Eagles vs Panthers Coach's Report's

Michael Godden – League Coach Report

Eagles vs Panthers – Sunday 3rd April



The best way to describe our first game for the 2011 season was satisfactory. Anytime you get a win is great in this tough competition but I thought we were far from our best and it certainly highlighted we still have a lot of work to do if we want to be considered as a top team. One pleasing aspect is when we were having some structural and skill issues we didn’t let the game get away from us, so when it came to putting some score on the board we didn’t have much to make up to get in front.



With the late withdrawals of 3 talls I decided to go in one smaller than normal, and at the start of the game this was a bit worrying but I think by the end of the day we ran the game out and the selection was justified. Once again this year it looks like we have the ability to score quickly, which is a real confidence thing for the group because we know we are always in a contest, but unfortunately we didn’t score enough on the weekend and we need to bring our average footy up a bit to allow us to kick 14-16 goals. But in saying that the team did a great job restricting South to a miserly 63 points, which more often than not will win you games.



The early part of this season has been a tricky one to manage knowing we had the bye in round 2. We needed to be up for the South game there is no doubt about that, but I also had to be mindful the players have a 9 game stretch after the bye, so the fact we got up and had a win is fantastic because we can now ramp things up and get ready for a solid stretch of tough footy.



Finally it was great to see so many Eagles fans back at Woodville on a great day for footy. The players and I look forward to your support at Adelaide Oval on April 15 against Sturt and hopefully as many as possible to watch the Reserves on April 16.



Bob Cross – Reserves Coach Report

Eagles vs Panthers – Sunday 3rd April



It was great to start the season off with our first win and it was also very pleasing to see the Reserves side respond as they did when challenged by South.



This year promises so much for all involved and while the Reserves group is very young, the prospect of seeing these guys develop and at some stage have an opportunity to play league football is very exciting.



As a group we are all feeling our way and I am sure as the season evolves we will develop into a very good football team.



A 40 point win was a great way to start and with a weeks bye we can now re-group and set ourselves for Sturt in Round 3.



Congratulations to the League, Under 18’s and Under 16’s for their solid wins also.



Shane Grimm – Under 18 Coach Report

Eagles vs Panthers – Saturday 2nd April



The Eagles Under 18s ventured out to Noarlunga on Saturday night to play South under their new lights. The first quarter was a struggle with both teams finding their feet early in the season and we went in to the quarter time break with a one point lead.



The second Term began much the same way as the first with the Panthers attacking the contest with aggression, while we made the odd skill error with handballs not hitting the target and our kicks not going to our advantage. Eventually with a lot of effort we managed to start to get on top of South and at Half time we were leading by 21 points.



At the Half time break we spoke about our kicking into our forward 50 and also about protecting the ball carrier a little better and to just keep on working hard and the rewards will come.

To the boys credit our third quarter was outstanding, especially our ball movement. There were numerous times where we took the ball from defence to attack without the opposition touching the ball and at three quarter time we had increased our lead to 59 points.



The final quarter was much the same as the third, we managed to continue our improvement from the first half and more importantly keep putting the score on the board. We scored another 7 goals in the Final term and were looking like recording a 100 point win, but unfortunately South kicked the last 2 goals of the game. We eventually ran out winners by 86 points.



Darren Hams – Under 16 Coach Report

Eagles vs Panthers – Saturday 2nd April



In what was our second game for the season, the 16’s were keen to avenge the defeat of Glenelg from the week before.

After a tight start and kicking with the breeze we were only able to register a solitary point whilst South managed to kick 2 goals 4 for the term. During the second quarter key forward Sam Roads kept providing us with a target and going into half time we felt that the momentum was swinging our way.

The third, our most productive for the game with on ballers James Schwarz and Riley Knight starting to win more footy at stoppages along with good rebound from William Northeast and Riley Westlake. Jackson Press was able to capitalise up forward by kicking 3 of the 5 goals for the term.

At 3/4 time the lads were very enthusiastic to continue the good work, but as coaching staff we knew it would be challenging as South were kicking with a favourable breeze. Early in the last we were able to extend the lead to 4 goals but to South’s credit they came back at us and managed to hit the front at the 21 minute mark, our lads dug deep and responded shortly after in which we were able to hang on by 5 points.