Round 11 Coach’s Review

Norwood Senior Coach Jade Sheedy has reacted with a mix of optimism and frustration following a narrow 16-point loss to Glenelg on Saturday.

The Redlegs did plenty right and matched it with the reigning premiers for most of the afternoon, but three late goals to the Tigers saw them come away with the victory.

Despite the close loss, Sheedy was pleased with how his side executed the game plan and had the game on their terms for large periods of the match.

“All of our KPIs in terms of keeping them to a certain amount of marks and inside 50s were really strong and as good as any team has been this year against them,” Sheedy said.

“We kept them to 38 inside 50s, where they average 50 every week, so we felt if we could nullify them we would give ourselves a chance, but they were very good defensively the other way.”

After conceding five goals in the opening quarter, Sheedy was proud of how his players responded after quarter time.

“Going in at quarter time they were a couple of goals up and it would have been nice to go in a little bit more even at quarter time.”

“Jesse (midfield coach Jesse Lonergan) put it on the mids a little bit to get us back in the contest, and our mids have been really good the last five weeks.

“The second and third quarters were really positive for us. The first 10 minutes of the second quarter the ball was locked in our half for a long period of the game and it looked like a really strong Norwood game.”

However, Norwood fell away in the last quarter and conceded three goals to one, which Sheedy identified as a key area to focus on.

“It came down to the last quarter and a few centre bounces where they won it, and the game was played in their half for nearly 70% in that last quarter, and we kind of got locked in and lost the game by a couple of goals.”

“They (Glenelg) caught the ball well around half back and their small backs in Scharenberg and Parnell were really strong in the air.

“They are an experienced outfit; they have been together for probably five or six years. They read the ball well in the air, they’ve got good connection and they kick the ball well, so it was good for our defence to make sure that we’re on top of our game, which we were for the majority of it, but you don’t need to give them any opportunities.”

The result was Norwood’s fifth loss by under 20 points against a top-five side this season, which Sheedy is keen to rectify in the second half of the year.

“Our next growth area is to keep being brave in these games. We have probably looked to kick long down the line too much and have stopped challenging opposition at certain times, and that’s something we need to continue working on.”

“We have got a really explosive midfield and back half that can change angles and change the game, so we keep encouraging them to take the game on and to make the opposition defend in more ways than just straight line.”

Ruckman Luke Surman finished the game on the bench, but Sheedy confirmed that there are no injury issues and he will take his place this weekend.

“He will be fine, he’s just done a lot of work in the last couple of weeks in the ruck and shouldering a lot of that. We have tried to play Finn (Heard) a little bit more forward, and Finn’s done a tremendous job in the ruck, but we’re trying to look at him a bit more ahead of the ball for us as well.”

A major positive for the club on the weekend was the return of Cory Stockdale through the Reserves after nearly two years on the sidelines with injury.

“It was 672 days (between games), so what a fantastic effort. He is a real character and someone the boys loved having out there on the weekend, and so did us coaches. We’ve got a bit of a soft spot for Stocky in the way he goes about things, so it was great to see him out there.”

The club also celebrated the 50-year anniversary of the 1975 premiership against Glenelg by inviting the heroes of that season into the change rooms before the match.

“It was great to have the 1975 team in here on the weekend. They were in arms with us before the game and John Wynne (1975 Premiership Captain) was pretty inspirational. It is good for our players to keep getting educated in the past and in the history of the club because that is why we’re all here.”

Norwood now turn their attention to next week’s game against Port Adelaide at Alberton on Sunday, which Sheedy is looking forward to.

“We have got Port this week at Alberton on a big deck, which will suit the way we want to run, so we’re really looking forward to getting on Alberton Oval this week and really challenging Port with our game style and keep getting better at our game style as well.

Watch Jade Sheedy’s full interview here: