Round 12 Coach’s Review

Norwood Senior Coach Jade Sheedy is proud of the grit and fight his team showed in earning a 17-point victory over Port Adelaide at Alberton Oval on Sunday afternoon.

With the contest remaining close throughout the afternoon, the Redlegs eventually pulled away with five last-quarter goals to earn a valuable win that keeps them in touch with the top five.

Sheedy was particularly pleased with Norwood’s effort in the final term against a Port Adelaide side featuring 18 AFL-listed players.

“The last quarter was exceptional, led by our skipper JK (Jacob Kennerley). Lowey (Baynen Lowe) got to work and we put Alec Wright on the footy and he did some good things in there, so it was a really good last quarter and it looked a lot like how we want to play,” Sheedy said.

“Our ability to hang in there and stick tough and take our opportunities was a big thing on the day. Kicking 15.3 and nailing your shots in front of goal keeps you in a lot of games.”

Having lost five games by under 21 points so far this season, Sheedy praised his players for holding their nerve and fighting out a close victory.

“The last seven weeks we’ve played some really good footy, so it’s good to get a close win. Credit to the boys, they’re the ones who have to play the game and fight through it and they did a fantastic job doing that.”

After struggling to move the ball at times in the first half, Norwood made some crucial changes at the main break to stop Port Adelaide’s momentum, which went a long way to securing the win.

“There was a lot said at half time. It was more around how we want to move the footy and lengthening our forwards a little bit and giving our mids, wings and high half backs a little bit more room to move into in the centre of the ground.”

“We felt our ground shape wasn’t great, so our high half forwards were getting high and we were kicking it over them and their half backs were dropping off, so we just reset our forwards a little bit and in the last quarter that definitely helped.”

Another major factor in Norwood’s win was the even spread of goalkickers on the day, with 11 players hitting the scoreboard among the Redlegs’ 15 goals.

“I think it’s a good sign of how you want to move the footy, and it’s been our plan the whole time.”

“Previously Jacko’s (Jackson Callow) kicked goals and we’ve had probably four or five different goal kickers, so to have 11 shows the way that we want to play when we get it right, and the ability to share the ball and look low inside 50 and be hard to defend were parts of our game that looked good.”

After being on the end of some unlucky breaks earlier in the season, Norwood finally had luck on their side on the weekend, with Jacob Kennerley being afforded a reprieve through a 25m penalty after missing a regulation set shot in the last quarter.

“We needed a bit of luck this year, so I’ll take that one,” a grinning Kennerley said.

While Sheedy was pleased to have some good fortune on his team’s side, he was quick to point out that it had been well earned through the hard work of his playing group in recent weeks.

“It is a credit to the playing group and the way they keep rocking up for training and wanting to get better,” Sheedy said.

“Our last six or seven weeks have been a really hard block of training, and I feel now that the belief is really strong within the boys and the footy club and there is real clear direction in how we want to go forward.”

Norwood now turn their focus to a big clash with Central District at Elizabeth on Saturday, as the Redlegs look to string together consecutive wins for the first time this season.

“It’s a great challenge on a big deck, and we feel we play the big decks well, so we’re looking forward to it.”

“I thought we were really in the game last time against them here (Coopers Stadium), and we’re playing better footy and more consistent footy now, and we’re a bit more settled as well.

“Last time we had our chances early and sort of kicked ourselves out of it and lost by a kick in the end, so it’s a good challenge for our footy club and one we’re looking forward to.”

Watch Jade Sheedy’s full interview here: