Coaches Report SANFLW Round 4

West Adelaide 2.1 (13) Def Glenelg 0.3 (3)

They say winning ugly is better than not winning at all. Our game against Glenelg was an intense, physical, scrappy affair due to the high pressure football played by both teams.

This game meant a lot to our players. The game was played in support of the Breast Cancer Network and dedicated to our players and families who have been touched by the effects of breast cancer.

Pre-game we had an emotional speech from one of our players Alex Mason who lost her mum to this disease when she was younger. The support of this cause and our efforts to ensure we would not lose this game is a credit to where we have come from and the team culture and values we hold.

Glenelg won the toss and kicked with a reasonable breeze to the northern end. Our defence was superb in Q1, led by Lauren Rodato. Our pressure around the contest and accountability for our opponents held Glenelg to 1 point for the quarter. We were able to eke out a goal with the breeze in Q2 thanks to a snap from Emma Smith on her trusty left foot. Again our pressure around the ball, led by Gretel Ramsey laying numerous tackles was fantastic. We again held Glenelg goalless in Q3 whilst they had the breeze. At 3/4 time we asked the team to continue to grind away, given the way the game was being played to gain a deserved result. Mel Elsegood opened up with a goal early in Q4 which put us 10 points ahead. Glenelg wouldn’t lie down though and continued to surge and with all of our players playing their role and responding to the challenge we held our lead until the final siren.

A few of our players who have come under notice for their magnificent start to the year were heavily tagged during the game. To their credit Chelsea Biddell, Abbie Ballard and Maddi Newman, played with a maturity beyond their young ages to not be sucked in by the oppositions scragging and blocking tactics off the ball. This will be a good learning curve for them, but also shows that as a team we do not need rely on any one standout player. If one player is having an off day the next player will take their turn to step up.

Hopefully the win under these circumstances provides the team the belief in themselves that they can win pretty, displaying the skills and scoring ability we know they have, but also, they can be resilient and grind out wins when required.

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Best Players: L. Rodato, A. Ballard, G. Ramsey, T. Hoffmann, B. Stouppos, M. Newman

Goals: E. Smith, M. Elsegood