Round 17- West v South

[saintal]

SOUTH: 10.13-73 DEFEATED
WEST: 8.2-50

Best Players: K.Brooksby, J.Cross, B.Crabb, F.Dale, J.Thewlis & X.Gotch.

Goals: J.Cross 3, B.Eddy 2, J.Veide 2, F.Dale 1, B.Macleod 1 & K.Brooksby 1

Scrappy encounter, which saw both teams employee 16-17 man flooding tactics. Very ugly footy to watch at times. We made a few less errors than the hosts, and should have won by more given the scoring shots. Pleasing to sew up a finals spot though.

[saintal]

In the U18s, West 33.12 (210) defeated South 6.9 (45).

[SANFLnut]

Played with some spirit today and showed we have some talent. Thought Favretto looked a likely type and with Beech, Schmidt , Caire, Tuck, Silverlock etc. playing well then we are a chance in most games. Need to recruit to cover last years losses.

I am even less convinced on the way our side is coached though. Some of our recurring decisions are either a result of coach instruction or coach ignoring what is going on. Either way it is not good enough and worries me going forward.

[darley16]

Phew......we won, ugly ugly game. What is happening to our game with umpires who preside over a league game of body contact Australian Rules as if it were Netball, more totally unnecessary 50 metre penalties than in the AFL, no bumping, no spoiling and if a tackle is deemed too rough a free kick followed by a 25 metre penalty. Sad day for our once great sport.

Impressed with the respect shown by both South players and supporters for retiring loyal Westies player Shane Birss, what sport is all about.

[JK]

Played with some spirit today and showed we have some talent. Thought Favretto looked a likely type and with Beech, Schmidt , Caire, Tuck, Silverlock etc. playing well then we are a chance in most games. Need to recruit to cover last years losses.

I am even less convinced on the way our side is coached though. Some of our recurring decisions are either a result of coach instruction or coach ignoring what is going on. Either way it is not good enough and worries me going forward.

How has the club fared this season with more recent recruits - Hayes and Hardy seem to have missed a lot of footy through injury, but what about blokes like Stevens and Newell?

[tkr]

Played with some spirit today and showed we have some talent. Thought Favretto looked a likely type and with Beech, Schmidt , Caire, Tuck, Silverlock etc. playing well then we are a chance in most games. Need to recruit to cover last years losses.

I am even less convinced on the way our side is coached though. Some of our recurring decisions are either a result of coach instruction or coach ignoring what is going on. Either way it is not good enough and worries me going forward.

How has the club fared this season with more recent recruits - Hayes and Hardy seem to have missed a lot of footy through injury, but what about blokes like Stevens and Newell?

Stevens has been good this year until injured same for Newell. Although covering Ferguson, Tippett and Mangan from our defence is not an easy recruiting job.

Although yesterday I was impressed with 5 of our younger players who played, good for our future if they don't get drafted.

[JK]

Played with some spirit today and showed we have some talent. Thought Favretto looked a likely type and with Beech, Schmidt , Caire, Tuck, Silverlock etc. playing well then we are a chance in most games. Need to recruit to cover last years losses.

I am even less convinced on the way our side is coached though. Some of our recurring decisions are either a result of coach instruction or coach ignoring what is going on. Either way it is not good enough and worries me going forward.

How has the club fared this season with more recent recruits - Hayes and Hardy seem to have missed a lot of footy through injury, but what about blokes like Stevens and Newell?

Stevens has been good this year until injured same for Newell. Although covering Ferguson, Tippett and Mangan from our defence is not an easy recruiting job.

Although yesterday I was impressed with 5 of our younger players who played, good for our future if they don't get drafted.

Losing those quality talls from the back half in one hit was never going to be easy to replace, just thought you had enough quality elsewhere to be a genuine flag threat this year. Seems as though you started behind the 8-ball a bit in terms of injury, and that can often lead to a drop in confidence too. Then perhaps the big one, is the change in style between coaches. Collins' style whilst greatly debated was pretty successful, but very particular, so Im sure some big adjustments were required.

[tkr]

Played with some spirit today and showed we have some talent. Thought Favretto looked a likely type and with Beech, Schmidt , Caire, Tuck, Silverlock etc. playing well then we are a chance in most games. Need to recruit to cover last years losses.

I am even less convinced on the way our side is coached though. Some of our recurring decisions are either a result of coach instruction or coach ignoring what is going on. Either way it is not good enough and worries me going forward.

How has the club fared this season with more recent recruits - Hayes and Hardy seem to have missed a lot of footy through injury, but what about blokes like Stevens and Newell?

Stevens has been good this year until injured same for Newell. Although covering Ferguson, Tippett and Mangan from our defence is not an easy recruiting job.

Although yesterday I was impressed with 5 of our younger players who played, good for our future if they don't get drafted.

Losing those quality talls from the back half in one hit was never going to be easy to replace, just thought you had enough quality elsewhere to be a genuine flag threat this year. Seems as though you started behind the 8-ball a bit in terms of injury, and that can often lead to a drop in confidence too. Then perhaps the big one, is the change in style between coaches. Collins' style whilst greatly debated was pretty successful, but very particular, so Im sure some big adjustments were required.

Not sure about a flag threat JK I thought we may have at least made the 5. Injuries didn't help during the season but when we won we looked good but when we lost we were terrible. Also not able to win an away game is very disappointing.

With the new coach have to see what happens next season can't judge on just the one year and as I said our injury issues didn't help. During the off season need to recruit some key position players if we can

[JK]

I agree that we can't judge Mickan after just one season, although there will be a lot of pressure on him next season (goes with the territory, so shouldn't be an issue). The thing (IMHO) West lacked more than anything in the Collins' era was reliably good users of the ball by foot, when under pressure. Nothing I saw this year suggested any improvement in that area (admittedly I didn't see heaps of West), and if anything they perhaps went backward in it. Not having a crack, just trying to identify their downfalls because I really thought they would have been far more competitive than they have been.