You’ve basically written off your new recruits without ever playing a game. A bit unfair I would have thought.

The eagles appeared to recruit very average players on paper at the beginning of last year.

If what makes a good SANFL player simply whether they were on an AFL list then our headline recruit was Kai Pudney and he played most of the year in our reserves!!

Our best recruit was Mansell who was an unheralded 19 year old from North Launceston and Pierce Seymour from the SA Amateur league. Two players you’d hardly pencil into our league team at the beginning of the season but two players who were regulars over the season. Add to that the coach gave Jacob Wehr an opportunity after three years of reserves footy where he did nothing to suggest he was deserving of an opportunity at a higher level. He could have easily moved to a club like Centrals this year and you’d be talking about him the way you are doing with the blokes you have recruited. Look how he turned out.

If your team is getting smashed week after week then perhaps your criticism will be justified. But until then back your team and coach and give your recruits a chance!

On a separate note, I went back over old news and saw this media release from 12 months ago where the club announced the signing of Rhyan Mansell. In the same release it also said we recruited some bloke from formerly of Glenelg and Myponga-Sellicks called Damien Hill. What became of Hill? I don’t recall him playing a game for us.

https://wwtfc.com.au/news/new-recruits-rhyan-mansell-and-damien-hill/

More new player signings at the Eagles........... I reckon we must have recruited half a team over Summer

"The Club is delighted to announce the signings of Cooper Gaffney, Seb Kerrish, Dane McFarlane and Rory Lehmann.

Cooper debuted and played nine games for the Eagles in 2019 mainly through half back but has the ability to play in the midfield. Cooper returns to the Club after spending 2020 playing alongside his brothers at his local club Port District.

21-year-old Seb Kerrish joins us from the Glenelg Football Club. Seb debuted in Glenelg’s 2019 Premiership season but wasn’t able to break into the side in 2020. Standing at 186cm Seb has a classy left foot kick and has the ability to play through half back and the wing.

Rory Lehmann a key defender has relocated to Adelaide from Melbourne for work. Rory has played alongside ex-Eagle Andrew Ainger at Vermont in the Eastern Football League for the previous three seasons. Prior to that Rory spent two seasons at Coburg in the VFL.

Dane McFarlane joins us from Werribee in the VFL. Dane is a fast running mid/half back who is currently playing up Darwin in the NTFL but will relocate at the conclusion of the summer season to join his good friend James Tsitas in South Australia.

On their signings Luke Powell said, “It is great to have Cooper and his family back at the Club. Cooper is still a very young man and hopefully has a lot of good League football ahead of him here at the Eagles. Seb has some good mates here at the Club already and we hope he can enjoy his football and take the next step as a player. Rory comes highly recommended from Andrew Ainger both as a person and a player and we look forward to having Rory here at the Club. Dane has shown he is a more than a capable player at Weribbee in the VFL and we feel Dane will help fill a void left by the recent departures of Lachy McNeil and Jacob Wehr to the AFL system.”

With the Vic border closing again , will there be any impact on the SANFL if the Vic reserves teams are not allowed to play in their comp.

This is a good point. You would like to hope that the SANFL have considered a possible scenario as part of their fixture planning whereby an outbreak of COVID in Victoria forces the abandonment of the VFL (or whatever it is called now) that cascades and forces the Crows and Power to pull out of the SANFL.

Do we have 44 players to fill two teams?

I suppose the Eagles will have their scouts there.

I doubt it. The Menzel brothers signed with us.......who else have we grabbed? I haven't heard reports about how Daniel is progressing from his injury but given his history it would be a good result if he played a third of the season!! Might not be such a loss for Centrals.

You guys should focus on getting big Seb to pull the guernsey on again :) He's back and certainly has the ability to still play at the league level though of course won't really be match fit at this stage. Worth a crack though

Hard to believe the arrogance of Port here. It's all about changing the rules to suit them whilst not giving a stuff about the rest of the SANFL clubs.

They don't seem to understand that the AFL don't run the SANFL. If they don't want to play under SANFL rules then perhaps remove your team.

Funny how they aren't raising all the advantages that they get over SANFL sides.

Very good win in the end.

We outplayed Sturt the entire match but only our poor kicking for goal kept Sturt in the match. Sturt were also more efficient going forward.

Both sides showing cobwebs in the skills department for much of the first half as to be expected in Round 1. Thought we really turned it on in the last quarter.

Of our new recruits I like the look of Macfarlane the most. Played a good first up game and I think has plenty of scope to get better. Both Menzels, but particularly Troy, were good. However I'd like to see them lead more direct which would result in an easier shot on goal rather than to the deep pockets. But not sure whether that was more the issue of the way ball was being delivered to the forward line for the first few quarters?

I thought Jungfer and Pudney have both showed clear signs of improvement from last year which is pleasing. Tsitas, Knight and Giuffreda were the others in my best.

There was a lot to like about Sturt. At half time I was worried. They absorbed a fair bit of pressure in the second 1/4 then came back to hit the lead. The defense was great. I think their gut running plan may have come undone in the hot weather. They will win a few games more than expected this year.

The only worry I had was that we were so dominant but incredibly wasteful going forward constantly bombing the ball in without lifting our eyes or going wide to a pocket giving our forwards a much tougher shot for goal. And often when we did have a shot from goal from 50m dead in front we'd tentatively kick the ball and not make the distance! Sturt had much less play but were far more structured going forward. However because we were swamping them with our play I always felt that we'd get there in the end.

The Eagles definitely need to improve on that performance if we are going to beat South, Glenelg and Norwood but pleasing that we still got the job done comfortably in the end.

I think the Eagles are looking at a short term ruck issue with West going down Saturday and Redden still recovering from surgery. Jack Hayes may need to do a NicNat roles . Cooler weather will help.

I thought in at least one of our trial games that they named one of our new recruits - Mills - in the ruck position. I don't know anything about him other than he seemed to have a quiet game in the reserves on the weekend. But maybe he could come in?

Yes - there was nothing nefarious about Hall leaving. I doubt jobkeeper had any impact.

He was told he was no longer required because he was no longer in our best 22 and due to his age, was not going to suddenly improve. He would simply be holding back talented young midfielders in the reserves like Williams and Beecken.

That said I feel confident he could still contribute at SANFL level and other clubs would be crazy to not at least enquire if he was still interested in playing SANFL.

Would want to win this one.....

Massive game for the Dogs. Great for the first 6 quarters of the year, ordinary for the next 6 quarters of the year.

Just going off the socials there is starting to get a little bit of unrest amongst supporters, even ex officials jumping off board especially regarding players leaving. Personally I think to many supporters had to high expectations of the team and bought into the clubs theory that our squad was a heap better than it is.

Hopefully we win well, get 2-2 and continue to have a crack at making finals for as long as we can.

whufc if your Dogs can’t beat Adelaide I’d be shocked .
What I saw of Adelaide last week most seconds teams could beat them .

I would agree with that. Amateur league standard.........which isn't surprising since that is what many of those players are

Good to get the win. I’ll take the points but this wind was certainly nothing to get excited about. A couple of my observations:

1. Our defence was absolutely terrific. The amount of pressure they withstood in the last half was terrific. Glad to see Rowland awarded the medal for his game. Too often the contribution of defenders is overlooked by neutral commentators in favour of midfielders who accumulate more of the ball. Rowland well deserved but thought Giuffreda and Thompson also played superb games.

2. We are not playing footy that will win us a premiership. Our movement forward has been diabolical all season to date with the way we are bombing it in. In previous seasons this hasn’t been so much an issue with Jack and Nick Hayes there who could clunk a big contested mark. But with Hayes spending so much more time in the ruck this season we have lacked a tall presence there so this style does not work. We have replaced them with the mid-sized Menzels who can’t do this and are more opportunists or mark-on-a-lead players. Our midfield and wingers need to adjust to this and start kicking to their advantage.

3. On the Menzels…..not sure whether it is their leading patterns or not but when they do get the ball they seem to be having shots from the pockets. Makes it much harder to kick goals.

4. Riley Knight – continued his terrific season and would be vying with Hayes as our B&F this year to date. He will also give the Magarey a genuine shake which is great to see as we haven’t really had any serious contenders in the last few years.

5. Von Bertouch – needs to have a blowtorch applied to him. Pretty much since mid-last year he has been coasting. Every so often he takes a great contested grab and has the capacity to do this regularly but his work-rate is well down. Watching him on Sunday when he was stationed at CHF he just seems to be jogging around at half pace or standing flat footed not presenting as a target. He needs to be busting a gut leading up and making more contests because he is one of the few we have up forward with height. He will stay in the team so long as Redden is finding fitness and form in the reserves because we need him to support Hayes in the ruck but when the time comes to consider Redden in the team then the Coach will have a big call to make because the risk is we might be too top heavy and slow playing both Von Bertouch and Redden.

6. North – a very good team and I feel they will definitely be around the mark come finals time. The move of Keenan Ramsay to defence looks to be a masterstroke. Both him and Tanner Smith absolutely monstered our forwards marking it every time we went forward.

Could Sharman be the taller forward some eagles fans have been calling for ?

Really good to see Sharman and Beecken named in the squad. Both 20 year olds have been playing well in the reserves. Don't think Sharman is quite ready to be a KPF yet, but could be an excellent mobile third tall forward. He moves very well, is very athletic, a good kick, high leaper and two sided. Could be a future star. Luke Beecken I thought was sensational in the reserves last week. He ran and ran, must have gained a lot of meterage. Must have pleased the coach who would be looking at running half backs after last years fantastic trio left. If Sharman and Beecken make their debuts I think it will be 21 players that coach Jade Sheedy has introduced to league football via the Eagles in 22 matches. Not a bad effort!

Thought Beecken was one who was unlucky not to have been given a go last year.

Had a slow start to the season this year but has been building and played a great game in the reserves last week. Only lightly built but a smooth mover with decent disposal. Looking forward to him hopefully getting a game on the weekend.

I don't know enough about Sharman other than we recruited him over summer from Victoria and he is a tall mobile forward. I seem to remember he played his best game in the reserves in R1?

Great to see Sheedy rewarding young players at the club and giving them something to work towards

Congrats to Giuffreda. Has been rock solid in our backlines for ages and one of these players whose form hasn't dipped at all the older he has got.

We always are a better side when he is playing.

I would hope the Eags come out firing this weekend and get it done for him to show what he means to the Club.

Thought Redden played really well. His possession count won't show it but he dominated the hitouts and gave our mids first usage.

A couple of players who have had patchy seasons for us so far had really good games yesterday which was great.

Much played probably his best game for us. This may have been because the absence of Knight opened up an opportunity for some other player to become the focal point but either way I hope he gains some confidence and this standard becomes the norm.

Pudney also should have been in our best. Pleasing as a winger to finally see his stats finally reflect a focus on kicks rather than handpasses as this makes him far more effective.

I can understand doggie’s fan’s frustrations as from an outsider it looked like your team was building nicely last year but appears to have slightly regressed this year.

There’s a number of different opinions on here from dogs supporters who know far more about your team than I but from my own observations it does appear to be related to playing depth. I think players like the Schillers, Hoskin, Fort, Habel, Presbury and Grace are as good as any going around. Someone like Montgomery would probably be in this list but he seems to have been injured all year? And Leek is going to develop into a very good player for your club if he isn’t drafted. But then the talent drops right away. Given at least a couple of the above players would have been injured or suspended at any point in time it’s easy to see why it was a tough year.

I’m sure Thomas is fully aware of what the club needs to do but it will be interesting to see how he goes about it. From the outside looking in club needs a class onballer, a reliable ruckman who can take a grab around the game. a tall key forward and a tall defender as it’s most pressing needs. Then it needs to retain the entire group listed above and just put as many games as it can into whoever is the most talented individuals in your juniors. It will be a 2-3 year process but success can come faster than some expect.

I don’t reckon your club should target ex-AFL players unless they originally from your club and want to return. Too often they turn out to be expensive duds. It does feel like the best recruits to the SANFL competition in recent years are those players from other State Leagues who are in their early-mid 20s and have already played a few years at senior level.

Although $$ can play a factor in getting a player to a club I think it is only one tool at their disposal. It is well know that that getting a player a job is critical but relationships play another huge role. Connections to the club who are based interstate can be instrumental in pushing a player in your direction. Does the club stay in touch with ex-players and officials who might be able to assist? What about existing players? Does someone like Aidan Grace have any footy mates over in Tasmania from his old club that he can entice over?

Our defence was rock tight today and did an amazing job repelling the norwood entries.

Losing a tall defender minutes into the game meant we were small all over the field so players like Jungfer and Beecken were required to play tall and didn't let us down. Weather also helped our structure.

Norwood a much improved side from the other times we played them this season so good to get the win and set up an encounter with the Bays next Sat night.

Terrific standard of match, terrific outcome if you are an eagles supporter!

I was quietly confident going into the match thinking that all the pressure would be on Glenelg and also noting that we have been right with them for much of the matches we played against them this year.

Thought that the dominant performance we put on for the best part of 3 quarters was enabled by great games from some of our less heralded players – players like Firns, Jungfer, Rowland, Commitgianni all lifted a gear to assist the usual suspects Tsitas, Knights, Hayes, Stengle etc.
The Tsitas tackle in the last quarter was fantastic and potentially won the game for us with that act.

Who knows if we will play the Bays in the GF? South have got their mojo back and I could very easily see them winning. But if there is a next time they will have Partington and we are unlikely to have Goldy so will be interesting to see how we go. Who comes in for Goldy? If the same team balance is required then you’d have to expect it would be Litster or Macfarlane. I’d love to see the former get a game because he has serious talent but Macfarlane bring speed and class and has been building after coming back from injury and spending the last few weeks in the reserves.

With Goldie out due to hamstring issues, his replacement will be between 4 imho - Haylock, Hardie, Mc Farlane and Litster with Haylock my choice, especially with the forecast weather. If Ronnie was coaching, Litster would be a no-brainer as he liked to pluck juniors for big games namely - Paul Stewart, Sam Fairclough, Zac Hier to name a few.

Those four will all be in the mix. The other player who will be considered is Lehmann, particularly if they want to go into the match taller. Sheedy indicted at the SANFL GF Press Conference the other day that Lehmann has overcome his hamstring injury suffered against glenelg two weeks ago and is in the mix.

My choice out of that group would be McFarlane as he has more flexibility than the others to play either midfield or defence. I think he also showed during the season that he can consistently be amongst our best players. Haylock and Hardie seem to be a class above reserves but just haven't been able to regularly adjust at senior level. Litster is going to be a gun and looked comfortable in his one league match against Centrals at the end of the season but not sure whether Sheedy needs to take a risk here? The weather may be the determining factor on whether Lehmann plays and if it is going to be wet then probably less of a need to go in tall.

So proud of the lads. Just unrelenting for four solid quarters which is what they needed to deliver. Tackling was absolutely superb. How good was our backline led by Thompson and Giuffreda? Just smothered their tall targets.

Hayes a worthy winner of the Jack Oatey medal. Knights obviously a strong contender. You expect these types to play well. But I reckon our victory was underlined by the absolute first class games of the unheralded types in our team. Firns isn’t the most skilled player but has a lion heart with his workrate, desperation and dedication to the task. He seems to like playing at Adelaide Oval and today played even better than he did in the last year’s GF. Commitogianni another great game grabbing his opportunity. His 50th game today will be the one he remembers. Redden – simply outstanding. Jungfer best game for the club with his tackling and desperation.

Too many things to comment on. I thought the Menzels were due to explode at some point and was waiting for a match like this. D Menzel’s game has exploded 4-5 weeks ago since he ditched his ‘kick around the corner’ when lining up for goal and now nails more than he misses. Strong hands. T Menzel just adds that other bit of class.

Very fitting that Giuffreda had the ball in hand when the siren went. An eagles stalwart whose form has only got better with age. At 34 years of age will he go around another year?

Back to back feels so sweet and goes someway to making up for heartbreak in the 2000s and from about 2014-2018 when we had opportunities and more than once we were the favourites going into a GF.

Bays supporters I feel for you with our club having been there but it’s clear you will be in contention in the next few years. With both clubs’ reserves and U18s doing well I can see a repeat matchup next year.

"Geez Hayes is good on one leg!
Has to be drafted surely."

I had a quick talk with JH a year or so ago. He said that he had put up for the draft and wasn't (obviously) picked. So good outcome for Eagles. And aged 25, he may have missed his chance. More good luck for Eagles. With 6 x 3 and 1 x 2 in MM, he signalled his class.
Geelong will pick him up in about 6 years time.

When he was at that age most likely to be drafted 19-21 he was playing predominantly as a permanent FF or CHF. There's never been ever question that he can take great contested grab but I think the knock on him was his finishing in front of goal. It was probably enough to put question marks on him. A few years on from that the team structure necessitated him spending more time in the ruck and drifting forward. It is in this role he has broken out because it allows him to continue showcasing his marking strength but also his versatility and fitness. And for whatever reason he has hugely improved his kicking for goal. I think he is definitely good enough to play AFL but history shows it is unlikely that someone in their mid-20s will be given a crack which is a shame. Good for the eagles though!

Agreed - very good post by Spelly and Aerie

Sheedy got the balance right and some very astute drafting and promoting promising juniors covered the loss of players we experienced at the end of last year while also addressing potential deficiencies .

All clubs will be seeking to improve and take-out the eagles next season and recruiting of players is already occurring.

The eagles didn't show many deficiencies this season and have good player depth. The Eagles will lose some players in draft who were regulars (Stengle and potentially Beecken) and also to retirement (potentially Giuffreda and some on here have said Poole and VB might be going country). I'm sure this will be made clearer in time but what do eagles supporters think we need for the upcoming season not only to replace them but to keep improving? I can't see many obvious holes but I will have a crack at three positions that the hierarchy may want to consider targeting -

Ruck - Redden is perhaps the best in the competition at his craft and we are fortunate that he sounds like he is going on for one more season. If he gets a long term injury then they will turn to West. Can West make the jump to a regular league player? Will he even stick around the club given he has been stuck in the reserves the past three seasons? If not, is someone like Zac Phillips capable of being fast-tracked and what would happen if he gets drafted? Who is next in line?

A key forward - Our plan this season mostly revolved around mid-sized and small forwards. VB played the majority of the season up forward but struggled and potentially may be playing country next year if rumours are correct.Hayes occasionally playing shorter periods of the match up forward but we get better value from him pinch hitting in ruck. We got the job done without a 'McBean' type who will kick 3-4 goals per game but will this style continue to work next season? Sharman was recruited as a key tall and showed a lot of promise before he was drafted mid season. Do we have anyone within the club ready and capable of filling that role? Lukac and Cooke are two tall forwards in our U18 who played for SA and possibly could fill that role. But they could also both be drafted. Do we need to bring in some reinforcements?

A small forward - Across the past two years we have had 40 goal seasons from Rowe and Stengle. Next year we will be without both of them. Do the eagles give the opportunity to replace them to Zane Williams. If not, not sure whether we have any obvious replacement.

I think our midfield and defence looks pretty solid with a range of capable players within the club vying for positions so don't see a great need to recruit for these areas.

Mentioned on the GF thread but should be here - Giuffreda and Poole announced at the B&F as official outs for the Eagles due to retirement.

Giuffreda has never won a club champion award, probably never won a Magarey vote. But over 200+ games he has been an absolute champion of the club, rarely beaten and one of the key reasons why the Eagles have been such a difficult team to score against. His versatility meant that he could play tall or small. He can retire knowing that his formed never dropped right to the end.

Poole has been another vitally important player to the Club during his time with his toughness and tenacity. Initially started his career in the midfield then probably made his mark on the half-forward line where he’d regularly contribute to the scoreboard. For one of the smallest players in the competition he was very good overhead rarely fumbled and a tough tackler. I am convinced that his absence to injury in the 2015 GF was one of the reasons our team underperformed on that day. At only 27 he potentially had 3-4 years of good footy left but as has been mentioned on this forum the demands of SANFL can be tough on players with respect to work and family. A great clubman and will be missed by supporters.

Congratulations both on great careers.

Eagles website officially confirms that Von Bertouch has retired.

A very good player for the club who started as a key forward then spent the majority of his career for us at CHB where I think he was up there amongst the best in the competition for this position. He reverted back to a key forward under Sheedy and provided us with a strong marking target last year alongside the Hayes brothers. This past season probably didn't go as he hoped but that won't shadow what has been quite a successful for career. Good luck with whatever comes next - still young enough to be playing amateur or country footy for many more years to come.

During VB's prime playing years in his early to mid 20s we had a few pretty good key forwards - Grocke as well as Passador (early on) then Wundke and Ainger at the end so it was always going to be difficult for VB to establish himself in our team as a key forward.

But I think had he been given the opportunity as a 22-26 year old he had all the traits to have excelled in that position and to be a consisted 30+ goal forward. I think during that period he might have had a year off to go travelling?

However during that period from about 2010 - 2020 we didn't have a huge amount of height in our backline and he quickly became a critical player to be able to match up on opposing talls. I don't recall him ever missing a match due to injury and never got reported.

I believe he was originally from the Yorke Peninsula so another success story from that area.

The Eagles got a coach from the "ammos" and that worked out OK

Plus a star-studded team, that helps.

Sometimes I think these expensive coaches that come out of the AFL system have these overly complex strategies that they try to implement on a bunch of players who spend only a fraction of their time training and playing compared to their AFL peers. The team often struggles to get good results.

At the Eagles I compare Lonnergan (our former coach) to Sheedy. Having a simpler, less complex game plan works.

Doc you would have to be happy with your clubs siginings.


In the main, yes. Not a fan of the FIFO model for Keegan Brooksby.

Has been heartening to have players approach the club (still chasing an AFL spot) as opposed to having to entice players for money only. Sure we have lost several of them, like Knoll, Skinner and Highmore, but we appear to be a club that players see as their best chance to play at AFL level.

The absolute no dickheads policy has also been a significant factor in retaining players as well. The significant investment in our juniors has proven to not only just produce good players, but better individuals as well.

Like Centrals, bordering the strongest country leagues makes it very hard to retain players who don't see reward for effort.

Many see South sliding this year. I remain quietly confident that we can win enough games (by a point) to play finals.

I reckon you have touched most of the reasons why South seem to be recruiting better than Centrals over the last few years. Also a high performing team is likely to help the young recruit develop faster (e.g. if you are a forward you will get better delivery and more forward entries than a team on the bottom of the ladder) and will probably play finals footy giving the player more exposure.

Surely distance from CBD isn't a factor given Elizabeth would be about the same distance as Noarlunga?

I had thought that the Eagles were in a very strong position only losing Stengle and Burgoyne in the draft.

I didn't think we needed to do much recruiting but now we could potentially lose our two best players - Tsitas and Hayes! Powell may have to dust off those '50 applications' and review who may still be available!

The fact that AFL clubs can still sign up players following the wrap up of two drafts in December is ridiculous. If St Kilda & Gold Coast were going to sign up Hayes and Tsitas you'd think they would be doing so based on what they have done in their most recent seasons in the SANFL not based on 7-8 weeks of running and footy drills over Summer. This really mucks the Eagles up because we are unlikely to seek to replace them until such time as the AFL clubs make a decision and by then it will be too late.

St Kilda look like they'll be offering Hayes a contract.
Well even a rookie contract is a lot more than what you would get playing in the SANFL But is it worth languishing in the VFL ( which may not even play if there is still a lot of covid) on the chance to get a shot in the so called big time. On top of that having to live in a hugh city like Melbourne instead of cosy little Adelaide. Pros and Cons. Mainly Cons in my book, but I am an Eagles supporter

I'd love him to return to the Eagles but that is from the perspective of an eagles supporter.

The reality is that this is his one and only shot at playing AFL so if I was him I'd take it. No doubt having his brother over there as support (and as a place to crash in the immediate term) will be helpful for him settling into a new city. I hope it works out for him.

Should he leave the Eagles then Ballenden will probably be viewed as taking on the role Hayes played for us as well as providing an opportunity for some other, younger talls who might not have got a game in the seniors with him still around (like Lukac).

I understand that GC were tossing up between Tsitas and Freeman. I also read somewhere that Freeman got injured in a recent trial match. Not sure how serious but with his injury history they perhaps didn't want to risk him if he was ever there preferred choice.

Congratulations Tsitas. Quite an amazing story when you think about the circumstances that led to this. Had Covid never occurred then Tsitas may never have left the VFL to come across to SA. He would never have had the opportunity to put his name forward in two premiership winning teams nor won a Magarey. Because he took a punt it has led to this great opportunity.

Looks like they could be handy for us.Also noticed that Dustin Launer named as possible in as well im assuming he is Blakes brother .

A Dustin Launer played for the Eagles U18 premiership team last year. Played a few reserves games. Was a very good player for the Eagles U18's, was very surprised he didn't make the senior list at the Eagles.

I agree. I thought he looked like a player the eagles certainly would have wanted to hold onto.

I could see him making a very positive contribution to the dogs. I wouldn't expect him to play league this year but reckon he will be regular in a few years. I hope he sticks with it.

Hard to predict a ladder at this time of year but have had a crack regardless with rational below:

South
Port
Eagles
Sturt
Glenelg
Adelaide
Norwood
North
Centrals
West

Eagles - have lost arguably our top 3 players from last year to the AFL with not a huge lot of recruiting to compensate. Add to that retirements of an additional two key players in Whether we stay top will depend heavily on whether Sheedy can unearth 1-2 players from our juniors as well as continued improvement from players like Beecken, Litster etc. But I'm expecting a slide downwards a couple of places , if nothing else because 3 in a row is a difficult task.

South - maybe a similar position to the eagles losing key players but they seem to have recruited well enough to compensate. I'm expecting them to be similarly placed to last year or perhaps a slight improvement.

Glenelg - It feels like they have been relatively quite during the pre-season. Have lost some players, have gained a couple. Could see them slide a place or two.

Sturt - finished the last half of last season with excellent form and seem to have a bunch of talented kids who will be better for the experience last year. Some experienced names have retired but perhaps their best was behind them anyway such that their absence won't hurt as much as if was a few years ago. If Wilson can get fit and play all season it will be a massive plus to their midfield. If St Kilda poach Lienert at the last minute it will hurt. However I think they will rise a few places

Norwood - feels like they have broken even with 'ins' and 'outs' but if Naish is drafted then I feel the midfield will definitely be weaker than last year. Predicting a small slide.

West - don't know anything about their new recruits and don't think Hartlett will make a huge difference. Will be more competitive but can't see them getting off the bottom.

Port - Will be a lot stronger with their juniors drafted from last year still unlikely to be playing league but with far more experience and development so will be much better players in the SANFL. Throw in ready-made players like Skinner and they will be a tough opposition.

North - felt they struggled at times last year and no immediate stand-outs with recruitment. Will be heavily reliant on internal improvement. Will remain similarly placed to last year or fall a few places.

Centrals - will be more competitive this year with more depth. Big unknown is who and how many players can improve to be consistent players at league level. If the majority of their recruits can demonstrate they belong at league level then they might rise 1-2 places. But for now can't make case that they won't be in bottom 3.

Adelaide - will be much better this year for similar reasons to the Power.

goddy11 wrote:I believe there are a number of clubs chasing him. Eagles included.

Not sure whether Kobe Mutch's time at Essendon coincided with his own time on their list. Hopefully Kobe can put in a good word about the Eagles!

whybother wrote:I think that Luke P and the recruiting committee deserve premiership medals for the way in which they have "assembled" the Eagle teams of the past two years. So maybe a triple is not too far fetched.

We just need another player who can replace Hayes !!!

Good get. Well done Eagles

Huge danger game for the Eagles with Centrals appearing to have close to full strength side and Eagles still missing a lot of key players.

Centrals have been highly competitive in all their games this year and even in those that they have ended up losing they sound like they surrendered early leads or allowed their opponents to kick away with 10-15mins of poor footy. At some stage this season it will click and they will start putting together 4 quarters. I just hope it is not this week.

Centrals supporters - for the past 12 months you've been suggesting that one of the reasons your teams has struggled is because it is too short and that you can't get any ascendancy from your ruckman. Well you definitely won't feel like that against the Eagles this week where you will clearly be a bigger side than us!!

Eagles played a much better brand of footy against Glenelg on Anzac Day despite losing so Sheedy will be looking for nothing less. We desperately need Ballenden to be stationed up forward rather than in the ruck so I hope Lukac make the final side. We can't keep relying on Menzel for our goals each week so need other options. Great to see Williams step up last week - hopefully he can consistently kick a couple each week.

Swap the mid season draft for mid season trades. The AFL clubs are using the MSD to fill their boots, not to plug gaps. If they have a desperate need then use trades to get their players from other clubs.

Problem being that a trade would take two to tango..and potentially prevent a club from filling the gap they need. I don’t see the AFL backing down as long as they see state leagues as primarily development leagues. Until that attitude changes we will continue to be disrespected.

I just think the AFL has rushed too quickly into setting up the MSD without properly thinking it through. To my mind some of these are:

1. Is a MSD actually needed given 90% of the players drafted will just be wallowing in the VFL and will never play an AFL game? Such players weren't good enough to get drafted first time around . Further, in drafting them mid-season they won't have the fitness base of the rest of the AFL squad who have all done pre-seasons.
2. Why wouldn't the AFL implement an AFL mid-season trade period rather than a mid-season draft?
3. How much compensation is sufficient for the club whose player they raided? How did they settle on $10k?

Having rushed it the MSD has become completely farcical. Either scrap it or do it right.

At the same time there can be benefits for the SANFL from the MSD as it gives older players who have missed out on drafts some incentive to stay around when in it's absence they might go play bush footy. Also it can act as a lure to help clubs recruit players from interstate, particularly those recently delisted from AFL clubs. Shifting them is hard. But the potential of an MSD might provide a lure to get them over here. Okay, some players like Ballenden missed out but now he is here living in Adelaide he might actually enjoy it here.

If the MSD is here to stay I wonder whether the SANFL have done enough regarding how they could adapt? e.g. if the Crows and Power are allowed to add to their squads mid season then why can't the other SANFL teams?

Yes how Frederick was allowed to play after being the Medi Sub is crap.The boys tried their hearts out and in the end Ports size around the ground and up forward made a difference .

Saw the game and thought it wasn't Port's size that made the difference in the end but rather Centrals poor delivery going forward. Thought the dogs were playing slightly better footy in the last quarter and a half and would run over the Power. But lots of dumb kicks forward without looking and poor disposal that sit in on your forward's head meant no amount of forward entries was going to work. Smarter footy would have got Centrals over the line.

Great game to watch if you were an Eagles supporter! Lots of encouraging signs, particularly from our new additions and young kids who maybe only played a handful of games from last year.

It's a nice position to be in when the team plays so well then trying to squeeze in 4-5 players key players who were injured and didn't play Friday night.

That being said, Norwood clearly well down in the first match of the season and you'd expect them to be a bit rusty. They also missed 3-4 gettable goals in the first 10mins of the first quarter which should have put them a few goals up. From then, who knows how the game would have gone?

But we will take the win. Full credit to coach and players.

South's height is going to trouble a lot of sides this season. And coming up against the shortest team in the competition presented a huge advantage for them.

So the challenge for the Eagles was to ensure that our little blokes in the midfield and off half-back provided plenty of quick, forward drive which we did for the first quarter. But then to their credit South were able to bottle up the play, slow things down play the games on their terms. Skinner dominating down back taking countless marks from the Eagles bombing it forward. Sproule up forward always looking dangerous. And of course Brooksby dominating across the entire day.

Eagles' shocking kicking meant we were only a handful of goals up at quarter time despite being well on top in the first. Definitely a case of 'what if' since it meant South were always a lurking threat to come back into the game which they did.

Injuries during the game certainly did not help but are not an excuse - South the better team for the majority of the game.

Still, I felt the teams were reasonably evenly matched and I have every confidence that later on in the season Eagles can reverse the result.

Despite the score-line I didn't think there was a great deal of difference between the two teams overall. North fractionally better and simply were able to finish better in front of goals.

This is the third game in a row where the eagles have got out to a couple of goal break either in the late 1st quarter / early second quarter with the momentum yet have been unable to kick away. The opposing team has eventually steadied then kicked a few and we have not been able to go with them in the last half.

A massive game next game for the Eagles. To be 1 wind / 4 losses would make it very difficult for us to contest anything other than 5th spot come finals time.

Dogs sign Kai Pudney from WWT. Any good?

He's got a great aerobic tank and runs all day. He will rack up a million touches behind the play.

But despite all the possessions he racks most of them are rubbish and his disposal by foot is very poor - just these slow, chip kicks that sit up in the air and are easy to spoil.

He is a useful player but unless he improves dramatically over summer is not going to make much difference in you winning more games this year.

Hope the Bloods pull through but I get the frustration.

As an opposition supporter, it feels like the club seems to get it’s act together once each decade but for whatever reason can never sustain the good times.
Your club peaks and then falls away shortly afterwards making a GF rather than remaining around the mark.

1980s – Westies win GF in 1983
1990s – Westies lose GF in 1991
2000s – Westies lose GF in 2003
2010s – Westies win GF in 2015

Why does this happen?

It feels like West consistently produce very good youngsters from a productive recruiting zone (Riverland). Your junior teams have historically been very strong. Yes, some do go to the AFL but the remainder should still form the basis of a competitive nucleus.

There will be 9 very pleased ruckman that Brooksby isnt playing he has been a star for South and they will miss him

The quality of SANFL ruckman is the worst it's ever been this season. If you remove those playing for the Crows and Power there isn't any standout. Only a few years ago we had players the likes of Baulderstone and Parry running around (together with Brooksby).

Makes you wonder who is going to front up for SA against the Big V.

We might have to turn to big fella - Jarred Redden - from the Eagles who is back. Word has it that he has lost a tonne of weight and is in the best shape since his AFL days.