Sheeds’ Round 8 Review

Norwood Senior Coach Jade Sheedy says he is pleased with how his team executed the game plan in a 44-point victory over Woodville-West Torrens on Sunday afternoon.

In a top-of-the-table clash against a red-hot Eagles side, Norwood looked the stronger team from the outset and controlled proceedings for much of the game.

Speaking to The Redlegs Review podcast, Sheedy was particularly proud of how the side took away the Eagles’ strengths for most of the afternoon.

“We knew it was going to be a strong contest and we wanted to play a front half game against a side that is very potent in their forward half, so we had to get our contest right, and I thought our mids did a really good job,” Sheedy said.

“I thought we did a good job on the opposition. They have four of their key forwards kick a lot of their score, so it was really important for Aaron Francis, Tom Donnelly, Jack Heard and Alec Wright to get big jobs done, which they did well.”

Boasting nine separate goalkickers on the day, Sheedy was also buoyed by the spread of goalscorers and the even contribution in the forward half.

“For us it’s a really good sign that we’re playing a good brand of footy and a brand that we want to play.”

“The key forwards always want to kick all the goals, but it’s good to have multiple scoring options and for the opposition to have to defend in different ways rather than just defending your talls.”

Holding a 25-point lead at the main break, Sheedy was impressed with his team’s ability to kick ahead with a five-goal-to-one third term and extend the margin to 47 points at the final change.

“It was pleasing, because I felt we have been in these positions against good sides in the past and got back into more of an arm wrestle.”

“We have done a lot of work with the players on what that can look like, and we’ve got some plays that we can use to gain back momentum and the players are really leading that on-field.”

The Redlegs’ half time lead could potentially have been even greater if not for some errant kicking for goal, yielding a return of 5.10.(40) in the opening half.

“One of the fundamentals of the game is kicking goals and putting on scoreboard pressure, and prior to this week we had done that really strongly and changed our game slightly in how we want to kick the ball inside 50.”

“That continues to be a work in progress for us, and we did get the ball in some good spots, but we just couldn’t convert opportunities.

“We don’t talk too much about it because it is a fundamental that we have to keep working on, but we just need to keep practising it because no one means to miss opportunities.

“We are the second-best team for getting shots on goal, so there are lots of good parts of our game. The main message at half time was don’t look at the scoreboard, but keep valuing contest and keep playing our way and running at them.”

At the other end of the ground, Norwood’s defence was again in superb form, restricting a potent Eagles attack to just 49 points and their lowest score of the season to date.

“Our defensive group have done a tremendous job all year and have built some good cohesion as a back seven and the blend of talls and smalls.”

“As a collective, their ability to play on different players makes them very versatile back there and gives us coaches options to get our matchups right.”

Unheralded yet vital defender Alec Wright came in for particular praise from the coach, having collected 20 disposals while also blanketing star Eagle James Rowe whenever he went forward.

“He is great to coach, Alec. He is pretty low-maintenance and just goes about his job. He is a man of few words, but he’s had a tremendous year.”

“We trained him as a midfielder but he’s so valuable as a defender and can play on someone a bit bigger than him and the smalls as well, as he did with Rowe on the weekend.”

In a further boost to the defence, dashing half back Matthew Ling could be in line to return from his collarbone injury this weekend, with Sheedy keen to welcome him back.

“He is having an appointment with the surgeon to see if he can get ticked off, so we’re looking for him to play some footy this week. We rate him really highly as a person and a player and he adds to the way we want to play.”

The Redlegs now turn their focus to a massive King’s Birthday Monday clash against Sturt at Unley Oval in what looms as another huge test for Sheedy’s men.

“We will have main sessions on Thursday and Saturday ready to play on Monday, which will be a combative game and one that we are looking forward to.

“They got us here (Coopers Stadium) in Round 1 and we feel like we’ve built our game since then and they’ve had some strong performances as well, so it’s going to be a strong hitout.

“They have got some really dangerous smalls, talls that bring the footy to ground and good mid-sized players who can mark it. They were the premiership side last year and the best team in the competition, so we are looking forward to the challenge.

“We want to look at the opposition’s good players every week and see where we can get an advantage, and that’s what we’ll try and do again this week.

“They have got some good weapons in the midfield and down back and potent scorers up front, so we’ll make sure we nail our match-ups.”

The match will also be veteran Declan Hamilton’s 150th at SANFL level, with Sheedy keen to acknowledge the contribution of the loyal clubman.

“He is a high-standard player and person, and we are really looking forward to celebrating another great player of the footy club in a big milestone.”

“He is a real game changer and doesn’t need a lot of disposals to have a big impact on the game, and he’s been able to do that numerous times. He has had a fantastic year and when he gets the ball he changes how we play.”

Listen to Jade Sheedy’s full interview here: