The Wrap Up: West v Centrals @ City Mazda Stadium

West    1.1 4.6 6.11 7.14.56
Centrals 3.3 7.4 8.8 10.9.69

Centrals return to the winners circle with another win over a top 3 side, while West's ordinary form of late continues in a game that finished with a bit of a skyshow thanks to Mother Nature.

Discuss the post-game analysis here.

Central played smarter wet weather footy & every time West got close Central had an answer by kicking the next goal

Inaccurate kicking by Westies could have cost them dearly, although on a day like today many touched and rushed scores result.

Centrals have been improving each week while Westies have been slipping back to join the pack.

i noticed pre game how multi talented r&b is he not only kicked a ball back to the guy holding the football ball bag he kicked it into the bag from about 8 or 10 metres   should be a kicking coach somewhere, whether that be at Westies or the Wallabies

bayman wrote:i noticed pre game how multi talented r&b is he not only kicked a ball back to the guy holding the football ball bag he kicked it into the bag from about 8 or 10 metres   should be a kicking coach somewhere, whether that be at Westies or the Wallabies

Ball bag? 

Maybe that's a skill you don't need!

PS: What happened to Tippett?

i knew someone would say something & that's why i added football as the prefix to it, but it didn't matter it was still said anyway & i thought this was a family show  

Sorry, I will go away and administer the discipline to my sinful soul.
Anyone got a barbed whip?

 

bayman wrote:i noticed pre game how multi talented r&b is he not only kicked a ball back to the guy holding the football ball bag he kicked it into the bag from about 8 or 10 metres   should be a kicking coach somewhere, whether that be at Westies or the Wallabies

Especially considering the conditions at the time I kicked it, bayman. Huge wind, sloppy conditions and a huge crowd pressure on me, but I delivered:D 

Fully deserved win by Central. West had more possessions, more scoring shots, more clearances, more everything, but Central were cleaner and more direct.

I tipped Westies being a home match and thought that West would bounce back this week, what I clearly forgot is that despite the fact that Central have lost several matches this season they have been steadily improving and are still very much a quality side. To beat Westies away at Richmond is no mean feat.

I was the only FOOT-e TIMES SA writer to tip the Dogs, albeit by just 1 point...

R&B, Bayman, anyone else at the game today - I'd be interested in your thoughts on the standard of umpiring this afternoon, in this game?

bayman wrote:i noticed pre game how multi talented r&b is he not only kicked a ball back to the guy holding the football ball bag he kicked it into the bag from about 8 or 10 metres   should be a kicking coach somewhere, whether that be at Westies or the Wallabies

LOL... that would have been me holding the ball bag Bayman.  

you cunning stunt FB

the prowler wrote:you cunning stunt FB

Actually, i made R&B look good, it wasn't his kicking skills but more my catching skills.

Chambo Off To Work We Go wrote:

bayman wrote:i noticed pre game how multi talented r&b is he not only kicked a ball back to the guy holding the football ball bag he kicked it into the bag from about 8 or 10 metres   should be a kicking coach somewhere, whether that be at Westies or the Wallabies

Ball bag? 

Maybe that's a skill you don't need!

PS: What happened to Tippett?

Tippett got a kick to the shin, should be ok.

Big Phil wrote:I was the only FOOT-e TIMES SA writer to tip the Dogs, albeit by just 1 point...

R&B, Bayman, anyone else at the game today - I'd be interested in your thoughts on the standard of umpiring this afternoon, in this game?

Are you kidding, BP!!!

After last week, I have no comment at all. 

A few Central fans standing behind me weren't happy with the umpiring.. then again they seemed hard to please all day. I thought Callinan was a favorite for most Central fans, not according to those standing behind me, they criticized him all day.

Big Phil..free kicks..
Central - 16
West - 27
Umpiring was crap as usual. A couple of decisions had me scratching my head when West got a couple of lucky ones.

With the weather the way it was today, it was always going to be a tough, gritty, dour game, and that's exactly what we got. The game was largely goal for goal - in fact, West did not kick consecutive goals all game - and the difference on the scoreboard was Centrals able to take it's chances around goal, and score a couple of consecutive goals.

Some of the lightning in the last quarter was spectacular to say the least.

From bloodntars forum, by 'Blackandred'.

Consider this: since we fell in against Sturt 6 weeks ago we have won one game and lost 4. One of these was against the bottom team last week at Noarlunga. We are now 8 and 5 on the table and looking at an Elimination Final rather than a Qualifying in September. We have failed to kick more than ten goals in 3 of those games. We seem to be a team that can be shut down by any side with average defensive skills. The coach couldn’t get the boys up for this contest after last week’s insipid display. We are a team in serious trouble.

The conditions didn’t make for good skilful footy at Richmond today but nobody told Centrals. They adapted to the slippery conditions far better and used the ball to advantage in a tight but messy contest. Having said this Westies had 21 shots to Centrals 19 so we had our chances, many of them set shots that went wide.

1569 people braved the torrential rain, the thunder and the lightning. The omens were bad from the start. The banner honouring our 100 game skipper disintergrated in the wet and presented a sorry sight for the champ. Westies left out Schiller and Still and paid a heavy price for going into the match far to top heavy under the conditions. We needed Still with the focus he provides up forward and we didn’t need 200cm Moran as well as 202cm Nelson and 196cm Webb. We also played Rankin who looked like a kid playing against men, Ezard who is either unfit or badly out of form and Fielke went off injured in the first Q. Centrals skipper Paul Thomas injured his hand and also left the field early.

1Q WA 1.1, CD 3.3,
2Q WA 4.6, CD 7.4,
3Q WA 6.11, CD 8.8,
Final score WA 7.14, CD 10.9.

In the second Q when we kicked 3.5, and had most of the play, Centrals goaled every time we did and we couldn’t build any momentum or assert any authority. Scoring chances also went begging in the third Q as we could only add 2.5 and then 1.3 in the last.

Beech kicked 3 and was a target up forward but also missed a few. Tuck was probably best in a bullocking display. Bricknell did many good things and a few ordinary things. Birss was good with hand and foot in the wet and Mangan, Schmidt, Slattery and Ferguson were useful. Big Hardy outmarked our highly regarded backmen on many occasions defying the wet and slippery conditions. Keogh and Moran could never get into the game. Macreadie and Anderson are not providing the run they were earlier in the season. Callinan ran rings around Green early.

It is to be hoped that when the coach presents his views to us early next week that he concentrates on our lack of endeavour, passion and pace (and what he intends to do about them!) rather than our poor kicking for goal. Far too often we were brushed aside, applied ineffectual tackles and were second to the ball. Our second efforts were poor.

The 2s were beaten 13.13 to 8.11.

Big Phil wrote:I was the only FOOT-e TIMES SA writer to tip the Dogs, albeit by just 1 point...

R&B, Bayman, anyone else at the game today - I'd be interested in your thoughts on the standard of umpiring this afternoon, in this game?

What were youur thoughts mate ?

Geez Travis Tuck is a terrific player. Would love to have him at South.

I had him down for 36 disposals, 15 clearances and 6 inside 50s yesterday instead of the live score's 32/12/3 but either way he was best for Westies imo.

Big Phil wrote:I was the only FOOT-e TIMES SA writer to tip the Dogs, albeit by just 1 point...

R&B, Bayman, anyone else at the game today - I'd be interested in your thoughts on the standard of umpiring this afternoon, in this game?

a couple of puzzling decisions but overall the player first to the ball got the free when needed, the umpires made less mistakes than the players from both sides did

Thought we had a good run from the umpires. Got most 50/50 decisions our way which makes up from most weeks where they go the other way. Centrals did get a 5 minute patch in the 3rd where they got somevery soft decisions though.

Loved listening to the loud mouthed Centrals supporter whinging about every decision west got and then calling for netball like frees the other way.

We went into the game too tall. Nelson offers nothing when it is wet and probably should have played the earlier game with a runner coming in. Centrals used the ball cleaner and looked a lot more dangerous going forward with Hardy and Callinan winning most contests. Thought Boyd was best. Did it occur to Collins to actually put someone next to him. Homburg would've been perfect. Waldhuter was quite impressive and could be a chance to be drafted next year. Our best were Tuck and Schmidt. Really worried about Ezard. Really struggling and has been a shadow of the player who won a Magarey medal.

Anyone know the status of the injured players: Fielke, Tippett, Anderson and Moran for West. Thomas for Centrals. Heard he passed out a couple of times in the race and change rooms. Doesn't sound too good.

Hoping for a dry day next week against the eagles and for the rest of the season, as I think we are a terrible wet weather side.

Pictures by Daven Walters...

The first photo should have been a West free, Anderson (West) was blocked from contesting the mark....just one of many free's the umpires got wrong. This one was one of the worst decisions of the game.