Match reports 2019

When I can find them

Eagles 11.6 (72) def. South 10.9 (69)
Best Players: Thomson, Burgoyne, Watson, Nicholls, Pearce, L Hendry
Goal Scorers: Fry 2, D’Aloia, McCann, Neumann, Nicholls, O’Reilly, Pearce, Ueding, Watson, Williams
After a nail biting draw against Norwood, 3 new players got their opportunity to represent the Eagles at SANFL U16 Level.
Kicking with the breeze in the first quarter we were able to kick 4 goals to South’s 1. The second quarter into the breeze proved to be a little bit of a struggle, however we were able to restrict South to 3 goals and were able to kick one ourselves. Taking a one goal lead into the half time break.
Both Teams were making it a real contest and the second half was set to be another close one. In the third quarter I think the players became a little complacent and thought the breeze would do the work for them, South did a good job during this term to kick 2 goals into the breeze, if not for some inaccurate kicking South probably should have kicked a couple more, we were able to kick 3 for the term, to hold a 10 point lead at three quarter time.
The last quarter was going to be another battle as we had to work our way into the breeze. Our start to the last quarter was a good one & we kicked our second goal for the term at the 7 minute mark to take our lead out to 22 points. To South’s credit they never gave in at any stage & were able to kick the next 4 goals 1 to take the lead by 3 points with a minute to go. What a time to do our first coast to coast for the year, ball kicked in from point, 5 marks & a handball later Pat Fry has taken a contested mark 30 metres out from goal on a 45 degree and after the siren converts the goal to win the game by 3 points.
With 10 goal scorers & Pat kicking 2, we were able to find an avenue to goal, in a Team performance Brock Thomson, Jase Burgoyne, Jay Watson, Sam Nicholls, Will Pearce & Lachie Hendry had consistent performances throughout the day.
This week we take on North Adelaide at Prospect who have also had the 2 wins, therefore it looks likely to be another good challenge for the group.
Darren Hams
Under 16’s Coach

Eagles 13.12 (90) def North Adelaide 8.17 (65)
Goal Scorers: J Hayes 4, Rowe 3, Poole, Redden, Weidemann, Hall, Petrenko, Lonergan
Best Players: JHayes, Foote, Petrenko, Rowland, Boyd, Redden

Preseason was very successful with the playing group completing a significant amount of training over a four month period. We’ve implemented a number of changes during the preseason and the group has embraced change extremely well.

It was an exciting build up to Round 1 with preseason finally behind us and all eyes were on the team as we took the field with 4 debutants and a new coach. The First quarter we got off to a slow start with a few missed kicks, fumbles, a runner free kick and the new 6-6-6 rule handing out a free kick to the North Adelaide Ruckman directly in front of goal. We worked hard towards the end of the first quarter winning the clearances count and hitting the scoreboard.

Mid way through the 2nd quarter we lost Nick Hayes for the game and moments after debutant Thomas Schmusch would be ruled out for the game with a shoulder injury. Despite all this we still continued to control stoppages and also hit the scoreboard with some good ball movement to take a ten point lead in at half time. Half time allowed us to restructure the team and the rotations with 2 key position players out for the day.

We hit the ground running in the 3rd quarter and stepped up to the challenge by piling on a number of goals to extend our lead. Jack Hayes and debutant Jordan Foote continued to work hard and played fantastic games. Redden, Petrenko, Lonergan, Lewis and Boyd were vital between the arcs and James Rowe was another promising young Eagle that was at his best across half forward, finishing with 3 goals.

We held a nice lead heading in to the last quarter with a number of players on 100% game time and only 1 player on the bench to help share the load. We lost Jake Johansen during this quarter with a head knock and with no rotations left the group dug deep to get our first win for the 2019 season.

The highlight of the day was the character of the group to step up to the challenge at half time and extend our lead by a further 15 points.

Sam Lonergan
League Coach

Eagles 16.10 (106) def North Adelaide 11.6 (72)
Goal Scorers: Pickett 6, McLeod 2, Moore 2, Cook, House, Lee, Mead, Redden, Wehr
Best Players: Pickett, West, Mead, C Gaffney, Lee

It was great to get back to footy at Maughan Thiem Kia Oval on Sunday as we took on last years premiers. It has been a very challenging pre-season with the squad having to adapt to a new game style and to their credit they have put a lot of good energy and are at a level now that they understand it well.

Round 1 always brings excitement with 6 new players making there senior club debut for the WWTFC and all making considerable contributions.

The first quarter we headed into a stiff breeze and for the first 15 minutes North Adelaide controlled the outside of the contest with our mids doing some great work inside the contest and as the quarter continued we were able to match North Adelaide to kick the last 2 goals late in the quarter.

The early parts of the second quarter saw some very direct and exciting footy as we kicked 4 goals to 1 in the first 7 minutes of the quarter to build a 25 point lead. As a coach I was most pleased with our efficiency inside 50 scoring 7 times from our 11 entries.

Our willingness to continue to hunt the footy in the third and have a great balance between inside and outside footy saw us extend our lead to 40 points at 3 quarter time.

The final quarter was about us finishing off our good work of the previous three quarters. We know the that North Adelaide being the reigning premiers that they were going to keep coming at us as they did but to our guys credit they showed great maturity for a young group to run out 34 point victors.

We travel to Sturt next week and look forward to seeing as many supporters there.

Vinnie Rugolo
Reserves Coach

Eagles 1.2 ( def by North Adelaide 8.9 (57)
Goal Scorer: Glover
Best Players: Tabb, Blanden, Smallcombe, Usher, Walker, Maher

Round 6 saw us take on a very strong North Adelaide outfit at home. We welcomed Abby Pengelly back into the side after a 3-week injury bout, as well as Jaimi Tabb and Chloe Forby who were unavailable in Round 5.

The first quarter saw one of our better starts. Although unable to convert we had plenty of the ball and the team held their structure well. Unfortunately some lack of awareness led to a late goal, sending us in to the second quarter two goals down.

Cassie Glover was able to score her first major for the year in the second, but after the loss of co-captain Adele Gibson we were unable to contain North Adelaide’s run. The second and third proved tough, with the Roosters adding four to their tally.

The Eagles held in the last but conceded another two goals late. Amie Blanden was the bright light for the Eagles up forward, leading hard all day while Teegan Usher worked hard through the midfield. As always, Ashlee Reid and Grace Smallacombe held up strong in defence in what was a very tough game.

We look forward to taking on Sturt at Peter Motley Oval in Round 7.

Tess Baxter
SANFLW Coach

Eagles 23.9 (147) def North Adelaide 8.5 (53)
Goal Scorers: Morris 5, Coff 4, Jackson 3, Williams 3, Pearce 2, Barnett, Beecken, Dawkins, McNeil, Poulter, Schoenberg
Best Players: McNeil, Schoenberg, Beecken, Morris, Coff, C Smith

The under 18s had a good win on Saturday beating the Roosters 23 goals 9 points to 8 goals 5 points.  The win was set up with a very good first quarter where, kicking with the aid of a breeze, we kicked 7 goals to North Adelaide’s one to have a good lead at quarter time which we held to half time after North had their turn with the breeze.  We then finished the match strongly to win comfortably.  It was a very even performance across the team and we had 5 players play their first game of Under 18s football in Zac Buck, Caleb Poulter, Luke Barnett, Jacob Godden and Harry Dawkins and they all acquitted themselves well.  Lachie McNeil, Harry Schoenberg, Luke Beecken and Zane Williams played well in our midfield, Caleb Smith did some great work in our defence and Josh Morris (5 goals) , Jamie Coff (4 goals) and Deakan Jackson (3 goals) were good contributors up forward.

This week we are looking forward to our first game at Maughan Thiem KIA Oval when we take on Sturt from 1.15pm on Saturday.

Shane Reardon
Under 18’s Head Coach

Eagles 9.7 (61) def by North Adelaide 8.14 (62)
Goal Scorers: D’Aloia 2, Pearce 2, Watson 2, Branford, Neumann, Paddick
Best Players: D’Aloia, Branford, Ueding, Willams, Adams, Neumann

After Another thrilling win the previous week against South with a Goal kicked after the siren and second spot up for grabs the lads were keen to take up the challenge against North Adelaide.

In slippery conditions North took the lead at the first break by 4 points. During the second North continued to use the ball more efficiently than we did & opened up a 12 point lead at the main break.

All season our 16’s Team have shown some resilience and have the ability to work hard, compete and remain in the game & our second half this week was again an indicator of that. By three quarter time the margin was only 5 points and the last set up again to be a close one.

Early in the last we registered a goal to take the lead by a point, North Adelaide responded with the next 2 goals and opened up a 12 point lead half way thru the last, credit to our players who never gave in & were able to kick the last 2 majors of the game, but North were able to hold on to win by a point.

With 6 more scoring shots & 17 more inside 50’s than us North were probably the better team on the day, but all credit to our lads who kept on fighting and almost pinched the 2 points. Our more consistent players included, Adam D’Aloia who kicked 2 goals, Dylan Branford, Will Neumann & Charlie Adams in the midfield along with Ryan Williams & Liam Ueding who were talls that battled hard throughout the game.

With 3 more debutants against North and 36 players having the opportunity to show case their talents at SANFL level we look forward to taking on Sturt this week on our home ground for the first time this year.

Darren Hams
Under 16’s Head Coach

Eagles 11.11 (77) def by Sturt 12.12 (84)
Goal Scorers: Hayes 3, Redden 2, Von Bertouch 2, Boyd, Johansen, Pickett, Rowe
Best Players: Redden, Goldsworthy, Foote, Von Bertouch, Lewis

We hit the road for the first time this year and witnessed one of the great players and a genuine leader of our club, Scott Lewis, play his 200th game. Unfortunately, the result didn’t go our way.

With a few players missing from the Round 1 team due to injury it gave opportunity to one of our exciting young eagle talents, Kysaiah Pickett. Kysaiah kicked his first goal in league football, nearly took mark of the year and I’m confident there’ll be many more highlights to come from this young man.

The first quarter was an arm wrestle with both sides wasting a number of chances in front of goal. At the end of the 2nd and 3rd quarters we led a number of key stats and yet still couldn’t find a consistent score source. Leading in to the 4th quarter we were 25 points down with only 27 points registered on the scoreboard. Jake Von Bertouch was sent forward after 3 quarters in the backline in an effort to find another avenue to goal. Immediately Jake had an impact kicking 2 goals in the first 10 minutes followed by the team adding a further 30 points to hit the lead late in the game. We’d left our run too late to get our brand of football back on track and lost the game by 7 points in the final minutes of the last quarter.

This loss has allowed us to recognise some areas for growth. It is certainly a game that the playing group will be able to draw on throughout the season.

Jarred Redden was a positive highlight for game with the big man backing up his round 1 performance and Matthew Goldsworthy was also at his best. Jordan Foote, Jack Hayes and Scott Lewis in his 200th fought hard all day having plenty of impacting moments.

Next week we take on the Adelaide Crows at home and we’d love to see you all there!

Sam Lonergan
Coach

Eagles 8.9 (57) def Sturt 7.9 (51)
Goal Scorers: Coff 3, Mead 2, Langcake, McNeil, Moore
Best Players : Gaffney, McNeil, Langcake, Michael, Lee, Morgan

Round 2 saw us venture to Unley Oval and another 5 guys debuting in the reserves side for the footy club from last years under 18 premiership side. The first quarter was a tight tussle with our boys struggling to adapt to Sturts ball movement early on in the quarter but felt just before quarter time we were able to learn and implement the style of game that we thought could win us the game.

The second quarter saw us play the kind of football we would love to see week in week out. We were uncompromising at the contest, had great balance on the outside and our defenders killed off any foray the opposition had going forward to see us kick 4 goals to none for the quarter.

As any good side would do Sturt were able to get the ball movement going again in the third quarter and tested the resilience of our boys. To the young teams credit we were able to hold on strong against a very good side to make it 2 wins from 2 games.

This week we face North Adelaide again for the second time in 3 weeks which is a huge challenge for the group to continue to strive and play consistent team orientated football. We look forward to seeing you all at Maughan Thiem Kia Oval.

Vinnie Rugolo
Coach

Eagles 4.4 (28) def by Sturt 8.14 (62)
Goal Scorers: Lee 2, Farrier, Forby
Best Players: Lee, Pengelly, Maher, Frankland, Smallcombe, Scholar

Round 7 saw us take on Sturt at Unley Oval. This match was identified as one where we could be really competitive, with Sturt being one of the only other teams not in their third season.

We started the game slowly with Sturt managing to get a few good forward 50 entries. The Eagles responded well and fought back, gaining control of the game and swinging the momentum our way. On the back of some hard work from Tesharna Maher we were able to get the ball deep inside our forward 50 and finish off with the first goal of the match. Co-Capatin Natasha Farrier booted one and and U18 State Squad member Chloe Forby managed her first goal in senior footy.

Sturt came back hard in the second quarter but we managed to keep them at bay. Georgia Bevan (Sturt) got herself involved in the game, driving the ball forward. Colbie Frankland had a very solid quarter down back, winning several one on one contests. Sturt were able to get two goals on the board but we went into the break ahead.

In the third quarter we managed to gain control again and created several good scoring opportunities. Unfortunately we were unable to convert our opportunities and Sturt were able to close the gap further. Once back in the game, Sturt had a very strong last quarter and ran over us, booting five goals and taking the four points. Unfortunately we had our best and weakest quarters for the year in the same game.

A mention to Gigi Dadds and Tessa Grant who were both strong in their first SANFLW matches.

Our focus for the remaining games will be to work on putting four quarters of strong, consistent football together.
This week we take on North at Maughan Thiem KIA Oval at 3:45pm.

Tess Baxter
SANFLW Head Coach


Eagles 17.5 (107) def Sturt 10.7 (67)
Goal scorers: Morris 6, Barnett 2, Beecken 2, Dawkins 2, Arriola, Jackson, Lock, Schoenberg, Williams
Best Players: Jones, Dorian, Hoile, Smith, Morris, Schoenberg

The Under 18s had a good win against Sturt at Maughan Thiem KIA Oval on Saturday.  The game was a very even contest early with Sturt leading entering the final 5 minutes of the quarter but we hit back with 2 late goals to take a 6 point advantage into quarter time.  We played really well in the second quarter kicking 5 goals whilst restricting the Blues to just the one and from then on we controlled the game and won in the end by 40 points, 17 goals 5 points to Sturt’s 10 goals 7 points.   Once again it was a very even team effort and we had a lot of contributors, with Lachie Jones playing a very good game in defence, Indiana Dorian on debut, played a fine game in the ruck, and he provided excellent support to our midfielders Lochie Hoile, Harry Schoenberg, Zane Williams and Luke Beecken who all continued their good form from Round 1.  Caleb Smith did another fine defensive job for us and Josh Morris (5 goals) and Luke Barnett (3 goals) were dangerous forwards.  This week we were able to debut four more players – along with Indiana, Miller Carter, Zac Phillips and Zeke Scott played their first games of Under 18 footy and all made contributions to the team and the result.

This week we have a Sunday game at home, taking on the undefeated Tigers from 1.15 pm.

Shane Reardon
Under 18’s Head Coach

Eagles 7.4 (46) def by Sturt 10.8 (68)
Goal scorers: D’Aloia 2, Branford, Pearce, Pitman, Ueding, Watson
Best Players: D’Aloia, Blair, Burgoyne, Branford, Ueding, Bennett

The players were looking forward to play their first home game for the year against Sturt.

Sturt began well and held a 14 point break at quarter time, the second term was a much better effort in which we were able to bring the margin back to 4 points.

After half time we began well and kicked 3 of the first four goals to open up a 9 point lead, however we dropped off towards the back end of the third and our final quarter was a bit disappointing also with Sturt kicking 6 of the last 7 goals of the match to win the game by 22 points.

Adam D’Aloia was good again up forward with kicking 2 goals, whilst Charlie Blair at half back and Jase Burgoyne on the wing got their fair share of the ball, Dylan Branford & Liam Ueding worked tirelessly thru the midfield whilst Lucas Bennett with Adam as a bottom ager was solid in defence.

With 2 games remaining we a currently sitting fourth on the ladder, with only one win separating 2nd to 7th spot on the ladder it looks to be tight for a finals berth.

This week at home against Glenelg on Sunday, we look forward to a more positive showing than what was displayed during the last quarter on Saturday.

Darren Hams
Under 16’s Head Coach

Eagles 10.17 (77) def by Adelaide 14.16 (100)
Goal Scorers: Rowe 5, Von Bertouch 2, Boyd, Hayes J, Lewis
Best Players: Rowe, Rowland, Petrenko, Foote, Von Bertouch
Our second loss for the season was a tough one to accept. Playing the SANFL Crows who were in a similar position to us with 1 win and 1 loss made it a big game for both sides.
For a 3rd consecutive week we got to see another Eagle run out for his first game. Cooper Gaffney was our 6th debutant to play league football this season. He certainly held his own showing some great closing speed in defence, clean by hands and the ability to move the ball forward with long direct kicking by foot.
Right from the 1st team meeting the men had great confidence in what we prepared to implement and how we expected the Crows to play. At the start of the game we let ourselves down by not being clean with the ball allowing the crows to enter their forward 50 a number of times and conceding 2 goals. Once we started to move the ball and our efficiency picked up, we found opportunities to score through forward 50 marks and small forwards playing their role. The 1st and 2nd quarters were a tight contest with a few points the difference at Half time.
3rd term saw the Crows take control of the stoppages with 3 goals to our 0.3. Ineffective disposal also hurt us and the Crows showed some great efficiency by foot to control the quarter which applied pressure to our defence.
James Rowe was outstanding with a 5-goal haul and he continues to thrive this season as a crafty forward that knows where the goals are. Jordan Foote again was solid with 36 disposals at 86% efficiency, Jared Petrenko and Sam Rowland continued to work hard with a good performance and team first attitude.
Next week we play West Adelaide which is a big game for both clubs. We can expect to see a number of key Eagle players return in round 4.
Sam Lonergan
Senior Coach
Eagles 18.8 (116) def North 13.6 (84)
Goal scorers: Johansen 4, Moore 3, Coff 3, Nason 2, Langcake 2, Comitogianni, Lee, Wehr, Mead
Best Players: Comitogianni, House, Johansen, McNeil, West, Lee
For the second time in 3 weeks we took on North Adelaide in the Reserves and felt that we had gained a lot of confidence from our previous 2 weeks. The focus of the group was to be strong at the contest and give our forwards a chance to apply the craft with 1 on 1 contests.
We started the game really strongly with our young midfield controlling the inside of the contest. Going forward we were also extremely efficient kicking 7 goals 2 from 13 inside 50’s for the quarter which was a very strong start by the team.
The message at quarter time was clear, our mids needed to stay strong at the contest and we wanted a bit more run and drive from our defence so that we could get the ball deep to our forwards. What we saw was a rock solid team defence quarter holding North Adelaide to a solitary behind whilst being able to put another 4 goals 3 on the board ourselves and hold a 56 point half time lead.
As any good side does they won’t just roll over and let you have it all your way and that certainly wasn’t the case in the third term. North came at us hard kicking the first 6 goals in the quarter in just 10 minutes. At this stage it would have been easy for us to just fall away and let North Adelaide run over us with all the momentum. What I saw from this group in the last 15 minutes was a lot of maturity to be able to level the scoring for the remaining 16 minutes of the game.
At 3 quarter time we talked and learn’t that if we do get in a situation where a team is coming hard how do we react. The glaring thing was we get back on the attack and win the football and give our forwards the one on one looks that got us in the position in the first place. We reacted very well and ended up controlling the final term and running out 32 point victors and takes us to a 3-0 start.
Vinnie Rugolo
Reserves Head Coach
Eagles 18.5 (113) def Glenelg 13.4 (82)
Goal scorers: Morris 5, Beecken 4, Williams 3, Barnett 2, Frederick 2, Jones, Jackson
Best Players: McNeilly, Hoile, Morris, Schoenberg, Williams, Barnett
The Under 18s had a very good win against Glenelg on Sunday, winning 18 goals 5 points to Glenelg’s 13 goals 4 points. Straight kicking from both teams! It was a very contested match and we played reasonably well in the first half and held a 28 point lead at half time. The first part of the 3rd quarter was highlighted by both teams trading goals but the Tigers really put it to us by kicking 8 goals straight for the quarter and they took a 1 point lead into three quarter time.
Glenelg simply won more of the footy in that quarter and finished off their work well. In the last quarter the players really responded well and kicked 7 goals to 2 goals to win the match. We were able to get our hands on the footy and similar to Glenelg in the third quarter we finished off our work in front of goals.
We played another two new players to Under 18 footy this week and Cooper Hayes did some great work in defence and Nathan Francis provided a good contest for us in our forward line. Our best player for the day was Shaun McNeilly who was a pillar of strength in our defence rebounding the ball 10 times and giving us a lot of run and carry.
Whilst our midfielders certainly had quiet 3rd quarters, Harry Schoenberg, Luke Beecken (4 goals) and Zane Williams were good contributors overall. Josh Morris continued his good form up forward with 5 goals and Caleb Poulter and Luke Barnett both played well.
We have a short turnaround this week with a match on Thursday night against West Adelaide from 6.45pm at City Mazda Stadium, hope to see a few Eagles supporters there
Shane Reardon
Under 18’s Head Coach
Eagles 4.8 (32) def by Glenelg 16.9 (105)
Goal scorers: Ueding, Redpath, Hendry, McCann
Best Players: Burgoyne, Adams, D’Aloia, Watson, Neumann, Ueding
Our game this week was important in the fact that if the lads wanted to get some reward out of the program and progress to play finals footy a good performance was a must.Full credit to Glenelg who were in a similar situation and they came out with greater intent than our lads were able to offer. Glenelg Kicking 5 goals in the opening term to our no score was going to be hard work to get back in the game.
To our lads credit we hung in there and at times showed glimpses of our good form, but our ability to defend was again lack lustre. By half time Glenelg extended the margin to 45 points.
Whilst we restricted Glenelg’s scoring in the second half, we were unable to kick goals ourselves, therefore Glenelg went on to win by 73 points.
Individual goal kickers in Lachlan Hendry, Oscar McCann, Cody Redpath & Liam Ueding. With our better players being Jase Burgoyne, Charlie Adams, Adam D’Aloia, Jay Watson, Will Neumann & Liam Ueding.
This week we look forward to taking on West Adelaide at City Mazda who are undefeated and win back some pride in our performance from the week before.
Darren Hams
Under 16’s Head Coach
Eagles 1.1 (7) def by North 9.13 (67)
Goal scorers: Farrier
Best Players: Pengelly, Scholar, Subelli, Baltais, Walker, Forby
Round 8 saw us take on North Adelaide again on home. After playing them only two weeks previously we knew it was going to be a tough task ahead.
Our first quarter again saw us win plenty of the ball early. Amie Blanden used her speed up forward and earned herself a shot on goal for the first of the match but was unable to convert.
The second and third quarters saw North Adelaide take control of the match. Steph Walker worked hard through the middle of the ground and Jo Baltais showed some spark in the ruck, running down the Roosters captain Nadia von Bertouch spectacularly in the second.
Kelly Barltrop and Emma Sampson proved very strong up forward for the Roosters, getting plenty of the ball with Barltrop kicking five majors. GWS listed Perry was also influential for the Roosters adding two to their tally although Eagles Tessa Grant and Colbie Frankland worked hard to keep her in check.
The final quarter saw Co-Captain Tash Farrier finally slot our first major for the match. The game played out as somewhat of an arm wrestle for the last quarter, but the damage had been done by the Roosters early, running out 60-point winners.
Next week we take on the Bloods at City Mazda in Round 9.
Tess Baxter
SANFLW Head Coach

Eagles 11.13 (79) def by West Adelaide 18.8 (116)
Goal Scorers: J Hayes 2, Haylock 2, Sharrad 2, Johansen, Hall, J.Gaffney, Rowe, Goldsworthy
Best Players: Giuffreda, Toumpas, J. Hayes, Petrenko, Foote, Lonergan
Good Friday game against West Adelaide at Mazda City Oval was set with good weather and a great crowd. For us it was a challenging day with a chance to be sitting 2 wins 2 loses or 1 win 3 loses.
With James Rowe having the first shot of the day 30 secs in to the first quarter things looked to be moving well and the group moving past our slow starts to games. Disappointingly West Adelaide put the first 2 goals on the scoreboard and put us on the back foot early in the game. During the 1st and 2nd quarter it was an arm wrestle with both sides missing opportunities to score. West Adelaide controlled the 1st quarter with 11 to 5 shots on goal and then it was our turn in the 2nd with 9 – 4 shots on goal.
The 3rd quarter which was our strength in round 1 has since been where we’ve lost the game over the past 2 rounds. West kicking 7 goals to our 2. During the last quarter we pulled back with 5 goals to 3 but it was too little too late.
With our team sitting with only 1 win there has been some positives from the weekend. We’re starting to get some key players back on the park with Jimmy Toumpas getting through his first game of the year and pulling up well post game. Jimmy will improve significantly once he regains his match fitness and game touch. Jesse Lonergan played 85% game time and has also got through his first full game for the season. Skipper Patrick Giuffreda returned for his first game with no issues and is set to go next week.
Nick Hayes will be close to a return this week from his finger injury in round 1 and Jarrad Redden will also push to return to play against his old AFL club Port Adelaide.
We’ve been working very hard over the past 3 weeks; these loses are galvanising our group and driving the team to move forward and in the same direction. We’d love our Eagles family to come along and support us at home this week.
Sam Lonergan
League Head Coach
Eagles 5.11 (41) def by West Adelaide 13.15 (93)
Goal Scorers: Comitogianni, Davis, E. Miller, X. Redden, Weidemann
Best Players: X Redden, Guilhaus, Heinjus, Nason, C. Gaffney
After starting the year with 3 consecutive wins we were going to Richmond oval with some confidence that if we could continue to play strong contested football in tight and keep the directness of our ball movement we would be a good chance to make it 4 in a row.
The first 10 minutes of the game saw West Adelaide control the contest with the ball kept deep in their forward half. As the quarter continued we were able to steady and turn the tables on West Adelaide keeping the ball in our forward half but we were unable to capitalise kicking 6 behinds for the quarter to go into the quarter time break 13 points behind even though we had dominated scoring shots and inside 50’s.
The second quarter saw a real tight tussle with the ball being played between the middle of the ground and no team being able to gain a real advantage with poor disposal allowing a very even quarter of football with West Adelaide taking a 14 point half time lead.
The message at half time for the group was to drive hard at the contest and we put some bigger bodies in the midfield to assist in this. We also knew that we were too reactive and needed to find the balance of impacting when we had the opportunity.
The second half of football was a long way of the football this side had produced for the previous 3 rounds. West Adelaide smashed us in at the contest and we were not able to be proactive enough on the outside to curtail this influence. The backline was under some serious pressure as West ended up with 18 scoring shots to 5 for the half and taking out the contest by 52 points.
With an 8 day break it gives us a great opportunity to work on some areas of deficiency to ensure we come out this week against Central’s at home and rebound back on the winners circle.
Vinnie Rugolo
Reserves Coach
Eagles 13.8 (86) def West Adelaide 7.12 (54)
Goal Scorers: Morris 5, Arriola 2, Beecken, Lock, Barnett, Poulter, Hoile, Frederick
Best Players: Frederick, Morris, Poulter, Hoile, Schoenberg, Jones
The Under 18s had a very good win against West Adelaide on Thursday night at City Mazda Stadium, running out winners by 32 points.
It was a tough, contested match and not a lot separated the teams all night. We had a blow early losing our ruckman Henry Smith to concussion a couple of minutes into the game. We seconded Harry Dawkins into the role and he and Indiana Dorian battled really well all night in making a contest and giving us some chances around the stoppages. Westies threatened early in the last quarter and if they had kicked a bit straighter (2 goals 6 points) the scores would have been much closer and we would have been under a bit more pressure.
That said we did close the game out well kicking the last 2 goals of the quarter. Josh Morris continued his fine form with 5 goals and Michael Frederick was very good in the contest with his defensive work a real highlight, giving us quite a few scoring opportunities. Lochie Hoile and Harry Schoenberg found plenty of the ball in the midfield, Caleb Poulter was very strong on his wing and Lachie Jones was a very good defender for us. This week Taj Schofield made his debut with us and was very prominent in our midfield as well.
This week we have Central Districts on Saturday at X Convenience Oval from 10:20am.
We also wish Taj Schofield all the best as he represents Australia in the national Under 17 team that will take on New Zealand on Saturday at Marvel Stadium . In addition we have a number of players who will be part of the AFL Hub (SA) Camp from Tuesday 23rd April to Saturday 27th April. As part of this camp they will participate in a trial game against WA. We wish all the best to Luke Beecken, Trent Burgoyne, Jamie Coff, Lochie Hoile, Lachie McNeil, Jackson Mead, Josh Morris, Kozzy Pickett, Harry Schoenberg and Zane WIilliams for the week and also in their trials.
Shane Reardon
Under 18 Head Coach
Eagles 12.10 (82) def West Adelaide 11.5 (71)
Goal Scorers: Watson 3, Fry 2, Hoile 2, Schwartz, Hendry, Neumann, Cooke, D’Aloia
Best Players: Ueding, Watson, D’Aloia, Nicholls, Neumann, Adams
After a disappointing loss to Glenelg the week before, we came up against West Adelaide who were the only undefeated team of the competition.
Whilst still a slim chance in making the finals we had to win by a good margin and rely on other games to go our way.
Again we struggled to pick up the tempo of the game from the start and found ourselves behind by 13 points at quarter time and 18 points at half time. We felt like we were getting enough of the ball however we couldn’t hit a player with our last kick inside 50.
Our third quarter was much more productive in kicking 4 goals to Westie’s 2. We continued our good work and kicked 4 goals 5 for the last while Westie’s managed 2 goals 1. It was a good effort after half time and whilst not quite enough to earn a finals berth the players finished off on a positive note.
8 Goal kickers with Jay Watson kicking 3, Pat Fry & Charlie Hoile kicking 2 each. Whilst everyone did their bit, Liam Ueding, Jay Watson, Adam D’Aloia, Sam Nicholls , Will Neumann & Charlie Adams performed well throughout the whole game.
In closing I would like to thank all the players & parents for their commitment to the program along with our U16 Staff in Tony Calio, Paul Sheldon, Todd Clarke, Kym Markwick, James Schmusch, Aaron Redman as well as our support staff in Kym Matthew, Dave Heyneman, Lachie Hall, John Good, Phil Herraman and Jamie Lisk,
Darren Hams
Under 16 Head Coach
Eagles 4.6 (30) def by West Adelaide 5.5 (35)
Goal Scorers: Farrier, Tabb, Taylor, Walker
Best Players: Farrier, Tabb, Reid, Walker, Lee, McKay
Round 9 saw us take on West at City Mazda. After losing by 3 points in Round 2 we came well prepared ready for a big hit out. It was a momentous occasion for the group with Tesharna Maher and Bronwyn Davey combining for your first mother-daughter combo in a match.
The first quarter saw us hit the scoreboard early with a lead up mark and goal by Steph Walker. Abby Pengelly and Natalie Subelli worked hard through the mid, attacking the packs hard and winning the ball. Georgia Taylor follow up with another major soon after and we went into the first break a goal ahead.
Tash Farrier managed to slot a major in the second but West stepped it up and attacked well. The defence held up on the back on some hard work by Ash Reid who dislocated her nose not once but twice, coming off for an extended time on both occasions. Chloe Forby and Abby Pengelly collided hard in front of goals, unfortunately Pengelly took no further part in the match. Both teams were down to two on the bench for the majority of the latter half of the match.
The last quarter saw West boot two major and take the lead for the first time since the first. The Eagles girls stood tall and fought back, with Jaimi Tabb and Kiana Lee getting plenty of the ball up forward. The two youngsters worked well together, adding 1.2 to the teams tally in the last few minutes. Unfortunately it was not quite enough with West holding on by 5 points.
Tess Baxter
SANFLW Head Coach

Eagles 9.11 (65) def by Port 16.6 (102)
Goal Scorers: Rowe 4, Poole 2, Hayes J, Hayes N, Johansen
Best Players: Rowe, Lonergan, Petrenko, Hayes J, Foote, Sinor

Back at Maughan Thiem Kia Oval for ANZAC Round in perfect conditions for football, we were looking to respond after a disappointing showing against West Adelaide the previous week.

The boys had a strong week on the track and brought this into the game with great intensity around the ball and plenty of pressure being applied in the first half. Angus Poole, returning from a quad complaint, put together back to back goals early in the second term to give us a 10-point buffer. A couple of missed opportunities going forward late in the term, resulted in Port transitioning and capitalising at the other end, taking in a 9 point half time lead. I felt we had control going for large parts of the first half, but some missed shots on goal and costly turnovers meant we had a big second half ahead.

Our 3rd quarters haven’t been a strength so far this season and unfortunately this continued. Port hit the scoreboard with three early goals in the third term and put a 5 goal buffer that we were never able to reel in for the remainder of the match, eventually going down by 37 points.

James Rowe continues to be a shining light for the side, kicking another four goals to see him tied for the Ken Farmer Medal after 5 rounds. Unfortunately after just coming back into the side and playing really well in the first quarter and a half, Joe Heinjus went down with an foot/ankle injury in the second term and looks likely to miss around a month of football which is disappointing.

After having multiple changes each week so far this season, it will be good to move into this week with potentially a more settled line up with Heinjus the only forced change at this stage, although we have had some strong performances from players in the Reserves over the past month who are certainly pushing for spots.

We have another massive challenge this week, coming up against an in-form Glenelg team who have had a great start to the season. This is a critical game for us leading into the state game weekend off and we hope to see all you Eagles fans down at the Bay supporting the boys and helping us get across the line.

Sam Lonergan
Senior Coach


Eagles 14.4 (88) def by Central District 15.7 (97)
Goal Scorers: Weidemann 4, West 3, Moore 3, Comitogianni, Firns, Davis, Armfield
Best Players: Comitogianni, Weidemann, Gaffney, Firns, West J

We came up against the top side on the weekend at Maughan Thiem Kia Oval and all our planning had been around they were a very balanced side across the field that were tough inside at the contest.

As a coach the standard set early in the game by both sides was outstanding with tough one on one contests around the ground allowing the players to utilise their craft to win the contest. Quarter time ended with scores level and the message was to continue crack in at the contest and get numbers to support.

We kicked off the 2nd quarter skipping out to a 3 goal lead half way through the quarter, due to our mids winning their share of the contest and our defenders rebounding anything that came forward for Central. As all good teams do central found a way to get back into the game late in the quarter to go into half time level.

Central showed why they were top of the ladder and undefeated in the 3rd quarter by increasing the pressure around the ball carrier and punishing us on turnover to skip away to a 5 goal lead.

At 3 quarter time I just asked the boys for a bit of composure and knew we had to take the game on if we were to have a chance. To their credit they drove hard at the contest and moved the ball fluently to finish the match full of running but just short going down by 8 points.

Ultimately its 20 minutes of football which has allowed the top team to run away with the game. The side needs to have some game awareness and find a way to break even which we will work on this week at training. We look forward to putting together 4 solid quarters next week at the Bay.

Vinnie Rugolo
Reserves Coach

Eagles 10.18 (78) def Central Districts 2.7 (19)
Goal Scorers: Frederick 6, Pearce 2, Buck, Francis
Best Players: Buck, Dawkins, Frederick, Jones, Barnett, McCann

The Under 18s had a good win against Central Districts on Saturday winning 10 goals 18 points to the Bulldogs’ 2 goals 7 points. We had a really strong opening quarter kicking 4 goals 6 whilst holding Centrals to just the one point. From there we controlled the match although bad kicking at goal did plague us a bit as the final tally of 18 points suggests.

We had a number of good players and Zac Buck and Aidan Lock were tireless workers in our midfield and found plenty of the ball, Harrison Dawkins was a very good lead up forward and was our leading possession winner, Jack McCann returned to the side this week and played well on his wing.

Luke Barnett continued his strong form in our midfield and up forward, Michael Frederick was a lively forward and kicked 6 goals, Zac Phillips rucked well all day and gave our midfield a good look at the ball and Lachie Jones and Shaun McNeilly were very good in our defence.

We were able to provide opportunities for 4 more players to play their first games of Under 18 football this week and Ethan Brownlie, Callum Gaze, Sam Kennedy and Kyle Kerruish all made good contributions to the win and acquitted themselves well.

This week we play Glenelg at Maughan Thiem KIA Oval on Saturday at 11.00am

Shane Reardon
Coach Under 18s

Eagles 10.21 (81) def Norwood 10.10 (70)
Goal Scorers: Foote 2, Petrenko 2, Von Bertouch 2, Hayes, Moore, Redden, Toumpas
Best Players: Redden, Foote, Petrenko, Goldsworthy, Firns, Lonergan, Gaffney C, Sharrad
This week we seen a significant improvement across all facits of the game and it was pleasing to achieve this over 4 quarters.
Our squads training standards over the past 6 weeks have been exceptional, despite the losses the group has been very clear as a team in the direction which we’re heading. This weeks results are a positive one for the enitre group to feel and achieve the brand of footy that we wish to play. In offense we were able to achieve 31 scoring shots which shows strong signs of a team that can move the ball fast by hand or foot and break the oppositions defensive mechanisims. In Defence we held the opposition to 39 inside 50 which allowed us to squeeze the game up when we didn’t have control of the ball. We will continue to work on our effeicency at goal.
The first half was an arm wrestle with Norwood taking the lead at half time due to their ability to score from kick ins. We had an advantage scoring from stoppage and the trend was becoming greater as the game continued. This was something we focused on after half time which allowed us to hit the lead and apply significant pressure. The 4th quarter we went inside forward 50m 19 times to the oppositions 5.
Jarred Redden dominated clearances finishing with a game high of 10 and fan favourite Jordan Foote was right behind him with 9. Jordan had continued to improve his game and was able to hit the scoreboard with 2 early goals to set the tone for the day.
Jack Firns flourished with his tagging role on Lewis Johnston keeping him to just 7 disposals after half time whilst Jack finished with 18 of his own possessions.
Petrenko, Goldsworthy, Sharrad all had critical impacting moments on the game which was great to see from 3 of our leadership group members.
Nick Moore debuted and didn’t look out of place hitting the scoreboard with his first goal in league football. Moore, James Rowe & Cooper Gaffney are all exciting young players currently impacting at league level.
Our appitite to compete at the contest was very good all day, we won contested football by 22 and clearances by 16.
This week we head in to another bye week which will allows us to spend time providing the tools and support the palyers require to continue moving forward.
Last weeks win is now behind us and we set our focus to South Adelaide in 11 days time.
We’d love to see all members and supporters get behind both teams on the 1st of June.
Sam Lonergan
Senior Coach

Eagles 9.9 (63) def Norwood 6.8 (44)
Goal Scorers: Armfield 3. Haylock 2, Nason 2, Commitogianni, Westbrook
Best Players: Boyd, Commitogianni, Haylock, Mead, Guilhaus, Pedlar
Coming off the bye and a very good win the week before I was excited to see how the reserves went about their business. The training standards had lifted and I felt that we had the right plan in place to achieve the result.
The first quarter although tight on the scoreboard we had plenty of inside 50’s but could not quite capitalise. I thought the pressure from the forwards and mids was exceptional and our defenders intercepted everything that came their way.
As a young side can have at times they floated through parts of the second quarter and we were unable to take advantage of some of the great transition football from defence.
Coming into the third quarter we knew our backs were going to be up against it with 2 players injured. We spoke about looking after one another and as a coach the response of the team in the second half was outstanding. For the majority of the half we played with 19 men and a few players had to play roles for the team in positions they would not have played before.
The maturity of a young group with some very good experienced heads around them to adapt to a situation was outstanding and puts us in a very good position for the second half of the year. After that win over Norwood we sit with a 5-2 win loss record in second place on the ladder and with a real appetite to continue to grow as footballers.
Vinnie Rugolo
Reserves Head Coach

Eagles 15.8 (98) def Norwood 6.5 (41)
Goal Scorers: Coff 7, Beecken 2, Barnett, Carter, Frederick, Jones, McNeil, Schoenberg
Best Players: Coff, McNeil, Frederick, Smith H, Jones, Schoenberg
The under 18s had a good win against Norwood on Saturday winning 15 goals 8 points to Norwood’s 6 goals 5 points, a margin of 57 points.
We started well kicking the first 4 goals but for the next two and bit quarters the Redlegs outscored us kicking 6 goals to our 5 goals and the margin at three quarter time was 21 points in our favour. The players played a very good final quarter kicking 6 goals 1 point whilst holding Norwood to just the one behind.
We had a number of good players and Jamie Coff with his 7 goals was a key target for us all day, marking and presenting well, Lachie McNeil was a busy midfielder getting plenty of the ball and he was supported well in the midfield by Harry Schoenberg and Henry Smith gave them some good supply with his ruck work and work around the ground.
Michael Frederick was lively both on the wing and as a forward and Lachie Jones led the defence well. Taj Schofield was very good for us in the first half before injury cut short his day just after half time.
This week we have the bye with a few State trials on – we have players in the Under 16s, Under 17s and Under 18s squads so we wish them all the best for their trial games. After the break we resume with a match playing South Adelaide at Flinders University Stadium on Saturday 1 June.
Shane Reardon
Head Coach

Eagles 12.15 (87) def South 6.9 (45)
Goal Scorers: Hayes N 2, Rowe 2, Lonergan, Johansen, Hayes J, Gaffney J, Sharrod, Goldsworthy, Guilhaus, Redden
BestPlayers: Sinor, Petrenko, Goldsworthy, Redden J, Foote, Sharrod

After another week off it was important to build on our Norwood performance against another top 5 team in South Adelaide. Pleasingly for the second consecutive match our appetite to compete at the contest was very good all day winning contested football and clearances.

Our defence held up strong again conceding just 39 inside 50’s whilst having 53 ourselves creating 27 shots on goal. As has been a theme this year our accuracy in front of goal was disappointing and is something that we will continue to work on at training.

South were more efficient moving forward early in the match taking in a two goal lead at quarter time and unfortunately, we lost Jimmy Toumpas to a hamstring injury just on quarter time which put a strain on our rotations for the rest of the day. We kicked back strongly in the second term kicking four goals with only one point separating the teams at the main break. Our major stat indicators suggested we didn’t need to change too much at the break, just to be more efficient moving the ball forward.

Pleasingly the boys put together a strong second half, kicking eight goals to two, running out winners by 42 points. James Rowe who spent a portion of the first half off with a shoulder injury, battled through the pain in the second half and had a huge impact kicking two goals himself as well as setting up others.

Joe Sinor and Matthew Goldsworthy had strong matches across half back whilst Jared Petrenko collected 24 disposals through the midfield and up forward. Jarrad Redden and Jordan Foote continued their strong personal seasons, performing well through the midfield.

Whilst the last two weeks have been pleasing the next block of matches shape as pivotal ones in our season as we look to get back in touch with the top 5. We head out to Elizabeth this Saturday which is never an easy task. We look forward to continuing to build on our brand and hope to see you out there supporting the teams.

Sam Lonergan
Senior Coach

Eagles 15.14 (104) def South 11.6 (72)
Goal Scorers: House 4, Cook 3, Nason 2, Miller, Hall, Redden X, Comitogianni, Rowland, McPherson
Best Players: Boyd, Hall, West, Cook, Schmush, Mead

Playing South Adelaide at Maughan Thiem Kia oval we were looking to make it 3 consecutive wins in a row and set ourselves up for a strong second half of the year. The work on the training track and vision that the players had been exposed too over the previous 2 weeks had us understanding how we would like to go about our football for the day.

The first quarter was not the type of football we have been accustomed to from the reserves team. We were not sharp enough around the contest and we allowed South Adelaide to out work us at the contest and on the ground as they took a 10 point lead into quarter time.

I thought our second quarter showed a lot of maturity from a young group as were able to execute our skills quite well and control the footy for the majority of the quarter whilst allowing our cornerstone of our footy hard contested football shine through as we turned a 10 point deficit into a 10 point lead.

Half time was spent on the group staying composed and finding the easy option. This allowed us to get some real flow with our game and have 17 scoring shots for the half and take out a 32 point lead.

If I look at this group I know we are dangerous when we can get the ball inside 50 as we scored 65% of the time which is a very good indication the way we have been looking to move the ball is ending up in scores for our team.

Next week we take on Central in a top of the later clash. After playing them a few weeks ago we understand it will be a hard slog which we will embrace.

Vinnie Rugolo
Reserves Coach

Eagles 11.12 (78) def by South 15.10 (100)
Goal Scorers: Pearce 3, Coff 2, Williams Z 2, Williams R, Barnett, Carter, Frederick
Best Players: WillamsZ, Hoile, Francis, Schoenberg, Coff, Frederick

The Under 18s lost their match against South Adelaide on Saturday, at Flinders University Stadium, going down by 22 points. The first half was very even with South leading by 3 points and 2 points at quarter time and half time respectively. We started the 3rd quarter brightly having a few shots on goal but couldn’t convert and the Panthers kicked 4 goals in 10 minutes as they really lifted their intensity and we were suddenly 4 goals down, a margin which held to the three quarter time break. We were confident that we could get ourselves back into the game but South Adelaide kicked the first 2 goals of the quarter to make our task that much more difficult and whilst we battled out the quarter kicking 3 goals 5 points, we ultimately fell well short and South were deserved victors.

Zane Williams worked very hard in the midfield, together with Lochie Hoile, Harry Schoenberg came into the game in the second half, Nathan Francis battled well in our defence which was under pressure all day, Jamie Coff did well in our forward line taking many marks and really presenting and contesting well, Michael Frederick continued his good form with some hard running and ball winning across the wings and Dale Pearce had a good return of 3 goals with some strong marking.

This week we will prepare for a tough match against Central Districts on Friday night at X Convenience Oval at 6.30pm.

Shane Reardon
Coach Under 18s

Eagles 15.13 (103) def Central Districts 11.8 (74)
Goal Scorers: Hayes J 3, Johansen 2, Hall 2, Moore 2, Thompson, Hayes N, Sharrad, Foote, Guilhaus, Comitogianni
Best Players: Von Bertouch, Hayes J, Goldworthy, Hall, Boyd, Johansen, Petrenko, Guiffreda
Heading out to Elizabeth on Saturday is always a tough task and the weekend was very much that with a strong four quarter effort gaining us our 3rd straight victory. It was great to have senior players James Boyd and Chris Hall back in the side and performing well, whilst Jake Comitoganni was also a solid contributor after being a late inclusion for Jesse Lonergan.
You never want to be coming from behind against Centrals on their home deck so it was pleasing to start the game strongly, Nick Hayes was everywhere up forward as we put the first three goals on the board. Central were able to fight back in the second half of the quarter, getting their transition game going with some easy out the back goals.
For the remainder of the match it felt as if we controlled it for large portions, which was reflective with 110 marks for the game. However, Centrals were always still in the game kicking goals at important times to stay within reach. Entering time on in the last quarter putting together three straight goals ultimately sealed victory.
It was great to see Jake Johansen perform well in his 100th game kicking two goals to go with his 22 possessions whilst key position players Jack Hayes, in his 50th match, and Jake Von Bertouch played pivotal roles in the win. Again as a team our ability to score was strong with 28 scoring shots from 50 entries. Our goal kicking improved on the weekend but certainly has scope to improve further.
This week we come up against West Adelaide who outplayed us comfortably in our last meeting so we will look to continue the form of our last month and continue our push towards a top five spot.
Sam Lonergan
Senior Coach

Eagles 10.7 (67) def by Central District 18.12 (120)
Goal Scorers: Lewis 2, Westbrook 2, Weidemann, Redden X, Morgan, Michael, Jungfer, Williams
Best Players: West, Lewis, Westbrook, Cook, Haylock, Weidemann
Facing Central Districts on their home ground, it was a chance for us to turn the half way mark on top of the ladder and give ourselves a really good platform to launch into the back half of the season. We were playing 3 first gamers into the squad which was fantastic reward for those guys as they had been playing great footy in the under 18’s program and for Henley.
We started off the game with some real intent able to win our fair share of the contested footy and we looked dangerous as the ball went inside 50. On the other end of the ground we were not able to curb the opposition scoring ability as they were able to hit the scoreboard 6 times from 8 inside 50’s.
The second quarter seemed to offer much of the first quarter as once again our ruckman gave us first use but it was our efficiency and method of ball movement inside 50 which allowed opposition to turn over the ball and attack. As a team we held strong and took a 3-point lead into half time.
Coming into the second half was about us being able to make the right decisions by hand or foot. Unfortunately, the boys left all their good work of the first half in the changerooms. Central’s played a direct, team orientated brand of footy and as a team we were not able to make effective tackles or be clean with the football when it was in our area and Central ended up running comfortable 53-point winners.
What I do know of these young men they will do everything possible to make a right of last week’s performance starting on the training track. We come up against a side we have not beaten in the reserves for 2 years so we look forward to the challenge that lies ahead of us.
Vinnie Rugolo
Reserves Coach

Eagles 14.7 (91) def Central District 5.2 (32)
Goal Scorers: Pearce 2, Buck 2, Frederick 2, Azzolini 2, Dawkins, Beecken, Barnett, Brownlie, Williams, Scott
Best Players: Hoile, Beecken, Barnett, McNeilly, Buck, Francis
The Under 18s had a good win against Central Districts at X Convenience Oval on Friday night. We started well kicking 3 goals before the Bulldogs scored but they hit back with 2 goals late in the quarter. We played well in the second quarter kicking 4 goals and again Centrals kicked another 2 and we took at 3 goal lead into half time. We played a very good third quarter kicking 4 goals whilst holding the Doggies scoreless and we kept that good form going into the last kicking 3 goals 5 points whilst Centrals kicked one goal. Eventually we ran out 59 point winners.
We had a lot of good players, it was a very good team effort and Lochie Hoile and Luke Beecken continued their good form in our midfield, Luke Barnett and Zac Buck were also busy in the clearances and around the ground, Nathan Francis and Shaun McNeilly did well in our defence and Zac Phillips gave us a good look at the ball with his ruck work and work around the ground. We shared the goal kicking with 10 players kicking our 14 goals.
I missed acknowledging Bailey Nicholas’ first Under 18 game for 2019 last week and also Ryan Williams from our Under 16s made his Under 18 debut last week, kicking a goal after taking a strong mark. This week Nick Azzollini made his debut and did well kicking 2 goals for us as a busy forward/midfielder.
This Saturday we take on second placed West Adelaide at City Mazda Stadium where we will play our annual match for the Jake Watson Shield, which honours the life of Jake Watson who tragically died in an Under 19s match between the two clubs in 2002.
Shane Reardon
Coach Under 18s

Eagles 22.9 (141) def Norwood 13.9 (87)
Goal Scorers: Poole 4, Guilhaus 4, Moore 3, Rowe 2, Hall 2, Lonergan, Comitogianni, Petrenko, Hayes N, Boyd, Foote, Redden
Best Players: Redden, Hall, Poole, Firns, Giuffreda

Heading to the Parade is never an easy thought but it was certainly an exciting one. Playing a top 3 side is exactly what the group wanted and if you asked Seb Guilhaus he would say ‘let’s feast’, which is what he will say before most games. It wasn’t all smooth sailing for the day with the big man Guilhaus forgetting his football boots. Jack Hayes was on the case and set off for the hour round trip to get Seb’s boots. 15 minutes prior to the game I’m still looking at Seb warming up in socks and at this point I’d started to think that because we’d already given Norwood our paperwork with the starting 18 players and 3 interchange, Seb may of found himself having to start on the ground in socks for a channel 7 T.V game.

If you change your starting 18 prior to the bounce you give an immediate free kick away. We saw this in round 7, the last time we played Norwood, when Jarred Redden converted a goal before the first bounce. Luckily for us Jack arrived 12 minutes before the first bounce and Seb put his boots on and never looked back, kicking 4 goals and playing his best game for the season.

As I mentioned at the top it’s never an easy task, Norwood at the Parade, which made Saturday’s win all the more special. The first half was a tightly fought contest with both teams having some runs of goals, we took in a 15 point lead at the main change. The second half was some of the best football we have played for the year to date, our clearance work was strong all day but in particularly in the second half, we continued to drive the ball inside 50 and pleasingly converted 13 goals to 6 to secure a 54 point win.

Jarrad Redden was a dominant performer in the middle of the ground which lead to our dominance around the stoppages having 9 clearances himself, whilst James Boyd in his 200th game and Chris Hall both found plenty of the ball and hit the scoreboard. As I mentioned at the start Seb Guilhaus had his best game for the year kicking 4 goals, as did Angus Poole who was dangerous every time he was around the ball.

After a great block of games, we will reset over the week off before facing Glenelg who are playing really good football and are one of the strongest teams in the competition. They thoroughly outplayed us last time down there and I know this group will be really looking to respond after that performance.

I hope you all enjoy your weekend off and I will see you back at Maughan Thiem KIA Oval next Sunday!

Sam Lonergan
Senior Coach

Eagles 13.7 (85) def by Norwood 13.12 (90)
Goal Scorers: Morgan 7, Armfield 4, Nason, Miller
Best Players: Morgan, Haylock, Nason, McLeod, Heinjus

This was a big week for our football club playing against Norwood at Norwood. After having a couple of losses in a row we wanted to ensure we set a standard for the day and as a group we owned these standards.

The first half was a real disappointment for this group as we had some set goals, that as a group we believed if achieved this the result will take care of itself. We didn’t come out with the intent to achieve this and it allowed Norwood to have 16 scoring shots to 5 and take in a 26 point lead into half time.

At half time we talked about the importance of when it’s your turn to go we ensure we hit the football with some real ferocity. Our skill execution was another are we needed to improve our performance as Norwood were punishing our poor choice and execution by hand and foot.

The third quarter started off slowly with Norwood jumping us kicking 3 goals in 9 minutes. From this moment on we decided to execute each of our goals that we had set before the game and slowly peg back the difference to give ourselves a shot going into the final change 34 points down.

The last quarter saw us continue the execution and put the Norwood defence under some serious pressure to narrowly go down by 4 points. As a group we should not be happy about this result but understand when we stick to the plan the result will go our way more often than not. We need to get back to football basics and work on skill execution and trusting our defensive structures as when done well they hold us in good stead.

Vinnie Rugolo
Head Coach

Eagles 10.7 (67) def Norwood 8.11 (59)
Goal Scorers: Frederick 5, Azzollini, Carter, Jones, Puzzouli, Williams
Best Players: Jones, Barnett, Frederick, Phillips, McNeilly, Lock

The Under 18s had a good win on Saturday winning a high pressure game by just 8 points.

We started well with a solid first quarter kicking 2 goals 2 points and holding Norwood to just the one goal and we played a very good second quarter kicking 4 goals 1 point whilst Norwood kicked 2 goals 2 points and we held a 15 point lead at half time although both teams gad the same number of scoring shots. The Redlegs came out firing in the third quarter and kicking 4 goals 2 points to our 1 goal 1 point, they took a 3 point lead into the last quarter. Adding to that Norwood attacked first and kicked the first goal of the last quarter at the 7 minute mark and got out to a 10 point lead but the players worked really hard and found a way to win back control of the footy and kicked 3 goals to ultimately win the match.

There was some great efforts all through the game and Lachie Jones was busy and energetic and very instrumental in our win in his midfield role, Luke Barnett was strong in the clearances and also won plenty of the footy, Zac Philips was very good in ruck giving our midfield first look at the ball with his hit outs to advantage, Shaun McNeilly continued to play well in our defence with his run and ball winning, Aidan Lock was another midfielder who relished the contested ball and Michael Frederick’s 5 goals were very handy in the context of a low scoring game.

This week it was a great pleasure to introduce some more players to SANFL Under 18 footy and Jake Puzzuoli, Will Pitt and Liam Ueding all made their Under 18s debuts and all contributed to the win. Liam is still under 16.

With the bye this week, our next game is against Glenelg at ACH Group Stadium on Saturday 6th July at 11.00am.

Shane Reardon
Coach Under 18s

Eagles 11.9 (75) def by Glenelg 14.6 (90)
Goal Scorers: Rowe 4, Boyd, Comitogianni, Gaffney, Guilhaus, Haynes, Moore, Petrenko
Best Players: Giuffreda, Hall, Rowe, Foote

Those who attended Maughan Thiem Kia Oval on Sunday witnessed a great game of SANFL football with both teams providing an exciting brand of football. The match was exciting right to the end. Both sides had late changes an unfortunately for us Matthew Goldsworthy and captain Luke Thompson were late withdrawals.

The 1st quarter wasn’t ideal and is something that will be addressed this week. We allowed 6 goals in the first 20 minutes and could only manage 2 goals of our own. Jesse Lonergan and Chris Hall started the game well leading our disposals from the midfield, whilst Jack Gaffney and James Rowe were our only goal scorers.

Heading in to the first break we needed to get back to the basics of winning the contested ball and that’s what we did. It was pleasing to see the resilience in the group to work hard and believe in themselves. We applied a 5 goal to 1 goal in the 2nd quarter and we were back playing the style of football which had seen us win the past 5 games. James Rowe landed 2 goals and again added the exciting spark up forward.

The second half continued to be a tight contest. We had chances early in the last quarter to put some goals on the board but were unable to convert. Glenelg at the other end took their chances and ran out winners by 15 points.

In reflection we allowed 6 goals in the first 15-20 minutes and 4 goals in the last 15 minutes totalling 10 of Glenelg’s 14 goals. This mean for 90 minutes of the game we were capable of keeping them to 4 goals. At the start of the  4th  quarter we also had the first 5 inside 50m entries and registered 3 points which means we had control of how the game will end. We let ourselves down by not finishing our hard work.

With his Co-Captain on the sidelines, Patrick Guiffreda had a great performance down back, James Rowe continues to thrive in his breakout League campaign whilst Chris Hall & Jordan Foote both continued their strong form.

See you all down at Noarlunga on Saturday.

Sam Lonergan
Senior Coach

Eagles 9.4 (58) def by Glenelg 10.13 (73)
Goal Scorers: Coff 2, Redden 2, Beecken, Lee, Morgan, Weidemann, Westbrook
Best Players: Westbrook, Rowland, Redden X, Lee

After some narrow losses in previous weeks we were looking to get back in the winners circle with a strong 4 quarter performance.

The first 10 minutes of the game we started slowly with Glenelg having most of the play and registering the first 2 goals of the match. We were able to arrest the momentum late in the quarter kicking 3 straight goals to take in a slight lead at quarter time. The second quarter we continued to be efficient in front of the big sticks kicking 4.1 to Glenelg’s 2.2 giving us a 10 point half time lead. While we weren’t playing exactly how we wanted to we hoped

Unfortunately after half time the boys put in one of the more disappointing half’s of football in some time. Glenelg were able to pile on 6 goals to 2 and run out winners by just over 2 goals. In recent weeks we have gone away from the style of football we played in the early parts of the season and haven’t been able to do the basics well.

We will be certainly addressing these issues during the week and we look forward to responding next Saturday at Noarlunga.

Vinnie Rugolo
Reserves Coach

Eagles 9.16 (70) def by Glenelg 12.4 (76)
Goal Scorers: Azzollini 2, Pearce 2, Puzzuoli 2, Scott 2, Dawkins
Best Players: Barnett, Jones, Hoile, Azzollini, Gaze, Schofield

The Under 18s had a loss to Glenelg on Saturday going down by 6 points at ACH Stadium. Glenelg opened well into the breeze and despite us having 7 shots on goal for just the one major, Glenelg were very efficient and controlled much of the quarter, kicking 5 goals 1 point to take a 19 point lead into the break.

Our next 3 quarters were much better as we got back into the contest and facing a 13 point deficit at three quarter time and kicking into the breeze we faced a challenge but we battled away well. We kicked the first 2 goals of the quarter to draw level before a see sawing last 20 minutes saw both teams exchange goals with the Tigers kicking their last one and the match winner late in the quarter to hold on for the 6 point win.

Luke Barnett continues his good form in the midfield and he was very good in the contest, Lachie Jones is another who is playing well and was a big driver in our midfield along with Lochie Hoile, Zane Williams and Taj Schofield. Callum Gaze played well in our defence, Zac Phillips was very good in ruck and around the ground and Dale Pearce and Nick Azzollini were threats up forward both kicking 2 goals.

This week we take on South Adelaide at Maughan Thiem KIA Oval from 11am on Saturday.

Shane Reardon
Coach Under 18s

Eagles 14.8 (92) def South Adelaide 13.11(89)
Goal Scorers: Rowe 3, Hayes J 3, Moore 2, Petrenko, Hayes N, Hall, Foote, Goldsworthy, Guilhaus
Best Players: Petrenko, Foote, Lonergan, Firns, Rowe, Boyd

Making the long trip south Noarlunga is never an easy day and we certainly had our work cut out for us. Conditions were cold and windy which made it difficult for both sides to move the ball in offense. This being said we were still able to kick a winning score of 92 winning by 3 points.

Its was obvious from the start that both sides wanted to play a physical brand of football in the average conditions. The first quarter had high tackles counts from both teams and plenty of repeat stoppages which Jarred Redden took control of, winning hitouts for the game 48 to 32. Jesse Lonergan took advantage of Redden’s dominace leading the clearance at quarter time with 4. Jordan Foote continued his season form with 2 clearances and a goal whilst Sharrad led our tackle count with 6. Basics skill errors allowed South Adelaide to take a 3 point lead into the first break.

Our second quarter focus was to being clean and winning the contested possession which we had lost in the 1st quarter. With this as a focus it would allow us to dictate which half of the ground we play in. It was a positive response by the group as they won this stat and was able to win the quarter by one point. This also meant that we spent more time in offense and the opposition had to defend for longer which we knew would help us later in the game. Foote, Hall and Boyd all had strong quarters.

The 3rd quarter went the way of South Adelaide as they got out to nearly a 20 point lead. Some individual efforts by Jack Hayes and James Rowe landed 2 late goals to bring the margin with in striking distance heading in to the last quarter. Late in the quarter we started to get back on top owning the inside and outside of the contest which was a very positive response by the group to fight the quarter out.

The last quarter was full of excitement for all watching the game and the effort displayed by our men representing our indigenous jumper was incredible. Their was multiple moments during this quarter by individuals displaying incredible character and resilience to win the game. Jared Petrenko stopped one of South Adelaide’s attack with 2 back to back diving smothers in the same play, Jack Firns went back with the flight across half back and took 2 critical late marks to go with his 16 tackles, Nick Hayes gave a fantasic contest in the goal square against two opposition players, kicking a soccor goal whilst laying on his back, James Boyd had a quarter high 13 disposals, Sharrad finished with 16 tackles and Lonergan had 10 clearances.

Round 13 was a rewarding win for the group with Petrenko and Foote leading the way for a solid team effort.

We take on Central at home this Sunday which is an important game for us. We would love to see all of our supporters at the match getting behind both teams.

Sam Lonergan
Senior Coach

Eagles 12.13 (85) def South Adelaide 8.4 (52)
Goal Scorers: Morgan 4, Pickett 2, Weidemann, Cook, Miller E, Redden X, Lewis, Schoenberg
Best Players: McNeil, Nason, Jungfer, West, Morgan, Schoenberg

The reserves team has come off a really disappointing month of football where the standards were not where they needed to be at for Reserves SANFL level. Our motivation going into this massive game for us was to ensure that we supported each other at the contest if we were to be able to turn around our form against South Adelaide at Noarlunga.

If one was to look at the scoreboard at quarter time they would have thought that the Eagle’s boys were not putting the effort on the board that is required. This couldn’t have been further from the truth although being down by 11 points I felt really comfortable about the start and the energy to the contest the men bought. We had 29 tackles for the quarter that resulted in 3 turnovers to us. This was clear that the men had come to play and support one another so the message was clear at quarter time to keep at it and things would turn our way.

What we saw in the second quarter was the best quarter of football put together by this team having 22 inside 50’s for 8 goals and 7 points. This came because of our willingness to play simple football and not over complicate it too much.

Half time although coming at the wrong time posed a real challenge to see how mature this team could be to deal with a 44 point lead. For the first 10 minutes we lacked that maturity but a great sign was that we were able to take control of the football and wrestle back some ascendancy for the back half of the quarter.

The final quarter was a real arm wrestle but we were able to control the tempo and get a valuable 2 points to set us up for the back end of the season.

Vinnie Rugolo
Reserves Coach

Eagles 8.8 (56) def by South Adelaide 8.12 (60)
Goal Scorers: Coff 4, Morris 3, Beecken
Best Players: Jones, Hoile, Phillips, Barnett, Coff, Carter

The Under 18s lost a tight contest to South Adelaide on Saturday, going down by 4 points. We started the game brightly kicking the first 2 goals and putting good pressure on South Adelaide, but the Panthers hit back with three quick goals during the middle of the quarter before we kicked one late to effectively tie the game up at quarter time. Although South won the second quarter kicking 3 goals to none, we played much better but we didn’t take our chances with 4 set shots on goal but not being able to kick one. Our third quarter was better again and we won the quarter kicking 4 goals whilst holding South Adelaide goal less although they did have three set shots on goal which they missed. So at three quarter time we held a five point lead, and with us kicking into the breeze in the last quarter the stage was set for a great finish and that is exactly what we got.

South kicked a goal early to immediately wrest back the lead and for the first 20 minutes the ball was camped in their forward half as we struggled to move the ball effectively from our defence and South added 5 behinds in this period with a few rushed and a couple of shots wide, then at the 20 minute mark South kicked a goal which put them 12 points clear and it seemed like the match was done. Our players don’t give up though and we have seen that in each of our last 3 games and we were able to kick a goal at the 23 minute mark which reduced the margin to 6 points and then we had the last 2 shots on goal of the game in the last 3 minutes but we fell just 4 points short and the Panthers held on for a deserved victory.

Lachie Jones was a very good defender and had a good duel with one of South’s key forwards, Lochie Hoile did some good work in the midfield and as a defender, Luke Barnett was another who was strong in and around the contest, Jamie Coff and Josh Morris were dangerous forwards all day, and Zac Phillips was again impressive in ruck again against a very good opponent.

We are looking forward to this week’s challenge on Saturday against Central Districts at Peter Motley Oval from 1pm.

Shane Reardon
Head Coach

Eagles 11.9 (75) def by Central District 15.8 (98)
Goal Scorers: Petrenko 2, Hayes J 2, Moore 2, Hayes N, Hall, Guilhaus, Poole, Mead
Best Players: Poole, Hayes J, Lonergan, Foote, Sinor

Sunday quickly become a challenging day with a pre game injury, a first quarter injury and a disappointing 2nd half of football. The day started with James Boyd slipping in the indoor warm up 10 minutes prior to the bounce. This sent our medical team in to overdrive and some players could sense a level of disruption prior to the bounce with James being in medical hands. James was declared fit to play but carried a high level of soreness during the first half. Unfortunately James had a secondary injury just after half time which ended his day. Chris Hall injured his leg in the first quarter and was also finished for the day.

Early in the game both sides were focused on winning the contested ball. We had control of this and that assisted us taking the lead during the 1st and 2nd quarters. There were some early signs during the first half creeping into the game that I wasn’t comfortable with, even though we’d applied a number of goals.

After half time the 3rd quarter was disappointing to watch, several opposition goals sailed through with little defensive pressure applied. This was something we’d not seen in our past 7 weeks of football. Centrals took back control of the contested ball which we know is there strength and set themselves up to win the game.

Early in the 4th we looked like delivering another strong last quarter performance which has been a strength over the season winning 10 last quarters out of 14. Guilhaus started us off with a 45m set shot and Nick Moore followed up with a 2nd quick goal to nearly level the score. After this point Centrals ran over us in the last quarter and collected the win.

This loss has been tough to swallow with every game being so vital to the group. The playing group has been in a space of pressure from very early in the season due to a challenging start to the year. Their maturity to absorb pressure and deliver under those circumstances over a large period of time shows fantastic signs of growth.

There’s been some valuable lessons learnt with this loss.

Angus Poole and Jack Hayes had terrific games and fought to the very end.

This week we play Sturt and are very focused to fix our mistakes from round 14. We’d love to have the support of our Eagles family this week at home.

Sam Lonergan
Head Coach

Eagles 12.17 (89) def Central District 7.3 (45)
Goal Scorers: Coff 3, Pickett 2, Lewis 2, Weidemann, Morgan, Morris, Schoenberg, McNeil
Best Players: Rowland, Lewis, West, Comitogianni, Coff

The challenge for the group was to back up the good habits we produced the previous week to ensure we gave ourselves an opportunity. The playing group each had a clear focus on what they wanted to achieve for the day which gave them some clear direction individually.

I felt we came out with the right intent just as the previous week but were unable to get the score on the board in the first term. Central were dropping numbers back behind the footy and we lacked a little bit of composure to find the right target.

Our good work around the football continued in the second quarter where our ruckman gave us first use and we were able to play the majority of the quarter inside our 50m arc. This allowed us to have 9 scoring shots to 1 for the quarter and take in a valuable 26 point half time lead.

Unfortunately, in the third quarter we were not able to maintain our defensive structure and got a little ahead of ourselves to opposition a chance to win.

Our standards had not been met and the group at 3 quarter time was motivated to finish off their work. We got back to that ferocious hunt on the football as well as some very smart ball use to run out 49 point victors to a side we had lost twice to this year.

The destiny of this group’s year is in our hands now and we need to strive to bring a ferocious hunt at the contest this week against an inform Sturt side.

Vinnie Rugolo
Head Coach

Eagles 18.15 (123) def Central District 1.8 (14)
Goal Scorers: Pearce 4, Frederick 2, Schofield 2, Scott 2, Dawkins 2, Williams, Poulter, Beecken, Smith, Kasianowicz, Hoile
Best Players: Jones, Hoile, Poulter, Dawkins, Lock, Schofield

The Under 18s had a good win against Central Districts on Saturday at Peter Motley Oval, snapping our 2 match losing streak. The win was set up with a strong opening quarter where, kicking with the aid of a very strong breeze, we kicked 6 goals 6 points and held Centrals scoreless. We continued on with our attack on the ball in the second quarter when Centrals had the wind and managed to outscore them by 8 points to take a commanding lead into half time of 50 points and from there we were able to run out strong winners.

It was a real team effort and we had many good players – Lachie Jones continued his impressive form with a commanding display as a key defender this week, Lochie Hoile is another who has continued his strong form in the midfield and he was well supported in that midfield by Aidan Lock and Taj Schofield. Caleb Poulter made a welcome return to the team from State Under 16 duties (along with Henry Smith) and was a very good contributor and Harry Dawkins was another who played a variety of roles and did well in all of them.

This week we welcomed Jordan Kasianowicz into the team to play his first game after his first half of the year was beset by injuries and Jordan did well kicking a goal and giving us a lot of drive from his wing.

Our next game will be on Sunday at Maughan Thiem KIA Oval kicking off the triple header with a 9.05am start.

Shane Reardon
Coach Under 18s

Eagles 8.13 (61) def Sturt 13.8 (86)
Goal Scorers: Gaffney, Hayes J, Hayes N, Lewis, Petrenko, Redden, Rowe, Sharrod
Best Players: Hayes N, Lewis, West, Hayes J, Goldsworthy

Round 15 saw us make 4 forced changes due to injury from round 14, Hall, Boyd, Guilhaus were all injured and Jackson Mead received a 1 match suspension. This provided opportunity for Jordan West, Jake Westbrook, Sam Rowland & club champion Scott Lewis to return to league football. The team was very focused on the job ahead from early in the week.

We started the first quarter full of intensity laying big tackles and genuine commitment to win the contest. We were able to go inside our forward 50m on 13 occassions and have multiple shots on goal. Our ability to finish off our hard work was well below standard kicking 1 goal and 6 points. 4 out of the 6 points were from with in 30m and should have been finished with a goal. We took a few point leads in to the quarter time break. Jordan West started off very well and immediately had an impact on the game.

The 2nd and 3rd quarter were disappointing as we let the game slip away from us during this period. Frustration crept in and Sturt did what we couldn’t in the 1st quarter and kicked straight at goals. We’d kicked ourselves out of the game with a score of 4.11 to Sturt’s 11.6.

Our 4th quarter we won as we’ve done for most of the season kicking 4 goals to 2. It was too little to late and Sturt finished off winning by 25 points. We were beaten convincingly at stoppages which is the 1st time this season that has happened to us. Best on ground went to Nick Hayes closely followed by Scott Lewis and Jordan West.

Goal kicking has been and issues for majority of the year and the players have been working hard on all versions of goal kicking. Unfortunately we haven’t been able to absorb the game day pressure component which this skill requires. The game in which we’ve won this season our goal kicking has been above 55% and the game lost below 45%. After 15 rounds of football we average the most inside 50’s and we’ve had more shots on goal than any other team in the competition.

Next round we play Port Adelaide at Alberton Oval which is going to be a battle through the midfield with both teams leading the competition in clearances.

The last 2 weeks have been challenging for all and this is the perfect time to support our club on the 11th August at Alberton Oval.

Sam Lonergan
Senior Coach

Eagles 11.5 (71) def by Sturt 11.7 (73)
Goal Scorers: Coff 3, Cook 2, Beecken, Haylock, Lee, Morgan, Morris, Pedler
Best Players: Nason, Comitogianni, Lee, Gaffney C, Miller E

Last time we played Sturt the game was a tight contest all day and we knew that we would need to be strong around the contest to give ourselves the best opportunity for victory.

Unlike many of our games this year we started the game off promisingly jumping out to 7 point quarter time lead due to some very clinical work when we had got the ball inside 50.

The second quarter was a real arm wrestle and went goal for goal with each team having moments throughout the quarter where they controlled the footy but no team able to break the back of the opposition as we went in with a 5 point lead at half time.

For 25 minutes of the third quarter we controlled the quarter stiffling Sturt’s ball movement by not giving them any clear play to take a 18 point lead. Unfortunately a couple of lapses of concentration in the last minute gifted Sturt an easy chance to get back to 12 points at 3 quarter time.

Going into the last quarter the boys had fought their hearts out being a rotation down from the first 5 minutes of the game and with one of the boys playing a role for the team in the entire second half with a broken hand. This took its toll on us in the last 10 minutes as Sturt finished full of run to take the win by 2 points.

This now puts us a game outside of the top 3 with 3 rounds to go and we will be working hard to ensure ourselves a double chance in the finals series.

Vinnie Rugolo
Head Coach

Eagles 17.12 (114) def Sturt 1.6 (12)
Goal Scorers: Williams Z 4, Pearce 3, Frederick 2, Smith H 2, Barnett, Brownlie, Kasianowicz, McNeilly, Poulter, Scott
Best Players: Jones, Carter, Pearce, Hoile, Williams Z, McNeilly

The Under 18s had a good win against Sturt on Sunday, kicking off the triple header. The win was set up with a really strong first half where we showed good pressure and accurate kicking to lead by 54 points at half time. We continued that form through the second half and were able to record a very good victory.

Lachie Jones went into our midfield this week and continues to play good footy finding plenty of the ball, and Lochie Hoile is another who is playing well on the ball with other midfielders Taj Schofield, Michael Frederick and Caleb Poulter all doing well. Our ruckmen Henry Smith and Zac Phillips gave the midfield good supply with their ruck work and Henry kicked 2 goals up forward as well. Dale Pearce and Zane Williams were also good as forwards kicking 3 goals and 4 goals respectively and Miller Carter did a lot of very strong work in our forward line to create opportunities for team mates. Shaun McNeilly played very well in our defence which included drifting forward and kicking his first goal in under 18s.

This week we were able to debut Jase Burgoyne and Jay Watson from our Under 16s and both did well and made good contributions to the win.

We have the bye like everyone else this week and will look forward to taking on second placed West Adelaide after the bye at home on Saturday 10 August.

Shane Reardon
Coach Under 18

Eagles 8.11 (59) def by Port Adelaide 18.14 (122)
Goal Scorers: Hayes 2, Petrnko 2, Rowe 2, Foote, Moore
Best Players: Hayes N, Lonergan, Hayes J, Goldsworthy, Rowe, Petrenko

A challenging day versus a very strong Port Adelaide team.

Condition were mixed with sun, rain and wind this meant we had to adapt to the slight condition changes during the quarter which we didn’t do as well as Port. There were some positive moments even though the scoreboard didn’t suggest it and likewise many disappointing moments.

Tom Schmusch was back for his 2nd game of league football after injuring his shoulder in round 1 during the first quarter of his debut game. Jackson Lee also did not look out of place for his first game this season.

For the second week in a row our first quarter showed positive improvement  which has been a weakness all season. Our appetite to win the contest was great, unfortunately we were unable to capitalise on this when moving the ball forward in to the wind and Port transitioned a few easy goals from our mistakes. This gave the opposition the ideal start to the game as they’d utilised the wind advantage well.

The 2nd,  3rd and 4th quarter the midfield continued to get on top of us with Scott Lycett showing why he’s an AFL premiership ruckman. He finished with 33 hitouts, 7 clearances and 30 disposals. Drew and Trengrove benefited from Lycetts game both finishing with over 30 disposals.

Nick Hayes played a great game and kept fighting until the very end, Jack Hayes stood tall and continued his good season form, Lonergan was our major ball winner on the day with 22 disposals. Petrenko and Rowe finished with 2 goals each.

This loss rules out finals and is very difficult to accept. As a collective we’ve identified some key issues and are very clear on the direction we’re moving in. There’s a level of frustration currently because we’ve experienced some great outcomes this season and have strong belief that we can perform at the level required. This being said consistency is an incredibly important ingredient to reach the ultimate level of success and we’ve not been consistent enough through season 2019.

It was great to see Jimmy Toumpas return via the reserves after a significant stint on the sidelines. Jimmy performed very well and got through the majority of the game with no issues. Unfortunately in the league game Jarred Redden suffered an ankle injury and will miss the final 2 games.

We now move on to our final two matches of the season beginning with Adelaide, our last match at Maughan Thiem Kia Oval for 2019.

Sam Lonergan
Senior Coach
Eagles 14.8 (92) def West Adelaide 6.10 (46)
Goal Scorers: Beecken 2, Frederick 2, Morris 2, Pedler 2, Coff, Cook, Morgan, Redden, Toumpas, Wehr
Best Players: Heinjus, McNeil, Toumpas, Weidemann, Morris, McLeod

It was a bit of a different feel for the reserves on the weekend as we travelled to the opposite direction of the league team to take on West Adelaide at Richmond oval.

With conditions not at the greatest the emphasis was on doing the basics really well and sticking to it for longer. A win would mean we play finals and give us an opportunity for the double chance against a team that was in the 5.

From the opening bounce the boys set their intent scoring the first 3 goals in the first 6 minutes of the game. The forwards were outstanding with their forward pressure setting the tone for the game and our mids giving the forwards some nice movement to take a 20 point lead.

Going against the wind in the second quarter it was really important that our contested ball was there and to the credit of West Adelaide they lifted here and it meant we had to lift our standards which we did well with some nice chains of ball movement to extend our lead.

The third quarter saw our best football played for the year. The hunger of our forwards and mids to keep the ball in our forward half was outstanding. The flow on effect was we were sharp with our possession to have a scoring shot 1 in 6.55 possesion’s.

Finishing off the game with the same standards as the first 3 quarters was important for our group. We knew West being a top 5 side would throw everything at us but we were able to hold West at bay to record a 46 point victory.

Vinne Rugolo
Head Coach

Eagles 13.9 (87) def West Adelaide 8.11 (59)
Goal Scorers: Pearce 3, Williams Z 3, Poulter 2, Barnett, Brownlie, Scott, Smith H, Watson
Best Players: Williams, Jones, Barnett, Poulter, McNeilly, Smith H

The Under 18s had a very good win against second placed West Adelaide on Saturday. As expected it was a tough encounter and winning the toss we kicked with the aid of the breeze and took at 25 point lead into quarter time kicking 5 goals to one goal. With the Bloods kicking with the breeze we were able to defend well and managed to virtually square the quarter with 2 goals each. The third quarter was another contested affair and we kicked 2 goals ourselves and managed to hold Westies goal less and to take a 34 point lead into three quarter time. We played a great last quarter kicking 4 goals 7 points into the wind and restricting West to 3 points to run out 62 point winners.

We had a lot of good players and Zane Williams really led from the front with his contested work in our midfield and kicked 3 goals as well, Lachie Jones was a very good defender and he was well supported in defence by Shaun McNeilly, with both giving us plenty of drive into our forward line, Luke Barnett, Lochie Hoile and Caleb Poulter worked very hard and won plenty of footy in our midfield and Henry Smith did well in ruck giving our mids a good opportunity to get the footy and being creative around the ground. Dale Pearce (3 goals) was a good target in our Forward 50 and Jase Burgoyne playing just his second game of under 18 footy also gave us plenty of run off half back. This week we also debuted Olli Mullins, an under 17 from Moonta in our country zone who played well for us in the recent State Under 17 Championships held in July. Olli kept up his form with a good showing in defence.

This week we turn our attention to Sturt at Peter Motley Oval in the early game and they are coming off a good win against Norwood so it will be another test for us.

Shane Reardon
Coach Under 18s

Eagles 5.10 (40) def Adelaide 4.8 (32)
Goal Scorers: Foote, Hayes N, Lonergan, Rowe, Weidemann
Best Players: Hayes J, Goldsworthy, Sharrad, Petrenko, Thompson

Club champion Scott Lewis announced his retirement last week and sadly played his final game at Oval avenue. With perfect conditions for an inside midfielder (rain and hail) we saw Scott shine for the day. Lewie is an incredible person, his leadership and guidance has been an integral part of our football club for many years. One day I’m sure Scott will be back at the club in other roles but for now we wish Scott, Kate and beautiful daughter Hazel all the very best in their future endevours.

After a disappointing loss last week we faced another AFL aligned side and top 3 team for the 2nd week in a row. I was very pleased with the character of our men, they stood tall in extremely tough conditions and for 4 quarters bodylined the ball winning contested possession and clearances for the day.

Again we were faced with injury early in the game, after losing Jarred Redden last week with an ankle this week we lost Jordan West with a head knock and was ruled out in the 1st quarter with concussion. Jack Hayes took hold of the number 1 ruckman role and excelled with his athleticism around the ground earning him a best on ground performance. Jake Weidemann also was ruled out early in the 3rd with a calf issue.

Having 1 rotation for nearly a half of football versus AFL listed athletes and tough conditions makes this win one of our most enjoyable wins for the year. There were some incredible team bonding moments shared during this game and one game they’ll be able to draw from next season.

Louis Sharrad was fantastic supporting Jack Hayes in the ruck and showed his strong leadership skills throughout the game. Skipper Luke Thompson, Matthew Goldsworthy and Jake Von Bertouch all played their role very well in defence.

Our last game for the year is at Prospect Oval this Saturday at 2:10pm.

Sam Lonergan
Senior Coach

Eagles 8.4 (52) def by Sturt 11.8 (74)
Goal Scorers: Morgan 3, Cook 2, Gaffney C 2, Gaffney J
Best Players: Gaffney C, Cook, Schoenberg, Jones, Gaffney J

As we travelled to Unley Oval to take on Sturt we bought in 2 new players that have both come through Shane Reardon’s fantastic u18 program.

This game was a massive challenge for us as we know Sturt will be there in the pointy end of the season. Sturt play a very disciplined style of football which meant we had to bring our best for the entire match.

The first half was a see sawing battle with the lead changing hands 5 times to leave Sturt with a 10 point lead at the half. Our ability to be able to take the game on at the right time meant we needed to work extra hard in the second half to close that advantage.

Unfortunately a 10 minute lapse in concentration where we allowed Sturt to outwork us at the contest meant that Sturt built up a match winning lead mid way through the third term.

To the credit of the team we fought back to play the better footy of the fourth quarter but were not able to close the gap any further.

This week is a big game for the team at North Adelaide as a win gives us a double chance and a great foundation into the first week of the finals.

Vinnie Rugolo
Reserves Coach

Eagles 11.14 (80) def Sturt 2.2 (14)
Goal Scorers: Williams Z 3, Dawkins 2, Kasianowicz 2, Poulter 2, Jackson, Williams R
Best Players: Barnett, Burgoyne, Williams Z, Ueding, Poulter, Kasianowicz

The Under 18s had a good win against Sturt on Sunday winning by 66 points in tough conditions. We were able to win every quarter with a very good display of contested football, playing
well to the conditions. Another highlight was the players from both sides trying to stay warm when the hail hit at the start of the 3rd quarter!

We had many good players and special mentions should go to Liam Ueding and Ryan Williams, two of our under 16s, who both did a great job rucking against taller opponents and helped us win the clearance battle with their competition and effort. Luke Barnett continued his strong form at the contest with his ball winning and tackling real features of his play. Another Under 16, Jase Burgoyne, gave us plenty of run from defence and used the ball well, Zane Williams was busy around the ground and up forward with 3 goals, Caleb Poulter and Jordan Kasianowicz were also good for us and Shaun McNeilly and Nathan Francis were strong in the key defensive posts.

We finish off our minor round with a game against the Roosters at home on Saturday and it will be a great way to finish the year against a strong opponent.

Shane Reardon
Coach Under 18’s

Eagles 6.16 (52) def Central District 7.3 (45)
Goal Scorers: Morgan 3, Coff, McNeil, E Miller
Best Players: Lee, Schmusch, McNeil, Nason, E Miller, Heinjus

The first semi-final versus Central Districts at Richmond oval was going to be a contest where we needed to be strong and capitalise on opportunities as soon as they presented themselves.

Central Districts jumped out of the gates quick, scoring two goals within the first 5 minutes. But to our team’s credit they were able to control this and even the contest around clearances, and finish the first quarter five points down.

Second quarter saw the team really control the football and capitalise on every opportunity, scoring seven shots to their one and taking a six point lead into half time.

Coming out after the break we were in a similar position to the weekend prior’s game; knowing we needed to stick to the basics which we were able to do and as a result our lead increased to 12 points at the end of three quarter time.

To win the game we needed to continue to drive forward. The first 10 minutes of the last quarter saw the ball inside our forward-50 frequently but we were unable to capitalise, kicking seven straight points. Central Districts was able to kick the last two goals of the game, but in those final five minutes our team showed composure and took control of the ball, and ultimately the game.

We’ve now earned the right to play in the prelim final against Sturt which we are excited about. We have a really clear mindset on what we need to apply to ensure we come away with the win.

Vinnie Rugolo
Head Coach

Eagles 9.10 (64) def by Norwood 13.5 (83)
Goal Scorers: Morgan 3, Pickett 2, Westbrook, McNeil, Coff, Mead
Best Players: J Gaffney, C Gaffney, Wehr, Schoenberg, McNeil, Heinjus

To be playing on Grand Final day at Adelaide Oval is a massive thrill and experience. The learnings for the 21 that hit the field, will hold them in a good position for the rest of their careers as it gives them a understanding of what it takes to be the best.

Unfortunately, we were not good enough on the day against a very sharp Norwood side. We jumped out of the blocks with the first 2 goals of the game but it was our inability to maintain a consistent effort that ultimately meant we would leave too much to do for the last quarter.

The thing that I am proud of this group is the resilience to lose a final and bounce back to make a Grand Final. Things also didn’t look great 10 minutes in the last as Norwood hit a 37-point lead. Instead of going into our shell we showed some real strong body language to play our best football of the day but it was ultimately too little too late.

I would like to thank all our supporters that came on the weekend to support the boys and to all 50 players that played in the reserves team through the year that got us to that final day.

It is now up to these young men to use the burn of a lost Grand Final to drive them to improve as individuals and as a collective. They will go away and have some rest but it is a big preseason for this group ahead as they will all strive to be consistent League footballers.

Vinnie Rugolo
Reserves Head Coach