Round 12 v Eagles

LEAGUE:

One week is a long time in football and we found out the hard way on the weekend. After producing our best performance of the season last week, the Roosters were nowhere to be seen on Saturday against an inspired Eagles outfit. With the passing of two time Magarey Medalist and South Australian great Bob Hank, the Eagles were always going to have that bit extra to play for.

The game started at an intense pace and had a bit of niggle. Both sides traded goals and it looked like we were in for a real battle for the remainder of the contest. That all changed very quickly. The second quarter was all the Eagles. With the ball spending the majority of time inside the opposition forward 50 our forward line structure broke down to the point where we had no one to kick too when we finally got our hands on the football. We looked like a rabble and how we were only 11 points down at half time is a mystery with the amount of possession that the Eagles had.

After half time the wheels completely fell off. The Eagles kicked the first 4 goals of the second half inside the first 15 minutes and the contest was over. The work rate, commitment, passion and intent to create a contest had disappeared from the previous week. Our body language was appalling and the players looked disinterested. The tackles were missing, skill level was down and no leadership was displayed in a very disappointing quarter of football.

With a quarter to play the coaching staff was willing the players to take the game on. The Eagles didn’t give us a chance and played the game on their own terms for the remainder of the day. They again kicked the first 4 goals of the quarter to blow the margin out to over 50 points. It was a very disappointing day for the Roosters after everyone came to the game with high expectations. Again as a playing a group we rolled up with the wrong attitude and got exposed. We have to play at our maximum level every week to be competitive or we will get results like we did against the Eagles.

This week is a massive game against Sturt at Prospect Oval. This is our last game before a two week layoff. The players must regroup and respond in the right way. When asked to respond this year the players have found something and produced good performances. We all look forward to this week  to watch the players get back to playing a competitive and attacking style of football. See you all at the football on Saturday to support the mighty Roosters.

Scores:
North:  4.1.25   5.2.32   7.6.48   9.8.62
Eagles:  5.2.32   6.7.43   11.9.75   16.11.107

Goal kickers: Alleway, Ryswyk 2, Bennett, Thompson, Johnston, Teasdale 1.
Best Players: Clisby, Thompson, Thiele.

RESERVES:

The reserves fought out an entertaining draw on Saturday against the Eagles. Both sides had opportunities to win the game but couldn’t convert their chances. The wide open spaces allowed for a free flowing style and the game was played at a high tempo. The first half was goal for goal with Boras a focal point up forward for the midfield. Our midfield group was working hard to create space for each other and the defence was standing up to rebound the Eagles attacking drives. At half time the Roosters led by 7 points and would have been happy with the way they were going about their football.

That all changed after half time. The group came out asleep and played with no passion, work rate and commitment. The Eagles were allowed to play the game on their own terms and kicked 6 goals to 1 for the quarter to open up a 25 point lead at the last change. After receiving some stern words from the coaching staff at the break it was on the players to turn it around. The Roosters started the last quarter on fire. All of a sudden they were creating a contest and were winning the one on one duels. North slammed home the first 5 goals of the quarter inside the first 15 minutes to get themselves back into the game.

The final 15 minutes of the game were tense with the lead changing 3 times before the siren sounded with the scores all locked away. Both teams could argue that they should have won the game. A 20 minute lapse in the third quarter was costly for us and is a good learning curve for the young group that they have to commit for the full 4 quarters.

Better players for the day were:
Jake Liston (33 disposals, 6 clearances & 4 goals) played his best game at senior level. Jake is developing well and is one to watch for the future.
Michael Handby (33 disposals, 7 clearances & 9 Inside 50’s) continues to lead by example and accumulate high possession numbers.
Patrick Boles (18 disposals & 6 clearances) young up and coming junior from our country zone of Port Augusta. Has good speed and strength.
Zac Makins (20 disposals, 6 marks & 1 goal) courageous and hard working.
Matthew Schmidt (22 disposals, 6 clearances & 1 goal) hard working game in the midfield and up forward.
Johnny Boras (11 kicks, 7 marks & 7 goals) strong focal point all day and kicked straight.
Jarrod Buckley – Defended well all day. Reads the play and has good body positioning in the contest.

On to this week and we face Sturt at home. This is our last game before a 2 week layoff. The players need to bring a 4 quarter performance to continue to develop as a group.

See you all on Saturday at Prospect Oval.

Scores:

North: 3.3.21   8.5.53   9.7.61   16.9.105
Eagles: 4.3.27  7.4.46   13.8.86   16.9.105 

Goal kickers: Boras 7, Liston 4, DeLeonardis 2, Schmidt, Hayes, Makins 1.
Best Players: Liston, Handby, Boles, Makins, Schmidt, Boras, Buckley.

North Adelaide Injury Report
Damian Cunningham – hamstring – 2 weeks
Tim Delvins – knee – season
Will Paley – achilles – 9 weeks
Max Thring – hamstring – 1 week
Michael McMahon – groin – indefinite
Luke Davey – knee – indefinite (surgery Tuesday 19/6/12)
Ben Williams – knee – indefinite
Todd Miles – calf – test
Daniel Currie – shoulder – test
Greg Gallman – bruised kidney – indefinite (had surgery last Thursday and we wish him a speedy recovery)

Under 18's

North:  2.0 5.0 5.2 6.4.40
Eagles:  5.4 11.6 17.7 19.11.125

Goals:  Lindsay, Foulis, Coffee, Trenorden , Howcroft, Robinson
Best:  Robinson, Ayles, Simpson, Ingram, Trenorden, Lindsay

With eight forced changes to the side from the previous week, we were always going to face a
tough task against a side who is already preparing for finals action.

We were competitive to half time, but just did not have the firepower to match the Eagles, who
are as good as any side in the Under 18 competition at the moment.

Pleasing aspects were the continued good form of country based payers, Robinson and Ayles.