Round 7 - Sturt v West @ Envestra Park inc Post Match

[dedja]

Glenelg's improvement under Rubbers wasn't immediate, took nearly a season and half to click.

[stampy]

ahem, we were 4 and 2 in '06 and had beaten the previous years grand finalists including the premiers by 95pts

[dedja]

True, but didn't make the finals Stamp ...

[SANFLnut]

But the bays had been bottom 3 for five years before he arrived. We'd been top 3 for 5.

[stampy]

we were 1-6 at one stage in '07, not too much clickin' goin" on at that stage until we smashed norf the june long weekend

[dedja]

that's why I said a season and a half ... but then again i could be wrong, not for the first time this week!

[stampy]

you get half a point

[dedja]

Back to the match, why have Sturt improved so much this year? They were impressive when I saw them in the first round.

[CUTTERMAN]

I'd put it down to stability, same coaching group for a few years and getting games into our fringe and young players at the same time. Whether or not their development has been slowed in the past by the return of AFL players I'm not sure, it may have been a blessing that we could blood them over time. Either way, they've developed beautifully and continually doing so. Page had another solid game and Hanson looks really good up fwd.
Maybe now that the shackles of AFL players coming back into the team have been released, Maloney can now back them in 100% and they're thriving on it.

[dedja]

Also some smart recruiting of former Magpie players helped I'd imagine.

[CUTTERMAN]

That's true but they still have to play as a team. Getting Beard, Kirkwood and Watt is great but they're really only replacing who we lost ie Jaensch, Martin, Aiden Riley to name a few who were really important regular players for us last year.