Rd 2 2008 Sturt vs. Centrals @ Unley Oval

[sturtpeter]

Hope the game does justice to the huge Crowd expected at House Brothers Oval.

Go Sturt!!

[Dogwatcher]

And that comment there, ends the discussion.

Probably not though, who am I kidding.

[Dogwatcher]

Game all over (all but the siren to go).
Sturt too good - too many forward options.
Worst loss I can remember dogs suffering for a while.
Indiscipline (how many 25s?) and turnovers in dangerous areas problematic for the Dogs.
Well done to the Blues.
Great commentary from Life FM.

[Jimmy]

score didnt resemble the close contest it was, bad kicking by sturt early on kept the dogs in it but they never gave up and always just stayed in it but sturt pulled away through too many options up forward and a stoic defence.

great commentary and a happy blue off to bed now.

[shanghaied]

When someone gets home from the game I'd like to hear about all the 25's handed out. Was it the Doggies trying to intimidate, just frustrated with how the game was going, bad/good umpiring, or a combination of all factors?

[bulldogproud]

Well done to all concerned at Sturt and all their supporters - gave us a football lesson.
Have a great night, Sturtpeter, Smithy, Theri etc.
Have a great day, Jimmy.
Cheers

[smac]

When someone gets home from the game I'd like to hear about all the 25's handed out. Was it the Doggies trying to intimidate, just frustrated with how the game was going, bad/good umpiring, or a combination of all factors?

Heading out very shortly, will post a better report tomorrow - the umps were paying soft 25's all day, but the dogs did not adapt to that (something we always have trouble with) as we should have.

Ooroo for now.

[Brucetiki]

Sturt were fantastic today - I was thinking 20 minutes into the last quarter it would be an injustice if Sturt won by 18 points because they were the far superior team out there today. The 44 point final margin was a more accurate indication of the game.

Centrals were simply terrible. The flooding was awful (and needless), to the extent that when they got the ball through the centre, they had no-one to kick it to, and Sturt easily had the ball back. Their kicking out of defense was attrocious, best evidenced in the last quarter where 4 times in a row from the kick in they kicked it straight to a Sturt player. I lost count how many times we kicked it to a pack of Sturt players.

The last 10 minutes were simply disgraceful from Centrals. To merely roll over and let Sturt do whatever they wanted was pathetic.

As for the umpiring, the game was ridiculously over-umpired. I know the ANZ Netball Championship started today, but that doesn't mean the umps needed to adopt netball rules. I don't think it particularly favoured either side, but the umpires tried to steal the show today.

And to top the day off their forum is down?

[Rucciangelo]

It's round 2, we won, from here we'll keep a lid on it.
Let's face facts Centrals are underdone at this stage of the year.
Good win boys, great to have the two points, congratulations.

[Mr66]

Did Sturt play in the Light Blue shorts today?
Just a query from the fashion conscious.

[Rucciangelo]

Nope!

[Mr66]

Ok, so why were they wearing them in the Adverstiser team photo?

[therisingblues]

Sounds like it was a great game. The Dogs gave me a fright midway through that final quarter when they started kicking a few back. Sounds as though they were underdone though. Hard to read too much into this result when one of the Gowans' is out. I'd be interested in seeing the stats on how many games the Dogs have lost when one of the twins was out as compared to how many they have won when both are playing. Just an inclusion or ommission of either one of those players seems to transform Central a lot.
Sturt win again, convincingly in the end, and it feels good to be top.
CARNA' BLUES!!!!!!!!!!

[Rucciangelo]

I'll PM you why. No need to get drilled by all here as to the why's!

[Wedgie]

If Perrie can replicate his form from last week (admittedly against a few headless chickens) Schell won't stand a chance.

And if he could replicate his form from most of hi career Schell will kick his arse.

Damn I wish this game was on TV seeing as Im going to Richmond now. South v Port has no interest to me.

Well don't I look a dill now, the ABC new all along the game at Alberton would be the closest!

[OCT]

You cant help how the ABC schedule the TV games Wedgie . But if you feel like a fool there must be afew Central supporters on this site that feel worse going on some of their previous coments. Schell played forward the whole game , so much for him going on Perrie , my call last night was correct and obviously Laird agrees.

Umpiring very ordinary , over umpired and were poor for both sides. I hope we are the TV game for when Chambers gets a free kick , that way I have evidence. Unbelievable what he doesnt get and they are just blatant. He should have kicked 5 and if he got some frees may have got 7 - 8.

There was a group Centrals supporters near the stand who do need to have a look at themselves. 2-3 guys in particular . Talk about NFI .
Some of the dribble that came from them was a poor reflection on a recently very successful club .

Well done to Sturt , lots of improvement left for uscertainly not on top of our game yet , too many foot skill errors when notunder pressure.

Overall very pleasing , should be a cracker against another very good side next week

[shanghaied]

He should have kicked 5 and if he got some frees may have got 7 - 8.

If he'd kicked straight he would've got that many anyway - regardless of the frees paid.

[Blue Boy]

When someone gets home from the game I'd like to hear about all the 25's handed out. Was it the Doggies trying to intimidate, just frustrated with how the game was going, bad/good umpiring, or a combination of all factors?

I rekon they were out of frustartion more than anything !!!

[Blue Boy]

A very good day today by our Blue Boys !!!

A good tough contest and im lookin forward to the return leg at the Pondorossa later in the year !!!

One thing for the doggies is that Earl Shaw looks like he is a real good player - Where is he from ???

[purch]

Ok, so why were they wearing them in the Adverstiser team photo?

Because it's the Advertiser and they always get it wrong

OK let's face it people, if any team is to be respected it is Central.

What a fantastic game by the DBs. Just got home from pressies...lot's of happy faces at the club but already talking about next week, at a venue where we have not fared so well in recent times.

Sturt's tackilng and pressure on the opponent won it today. I thought we overwhelmed the dogs in that department for most of the game. The dogs got an excellent start and there was a bit of "here we go again" going through my head, but to their credit the Blues lifted their act and had a narrow lead at qtr time. The second qtr was tight footy...lots of tacking and trying to win a all in close. Sturt by a couple of goals and a bit at half time...Chambers had missed a couple of easy ones but appeared to have the upper hand on Sibenaler. The game really in the balance. As Sturt supporter, sitting back and having a think about things, two things came to my mind:

1. The Dogs will be back after half time bescause they are Central District.
2. Sturt look fitter and that holds us in good stead.

It was anyones' game. Nothing to play for unless you really wanted the 2 pts..

Following the break, the domination of the Sturt midfield immediately showed. Thomson, Sheedy and Whiteman were instrumental. Typically, Whiteman went off for the blood rule and returned with several stitches above his eye. Sheedy was everywhere...as usual and the tackling was hard and quick. The ferocious tackling was a feature of the Sturt game plan. The Blues got an early jump in the 3rd but Centrals typically pegged it back and the margin was 18 points at 3/4 time. Still, I can't believe that Schell was left up forward for so long!!

The final qtr saw Feast thrown into the fwd pocket and the scene was set. It wasn't Chambers, Perrie or Herring that did the damage in particular I thought, but when you have a 4-on-1 on one of those guys that leaves a lot to be desired re the rest of your defence. Sturt kicked away and won comfortably in the end.

Callinan was excellent for the dogs (he can still kick a goal from anywhere) and, with Thomas, Lawry and O'Sullivan they always looked dangerous. A special mention to Andrew Hayes who finally worked out which way his team was kicking before getting dragged...Very funny Hard to pick best for the Blues but mine are (in no particular order): Thomson, Sheedy, Wark, Whiteman, Deluca, Bentley, Herring, Crane, McLeay, Plant.

Great game of footy despite the flooding tactics employed by Centrals late in the game. If anything that was a bit humerous. All smiles here. Good try Dogs, You will be better next time I am sure. However, encouraging to hear at the Club tonight that the boys still think that they are quite a bit underdone too. GO BLUES!!