“This one was disappointing” – Round 13 Coach’s Review

Norwood Senior Coach Jade Sheedy has come away frustrated following a 19-point defeat to Central District at Elizabeth on Saturday afternoon.

Despite remaining in the fight all day, the Redlegs were unable to reel in a determined Bulldogs outfit in a largely scrappy affair at the Ponderosa.

While the loss landed a major blow to Norwood’s finals hopes, Sheedy was more disappointed in how the game played out and his side’s execution of its Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

“This one was disappointing,” Sheedy said.

“It is probably more how we played the game on the weekend. We thought they got us around the contest, both on first possession and loose ball, which ultimately put us on the back foot a little bit early.”

“I thought we kicked the ball poorly inside 50, and when you watch the game back, we had a lot of chances, but I thought we would have stolen that one if we had won that game of footy; Central were too good.”

Although well below their best, Norwood managed to get within a goal of Central midway through the last quarter, but two late Bulldogs goals helped seal the contest.

“We went chasing the game to try and win it, and you can leak a bit when you’re doing that and either win by four or lose by 20, which we ended up doing.”

“The whole game was frustrating. Central controlled it for most parts, and it felt like one of those days where they would kick a couple and then we would get a couple back on them, but they always held that 10-12 point buffer.

“Take the scoreboard out of it; around our key stats is where the game was disappointing on the weekend.”

One area of the game Sheedy noted in particular was his team’s overuse of the football, with Norwood recording 46 more disposals but three fewer inside 50s.

“It’s a big ground and we definitely wanted to use the width of the ground. I think sometimes if you say something as a coach, you can overemphasise it, and that’s what it can look like on game day.”

“To the players’ credit, they tried to take on how we trained, and on such a big oval you can almost need one more handball or one more kick to get some depth on the entry, which is what we focused on, but we probably used the ball a little bit too much at times when we could have gone forward a bit more.”

Putting the result aside, Sheedy was impressed with the game of key defender Tom Donnelly, who played on gun Central forward Aiden Grace in a tough match-up.

“Tommy had a great game. Grace kicked three, but I think maybe only one was on Tommy. One came from a downfield free and one was on another opponent, so Tommy did a great job.”

“He is a competitive beast and really thrives on the contest, and we were lucky to have him down back.”

Another player Sheedy reserved praise for was midfielder Nik Rokahr, who gathered a game-high 30 disposals and eight clearances in a terrific performance.

“He has been super impressive and played a bit of a different game to what he’s been used to in the past. He has had a tremendous year, and at times when we haven’t got going, he’s picked us up in the midfield, and that was a bit of the case on the weekend.”

Another positive development for the club in recent weeks has been the signing of 202cm Wodonga Raiders ruckman Indhi Kotzur, who has impressed Sheedy since arriving at The Parade.

“He is a great young kid and someone we’ve been talking to for a little while and managed to sign before the 30 June deadline.”

“He has been playing in the Ovens and Murray League and has been really dominant there, so he’s been playing against men and he’s got lots of raw talent and someone we’re really keen to work with, so he’s been a great addition.”

Norwood now turn their focus to a crunch game against Woodville-West Torrens at Coopers Stadium on Saturday afternoon, with Sheedy’s side looking to make amends for last week’s loss.

“It is another challenge for us. Every game in the competition is a tough game, and we’ve learnt that this year. We feel like if you take that game out on the weekend, which was still three goals in the end, our form over an eight-week period has been really strong.”

“The last eight weeks we went 4-4, and we’ve got five games left to get back to what we value as a footy club and making sure we start that against the Eagles.”

Watch Jade Sheedy’s full interview here: