Round 9 Coach’s Review

Norwood Senior Coach Jade Sheedy said he was proud of the ‘grit’ his team showed in a thrilling three-point victory over reigning premier Sturt at Unley Oval in Monday’s King’s Birthday match.

With skipper Jacob Kennerley sidelined with a hip complaint after half time, the Redlegs fought back from 20 points behind in the third term to clinch the vital win despite being a rotation down for the entire second half.

Speaking to The Redlegs Review podcast, Sheedy highlighted the hotly contested nature of the game between two of the competition’s heavyweight clubs.

“It was a good game of SANFL footy,” Sheedy said.

“We knew it was going to be an arm wrestle. They are a very good side. We knew it was going to be very contested playing on a small oval between two pretty mature footy teams, and we were lucky enough to be in front when the siren blew.”

“It was good to win the game being one man down after half time. That showed some real grit from the players.”

Listen to the interview here.

Kicking the first three goals of the contest within the opening 10 minutes, Sheedy was pleased with his team’s start as the ball lived in Norwood’s forward 50 early.

“We played some really exciting footy. I thought our contest and ability to use hands were really good.”

“We created ground balls inside forward 50 and Dec (Declan Hamilton) got a holding the ball free kick and created some good chances off contest inside our 50.”

After Sturt surged to a 20-point lead midway through the third term, the Redlegs made several positional moves, including switching Aaron Francis from defence to attack where he kicked two final-quarter goals.

“(Assistant Coach) Jim Saywell came up to me and suggested we put him (Francis) up forward, and it is something we have done through trial periods.”

“We have a reasonably stable backline, and he’s been a very big part of that, but he’s such a great player and he has the attributes to play at both ends, so we felt if we put Max (Hodges) back and Francis forward we still had good integrity at both ends of the ground.

“With the game where it was, we felt we could use him up forward with a bit more aerial presence.

“Jacko (Jackson Callow) struck fire in the last quarter which is handy, and between Jackson and Aaron we made them (Sturt) defend for long periods in that second half and were able to take some good one-on-one contested marks, especially in the last quarter.”

Callow had a huge say in proceedings in arguably his best game of the season to date, kicking four crucial goals, including three in the final term, along with several big contested marks.

“He has had a really good four or five weeks. If you’re a statistician and you look purely at the numbers after the game, there would be a few more behinds than goals, but he has been having five or six shots on goal quite regularly over the last five weeks.”

“His contest in the air was really strong, especially in the last quarter. He took some telling marks and was quite vocal at three-quarter-time about being strong in the contest and finishing off the game in the right manner, and his leadership was excellent in the last quarter.”

Midfielder Ben Simpson also played a key role in executing a superb tag on Sturt superstar Will Snelling, keeping the Magarey Medallist to just 13 touches and two clearances for the day.

“He had a terrific summer and really improved his running profile and put on some size, and he is a big part of the league team and going really well at the moment. He was up for the job and we thought he did it really well.”

In what was a fiercely contested match, Norwood had captain Jacob Kennerley and gun midfielder Baynen Lowe sustain injuries throughout the day, with Sheedy providing an update on both.

“JK (Kennerley) had a knock on his hip, but he will be fine. I spoke with him this morning (Tuesday) and he has recovered quite well.”

“He tried his hardest to get back on but he just couldn’t get moving. He actually came back on in the third quarter but I could see he was in a world of pain and everything just locked up on him.

“Lowey has a meniscus issue in his knee. It is actually the second time it has happened but it just locks up, so there is nothing to be too worried about.

“We have been told that he can’t do any more damage to the knee and he has been playing some pretty good footy and playing freely, but at times it locks up like it did on the weekend and he needed to come off and get moving again before he could return.”

With Norwood’s reserves notching up a seventh consecutive victory, the Redlegs also have plenty of strong performers who continue to make their case for league selection, which is pleasing Sheedy.

“It is a good problem to have. It is tough on players and coaches, but we would rather this situation than the other way around.”

“We give the players a lot of feedback throughout the week and the year, and we believe everyone on our list can play league footy. I often tell the players that everyone is on a different journey with their development.

“(Josh) Murphy is a real talent and Harmsy (Matt Harms) has played some really strong games in the first half of the year. We saw what Mitch Nicholas did on Adelaide Oval last year and he continues to get better as well.”

In a major positive for Norwood, midfielder Mitch O’Neill made a successful return from his hamstring injury in the reserves on Monday, getting through the second half unscathed following a wretched injury run.

“Mitch has missed a lot of footy and we’ve taken a bit more of a long game with him about getting some minutes into him so that he is ready to make us better.”

The Redlegs will now go into a bye this weekend before taking on the Adelaide Crows at Coopers Stadium on Sunday, 21 June, with Sheedy outlining the plan for the week off.

“This week the players have got off. There will be some training here on Tuesday and Thursday for those in rehab, and the players who stick around might come in for a kick, but there are no real requirements.”

“They have one training session that they have to do just to get a bit of load in their legs, but it is important that they spend some time away from the footy club and have a physical and mental break at this time of year.”

Listen to the interview here.