Well what a long time a week (or two) in football really is! The Redlegs went from boiled lollies back to chocolates on Saturday with a comprehensive 51 point victory over the Eagles at Woodville Oval.

Ken Tyrrell was a late withdrawal from the named squad of 22 due to an ankle injury was and replaced by Stephen Doyle for just his second game of the year. Stephen took the first bounce of the game and despite the Eagles bagging the first couple of majors for the game the Redlegs never looked back - our work-rate and pure competition at 50-50 contests gave us first use of the ball on many occasions, our four pronged tall forward options of Cockshell, Vlatko, Rowe and Walker were all presenting well and working well into space, giving our midfield the confidence to go kick long and direct to their hands which more often than not did not let them down.

And that was how it was for the remainder of the day, the Redlegs maintaining ascendancy on the scoreboard all day and responding to any challenge from the home-side. Our work around the stoppages, general use of the ball and skill level was pleasing, the luxury of being able to continually rotate quality players through the midfield resulted in a more even performance over the duration of the game and kept maximum pressure on our Eagle opponents.

Best players were difficult to find, this time for all the right reasons. Adam Cockshell probably played his best game of league football, whether it was in ruck or in the forward lines he competed hard, marked and used the ball well. Taylor Walker has a touch of class no doubt, 9 goals in any game of football is an outstanding effort, what was impressive was that his goals came from both quick leading and strong overhead marks under pressure and were kicked from both set shots and on the move. Nick Lower is having a stellar season in the midfield, again his toughness and ability to get first hands on the ball was a telling factor in our victory, the efforts of fellow midfielders Matthew Thomas (returning after a 6 week lay-off), Bryce Campbell, James Gallagher, Matthew Dawes and Mathew Bartemucci also cannot be underestimated. Tim Weatherald was given a dual role, first he was asked to take responsibility for gun eagles midfielder Luke Powell and second he needed to get his fair share of the ball - he did both with a minimum of fuss but maximum effect. Since being moved into the key defensive post Stuart Bown is playing with a new lease of life, rarely between, on Saturday he took care of Adam Grocke and reduced his contribution to virtually nothing while providing plenty of run and rebound himself.

The reserves side turned around there 3 game losing streak, running out comfortable 52 point winners with James Skinner kicking 4 goals and Ziggie Alwan, Mal Douglas and Steven Pollock each contributing 2. Heath Culpitt and Luke Nitschke reacted the best and most professional way possible after their disappointments of being left out the league team and were dominant in the midfield and showed the way in terms of leadership and encouragement to their many younger team-mates while Joel Coombes playing across half-back was named the teams best player.

Our junior teams completed a clean sweep of victories for the Redlegs at Coopers Stadium. The Under 19's ran out winners by 53 points, with Craig Holm (younger brother of reserves regular Ryan) named best, Darren Shillabeer continued his good work in front of goals with 5 goals, ably assisted by Simon Muster and Josh Benbow with 3 each. A great return to football by Josh Cavanagh in his first game back after recovering from a serious knee injury. Lead by Joel Aish (younger brother of Jesse) with six goals, the Under 17's posted a 39 point victory, Dylan Reinbrecht and Sam Hofmeyer amongst the teams best players.

Next Sunday, another big test, Sturt at House Brothers Oval, Unley, where the challenge will a simply one …… put together two quality performances in a row.

David J Bean
League Team Manager