A Grade report

This week against Unley we had a huge chance to consolidate ourselves in the top 5. A win against the Jets would definitely do this. Our chances of taking the win were boosted with the inclusion of Jason Robertson from Greenacres. He's been an outstanding player for them so to have him lining up for us is a huge bonus.
 
Unfortanately that would be the only major positive for the day. Unley came out firing on all cylinders, outclassing us in all parts of the game. They ran the ball well and hit almost every target, heading straight to the top of the goal square where Simon Cox was waiting to finish off their great work. Rollo - even though Coxy kicked many goals mate, keep your head up as almost every goal was delivered to him from the midfield with minimal pressure so there's not much you could've done.
 
We struggled all day with our disposal, turning it over across half forward on many occasions with wayward kicking and handballs that never looked like hitting targets. This was the first time since coming to PFC that I've witnessed such terrible disposal. The lack of pride in our disposal was the most disappointing as we kicked without looking on many occasions.
 
To go down so badly was a real shock for me. I thought as a group we realised how important every game from here on in is. The lack of intensity and respect we gave the opposition is a real concern.
 
A positive for us was to over run them in the last quarter 4 goals to 1. This proves that our lack of effort for the first 3 quarters was mental, not a fitness or skill level problem, as we ran the ball well with hard running and hit our targets with good efficiency. As a group we'll put this in the memory bank as a terrible loss but we'll forget about it for the time being as we don't expect to play like this again.
 
Tim Grady (3 goals) and Jason Robertson (2 goals) were our outstanding players. They both had solid games in the midfield and up forward kicking 5 goals between them. Matt Mitchell and Alex Kaethner came out after the half time break with great second half games. They both received some harsh stern words from me as they were both disappointing, so to come out and respond was pleasing. I took Ian Perrie away from the forward line to try and give us first use of the ball in the ruck. He did this really well, dominating the air and assisting in defence with big pack marks. Josh O'Connell continued his good form over the last month with another solid performance across half back.
 
As long as we learn from our mistakes i'm positive we'll come out better for this loss. We need to continually turn up with the right mental attitude otherwise we'll throw away our finals chances.
 
Best Players: Tim Grady, Jason Robertson, Matt Mitchell, Ian Perrie, Josh O'Connell.
 
Adam Silvy
Head Coach

Reserves report

So close and yet so far.

That probably best sums up our game on Saturday against Unley. We just could not get over the line when it counted most.

For three quarters the game was a close, tight, and scrappy affair with no team breaking away in a convincing way. It was an interesting arm wrestle and a bit of a shoot-out developed. I have to give our boys due credit for digging in for the first three quarters. There was nothing between the team’s skills or in the way the game was played. Regrettably, the opposition’s hunger in the last quarter, which was plain to see, made us falter. We simply could not rise up to the challenge.

Andy Simpson played well all day giving us much needed stability in the centre. Heath Doolette-Cox never ceases to impress with his hard ball gets. Always dangerous around the packs I was well pleased with his game. Paul Tripodi and Tim Wyld combined well all day and both players should be justifiably proud of their efforts. Ben Johnswood started the game really well and gave us something to kick to at full forward. His three goals were excellent especially the last one on the boundary.

There’s not much more to say other than we could have won the game. I was really disappointed (as all players may have guessed after the game). I hope I wasn’t the only one.

Onwards to next week hopefully learning from this week.

Peter Hamam
Reserves Coach