Round 18 v North

Rubock to debut, Barnett sent back to the 18s.

Weather conditions are predicted to be cold and wet. We are playing the top team on its home ground. The last time we beat North at Prospect was in 2016 when we fell in by 4 pts. North only won 4 games that year. Our average losing margin at Prospect since then is 64.25 pts. To ensure the top spot and a week's rest, North will be looking to win its final two matches. We'll need to dig deep and be switched on from the start if we are to have any chance, otherwise, it's going to be a long, hard day at the office. (or coop)

Go you mighty, fighting Bloods.

What a great effort. Our pressure, tackling and intensity, mainly in the first half, was the best for the year. Could very easily have won it.
Hartlett was great, Ellem played his best game for the club, May was very good, Fairlie and Park worked hard and Steene, while outbodied, did plenty of good work. Stevens might have had a tagging role by the looks and he kept some of their mids quietish.
Something has changed in the last month since the coaching arrangement changed. A lot of handballs today and I wonder if the idea there is to put players in better positions before they kick so we kick under pressure a bit less. It worked today.
Despite the loss, that was the most enjoyable game of the season for me.

whatever improbable chance we had of winning today was lost in the 2nd quarter,
5 points which easily could have been goals.

i would've traded our 2 previous wins for this one today.

lets play like this next Saturday against Norwood and finish the season with a bang.

Bottle Top wrote:
lets play like this next Saturday against Norwood and finish the season with a bang.

Would be a great way to celebrate Hillie's 200th. Another win would also maintain some momentum and three wins would be our best result since 2018.

There have been some good signs over the past month or so, definite improvement rather than wishful thinking. Wins against Port and South, and really good efforts against Glenelg and North. It's hard to argue against that evidence. The come-from-behind win against South was the most excited I've been for at least two years, even though I thought we played better football against North. There really hasn't been much to get excited about these past few years.

On the other hand, I was terribly disappointed with the performance of our reserves team against North. Several players have had significant league experience, but failed to impress. What about Cooper Patterson? If Brand and Ryan are unavailable next week, surely it would be worth giving Patterson a go in defence.

Although it's highly unlikely, wouldn't a comfortable win over Norwood coupled with Glenelg belting Centrals be a great note to finish on, especially if it forced Norwood into an elimination final against Sturt.

Go Bloods

aldo russian wrote:What a great effort. Our pressure, tackling, and intensity, mainly in the first half, was the best for the year. Could very easily have won it.
Hartlett was great, Ellem played his best game for the club, May was very good, Fairlie and Park worked hard and Steene, while outbodied, did plenty of good work. Stevens might have had a tagging role by the looks and he kept some of their mids quietish.
Something has changed in the last month since the coaching arrangement changed. ...

DITTO

Also, May and Rundle seem to be growing in confidence. And yes, Steene does look promising.
It is so very important now that we maintain our pressure, tackling and intensity against Norwood next week. We can't get off the bottom, but we can continue to improve and get a third win for the season, something we haven't done since 2018.

Go Bloods

It's pleasing to see the improvement with several Westies' juniors being selected.

Steene is another in a position we've struggled in for years.

A good comeback win for the 18s yesterday also.

It was good effort yesterday, but we lost which isn’t acceptable.
I thought our first half was excellent we moved the ball forward quickly instead of going side ways and backwards.
We have improved over the last 6 weeks and I think some of that can be attributed to the form of Hartlett, once again he was outstanding yesterday.
Keough was as usual superb in defence and I agree Ellam played his best game. I will keep saying this but playing Ellam in the Ruck was a poor decision it meant once again we didn’t have a tall target to kick to.
Marslen should have played.
Ryan going off with concussion may have been the difference, I hope he’s ok.
Steene whilst beaten shows real promise, his marking was good and he competed very well.
Boyle has been playing good footy across half back and we needed a player like him in defence.
I agree young Patterson should be given an opportunity in the league team. He’s improving all the time and he’s a good size

We must beat Norwood next week