West V North

Half time WA 6-8 NA 5-4

Depends on what West team turns up. They appear to have the cattle but I haven't seen much of North this year. I think it will be fairly even.

3/4 time WA 8-9 NA 13-5

Final reserves NA 15-6 WA 11-10

1/4 time NA 2-2 WA 2-1

Half time NA 6-4 WA 3-7

3/4 time NA 9-5 WA 7-9

Final NA 13-8 WA 11-13

Well done North !

On the board now and ahead of both Grand Finalists.

Prob for only one night, but who cares.

Last quarter. West 11 inside 50's to Norths 3... North much more efficient which won them the game.

well it was chalk 'n' cheese with Norths last two matches tonight we saw a committed team hell bent on winning which they managed to do & they had the better of it for most of the night, however without taking anything away from them i feel the poor kicking for goal & more importantly the loss of Crouch & Bricknell before halftime, Caruso wasn't sighted after halftime (was he injured as well ?) were why West who still had their chances to win lost

if i were are westies man i'd be disappointed with the loss but proud with the committment, endeavour & the never give in attitude of the team

i hope young Scott Bricknell is ok

Collins in big trouble!!!

Sack him then

The Roosters eked out a gritty win at Richmond last night in a game that had many periods of flooding where, at times, no player was forward of centre. West took the initiative and seemed to have control, but in the second quarter, North gained the ascendancy with a 15 point break at half time. The game became much more free flowing in the second half, and if it wasn't for Brad Fisher standing up strongly and grabbing some marks, along with his total of 5 goals, it could have been a bigger win to North. The last quarter was a dour struggle - goal for goal - and West hit the front, but with Matty Wright kicking the sealer with minutes to go, the Roosters hung on for a well deserved victory, showing that they do have the application and confidence to pull something out of the fire. Unfortunately, the men in green had a rush of blood to the head again, highlighted by a ridiculous deliberate out of bounds. There could have been another "please explain" off to umpiring headquarters. Jimmy Allan racked up his usual 34 possessions, Ryswyk fired up with 2 goals, Thring showed mettle as did Delvins, Young dug deep, Ivens gave plenty of drive from half back, Clinch found some space, and it was good to see Miles back. Let's hope this is the spring board for a run of victories.

Good summary, MP.

From a West point of view, the key had to be losing Crouch and Bricknell within a few minutes early in the second quarter, This left West with only one interchange for the rest of the game and then they had none for some time while Chris Schmidt was being attended to in the rooms.

Because of the constant references to West's flooding, I took particular note of both teams' tactics and it was clear that both teams flooded back whenever the opposition had the footy. As MP says, it was common to see that constantly at both ends, particularly in the first half.

After half-time, the game opened up and it was a tight, but entertaining spectacle, with some individually brilliant pieces of play. For West, Brad Fisher was terrific, with 5 goals (all in the second half?). The other bright note for West was the debut of Crows rookie, Rory Laird, whose skills stood out, particularly with his delivery of the ball inside 50. He looks a cut above the usual debutant.

North deserved their win, coming back after a poor performance last week, but West were very brave and hit the front late in the last quarter against the odds.

Once again, though, poor kicking for goal destroyed their chances. Brad Fisher's kicking was exemplary, but West's inability to kick goals from relatively easy positions killed them.

It looks like being a dogfight of a season and West next face Sturt at Unley. I can't remember the last time we won there and some of the losses have been huge.

I'll be there, though

Agree entirely with R&B - hard to know though the full impact of Crouch and Bricknell going - it's a bit like having 2 players in your team who are having a bad outing and don't contribute. But it was a game where both teams gave everything.

Yes, although I think the lack of rotations and players not being able to have a rest on the bench at all really takes its toll.

That's why I thought West were pretty courageous to make up a deficit and still nearly get up.

It doesn't get you the two points, though.

Copied form 'bloodntars.com', a report by 'blackandred' (not to be confused with redandblack )

In the footy program that Andy Collins keeps in the top drawer of his bedside cupboard he would have pencilled a ‘W’ against this fixture. In the end he nearly got his win but it was a case of too little too late against a more committed, skilfull and faster North Adelaide team.

Many will argue that Westies lost the game at a critical point half way through the second Q. The talented 18yo Brad Crouch had just limped off with a right hamstring strain and this was followed closely by Scott Bricknell being stretchered off with concussion. This left us with one on the bench and a lack of flexibility in our rotations for the last 2 and a half Qs.

The fact is though we lost this game in the first half through our abysmal skill levels. Our disposal was terrible. Moving the ball out of defence we regularly turned the ball over, we handballed to our opponents, we tackled them high, gave away stupid frees, we fumbled and we were dreadful in front of goal. Watching players like Ezard, Macreadie, Green and Schmidt regularly pass the ball to the opposition was as painful as having having root canal work. We added 1.6 in the second Q while North booted 4.2. Our solitary major didn’t come until the 20 min mark. As bad as we were North only led by 15pts at the long break and if we had made the most of our chances it could have been a lot closer.

Having said this we improved in the second half and seemed to seemed to thrive on adversity. Our attack on the ball started to force errors from North Adelaide and we found a winner in Brad Fisher who booted 3 goals in the third Q and dragged us back into the game through his economical mark and kick style of play. But every time we got close North steadied and we spent most of the game 2 or 3gls behind.

The longer the game went the better we got but we were never really good. The last Q was the only one when we won the centre clearances. Through sheer desperation and character we fought our way back into the game. Brad Fisher added 2 in the last Q and when James Ezard took the ball from a great Ben Fisher ‘hard ball get’ and drilled it through at the 20min mark we actually hit the front by 2pts and were looking at an unlikely win. North then responded, as they had done all night by kicking 2 quick goals and we went down 13.8 to 11.13.

Daniel Caire was probably the only player to put in a sound 4Q effort. He was ably supported by Adam Hartlett, especially in the first half. Ferguson was well beaten by Alleway and ended the game in the fwd line. The one big positive on the night was the debut of Rory Laird. He got around 20 touches and stepped up when Brad Crouch left the contest. Hopefully this will encourage the selectors to bring some more younger players into the senior team. With his 5 gls Brad Fisher can hold his head high.

We had too many passengers. Ezard, Fielke, Still and Beech had poor games. Green and Macreadie let themselves and the team down with their poor disposal. One wonders how long Daniel Webb can hold his place in the team. He kicked 3pts tonight, he doesn’t add anything to the fwd line as he struggles to take a contested mark. Surely young Peter Nelson would be worth a punt or bring in Bornholm.

If we lose next week we will go into the bye 2 wins from 5 with games against Port and Norwood to follow. Suddenly things are looking grim.

The 2s lost 15.6 to 11.10.

Surely there wasn't 2,500 people there last night? I demand Goal kicking practise this week plus skills

Thiele wrote:Surely there wasn't 2,500 people there last night? I demand Goal kicking practise this week plus skills

This is 2012. Goal kicking and skills practice is obselete. It eats into time taken for defensive structures, game plans, and sprint practice so players can rotate quickly. Have you ever noticed that the quickest a player runs all match is when they are running towards the interchange bench?

Actually, I rate North a pretty useful team, and their best can match most teams. The thing I like the most about the SANFL is no win is a total surprise.

North deserved to win. The Roosters didn't let West string two goals together during the third quarter when the game was up for grabs. They were quicker through the midfield and rebounded strongly from defence when it mattered.

Injuries had an impact on West for sure, but so did poor disposal and critical turnovers.

No disrespect to the victors, but pound for pound, inch for inch, the Bloods had better quality cattle grazing on the paddock.

Another result like that and it may be time to cull some of the herd or get a new drover.

Very much supported West in getting Collins as Senior Coach and agreed that a three year contract to take that group from bottom to the five sounded pretty reasonable, I also would state that I thought the extra season extention was a good idea also. Sadly that is where I part ways with the board of the club, as I feel that Collins as good a bloke as he is, has taken Westies as far as he can and another man with new ideas needs to come in and take the club with a new style of coaching.

Collins has taken West Adelaide from the bottom of the SANFL ladder and has made them competitive, that is quite true, perhaps its also a part of the problem, Westies first 18 when fit and firing can match it and more so with any SANFL club and have proven it on several occasions. Like South Adelaide though, West lack depth and it shows the moment and injury is taken. The list is very much "thin" once the first 18 move off the rank.

When West play attacking footy they just about decimate sides with run down the middle. Yet as has been on display over a number of matches, when they lose players they appear to retreat into a flooding - chipping game plan reminiscent of a Rugby match. Various WAFC people have commented on this, so I wont bother going into any further description except to acknowledge it.

The key to West's success appears to lie with the club getting the message across to the league list, that more is expected of the second string, or engine room players if you like. Its for this reason that I suggest that its time for another man to come into the coaching box at West, as Collins accepts responsibility for the teams performance each week he must also accept responsibility for the skills and development of the list in the junior grades, and its glaringly obvious that this is the area that has let the club down as there is little real pressure from players pressing for a spot in the first 18.

Interestingly its reported that this is the area that Nathan Bassett has a great strength in and Norwood play accordingly. South made the finals last year I feel largely due to the improvement gained from players on the list by the Senior Coach. Like Bass, I feel that West have to find such a man who will coach the first 18 as Collins does, but also has the capacity to reach the others on the list with skills development and mentoring.

Again its only my 2c worth, but I do feel for WAFC supporters, it is time that the club stood up and gave their long suffering members something, if it does prove that season 2012 is going to be not unlike season 2011 then its fair enough again despite what a good bloke Collo may be, to be prepared to make some hard decisions.

i dont think westies depth is thin just not given opportunities to shine. they have had a number of very good players waiting in the reserves who have never been given a chance, if collins had put as much time into these players as he does with the so called best 18 then i think things would be a little different. i watched most of last season and for the last half of the year watched at least 10 players in the league who should have been dropped and others given a shot. players leave because they know these players are never going to be dropped so they try their luck with other clubs or go amatuer. i think west need to really address this problem or they will see a number of good reserves players thinking of moving on again this year. they have no one to blame but themselves this has been going on for years.

Interesting points, betteroff (and welcome to the site).

Are there any players in particular who have left who you think were potentially good league players?

I think Collins has introduced a lot of juniors into the league team over his time. We used to be known as a team of imports, but we now have a solid core of West juniors as regular players.

In the Reserves right now, I'd say those close to selection would include Borholm, Homburg, Silverlock and maybe Poynton and Blesing.

Later on, I think Westhoff, Keough and Nelson would be a chance.

Who do you think are some of the ten who should be dropped for these players (and I'm sure I've left some out).

Interesting subject.

from last year a think number of players should have been given a run in the two, names such as fort caruso (not a great year) webby hasnt shown me anything in the last couple of years, i know he is on the power list and he is developing but what happens to the reserve player that could take his spot no developing for him (just because his not on a list) i dont get this idea, at times james ezard had a bad run, brad fisher wasnt performing i know these are top players but i think when they are not performing they should be dropped and players that are playing well in the reserves should get an opportunity, not just one or two games but a month to see what they can do, this lets both parties know that they are all one team not league and reserves, everyone should have an equal playing field imho as for players leaving, brayden fishers is one who comes to mind also shearer who i thought showed plenty and won 2 b&f reserves medals. there have been others who i cant think of at the moment, and im sure there will be more in the future. talking to long time westies supporters i believe this has happened before just my opinion