Archive

Round 1 and 2 Report

It’s been a positive start to the year with wins against Norwood and Central District. We do have a tough draw to start the season and to get away with two wins on the board is a great start to the season.

I have been extremely pleased with the players preparation and with the level of intensity they have displayed in both games. We must not relax and only this level of intensity will ensure positive results.

The first two weeks have highlighted that our forward line will be a strength this year, teams will find it difficult to hold down all three key forwards – Herring, Perrie and Chambers.

Our midfield led by Jade Sheedy and Simon Feast has performed extremely well in the first two weeks of the season and with positive input from our AFL midfielder Adam Thomson and Greg Bentley will continue to trouble opposition sides.

Our defence, perceived as a weakness in the squad, this has been superb to date. To only concede 109 points in the 1st two games is an outstanding effort. It was encouraging to see Darren Gregory playing again this week after a difficult pre season.

The attitude of our Power players (Bentley, Thomson, Deluca & Farmer) has been outstanding and they are all having a positive impact on our performance. If their good form continues I expect they will get opportunities at AFL level and if not, we are really pleased to have them on board with us.

All successful teams have good depth across their squad, selection at League and Reserves level has been very difficult and good players are missing out on playing league and reserves footy. It is important that all players in our squad stay focused and realize that opportunities will present themselves and when they do they need to make the most of it.

Unfortunately Luke Button has decided to return to play with Rambler Football Club at Murray Bridge. Luke cited a drop in enjoyment and desire to continue his career with Sturt. We are very disappointed that Luke has made this decision, as he formed a big part of the future at the Club. We will be doing everything in our powers to ensure Luke returns to the Club.

Our U19’s and U17’s have also started the season with two wins a piece, congratulations to Chris Brown, Peter Young and players for a great start to the season. We are also blessed with good numbers at junior level making selection difficult but we are fortunate that amongst the good numbers there is some genuine talent. I encourage you to get out and watch these talented young kids go around – you will not be disappointed.

This week we take on a talented North Adelaide at Prospect. This will be a tough game and one that we will have to be on our best game to get across the line. It is never easy to win at prospect but I am sure our players will rise to the challenge.

Go you Blues!

Round 3

Well our wonderful start to a long season continues. Terrific wins over Norwood and Central District have been further capitalised by another great win over North Adelaide at Prospect on Saturday. This provides us with the perfect launching pad for the rest of the season. Whilst we are very happy with our early season form we are under no illusion that our biggest challenges lie ahead of us. Ultimately no one will remember rounds 1-20 once September and October arrives and it is then that we will truly be judged. I am sure most Double Blues fans can remember how our season began and finished in 2007. We have a lot of hard work ahead of us to ensure we grab one of the five spots up for grabs in this year’s finals series.

I have been wrapped with the way our forward line has been working with the addition of Ian Perrie to the side. The big “sergeant” has given us another key option up forward and caused North plenty of bother on the weekend. It must also be said that Chambo’s work rate and pressure in the forward line has been absolutely sensational, and was rewarded on Saturday with 7 straight goals.

The continuing form of our AFL listed players is tremendous with Adam Thomson leading the way performing extremely well for us on the ball. Greg Bentley provided us plenty of drive through the middle and big Fabian is continuing to develop in to top line ruckman. I must also make mention of our newest AFL member to the Club, Mitch Farmer who played a hard and physical yet skilful role for us across half back on Saturday.

Last year’s best and fairest Luke Crane continues to dominate in the midfield for us and it probably doesn’t need saying but the old stagers Feast, Whiteman, Nelson & Sheedy continue to perform week in week out.
There are many others deserving of special mentions Wark, McLeay, Sharples, Evans to name just a few, but as we all know football is a team game and the most important thing about our early season wins is that the boys are all performing their roles well within the team.

The challenge for us now is to continue to improve, sharpen our skills and continue this winning form.
I urge all you Double Blue fans who have not yet signed up for a membership and season ticket to get on board. We need every one of you at our matches to help cheer the boys across the line.

In closing I would like you all to remember one thing. There is a long way to go until September.

Yours Truly,

Rick Macgowan
Senior Coach

Round 4

Round 4 saw us take on South Adelaide at Hickinbotham Oval, Noarlunga. I am pleased to report that our winning form continues. Our relentless pressure, clearance work and willingness to hunt the ball set up the result for us in the first half. Our second half dropped away a little and our use of the ball and conversion rate was a little poor at times. Whilst we should always be happy with such a convincing win, I believe we still have a lot of improvement left in us and was not entirely satisfied with our performance.

I mentioned last week about how pleased I was with how our forward line had been functioning and yes it functioned well again on Saturday. But this time our back six deserve a special mention. Fittock, Wark, McLeay, Cubillo, Farmer and McGlone. To a man they stopped their opponents and gave us a countless number of attacking rebounds from defence.

New father Jade Sheedy continued his great form collecting countless possession through the midfield and worked extra hard to work back in defence. Evans, Gum and Crane gave us plenty of pace and drive through the middle and it was great to see Daniel Wicks gather plenty of the ball on his wing.

Chambo had another very solid day up forward kicking 6.5. He probably should have kicked eight or nine but the fact that your full forward is having eleven shots on goal is a reflection on how well the midfield and rebounding defenders are working. Ryan Herring worked hard presenting himself time after time and Charlie Sharples tackling and pressure up forward continues to unsettle opposition defenders.

Our next challenge is facing a fired up skilful Glenelg side at House Brothers Oval. It is sure to be a great test for us. As a group we look forward to the challenge with great expectation and hope to see a big sea of double blue fans there to cheer us on.

I know that you all will have heard this comment before and it is an old football cliché but we must approach this competition one week at a time and make sure we are best prepared for the Bays on Saturday afternoon.
See you there,

Rick Macgowan
Senior Coach

Round 5

This week saw us suffer our first loss of the season to Glenelg at House Brothers Oval. It is by no means the end of the world but further enforces the fact that if you let your guard down this competition will bite you and bite you hard. Glenelg were harder at the ball and harder at the contest all day and deserved their victory. On a positive note I thought our ability stick in the contest all day and be in a position to win right up until the finish was testament to our perseverance on a day when we were outplayed for the most part.

Simon Feast continued his good form in the ruck and worked very hard all day. I thought the work rate of Luke Crane and Jade Sheedy in the midfield was the key reason that we were able to stay in the contest.
Chambo’s ability to kick goals for us continued, a six goal return in the conditions was a fantastic effort up forward. Other solid contributors on the day were Charlie Sharples who improvement continues, Craig Evans and James McLeay who is becoming a leading key position defender in the competition.

Next week we take on an Eagles side brimming with confidence after good wins over Norwood and West Adelaide in previous weeks. The match will be played on Saturday at Thebarton Oval and we look forward to the match and will be ready for the challenge.

Now is good time to mention the continued good form of our Reserves, Under 19’s and Under 17’s who are all currently sitting on top of the ladder. The positives that come from that situation are terrific. It means effectively that the pressure is on throughout all grades to play well week in week out to maintain your position in the team.

We all knew that at some point we were going to drop a game, well we have done that now and the challenge for us now is to pick ourselves up, learn from the mistakes that we made and step up to the plate on Saturday with a committed performance against the Eagles. We have a positive talented group of players at this Club and I have every confidence in them that they will back firing this week.

Make sure you get down to the game and show your support.

See you there,

Rick Macgowan
Senior Coach

Round 6

This week was a carbon copy of the previous week. The Eagles smashed us at the stoppages and when the contested ball was up for grabs we were found wanting. If we are to become a serious contender we must learn to compete hard and consistently with the top teams in the competition. The good news is the premiership is not decided in April and we get another opportunity this week to learn from our mistakes and develop a game style to get us back in winning form.

There are not too many highlights to mention from Saturday as we were soundly beaten all over the ground. Perrie and Chambers kicked four and three respectively and Gum gathered plenty of possessions through the midfield. Bentley, Sheedy, Evans and Wicks had their moments and made a contribution.

A special mention must go to Andrew Whiteman who played his 150th match for the Club on the weekend. It was a shame we couldn’t enjoy a victory and celebrate Whitey’s fine achievement as he thoroughly deserved it.

The coaches and the playing group are not happy with the performance we dished up on Saturday but we are by no means down and out. It is a long journey we are on to get one of those five spots in this year’s finals and we are all dedicated to the cause. I can assure all you Double Blues fans that we will work relentlessly and do all we can to make sure we give ourselves the best opportunity to win each week. So stick with us, hold on and enjoy the ride, but understand one thing, there will be ups and downs on this long road. Yes we have a good side and yes we have talent, but we have done nothing to suggest to anyone we are any different to last year.

We have to roll up our sleeves and get down in the dirt this week against the Bloods and do whatever has to be done to get back on the winners list.

We have belief in our players and we know you do to. Make sure you’re at House Brothers Oval on Saturday to show your support.

See you there,

Rick Macgowan
Senior Coach

Round 7

Well it is nice to be able to report that we are back on the winners list. Looking in from the outside you would think that a 99 point victory would reflect that we played extremely well, but this was not entirely true. West Adelaide were not at their best on Saturday and we should be under no illusion that although our performance was good enough to win and win well I don’t believe it would have been good enough to get the job done against the strong hardened teams in the competition. We must continue to improve and sustain our intensity for the full four quarters or we will come unstuck.

Having said that there were plenty of good signs on Saturday to suggest our form is on the improve. Jade Sheedy again provided plenty of drive in the midfield and his willingness to run and work back is sensational. Young Seb Paynter made an impact for us the midfield and provided plenty of grunt for us in close which is something we had been lacking in the previous couple of weeks. It was great to see our key forwards getting amongst the goals again, Chambers 6 and Perry 5 continue to provide solid targets for us up forward. Michael Coad forced his way in to the side this week after playing brilliantly in the reserves all year and his good form continued. Coady’s worked well both forward and back and it was great to see him take his opportunity.

This week we face a Port Adelaide Magpies line up who will be smarting after losing to Norwood on Friday Night. We will need to be at our best to get the desired result. One thing you can be sure of is that Port Adelaide will be hard around the ball and compete as hard as ever. We will have to make sure we are ready to mix it up and win our share of the hard ball at stoppages. It promises to be a great challenge for us that we look forward to very much. It is an important week for us because this match is followed by a bye and then the state match weekend which means we will have a two week break after this match. We have our sights firmly fixed on being 6 and 2 at the mini break and must leave nothing in the tank on Saturday when we walk off the field.

The marketing department have informed me that our membership is going well and continuing to grow each week which is sensational. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your support so far and hope to see you all at House Brothers Oval on Saturday.

Remember, there is still a long way to go.

Rick Macgowan
Senior Coach

Round 8

It was ugly and far from convincing but it was a hard fought victory on Saturday against Port Adelaide. Our disposal was pretty ordinary all day and our inability to stick tackles made it difficult for us all day. When we play well our pressure on the opposition is good but on Saturday for some reason we just didn’t get at them enough and thankfully their inaccuracy kept us in the contest all day. The good news is we found a way to win. Our ability to hang in there all day was terrific and our persistence was rewarded in the end. It must be said that we have not played particularly well throughout the last month so I am very happy that we continue to find a way to keep winning, it tells me that our best form when we are playing well can be competitive with the big teams.

Ian Perrie once again provided us with a big target up forward kicking 5 goals and handing off another couple. Andrew Whiteman relished the conditions and was sensational across half back, his hardness, tackling and attack on the footy was great. In fact our defensive group as a whole performed their roles very well again. Paynter, Sharples, Sheedy & McGlone also contributed very well in their respective positions. It would be remiss of me not to mention Brant Chambers 150th game for the Club, Chambo has been terrific for the Club over a long period and I was pleased to see the boys win on Saturday to honour his milestone. It is a wonderful achievement for a great Club man. Congratulations Chambo.

We now have a couple of weeks off before we take on North Adelaide at home on Monday the 9th of June. We are currently sitting on top of the ladder after playing everyone once but after we have our turn at the bye this Saturday we will probably drop to second or third which is a very solid start to the season. It gives us a foundation to build on in an attempt to gain a spot in this year’s finals series. We will use the next two weeks to freshen up our boys and iron out some kinks in our game and look forward to the next challenge ahead.

In summary, the first third of the season has seen us play some terrific footy and some very ordinary footy. The challenge we face each week is to maintain our intensity throughout the whole match and even out the gap between our best and our worst. I believe our best footy is good enough to compete with the big boys, we just need to make sure we are up near our best more often. It has been a good start to the season and gives us some confidence moving forward.

You might get sick of hearing this from me, but remember we have done nothing yet, there is still a long way to go and we will need to improve to be a serious challenger.

Thanks for your support so far and see you all in a couple of weeks at House Brothers Oval.

Rick Macgowan
Senior Coach

Round 10

Maybe we should have three weeks off between games more often. Saturday saw the boys come out after the break and perform very well.

Our preparation and use of the break was spot on and was reflected in our performance. Although North Adelaide were not at their best on the day and missing some key personnel I was happy with the way our boys went about their work. If we can continue to hunt the ball and maintain that kind of work rate I believe we can compete with the best every time.

It is hard to single out anyone in particular after a game like Saturday as everyone contributed at various stages during the afternoon.

The performance of our key forwards was again pleasing with both Coad and Chambers kicking 7 goals each, but much of the hard work and rebound came from our ever consistent back six and hard running midfielders. Evans, Gum, Whiteman & Sheedy all gave us plenty of drive and had outstanding games.
Congratulations to Chris Papageorgiou who made his league debut and worked hard running with Magarey Medalist James Allan for much of the day which is a great experience for him and one he is sure to learn from. As I said earlier everyone deserves a mention for a job well done on Saturday so if I have neglected to mention someone who you thought did a great job it is only because I reckon listing 21 names might look a bit silly.

Looking forward the challenges keep coming. This week we will take on a resurgent Norwood at House Brothers Oval. I had a look at Norwood last week against the Eagles and I can assure you this will be no easy match. Norwood are playing very well and with confidence so we must ensure we are up for the contest and ready to take them on. It is a great opportunity for us to open up a mini gap in the top three which could be crucial towards the end of the season and believe me we will be ready.

Another great crowd in excess of 4,000 on Saturday is testament to your great support of the team and I would like to thank you all again and look forward to seeing each and everyone of you there again on Sunday when we take on the Redlegs.

Yours truly,

Rick Macgowan
Senior Coach

Round 11

On Saturday the boys ground out a hard fought victory against a committed Norwood outfit. I was particularly pleased with our ability to stay in the contest and persevere until we got our noses in front. It was the perfect test for us after a relatively non competitive match the week before.

Chambers good form continued in front of goal with another 7. Our trusty midfielders provided plenty of drive all day through Crane, Bentley, Sheedy, Nelson and Mitchell Farmer. After coming under fire early in the match I thought our defenders worked their way back on top. It was great to welcome Darren Gregory back in to the side and also see young Patty Fittock show some great signs playing up the field.

This week we take on the Eagles at Woodville on Saturday afternoon. In recent years we have struggled to beat the Eagles and this poses a great challenge for the group to turn that around. Both of our next two matches are away from home and against the two teams that have beaten us earlier in the year so we will need to be at our committed best to get the right result. I know the player group are excited and ready for the challenges ahead over the next few weeks.

Another great crowd at House Brothers Oval on Saturday, with over 4,500 Double Blues fans, helped give the boys the extra kick they needed to get the job done. Thanks again, you guys are our 22nd player in these tight, tough games.

See you all at Woodville on Saturday. The challenges just keep coming week after week so keep turning up and we will keep doing our very best for you all.

Rick Macgowan
Senior Coach

Round 12

Well that was the best way to break a hoodoo against the Eagles. Saturday was debatably our best performance of the season, our ability to execute our skills, hunt the ball and apply relentless pressure was as good as I have seen from us over the past two years. If we can maintain that standard of performance we will be able to push the Bays all the way this Saturday afternoon.

Our midfielders once again started things for us around the stoppages with Luke Crane dominating and getting plenty of assistance from Sheedy, Bentley, Evans, Wicks and Thomson. Fabian Deluca continues to develop as a frontline ruckman and his game on Saturday was terrific with 26 hit outs. Our three big men up forward also provided a great target with Ryan Herring pulling down 16 marks, having 26 possessions and kicking 3 goals in a superb performance. Ian Perrie 10 marks, 28 possessions and 1 goal and Chambers 11 marks, 13 possessions and 7 goals capped off a dominant forward line display.

This week is a huge challenge for us as we take on Glenelg at Challenge Recruitment Oval on Saturday afternoon. Glenelg are coming off a great win against Central District at Elizabeth and are sure to be full of confidence. If we can maintain the type of form we have displayed over the past few weeks we are sure to be right in the contest. Glenelg beat us with their intensity and ability to win the contested ball at the stoppages last time we played, so we will need to be at our best in that area of the game to reverse the result.

Top spot is up for grabs on Saturday, we will be ready and can’t wait to get stuck in to it. Make sure you get down there and bring as many double blue mates you can muster. Let’s all get down there and have a crack.
See you there!

Rick Macgowan
Senior Coach