Round 6 - West v Norwood at Port Lincoln.

Against a winless Norwood.

Squire will be an out.

Surely a 50/50 chance?

Surley. But we are talking Westies here.

Would have preferred a photo of Josh Ryan instead of a Sturt player on the club website announcing the State Squad, but maybe I'm being picky?

Chamberlain and Minchella in. Good luck to Minchella, a very promising player, big task this early, but good to see juniors promoted.

Squire out with the elbow injury, Delahunty out with a bruised heel.

And if they line up as shown on the website, I have a bridge to sell you

At the risk of overstating I see this game against Norwood as season defining. We’ve had one good game (against South) and have been pretty shabby since then. Can we put together 4 Qs of good footy or will we play Norwood back into form? Hoping for the former but if it’s the latter then our season is pretty much cooked.
The kids who were so good against South have struggled in the last 2 games and there remains a handful of players who are lucky to be selected each week. But at least the selectors are putting their faith in them and, it’s not as if there are others beating the door down in the ressies.
Go Bloods.

Yet another slow start followed by some really good footy. Our pressure on them, chasing and tackling, got us back into the game. We were aided by their poor kicking but hindered by some worryingly one-sided umpiring. It's great to see the players' efforts rewarded with a couple of wins in the first third of the season.
Ruck is a big problem, Bramich is a substantial loss. But Ellem was terrific I thought, probably his best game for us. He has flourished since being released from the key forward role. Johnson also looks a better player when drifting down into defence, and his goal was a real lifter. Joel Stevens was again a force, Kobe Ryan worked himself into the ground, Meline was very assured and the Park-Ryan-Morrish combination was very good again.
Brand, Bramich, Delahunty, Squire and Frost would make us a pretty handy team.

Thanks Aldo, couldn't watch the gane (hopeless SANFL App), but great to see the obvious development.

No gane next week, so time to enjoy the win.

Aldo

I agree with your post, a good win against a side who dominated most of the stats. We badly miss Bramich that’s for sure.
When we got the ball on the outside we looked much better.
I think our skill level has improved and when he take the game on we look so much better.
Ellam has certainly played very well the past two weeks, he obviously has talent he just needs to do it on a consistent basis.
Our defence has been very good all year and Park, Morrish and Ryan are the leaders. Morrish continues to make good decisions and his ball use by foot is mostly sound.
Ryan and Stevens were very good in the midfield and Johnson playing on a wing the last 2 weeks has been much better.

I agree with Aldo, Brand, Bramich, Squire,Delahunty and Frost would improve our side significantly.

Lachlan wrote:Aldo

I agree with your post, a good win against a side that dominated most of the stats. We badly miss Bramich that’s for sure.
When we got the ball on the outside we looked much better.
I think our skill level has improved and when we take the game on we look so much better.
Ellam has certainly played very well the past two weeks, he obviously has talent he just needs to do it on a consistent basis.
Our defence has been very good all year and Park, Morrish, and Ryan are the leaders. Morrish continues to make good decisions and his ball use by foot is mostly sound.
Ryan and Stevens were very good in the midfield and Johnson playing on a wing the last 2 weeks has been much better.

I agree with Aldo, Brand, Bramich, Squire, Delahunty, and Frost would improve our side significantly.

This win against Norwood was an important stepping stone in the team's improvement. It would have done wonders for the players' confidence and lifted the spirits of all supporters. As Aldo and Lachlan point out, once injured players return the team should get even stronger. Our next game against the Eagles at Hisense will be a good test for us and a chance to build some real momentum. And if results go our way, we could even climb as high as 6th on the ladder.
Go Bloods