smart football in the conditions and were just trying to get the ball forward at all costs where as we still had a few who were trying to play dry weather football.
Thought Aiden Riley really led the way and Tom Hurley showed that he still might be able to mix it at league level. Levi Krause showed again that he will be a quality player and thought Michael Coad looked slightly underdone but will still certainly have something to offer.
Think the Eagles will have a say in the top three as they have good mid size players and with three quality talls that will be hard to stop in Ainger, Grocke and Parry

[Jars458]

Thought Sumner was excellent in the second half and Ainger really looks the goods. We handled the wet conditions better than Sturt.

[RB]

What was the crowd like?

Looked fairly big but only about 3,100.

[The Big Shrek]

What was the crowd like?

Looked fairly big but only about 3,100.

Probably looked big cause the 3100 was packed into two thirds of the ground.

[Jim05]

What was the crowd like?

Looked fairly big but only about 3,100.

Looked big on TV but Unley would struggle to hold 5k id imagine

[on the rails]

What was the crowd like?

Looked fairly big but only about 3,100.

Looked big on TV but Unley would struggle to hold 5k id imagine

Hmm could be a problem if Sturt qualify for a home final in 2014 then?

[Long live SAnFL]

What was the crowd like?

Looked fairly big but only about 3,100.

Looked big on TV but Unley would struggle to hold 5k id imagine

Hmm could be a problem if Sturt qualify for a home final in 2014 then?

They could move it to The Parade like their game against Port this week.

[dedja]

Pity no-one gets any of OTR's jokes ...