Round 9 Fixture

Norwood vs West Friday Night @ Norwood 7.40pm League
West vs Glenelg @ Glenelg 11.25 am Saturday Reserves
West vs Glenelg @ Glenelg 2.10 Saturday

Thiele wrote:Norwood vs West Friday Night @ Norwood 7.40pm League
West vs Glenelg @ Glenelg 11.25 am Saturday Reserves
West vs Glenelg @ Glenelg 2.10 Saturday, Under 18's

That's under 18's at 2.10.

What's so frustrating about our performances is you spend six months waiting for the season to start again, sniffing out news on recruits and how training's going, and then your season's over in 5 or 6 weeks. Now we have to wait another 45 weeks to get excited about the season ahead.

aldo russian wrote:What's so frustrating about our performances is you spend six months waiting for the season to start again, sniffing out news on recruits and how training's going, and then your season's over in 5 or 6 weeks. Now we have to wait another 45 weeks to get excited about the season ahead.

You are thinking a bit further out than me AR. I am just waiting for this season to end!!!!!

West Adelaide coach Mark Mickan has recalled Ryan Willits for the clash with Norwood at Coopers Stadium on Friday night.
Surprisingly squeezed out of the IGA League team for Round 8, Willits responded in strong fashion by chalking up 26 disposals, 14 hit outs and three goals in the Reserves.
The former Power giant has been joined in the Bloods’ 23-man squad by key defender Brett Turner, ex-Richmond utility Brad Helbig and possible debutant Jack Evans.
Evans (21, 180cm and 75kg) has progressed through the junior grades at West and has been named on the extended interchange bench.
Veteran Daniel Caire will miss at least a fortnight with a hamstring strain while Ben Klemke has been sent back to the seconds.

League
F: Silverlock, Willits, Fielke
HF: Stubbs, Middleton, Haysman
C: Waite, Schiller, Schmidt
HB: Green, Slattery, Wasley-Black
B: Hill, Hardy, Helbig

R: Webb, Tuck, O’Brien
INT: Agostino, K. Stevens, Favretto, Turner, J. Evans
IN: Turner, Helbig, Willits, J. Evans
OUT: Caire (hamstring), Klemke

Reserves
Klemke, Pillion, Cua, Munn, McPherson, L. Ryan, Vick, Taheny, Inglis, Majok, Holliday, Fitzpatrick, Male, J. Ryan, Burgess, J. Stevens, Rankine, Rankine, G. Hampton, Karpany, J. Noble, L. Evans.

Under-18
Pillion, Goldner, Eichner, Rodman, O’Driscoll, Crump, Wagner, Bahrkelly, Smith, Moore, Walton, Beard, West, Heitmann, I. Johnson, Baker, McCulloch, M. Johnson, Binnion, Badcoe, M. Noble, Baldissera.

West by 3 goals

If we can sort out the first quarter a win is there for us

This season can't end quick enough.....

I heard on the grapevine our players ran into the St Kilda 1966 premiership team still in the pub celebrating, on an end of season trip last year and decided to settle in and stay drinking with them. However it appears some of them may have dragged themselves out of the pub at quarter time tonight.
I wonder if we can sober them up by the time we play Centrals?

The Axis wrote:If we can sort out the first quarter a win is there for us

This turned out to be exactly right.

Again, bias umpiring at The Parade. Who can forget the "tortoise-shelling" of the ball by Norwood in our goal square at the end of the game last year. That was definitively "holding the ball".
Many instances last night, primarily Willits vs Baulderstone, but best shown in the 1st quarter when Norwood played on after a free kick was awarded against them and the ball was brought back, but when West did it in the last quarter, 25m penalty.
The most sickening was the high tackle on Slattery in the last quarter. We all knew why he didn't try to get the ball out afterwards, yet it was deemed "holding the ball".
Disgusting.

Our first qtr was just pathetic.
We were lucky not to be 9 goals down.
At one stage the inside 50 count was 19 to 1.
We did improve from then but the game was over.
Too many passengers again and it is the same players every week.
Schmidt, Stevens and O'Brien were good.

Back now. Will be at the Reserves and 18's games at Glenelg.

0-8 isn't acceptable and we have to come out against Central in 2 weeks time with a new outlook.

Wolf Pack wrote:
Too many passengers again and it is the same players every week.
Schmidt, Stevens and O'Brien were good.

The performing players must be getting very frustrated, and I believe there are a number of them. Only a few are "off their game", but enough for the team not to combine adequately.
Very unfortunate when considering that Hardy has finally hit form.

Back in 2012 Norwood and West played off in a grand final. In their latest encounter under lights at the Parade they were both at the other end of the ladder but the Legs still ran out convincing winners, 13.13 to 10.4.

The game comprised of two distinct parts: in the first Q Norwood dominated, kicking 5.6 and holding Westies scoreless. Yes, we couldn’t manage a single score in 28 minutes of footy. We were, simply, pathetic.

The rest of the game was an arm-wrestle and we actually outscored Norwood. Our intensity improved dramatically as we made a contest and started to force Norwood into their typical defensive style and, on occasion, into error. It wasn’t pretty footy.

But we can’t manage to kick a winning score. Our forward set-up is very ordinary and we have no-one who can take a contested mark. This said, Trent Stubbs took a couple of nice grabs in the third Q and kicked 2 goals but Webb and Slattery spent time up forward and they seem incapable of taking a mark under pressure. Up the other end Norwood had Phillips, Dawe, Bampton and Johnson who kicked 10 between them.

We were best served by Schmidt, O’Brien and Stevens. Haysman played his best game for a while and is, hopefully, running back into his 2015 form.

There are still too many players underperforming. Slattery had a shocker. Silverlock, Tuck, Green and Helbig struggled all night. Middleton played back and did a few useful things as the game wore on. Willets did the bulk of the ruckwork against the massive (110Kg) Baulderstone and some of his work around the ground was good. Still too many turnovers, skill errors and gifting the ball to the opposition.

At least we cannot finish any lower than 10th this year

TAAARS wrote:I heard on the grapevine our players ran into the St Kilda 1966 premiership team still in the pub celebrating, on an end of season trip last year and decided to settle in and stay drinking with them. However it appears some of them may have dragged themselves out of the pub at quarter time tonight.
I wonder if we can sober them up by the time we play Centrals?

That guy overseas was seen with them.

The league team has not managed to win a game. Reserves thrashed by 20 goals today and lose most weeks. U18s lost today and have managed only about 2 wins for the season. WHO in the Club took their eye off the ball at the end of the season and thought that continued success would just happen.
Sorry, but injuries and loss of players to the draft does not explain the sad predicament the whole Club is in after just one year of glory. The members have heard nothing in the way of any form of explanation from the President or CEO of a totally horrific year. Obviously no plans were in place for continued success let alone competiveness. This year has taken the gloss off a glorious day in September last year.

Our forward line had Slattery,Webb and Willits as our marking targets.
Slattery is not a key forward. His best footy was under Collins
playing through the midfield and resting up forward.

Webb and Willits are playing in the ruck and also as key forwards when resting.
It's asking to much of these guys.
We badly lack a couple of tall marking targets and have so for FAR TOO LONG.

The forward set up isn't right and hasn't been all year.
Hartlett will be back next game and therefore I would try Hardy as a forward.

Game was over at 1/4. Even though me outscored in the last 3/4s. Signs are there though. Just seems a 1/4 or 15 mins here or there seems to cost us in the past 3 weeks. Even one of the assistant coaches said it to me as I was walking to my car. Although the President was upbeat about the result last night.

618315 wrote:The league team has not managed to win a game. Reserves thrashed by 20 goals today and lose most weeks. U18s lost today and have managed only about 2 wins for the season. WHO in the Club took their eye off the ball at the end of the season and thought that continued success would just happen.
Sorry, but injuries and loss of players to the draft does not explain the sad predicament the whole Club is in after just one year of glory. The members have heard nothing in the way of any form of explanation from the President or CEO of a totally horrific year. Obviously no plans were in place for continued success let alone competiveness. This year has taken the gloss off a glorious day in September last year.

So loss of players and injuries have nothing to do with the predicament we are in.

Well, let me have my two bobs worth. We lost 5 players from the winning GF through the draft and from retirement. We started with many senior players with injuries, a lot of which occured during pre season training that impacted on there start to the season.
Jason Porplycia, Chris Schmidt, Bradley Helbig and Aaron Fielke started the season under a cloud but played.
We lost Aaron Anderson for the year and Nick Homberg has not played yet.
Yes, we are very much out of form from what we were doing last year, do you have a magic wand, if you do can you give it to our senior coach, he and the players are hurting as much as you and myself.

As for the President and CEO, seriously, what do you want them to say, do you think they are not hurting like the rest of those supporters that are still going week after week, unlike the ones on this forum that have declared they will no longer go and support our club simply because we are going through a bad time, surely this is when you support your club, when they need you most.

testy wrote:

618315 wrote:The league team has not managed to win a game. Reserves thrashed by 20 goals today and lose most weeks. U18s lost today and have managed only about 2 wins for the season. WHO in the Club took their eye off the ball at the end of the season and thought that continued success would just happen.
Sorry, but injuries and loss of players to the draft does not explain the sad predicament the whole Club is in after just one year of glory. The members have heard nothing in the way of any form of explanation from the President or CEO of a totally horrific year. Obviously no plans were in place for continued success let alone competiveness. This year has taken the gloss off a glorious day in September last year.

So loss of players and injuries have nothing to do with the predicament we are in.

Well,  let me have my two bobs worth. We lost 5 players from the winning GF through the draft and from retirement. We started with many senior players with injuries, a lot of which occured during pre season training that impacted on there start to the season.
Jason Porplycia, Chris Schmidt, Bradley Helbig and Aaron Fielke started the season under a cloud but played.
We lost Aaron Anderson for the year and Nick Homberg has not played yet.
Yes,  we are very much out of form from what we were doing last year, do you have a magic wand, if you do can you give it to our senior coach, he and the players are hurting as much as you and myself.

As for the President and CEO, seriously, what do you want them to say, do you think they are not hurting like the rest of those supporters that are still going week after week, unlike the ones on this forum that have declared they will no longer go and support our club simply because we are going through a bad time, surely this is when you support your club, when they need you most.

I think 618315's post is a rippa and reflects my thoughts exactly and I reckon those of many other supporters.
I don't think it is those who participate in this forum the club should worry about losing. It's the hundreds of others who have started to reconnect with the club over the last few years since Collins restored some pride back in the club.

Nothing can take away the memories of last year and thanks to all that worked to achieve this result but just stop with the platitudes and admit major mistakes have been made, set some realistic targets for the remainder of the year and be very honest with the supporters on what they are and what is being done to get some pride back.

Good to see healthy debate.

Nobody here predicted our current situation before the season started, as far as I recall, so we can all be experts in hindsight, but football life isn't straightforward.

First, how can you plan for two forwards going from kicking 80 goals to only a few? Who predicted that?

Who predicted that a host of players would be so down on form?

Who predicted that each of the finals players who didn't play in the GF would miss most of the season - Homburg, Anderson, Brind and Agostino with a late start?

Recruiting: start with a full salary cap, lose several promising players on low salaries, accommodate premiership players seeking higher salaries, lose two key players very late to the rookie draft.

That leaves room for only a couple of recruits at best. We recruited Trent Stubbs, who looks a good player and Zac O'Brien, who we're now seeing play good footy.

Did we try to recruit key position players? Of course, that was our major target. We were close to several, but just missed out and had 2 likely targets drafted.

Did other clubs needing key position players succeed in getting them? Not much, if at all.

(Continued)......

Part 2:

Reaction:

Is it natural for all of us to be upset at where we are? Of course, but it's disappointing also to read that somehow coaches, players, officials and staff are somehow living in a world where there's no hurt and no care.

On a personal note, when I became a Board Member, I took a decision to continue posting here, as I thought keeping members informed and engaging with supporters was a better way to go than stopping communication.  I was a supporter from the outer for longer than the 27 years I've been a volunteer and I know the frustrations of poor on-field performance.

It's not up to me to be making official statements on behalf of the club - that's for the Coach and CEO, so this is just my personal view.  What I can say  though, is that we are all hurting and we're all working hard on every front to turn things around. It's obviously our major priority and action is being taken on several fronts right now.

You can't just go out and recruit what you need just like that. You can't reverse long-term injuries or poor form or mental attitudes following a premiership just like that.

What will be done is a full analysis of what's happened and what needs to be done.

Finally, if one of two posters think it helps them to have cheap shots at people giving their time for the love of the club, that's OK for them, but I'd ask them to consider whether it's fair or reasonable or what is gained?

We all want the same thing. By all means criticise, that's what forums are for and almost nothing is ever deleted, but let's try to be constructive and not just pull down those who live the club as you do.

GR8 post Lee. Thanks
I don't know you but I can tell you are genuine.
The issues you describe seem to be issues that are faced by every club every season. I guess it is just a matter of extremes.
Andy Collins would have also been faced with these issues during his time at West but during his tenure you could be assured every game you were going to get a consistent effort no matter what. Not extremes in performance. Any way I reckon all bloods supporters would be better for reading your post (or maybe an adaptation of it from the coach)...just a thought.

No one would have expected us to be a top side this year given the circumstances. I thought we would have a poor year and finish about 8th.
However, we will probably win the spoon and are in danger of having a winless season.
There is no excuse for lack of effort and intensity at the contest.
Too many players don't get into the right position or get to a contest or run hard enough yet they play every week......

Where was the effort in the first qtr on Friday night?
How can an opposition have 19 inside 50s to 2??
Why, half way through the third qtr did we have more total handballs than kicks??