West v South

It's hard to know what changes will be made this week, without knowing the availability of Lovell, Haysman, and those who have nominated for the draft.
Those under pressure would be Morrish, Fairlie x 2, Ellam, Allan and Karpany.
Possible ins Lovell, Haysman, Maguire, Fejo, Elliot.
Really hope we can back up last weekend's effort with another strong showing against a quality side.

I really hope the Coach promotes some new talent from the ressies for the remainder of the year.
We understand what Karpany, C&P Fairlie, Allan and Ellam are capable of.

I don’t think there are many players in the 2s that are up to league standard at the moment.
It’s a big jump from Reserves to League. Many of our players in the 2s struggle when they are promoted.
Having said that, I think we should have a look at Redfern, Fejo and Reed Stevens in the league side. Maguire should get another go too.
We need to find a forward who can take contested marks. Not a lot to choose from. Cleeland or Hupfield in for Ellem.....

WEST

West Adelaide will unveil a little-known defender against South at Hisense Stadium.

St Albans recruit Hayden Elliot will make his Statewide Super League debut after being named at centre half-back.

Elliot has played a total of 22 Reserves matches since his arrival at the start of the 2020 season.

He has been joined in the Bloods’ 25-man squad by potential fellow debutant Ronald Fejo from Wanderers, Jade Cleeland and Mitch Maguire.

Ed Allan was sent back to the Reserves.

League

F: Gore, Keough, Karpany

HF: C. Fairlie, Beech, Meline

C: Boyle, Squire, Chamberlain

HB: Murphy, Elliot, Dunkin

B: Hill, Ryan, Duval



R: Taverner, P. Fairlie, K. Stevens

INT: Fejo, Cleeland, Sinderberry, Morrish, Anderson, Ellem, Maguire

IN: Fejo, Elliot, Cleeland, Maguire

OUT: E. Allan

NEW: Hayden Elliot (St Albans), Ronald Fejo (Wanderers)



Reserves
C. Allan, E. Allan, Babic, Bock, De Cesare, Faulkner, Gordon, Haysman, Heitmann, Hupfeld, J. Johnson, Kelly, Laudato, Lovell, Martin, Patterson, Redfern, Rundle, Schiller, Sherlock, Steele, R. Stevens

Under-18
F: Baltagie, Watts, Hahn
HF: Kovacic, Young, D. White
C: Sullivan, McCormick, Desira
HB: Pridham, Satanek, Singleton
B: K. Roberts, Still, J. Roberts

Our second successive very good performance against a strong side. Things seemed to have turned around since the Eagles massacre, which offers some real hope for the future.
If Beech's mark of the year and Murphy's mark near the south eastern pocket had been paid (and if a couple of our poor shots for goal had been straight) we would have won this one.
Dunkin was terrific, his ball use invaluable, Stevens was very good despite some disposal errors and Squire's first half particularly was very good. Meline did some great work and if he can get a bit more of it will be very damaging. Ellam finally running into a bit of form and grabbing a few.
Lovell, Maguire, Redfern and Fejo all pressing for a game will make selection interesting.

How to describe this game? We had our chances? We could have won? We should have won? Whatever, many of us would have walked away feeling proud of the way the boys played out the game and happy with the endeavour and persistence we showed as a team.
What can be said is that we improved as the game went on. The first half was full of errors: turnovers, dropped marks, fumbles, poor decision making, sloppy tackling but we remained competitive. South kicked away in the third Q to lead by 4 goals and they looked to be cruising to an easy win.
South didn’t kick a goal in the last Q. We attacked the contest and moved the ball quickly and our error rate dropped as we put together some nice passages of play. We had chances to hit the front in time on but in the last ten minutes of the game we kicked 1 goal 4 behinds.
They were more experienced, bigger and stronger than us, with numerous forward options but we ran them to a 3 point margin.
Thought Dunkin our best. He is still the best kick in our squad by a country mile. Gore and Squire provide pace and skill. Duvall did some good work and Logan Hill and Kaine Stevens were busy all day. Connor Fairlie played his best game and his brother, Patrick, is developing into a valuable and consistent mid-field contributor. Taverner won the ruck. First gamer, Hayden Elliott, found himself at CHB on Sam Overall and was outclassed early but worked himself into the game and didn’t look out of place. Recently there seems to be a policy to promote height into the team with players like Squire, Elliott, P Fairlie, Meline, Sinderberry, all over 180cm.

I thought we were good yesterday we worked hard all day, we kept on coming. Our fitness level is certainly the best it’s been for many years.

Dunkin started at half back and he looks more comfortable there, he was simply outstanding and BOG.
Stevens as usual never plays a bad game and he’s been a great player since joining the club.
I agree about Meline, some of his clearance work was very good and he seems to have the footy smarts.
Squire is the type of player we wanted in the midfield he’s hard at it all the time and he will continue to get better

Unfortunately the footy gods weren’t with us yesterday, South went on the defensive in the last qrt.


In the Ressies Maguire was outstanding and will be promoted after the bye.
Redfern played half back and was also dominant. Fejo simply must play the next game as well, he deserves the opportunity.
Lovell got through the game and was a solid contributor.
Johnson also should play after the bye.

Levicki should also be available but I can’t see him replacing Elliot.

Karpany,Morrish and P.Fairlie will struggle to hold their spots.

C.Fairlie did a good job on Broadbent yesterday who showed no respect for his opponent which is the way he’s told to play.

I enjoyed the pre-match lunch, catching up again with some of the 2015 players.

It seemed to me that it's our pressure around the ball that has made a big difference. When we bring that, we're competitive, when we don't, good sides put us away. Conversely, when our opponents under-rate us and don't bring pressure, they then find themselves under pressure around the ball and once that happens, it's hard to retain the upper hand.

I think several of our games have seen the opposition quickly go to a handy lead, then we get back into the game. I'm not sure if we've led comfortably in any game this year, but might be wrong.

What I liked:

Beechy and Keough did a good job up forward. Connor Fairlie found space - (was he opposed to Broadbent, who didn't check closely?) Taverner rucked well, Josh Ryan was solid as always, Dunkin was excellent. I didn't mind Elliott, he'll improve with games.

I really like Squire. Does anyone else think he reminds us of Marc Dragicevic?

I thought we got several good centre clearances also.

The paltry crowd was a worry. They'll say it was about 1100, in reality about 850.

The second good effort in a row, so some good signs.

Whilst it was an honourable loss, we still got beaten and are equal bottom on the ladder.
I think selection was poor this week. Ellem is in the side as a key forward and has played every game for a return of 2.6. Maybe the coach see’s something I don’t.
Karpany is the small forward but went goal less and missed a crucial shot late in the last qtr.
We still rely on Keough, Beech and Stevens too often and those guys are approaching 30.
We are half way through the season now. We’re not playing finals so we’ve got 9 games to get a good look at some other players in the league team.
Redfern, Fejo, Maguire and Reed Stevens who has kicked 5 goals in the last 2 games.
Maybe Hupfield should get a go at CHF….

Wolf Pack,

I agree with you regarding selection and I have been saying it for sometime.

Karpany and Morrish are small forwards, and Redfern Maguire and Fejo are not, however it doesn’t mean they can’t be rotated through the forward line.