Sportsbeat Friday June 15 2012

C.K's two weekly columns - previews and an analysis of what is wrong at South Adelaide

2012 SANFL ROUND TWELVE PREVIEWS

Central District v Port Adelaide (Playford Alive Oval) – Saturday 2.10pm

ABC-TV’s Match of The Day, with the Magpies making the short trip up the highway to take on their northern neighbours. Port need to start knocking off top four sides if they are to be seen as a legitimate finals contender, although their dominant win over South was highly impressive for the first three quarters. Central was in complete control most of the day against West, and prove again that if they get the early jump, are still awfully hard to reel in.

The key for Port, therefore, is stifling that initial run from Central, but this may result in an ugly, unattractive game that Central can still work their way out of. Unless Port can also manufacture a strong attacking philosophy also, they will find it difficult to stay in the match for too long. For a team that is still finding consistency, coach Tony Bamford will learn plenty about his troops after this one. The Bulldogs should take this comfortably.

TV: ABC-TV
Tip: Central District 37-48

Sturt v South Adelaide (Commander Centre Oval) – Saturday 2.10pm

The last five quarters by South have really shown a worrying propensity for major fadeouts when the pressure is on. Their performance against Port last week was arguably their worst of the season and has called their finals aspirations into serious question. Sturt will be flying high after their shock dismissal of Central two weeks back, but coach Seamus Maloney will also be working hard to keep their feet on the ground and not get too ahead of themselves.

When South’s midfield clicks into gear and works the ball quickly into attack, it is very hard to run down, but the effectiveness has been somewhat limited the last couple of weeks. If heavy physical pressure is placed upon them early, they can be reined in, and the AFL experience at Sturt will be a major factor in this area. Players such as Brodie Martin and Richard Tambling will be keys to shutting down some of the main Panther players. That said, at times Sturt struggle to kick winning scores and one of South’s biggest weaknesses is in defence. If the Panthers can gel in this area, it may give them the initiative.

RADIO: Life FM
Tip: South Adelaide 13-24


Woodville/West Torrens v North Adelaide (Unleash Solar Oval) – Saturday 2.10pm

The Eagles’ season now looks in tatters after another heavy loss, this time to Glenelg. To kick 8.21 is very disappointing for a team that had so much of the play for lengthy periods, but could not nail simple shots when it counted. North Adelaide, however, had no such issues, being the first team to bring about the undoing of Norwood this season, by the barest margin. Their ferocious attack on the football and ability to work Norwood into errors was crucial and they were rightly rewarded.

It is just hard to see how the Eagles can keep finding enough in the current situation to take this out. They have very few injuries, but their list just doesn’t look to have anything like the desperation required to push themselves back into contention. North, however, are hungry and desperate to prove their rights to a finals berth and look prepared to take the chances with game style that is necessary to do so. Their pace and ballgetting ability, not to mention a plethora of tall attacking options all look set to condemn the Eagles to further misery.

RADIO: 5RPH
Tip: North Adelaide 25-36

Norwood v Glenelg (Coopers Stadium) – Sunday 2.10pm

The Redlegs received a slight reality check at the hands of North, losing their first game of the year by one point, while Glenelg overcame a wasteful Eagles to win by 47 points in a display that grew more dominant the longer the match progressed.

North were able to stymie Norwood by using hard running, moving the ball quickly around the wings and flanks and then centering the ball around 40 metres from goal to give their talls and crumbers multiple opportunities to work into scoring positions. Glenelg played a very similar style to this against the Eagles and reaped the rewards noticeably. No doubt the Norwood coaching staff would have watched this game carefully with a view to this week’s encounter and will try to restrict the Tigers’ ability to set the terms here.

The Redlegs should be able to bounce back at home and continue their break on the other contenders.

RADIO: 5RPH
Tip: Norwood 25-36



PANTHERS IN PERIL

Many SANFL fans would reasonably have had South Adelaide pencilled in for a finals berth in 2012. Their elimination final win last season against Glenelg suggested they were close to turning the corner as a club, after years in the wilderness. While they were soundly defeated in the first semi final, it was no shame at all to lose to a rampant eventual premier in Woodville/West Torrens. It appeared that coach Ron Fuller’s long term plan of restoring the Panthers to being a respected unit was about to bear fruit spectacularly, particularly if many of the younger players stepped up to the plate.

Round 11, 2012, and it’s an extremely different story. Sitting in seventh place, with the second worst percentage in the SANFL, with only three wins, it looks like a finals berth will be a major uphill battle. They have two of the top seven goalkickers in the SANFL, with Andrew Ainger leading the competition and Michael Wundke not far behind. Nick Liddle, Joel Cross and Toby Stribling sit high in the league leading possession getters, with Liddle averaging 27 touches a game. There is no doubt South has plenty of talent on their playing list. The coaching box boasts vast levels of experience also. Fuller is a premiership coach at the Eagles, while his assistants Shane Reardon and Mark Jeffries were by his side for many of the halcyon days at the Eagles. Tony Burgess also brings a wealth of experience across his SANFL tenure. Many of the building blocks are in place for the club on the field.

Off-field, things are just as rosy, with the Jimmy Deane’s entertainment and function complex one of the most impressive in the SANFL. The dining area that overlooks the ground is well utilised on game days, and the downstairs function and gaming sections are also proving a financial boon for the Noarlunga based club. In theory, things should never have been better for a club that has struggled in many key areas for many years.

So, why on earth is South looking in grave danger of missing the finals? An early season controversy surrounding former midfielder Guy O’Keefe appeared a distraction they did not need. While O’Keefe is no longer at the club, the serious charges levelled against him were featured prominently in the press and named the club as his then-current employer, leading to unnecessary innuendo.

There were no major player losses in the off-season, although Andrew Horne’s departure did hurt their rotations to a certain degree. If anything, knowing that former Port listed ruckman Daniel Bass had committed full time to the club after his AFL delisting, was a bonus for their big man stocks. They recruited carefully, with former West Coast midfielder Tim Houlihan and ex-Port Magpie Xavier Watson among a small but select list, and opted to bring more local product through, quite rightly.

One area they do look very restricted in, however, is defence. There is no question their defence tries their hardest every week, but it is open to conjecture as to how many of their defenders would make, for example, the Central District best 21. They appear undersized and physically smaller at times than many of the taller forwards they have to contend with each week. A number of times this season, they have held their own for the first half, and then been run right over in the second half, and allowed forwards to set the initiative clearly from that point. While it is too late for this season, a “gorilla” style of defender should be very high on the shopping list for 2012, along with a long kicking, rebounding half back. Some of their defenders would not win long kicking contests, and a player who can regularly rake it 50+ metres would make a lot of difference.

They also look to need a real dose of “hurting more” when they lose. At times for any club when the tide is clearly turning, there needs to be a core group who really feel the situation, and are able to switch into a more defensive style of play to start plugging the hole. Similarly, when the game is lost, the pain needs to be evident around the whole group. For a club that has not won a flag since 1964, nor played in a grand final since 1979, the desperation to be part of that groundbreaking group needs to be massive. From the outside looking in, there doesn’t appear enough desperation at Noarlunga, despite having one of the better lists in SANFL. Desperation must start appearing fast, before the supporters start losing the desperation to keep coming out each week.

That's a terrific summary of where South are at right now, IMO.

Several very good points, especially about not hurting enough.

The upside is that it wouldn't take a lot for them to turn things around with some selective recruiting, as you say. Their problem has often been in keeping recruits there for a long time, which leads to a too constant large turnover of the list.

I think Ron Fuller's plan is still on track to a fair extent, if they can keep their better players.