Rd 8 West vs Central Review

[Thiele]

BTW West Reserves only 20 players

[Brucetiki]

Has West Adelaide updated their club song? Sounded like a bit of a slow techno beat tacked onto the previous version?

[Thiele]

Has West Adelaide updated their club song? Sounded like a bit of a slow techno beat tacked onto the previous version?

no think it is the same it is been the same for the last couple of years

[Thiele]

Crowd `at Richmond 1219

[therisingblues]

Westies were never in the hunt and still burned a lot of the ball...They had their faIr share but consistently turned it over, especially going forward and just blazing into a short West forward line. Very disappointing crowd wise and surprised there weren't all that many Doggies fans there, in fact i would have thought there were more Westies fans than Centrals.

Gees, anyone would have thought it was a West Adelaide home game or something ???

Big Phil...

Well they do have the smallest crowds this year, and Central does have the largest crowds this year.

[Mr Irate]

Crowd `at Richmond 1219

Surprised at that, have they included players and officials as I was expecting a number of around 800.

[Spot]

Yes they did as the lady was in a panic as she didn't have her clicker when I went through and asked her do they count players and officials. She told me yes. It looked as though only 800 there so I think the other 400 were in the bar.

[Mr Irate]

Which begs the question, how many paying customers, Westies may be better off just throwing the gates open to get some people in there. Unfortunately, given the standard of football on display methinks they wouldn't stay too long

[CENTURION]

That was a CRAP game of footy! I have more fun poking my piles back in! And no bloody Pram Lady!

[Spot]

That was a CRAP game of footy! I have more fun poking my piles back in! And no bloody Pram Lady!

Are your piles fixed now ???

[drebin]

That was a CRAP game of footy! I have more fun poking my piles back in! And no bloody Pram Lady!

Hooray - finally a post from you without mentioning alcohol! but it sounds like you would have needed a fair drink to get through the game?

[Big Phil]

That was a CRAP game of footy! I have more fun poking my piles back in! And no bloody Pram Lady!

Hooray - finally a post from you without mentioning alcohol! but it sounds like you would have needed a fair drink to get through the game?

Trust me Drebin, I wish I had on me the bottle of Brandy I half drunk the night before, very uninspiring, non highlight style of game...

I did finish the bottle off as soon as I got home though...

I think the only good thing we can take out of Centrals inconsistant start to the year is that we seem to do it most years and then come good finding our best form through August, September and the first weekend of October...

Certainly don't think we are anywhere near our best, in terms of form and line up and think we are still a few weeks away from this also...

Danger game this week againsts the Maggies who are, to use a Chocco style quote, probably the best 2 and 4 team going around...
I just think they are better than their reults show and clearly have been unlucky with injuries... Hopefully we will hav Noodles and Callinan back this week which will only make us stronger. Will have to play close to our best if we will win this danger game...

Big Phil...

[CENTURION]

That was a CRAP game of footy! I have more fun poking my piles back in! And no bloody Pram Lady!

Hooray - finally a post from you without mentioning alcohol! but it sounds like you would have needed a fair drink to get through the game?

Do I need to mention alcohol? OK then, Bigdog & I knocked down about 6 or 7 cans of Jack Daniels each & then went to The Bath Hotel & swallowed a few reds, came home to sunny Rostrevor & polished off a few Johnny Walkers......felt shite at work yesterday but!

[CENTURION]

That was a CRAP game of footy! I have more fun poking my piles back in! And no bloody Pram Lady!

Are your piles fixed now ???

They're ALWAYS there, just not flared up at the moment!

[Spot]

That was a CRAP game of footy! I have more fun poking my piles back in! And no bloody Pram Lady!

Are your piles fixed now ???

They're ALWAYS there, just not flared up at the moment!

Sign of old age

[CENTURION]

That was a CRAP game of footy! I have more fun poking my piles back in! And no bloody Pram Lady!

Are your piles fixed now ???

They're ALWAYS there, just not flared up at the moment!

Sign of old age

Tell that to 20 year old women that get them while giving birth!

[Big Phil]

Hey Footy Fans,

I know it's probably a bit too late now, BUT I'm back and thanks to some good advice from journalist and Centrals Historian Robert Laidlaw, I'm learning to cut out unneccessary info in my match reports and I'm trying to shorten them by a few paragraphs at least. Anyway, here it is, my match review of the "UGLY WIN" we had in Round 8 over a lowly West Adelaide :

Round 8: West Adelaide @ Broadspectrum Oval 17/5/08

DOGS BLOOD BOILS WITH 2 AVERAGE PERFORMANCES

My wet and very wind swept Saturday down in Richmond involved 2 pretty poor games of football with the reserves going down disappointingly and the league side doing enough to claim 2 points in an extremely uninspiring and lack lustre performance. Sadly, the most exciting action of my day was not on the field, but when a poor old lady slipped over on the grandstand stairs and grazed her arm. The games of football played were of a poor viewing standard, but none the less, we were still playing and I was sitting up in the stands protected from the wind and rain so I can’t complain too much can. I would like to praise West Adelaide player Simon Munn who witnessed the poor lady have a fall on the steps and immediately signalled to one of his trainers who came from the ground and headed up into the stand to lend his assistance. Well done to Simon and I can now gladly report that the little lady only ended up with a badly grazed arm, but nothing too serious thankfully. Thankyou also to the reserves team statisticians who were very friendly and had no issue with me sitting up the back of the stand with them.


RESERVES: “Doggies disappoint in scrappy battle at Broadspectrum”

The reserves went into this game sitting 5th on the ladder with their opponents, West Adelaide 2 spots below them in 7th position. The side had a different look to it with quite a few significant changes from the team that comfortable beat a star studded Eagles line up down at Woodville. Brayden O’Hara had been promoted to make his league debut as Elijah Ware did not pull up for the main game due to a groin injury and Alex Stengle unfortunately quit the club earlier in the week, frustrated at a lack of opportunity at a higher level. Also, 2 AFL rookies were out of the side in the Power’s Dan Boyle and Crow James Moss. Injury, I believe, was the reason for those 2 changes and there was also a few more players who probably missed selection due to poor form. Therefore, some quality Under 19 players were given an opportunity at the next level with these changes including youngsters like Dan McGee, Matt Foldesdy, Charles Edwards and Jayden Kelly.

Due to the slippery and windy conditions, the early stages of the opening term was a very scrappy affair with quite a few ball ups around the ground. Earl Shaw was dominant in the ruck early and was dropping back into West’s forward zone with consistent effectiveness. Although rain was only slightly threatening, an earlier morning down pour made conditions greasy and slippery and on top of that, a strong 5 goal breeze was blowing any advantage to the northern end. Despite the poor conditions, both sides didn’t seem to adapt very well and too often, basic skill errors led to the scrappy nature of the contest early on. West had the first goal of the game through Vanderhaak but it was a dour struggle from either side to even get the ball inside their attacking 50. Louis Hadden was winning plenty of the ball on his wing, but despite our side having their fair share of possession throughout the term, it was the Bloods who were just a little smarter when they had it. As has been the case all year, young Ashley Duncan was playing well across half back, sweeping up any lose ball and setting up quite a few attacking forays with his precise kicking skills.

Coach Hicks tried to expose the lack of height in West’s defence by resting Earl Shaw from his rucking duties up in the forward lines. And it worked, with the big Sydney recruit playing a vital role in setting up Centrals first goal of the game. After showing a very clean pair of hands in wet conditions, he dish off a handball to fellow NSW recruit, Ben Woods who finished off the good work with a nice goal. Promoted U/19 player Mathew Foldesdy was quite impressive early, winning the hard ball well and showing poise when in possesion. But it was the visitors who managed to take the lead shortly after, albeit by a single point, with a real comedy of errors resulting in an Aufderheide complete mis-kick from a snap shot at the top of the goal square. His kick was easily punched through by The Bloods for a rushed behind and up until the 22 minute mark of the term, this game was a real dour struggle with slippery conditions dictating the quality. It was the home sides persistence that eventually paid off, just before quarter time kicking only their 2nd major and giving them a slender 5 point lead at the first break.

The start of the 2nd term saw the home side dominate the early centre clearances but another young, impressive defender, Nick White, was repelling the incoming West attacks and he was standing strong. After a slow first 5 minutes, our intensity lifted and our persistent inside 50’s were finally rewarded with a strong pack mark, only 25 out by Jeremy Aufderheide. But sadly, Jezza missed the easiest of shots on goal and even with the ball deep in our attack for about the next 5 minutes, the Dogs could only manage another single behind. It was big Earl Shaw who was once again getting first hands on the ball in the middle and both Lee Spurr and Luke Barmby had plenty of the ball, but we just couldn’t capitalise on it up forward to kick goals. If the ball wasn’t being thrown up around the ground, it spent a fair bit of time over on the outer wing with quite a few boundary throw ins. Like in the 1st quarter, we dominated both the play and possession for the majority of the 2nd but just could not convert that into any scoreboard pressure, managing only to kick 3 points for the whole term.

For the opening 15 minutes of the 2nd term, the visitors were on top, but as was the case in the opening quarter, the home side managed to get a goal late. West Adelaide’s last minute major came after 5 minutes of real scrappy passages in play and it now took their slight lead out to 8 points at the long break. With only 4 goals in total scored from the whole first half of footy, it was evident that the conditions attributed to the lack lustre efforts from both sides. The breeze felt as though it was not weakening and despite the sun breaking through the clouds on the very odd occasion, it looked as though the 2nd half of action would be similar to that of the 1st one. Earl Shaw was probably the best player in that term and the regular consistent performers in Ashley Duncan, Lee Spurr and Luke Barmby were continuing on with their good form. The game was still certainly there for the taking and it would be the side that adjusts better to conditions first that will be likely to go on for the win.

We opened the 2nd half with Shaw yet again dominating at the ball ups, giving his team mates first use of the ball. The Dogs almost had the first score of the 3rd term after Joel Baldwin did well to find space and run forward from defence but his shot on goal faded late for a behind. We were clearly on top in the early stages of this term, thanks mainly to big Earl Shaw, but our own inaccuracy of 1.6 still saw us trailing, by a goal, actually 6 points, at the 7 minute mark of the premiership quarter. Controlling possession through the midfield and a solid rebounding defence still couldn’t atone for an inefficient forward line who just struggled to get into realistic scoring opportunities, considering the conditions. The closest either side got to kicking a goal in the 3rd term was a shot on goal by West’s Ryan Plant that, at the 17 minute mark, ending up fading late and actually hitting the top of the goal post. An even more dour, scrappy affair in this quarter with neither side kicking a major and only 5 points in total being added to the scoreboard. The home side would go into lemons with an 11 point lead and with only 1 goal scored in 3 quarters, it will be interesting to see if the Dogs can challenge.

Yet again, the visitors were on top early in the quarter but could not kick goals and it was the home side who broke open the fairly insipid contest by kicking 2 quick goals in succession. At the 12 minute mark of the final term the Bloods managed another goal, after another couple of missed opportunities by us, taking their lead out to a game high 20 points. At this stage, it looked as though the contest was over but the Dogs gave one more flicker of hope for the few fans that were at the ground early. Ash Duncan took a wonderful contested mark and after we finally went forward with a bit more conviction, we managed to finally get our 2nd goal on the board. Thanks to a rare Centrals free kick that was awarded to Ryan Porter for laying a great tackle, where he played on quickly and handballed over the top to Lee Spurr who was alone in the goal square, running on to kick the major. However, West answered straight back with a goal of their own and with only 6 or 7 minutes left in play and considering the very average game and conditions to date, you would think the Bloods should hold on for the win.

But the Doggies sniffed they had only 1 chance left to win the game and 2 former Roosters had something to say about this. Owen Sharpe won the next centre clearance after the West goal and managed to go long inside 50, with the breeze, where Ryan Porter kicked a goal of his own. He followed this up immediately with a second major in as many minutes and now all of a sudden it was game on with The Bloods only leading now by 9 points. Suddenly the Dogs sensed they were a chance to snatch an unlikely victory and the players intensity lifted quite dramatically with the next score, a behind, going to Centrals Owen Sharpe. At the 25 minute mark of the term, it was a case of too little too late and a goal just before the final siren to the Bloods handed them a hard fought, scrappy 12 point win. With conditions not congusive to great footy, we still can’t expect to win games by kicking 1 goal 8 in basically 3 ½ quarters of football. There would be plenty of things to work on for Hicksey during the week, before taking on Port Adelaide Magpies at Alberton Oval next Sunday.

RESERVES TEAM:
Hadden, Spurr, Baldwin, Shaw, Hudson, White, Woods, Musolino, McShane, Aufderhiede, Kelly, Barmby, McGrath, Porter, McGee, Duncan, Whiley, Edwards, Foldesdy, Sharpe, Brading

FINAL SCORES:
CDFC: 1.1 1.4 1.6 4.10 = 34
WEST: 2.0 3.0 3.5 7.4 = 46

BETTER PLAYERS:
Duncan, Barmby, Shaw, Spurr, Foldesdy, Porter

GOAL KICKERS:
Porter 2, Spurr, Woods

================================================================================================================================

LEAGUE: “ Laird’s lacklustre charges boringly beat the Bloods ”

With Elijah Ware pulling out of the side that that beat the Eagles in a dour struggle prior to this week, the only change to the league side saw deserving debutant Brayden O’Hara coming in for Noodles. Despite the wintery conditions, an inconsistent Dogs side were expected to have a very comfy victory over a winless West Adelaide. The toss of the coin was performed by retiring Bloods player Mark Dragacevic and was won by our co skipper Slade who naturally decided to kick to the end that was favoured by a swirly 4 or 5 goal breeze. The signs looked pretty ominous early as Scott Dutschke registered the opening goal within the first 90 seconds thanks to a Leigh Westhoff centre clearance, a dropped chest mark by Damian Cupido and a Luke McCabe centering pass from deep in attack. The next few minutes were scrappy though as players tried to adjust to the windy and slippery conditions that were similarly on shown in the earlier reserves game.

Heath Lawry was presenting srongly from CHF and set up the next goal scoring opportunity to Chad O’sullivan but his snap shot missed for a minor score. A few of our senior guys seemed to struggle early with the wet conditions, but it was the younger brigade of players such as Leigh Westhoff, Scott Dutschke and Ryan Williams who were quite prominent. It was through Power rookie, Williams that we had our second goal on the board thanks to a clever snap shot that ran and bounced through, just, for a 6 pointer. In attack, we had some pretty strong pressure from our forward line players, especially veteran Luke McCabe, who was scragging, chasing, talking and setting up more scoring opportunities for his team mates. At about the 10 minute mark of the opening term, the breeze picked up more and blew in a few showers that hung around just long enough to make the conditions even more gresier than what they already were. Even the more skilled players, like James Gowans seemed uncharacteristically fumbly and it seemed to rub off on his team mates at times, and the opposition.

Buckets Mackenzie came into the ruck at the halfway mark of the term and started to get first hand on the ball, doing slightly better than Power listed Jon Giles. Having to stand and wait for a big up and under Leigh Westhoff kick, Dan Havelberg got crunched in the contest and took a while to regain his feet. But he shook it off pretty quickly and from the goal line, kicked our 3rd after a nice team effort including a one-two with Luke McCabe and Trent Goodrem. A match up of Switala v Hassan was good to watch and Adam seemed to be on top after taking a great 1 on 1 contested mark over the little Russian. Switty was instrumental in our next set up for goal after Havelberg marked inside 50 but centred it to a free Ryan Williams who was able to kick truly for his 2 major of the opening term. At the 20 minute mark, a scoreless West outfit trailed by 26 points and that is when debutant Brayden O’Hara entered the playing field. His first few possessions were fumbly and no doubt nervous but a couple of errors cost us as Steve Bailey kicked 2 late goals to have the home side only trailing by 12 points now, going into the first change.

The second term started with Buckets and Sladey winning the first clearance but Damien Cupido was mopping up across half back and intercepted our first forward entry. The ball went into attack for the home side but our solid defence was again standing tall and this time set Williams up who ran the full length of the grandstand wing to have a shot on goal from just inside 50. It was just touched on the line and the resulting Bloods kick out was the beginning of the ball travelling back and forth between both sides attack and defence for the next 5 or 6 minutes. But as has been the case all year, our defence was standing strong, particularly through the reliable Richie Cochrane and Yves Sibenalr. The scoring drought was broken with a behind to West’s Ryan Willets before the Dogs next scoring opportunity came from a Luke McCabe set shot from 40 out. Surprisingly his kick struggled to even make the distance and the breeze took it, tumbling the ball out of bounds for a boundary throw in.

For at least the next 5 minutes in play, both sides, but especially West Adelaide, were putting on a display of football that was nothing more than comical as it was becoming a somewhat boring spectacle to watch. Very poor skills, questionable decision making and plenty of basic turnovers from the home side was seemingly rubbing off on the reigning premiers bringing their usually high standard in play to a very uninspiring level. Finally though, the Dogs had their next goal on the board after Luke Cowan got away with a pretty obvious free kick, clearly pushing his opponent in the back, to take possession and run into a open square, kicking his sides 5th of the game. An immediate follow up goal to Trent Goodrem saw our lead out to 26 points. A late shot on goal from West's Ryan Willits, just before the siren blew, didn’t quite make the distance so in a very un-entertaining half of football we went into the long break with 26 point advantage.

We almost started the 3rd quarter perfectly, despite losing the opening centre clearance of the 2nd half. Luke McCabe beautifully intercepted a Westies kick and a great pick up at as his feet saw Trent Goodrem find Cam Faulkner in an abundance of space inside 50 but the former Western Bulldogs recruit missed the easiest of goals from about 30 out. The Bloods resulting kick out saw yet another great intercept by the former Hawk defender set the ball up to the top of the goal square. Regular CHB Daniel Schell had drifted down from defence to take a mark from the McCabe centering kick and he went back to slot the goal before trudging back to his spot in the backlines. With 10 minutes of the quarter passed, the visiting sides lead was at a game high 34 points and the Doggies fans were just waiting for their side to get out of first gear and kick away to stretch the lead further. The breeze then eased off, not reslly advantaging either side but the slippery, wet conditions were still attributing to the low standard of game.

Richie Cochrane at Andrew Hayes were at their best across half back, while Ryan Williams was good on the ball and first gamer O’Hara was amongst the possession gatherers despite a nervy start. But it was the Bloods who managed the next 2 goals of the game, both to the impressive youngster Steve Morris, including a very clever check side from deep in the pocket, to now reduce Centrals lead back to 23 points. Last years premiers were far from their usually efficient best but this was in part to do with the conditions as well as the poor quality of our opposition. With West on a mini run, it was the cool head of our best player so far, Luke McCabe who set up Daniel Schell with the next goal for his 2nd of the term before a clever snap goal to Luke Cowan, also his 2nd major, had the lead back out to a solid 35 points. A late rushed behind for the Dogs would end up being the last score of the term giving them a comfortable 36 point lead at lemons.

Like at the start of the 3rd term, Westies won the first centre clearance, only to have Sibenaler take a nice strong mark, play on and find an open Paul Thomas on the grandstand wing. Our co skipper ran and carried the ball before bombing it in long inside 50 then immediately send worry through the fans after having looked to badly roll an ankle. Like Nathan Bassett with the Crows earlier in the year, it was just a case of his boot coming lose causing him to walk like he had an ankle injury, but thankfully, the 2004 Magarey Medalist was back on the ground in 60 seconds. Once again, there was a 5 or 6 minute period in play where the standard of the game was fairly scrappy and not much of a footballing spectacle. Former Dogs player Murray Hamblin helped set up West’s next shot on goal but former Redleg John Pratt could not convert and 10 minutes in the home side trailed by 29 points. Shortly after the Pratt behind, our rejuvenated wingman Leigh Westhoff pounced on a lose ball inside Centrals forward 50 to kick truly for the sides 10th goal and now stretch the lead back out to 35 points. The Bloods were not going to lay down and die though and a long goal to Willits gave their fans a slim hope of a comeback of sorts.

However the Doggies just seemed to control the play and possession for the next 10 minutes, attributed by plenty of basic turnovers from Andy Collins charges. Despite them having the ball for the majority of the whole last term, Centrals could not finish their opponents off as their delivery into the forward line was a tad disappointing and unexpected, to say the very least. But at the 21 minute mark, Goody roved a pack contest inside our forward 50 brilliantly to run into an open goal and take our lead in excess of 5 goals once again. A late consolation goal to Steve Bailey, his 3rd major of the game, capped off a solid game for the former Redleg despite the fact the game was certainly over at that stage. The Dogs snuck in 1 more goal themselves, this time to Matt Slade, right on the final siren to record a very lacklustre, uninspiring 33 point victory. You would think Roy Laird would just be happy to just take 2 points from the win, put them in the bank and just look ahead to the big clash with Port Adelaide at Alberton on Sunday May 25th.

LEAGUE TEAM:
Lawry, L.Westhoff, O’Sullivan, McCabe, Cochrane, Goodrem, Dutschke, Thomas, Giles, Cowan, Mackenzie, Hayes, Schell, J.Gowans, Faulkner, Williams, Sibenaler, Havelberg, Switala, O’Hara, Slade

FINAL SCORES:
CDFC: 4.1 6.4 9.8 12.8 = 80
WEST: 2.1 2.2 4.2 7.5 = 47

BETTER PLAYERS:
McCabe, Cochrane, Switala, Hayes, Williams, Schell, J.Gowans

GOAL KICKERS:
Schell, Goodrem, Cowan Williams 2, Havelberg, Slade, Dutschke, L.Westhoff

As mentioned a few times throughout the report, it was not the greatest of spectacle to watch on the day. With a much better performance shown by the boys the following week, I'm really looking forward to doing the write up of the Port Adelaide game as it will definatley be easier to get much more excited about their performance in that game than they did against the Bloods. Anyway need to get to bed now, didn't realise it was that late !!??

GO U DOGGIES...

Big Phil...

[wycbloods]

Hey Footy Fans,

FINAL SCORES:
CDFC: 4.1 6.4 9.8 12.8 = 80
[b]WEST: 2.1 2.2 4.2 7.5 = 67[/b]


GO U DOGGIES...

Big Phil...

Since when is 7 goal 5 points 67? Maybe an error as it was so late .

[Big Phil]

Since when is 7 goal 5 points 67? Maybe an error as it was so late .

Yes wycbloods,

That's what being up at 2am does to you and being doped up on antibiotics before going to bed didn't help. I have since changed it now, thanks mate...

I just forgot to change the final score after copying and pasting over the scores as a template from a previous game and changing the relevant things, excluding that obviously !!??

The best trhing now is I will probably be up late again tonight, I want to try and get my match review posted from the Maggies game where we won by 70 points...

GO U DOGGIES...

Big Phil...