Woodville-West Torrens v Centrals @ Unleash Solar Oval - Wednesday

A highly entertaining game between last years Grand Finalists. The Eagles won the toss and kicked to the northern end with what appeared to be a 3-4 goal breeze (although in the reserves it appeared the southern end was the scoring end), yet the first quarter was relatively even - the Eagles needing to kick long bombs from outside 50 to score their goals.

The second quarter was the Centrals show as they took full advantage of the breeze, slamming home 6 big ones (the first one 18 seconds into the quarter and 3 kicked by the 5 minute mark) to the Eagles solitary goal to take a 17 point lead into the long break.

Centrals carried their momentum from the second quarter into the third quarter kicking the opening 3 goals, before the Eagles kicked another 2 outside 50 bombs halfway through the quarter. The Eagles managed to wrest the momentum back, with 2 of the remaining 3 goals in the quarter going the Eagles way, yet it was still a 17 point lead to the Dogs at 3 quarter time, but the Dogs were coming home with the breeze.

When Centrals kicked the opening goal in the final quarter, it looked like Centrals would run away with the game. The Eagles, to their credit, responded and actually started kicking goals into the breeze to get the margin back to 11 points. Centrals then managed a couple of behinds to put them on the right side of the behind equation, before the Eagles kicked another 1.1 to bring it back to 1 kick and all the momentum was going the Eagles way.

There was one last gasp effort to at least tie the game but Centrals defence held up strong, and amazingly the Eagles failed to man up, meaning while Centrals were chipping it dangerously around the back line, the Eagles weren't manning up to force the turnover, and while it was causing heart palpitations amongst the Centrals faithful, the side knew what they were doing, and sure enough the siren went and the Dogs prevailed by 6 points.

So all up, while the Eagles showed fight and grit for the first time this season, they ultimately fell short, and fall to 0-5 and face a difficult match next week against South at Hickenbotham Oval. Centrals, after having a very short 4 day break, now have an 17 day break before facing Glenelg under the Playford Alive Oval lights on 12 May.

waddayamean wrote:

bayman wrote:i thought it was a great contest, firstly with Central on top with them seemingly to get most of the 'iffy' free kicks & after half time as Wwt's gained momentum they appeared to get the 'iffy' free kicks, having said that i thought given their season so far they (Wwt) were very brave to fight back they way they did & showed character, i was bemused that we didn't see a pack holding the ball decision basically all day & then we got two in two minutes (why do umpires change their interpretations when games are close & nearing completion ?) i thought Symes' smother on the half back line outer side late in the game was crucial & thought that Central seemed to get a smother in while Wwt didn't, also while Wwt's nearly 'pinched it' why were they way way too defensive especially in the first half of the match ?

i've see Wwt 3 times this year & while i know they have some players out including key players i think they've change their gameplan & if i'm right i ask why would you change a gameplan that worked last year ?

crowd from memory was 4,054 (or very close to that)

That's terrible for ANZAC Day . Good promotion Mick Godden.

Only 830 less than 2010 and 339 less than 2008.

Wow , all poor crowds.Wasn't 2010 at Elizabeth which I thought drew over 7000 ?

waddayamean wrote:Thanks Bayman ,

The sound system one surprises me as I think Woodville has a good sound but regardless of that just confirming that the players ran on the oval as the ANZACs were going around is quite remarkable.

Disappointing and disrespectful.

Was surprised that of all the things that went wrong today, it was the sound. It was like once the announcer saw the teams running out, they just hit the club songs at the expense of everything else.

The national anthem was a disgrace. I don't know who was singing (or what recording they were using), but it sounded horrible and distorted on the PA system, and to be honest, should have just left the band to perform it without the 'singing'. It was only my respect to ANZAC Day that stopped me from bursting out laughing during the anthem.

waddayamean wrote:Wow , all poor crowds.Wasn't 2010 at Elizabeth which I thought drew over 7000 ?

4884 at Elizabeth in 2010 and 4393 at Adelaide in 2008. I have left out 2009 because of the appalling weather that day - crowd was 2854.

spell_check wrote:

waddayamean wrote:Wow , all poor crowds.Wasn't 2010 at Elizabeth which I thought drew over 7000 ?

4884 at Elizabeth in 2010 and 4393 at Adelaide in 2008. I have left out 2009 because of the appalling weather that day - crowd was 2854.

And there was a full round of matches in 2009 as well. I thought the crowd was about 2100 in 2009

bayman wrote:why do umpires change their interpretations when games are close & nearing completion?

I've been asking that question since the 1960s when I started watching football. If you ever get an answer, please let me know.

ANZAC DAY FOOTY...Lest We Forget


FULL TIME @ UNLEASH SOLAR OVAL

LEAGUE:

Final Scores

Central - 13.6 = 84

Eagles - 12.6 = 78

Doggies win by 6 points




GOAL KICKERS:

Central - R.Williams 4, M.Westhoff 3, B.Nason, E.Sansbury, J.Vater, E.Sansbury, B.Symes, J.Hardy 1

Eagles - J.Toumpas 2, A.Grocke, J.Cicolella, L.Jarrad, B.Sumner, C. Eliis-Yolmen, M.Goldsworthy, C.Hall, C.Kane, L.Staple, P.Raymond 1




FINAL STATS WINNERS: (Courtesy of Champion Data)

http://www.sanfl.com.au/livestats/match1/



BOB QUINN MEDALLIST: Ryan Williams (Central)



CROWD: 4,054*

* The best corwd at Woodville since 2000, the best crowd between these 2 clubs at this venue, ever.

waddayamean wrote:

bayman wrote:

crowd from memory was 4,054 (or very close to that)

That's terrible for ANZAC Day . Good promotion Mick Godden.

CROWD: 4,054*

* The best crowd at Woodville since 2000 and the best crowd between these 2 clubs at this venue, ever.

Dogs were average at best.

And I hope they put down whoever slaughtered the national anthem. Sounded like Roseanne at the Superbowl.

Highlight of the day for me was watching the Eagles banner go **** up because nobody bothered to hold the base of the righthand pole. Banner control 101, fellas.

The 7,000 crowd at Elizabeth was a Saturday Night v Sturt when they launched the lights.

As Spell Check has illustrated overall crowds for the ANZAC Day game have dimished over time to a point where today's is pretty much the SANFL norm for the day.

NB - The 2,854 at Adelaide for Central v Glenelg a couple of years back was played in appalling conditions.


Personally very happy that we cracked the 4,000 given

- it has only happened once at Woodville since the Power came in (2000)

- only three times previously have we cracked even 3,000 v Central at Woodville

- it was our 9th biggest crowd for an Eagles game at Woodville (7 of them were pre Power entry in the 1990's)

- was our biggest crowd v Central at Woodville

- Average SANFL crowds are down about 17% from same time last year.

- We have not won a game this year.


I know a lot of people love having a crack at the size of the Eagles Supporter Base both on the radio and site's like this.... so be it, keep them coming. I just add the comments to my "locker room" to keep me motivated.


But be warned

- our Adult Membership is at record levels and growing

- we have the largest Signed Up junior membership in the SANFL

- our home game crowds are up 27% the past 3 years (2008-2011) and after today we are almost guaranteed a 4th straight year of strong growth.


As a club we are NOWHERE near where want to be re supporter numbers, that will take a generation to get to the level enjoyed by Port, Norwood, and Glenelg

But it is a major focus for the Eagles, we have allocated dedicated resources solely for this purpose and the early results are both positive and promising.

Interesting facts, Phil.

Naturally, as a West supporter, I always wonder about posters who get hung up on crowd numbers for each team. Those figures are very important for several reasons, including finances and atmosphere, but, apart from bragging rights, it doesn't mean much.

West's crowds are up, but they're consistent no matter how we're going.

Passion is more important.

PhilH wrote:
I know a lot of people love having a crack at the size of the Eagles Supporter Base both on the radio and site's like this.... so be it, keep them coming. I just add the comments to my "locker room" to keep me motivated.


But be warned

- our Adult Membership is at record levels and growing

- we have the largest Signed Up junior membership in the SANFL

- our home game crowds are up 27% the past 3 years (2008-2011) and after today we are almost guaranteed a 4th straight year of strong growth.


As a club we are NOWHERE near where want to be re supporter numbers, that will take a generation to get to the level enjoyed by Port, Norwood, and Glenelg

But it is a major focus for the Eagles, we have allocated dedicated resources solely for this purpose and the early results are both positive and promising.

While Centrals and the Eagles have a strong on-field rivalry, off-field I have a lot of respect for the Eagles and the way they operate the club, and the innovative ways the club generates awareness of the club, the fruit can be seen in Phil's stats above.

One idea which I think was an excellent idea by the Eagles was providing a free double pass to those living around Unleash Solar Oval - an excellent method of getting the community involved in the club, and with the north-western/western suburbs having quite a diverse mix of cultures, it's a great way to get people who aren't familiar with our great game introduced to the game. It's something every club should do for at least one of their matches each year.

PhilH wrote:But be warned

- our Adult Membership is at record levels and growing

Eagles Membership grew by 1 today thanks to me staying true to my word on the lost bet between PhilH and myself based on last year's GF result.

Got my new Eagles hat, sticker and key chain this morning, thanks to the WWTFC for opening the office and taking my money

How do the Eagles intend growing their base to match supporter numbers of Glenelg ,Norwood etc. It could be argued a generation has passed ?


I get a bit tired of the "poor old Eagles ' theme that gets trotted out on forums .