North v Eagles at Prospect - Saturday

North are on the board at last, but not overly convincing.

The Eagles just have to win this or they're in huge trouble.

Because of that, perhaps the Eagles at Prospect?

North by 2-3 goals.

Game being televised on ABC TV

i presume Grocke's back & if Parry & Powell play as well that'll be enough for Wwt to win, they were very brave last week & that effort would be enough for them to win comfortably

Grocke will resume from his suspension, Parry still has an infected elbow so would have to pass a fitness test to play and Luke Powell will be out for up to 6 weeks with a knee injury.

Let's go Eagles.

If the Eagles don't win on Saturday (with Centrals on Wednesday), we should be singing "Man the Life Boats... Man the Life Boats"

The Eagles look in serious trouble. Injuries and poor form are taking their toll. It is the ideal opportunity for the Roosters to take the initiative on their home deck, and get their season on a more even keel. A win will bring them into the field, and boost the confidence that was lacking in the Glenelg game. A loss will remove all the good work they did last Friday night, where they fought hard, showed some spirit and came back after the Bloods took the lead. In fact, if they can't beat the Eagles under current circumstances, their season is not looking promising. However, the Eagles will not lie down, and with the likely return of Parry, they have a tough key player to start them up, and Grocke as a go to forward. Whether they have some midfielders who can get the ball from the stoppages is another matter. North's midfielders looked pretty good on Friday, with Thring, Thiele, Clinch and Delvins showing a new toughness, and with Allan and Bennett also driving the ship (along with Wright who may be recalled to the Crows), there is plenty in the tank. North's defence looked much more solid on Friday, apart from a purple patch of Fisher, and if the forwards can fire, they can kick a winning score, as long as they don't think the game is won before they run onto the oval. North by 20 points.

Eagles have to bounce back soon, lets hope and pray it's not this bloody week !

Eagles team:

FF Hall Grocke Toumpas

HF Lewis Staple Rae

C Sumner Shirley Rowntree

HB Jarrad Thompson McKenzie

FB Raymond Culley Kane

Ruck Grieger Cicolella Goldsworthy

Interchange Lindsay Day Ellis-Yolmen
Fairclough Joyce

Ins Grocke Toumpas Ellis-Yolmen
Fairclough Joyce Lindsay
Outs Heinjus (omit.) Powell (Knee) Giuffreda (Shoulder)
Knights (Crows)

North team:


7 Michael Clinch 48 Johnny Boras 18 Daniel Currie
44 Andrew Moore 2 Clint Alleway 42 Cohen Thiele
32 Leigh Ryswyk 16 James Allan 14 George Thring
33 Mitch Clisby 23 Lewis Johnston 10 Luke Ivens
37 Greg Gallman 39 Todd Miles 13 Kriston Thompson

Ruck
36 James Craig
8 Tim Delvins
1 James Bennett

Interchange
28 Dale Armstrong
45 Jake Keller
25 Nathan Blee

In
28 Dale Armstrong
44 Andrew Moore

Out
3 Matt Wright (Crows)
38 Aaron Young (Power)

The Roosters should have found some pride and confidence last week, but I'm expecting the Eagles
to start flexing some muscle soon and unfortunately for North, I reckon it’ll be this week.

Yes, if the Eagles can't get the points this week, they're in for a very long season. I think Eagles by 10 points.

1/4 time reserves NA 5-2 WWT 0-0

Half time NA 9-5 WWT 1-1

3/4 time NA 11-7 WWT 4-2

Final Prospect NA 17-7 WWT 5-5

That's one hell of a hangover at WWT...

North were very good today, but it has to be said that North players were allowed way too much space, all over the ground. Just like in the Norwood game I thought the Eagles simply didn't work anywhere near hard enough for the entire game. It will be interesting to see how Godden lifts his team as the season progresses.

I saw one of my pet hates in contemporary football this afternoon. I won't name the Eagles player, but he was inside 50, running towards the ball and had he dived, he would have marked the ball and had a shot on goal. However, he elected to allow the ball to bounce so he could run onto it and kick a running goal. The ball bounced away from him and out of bounds.

A lot of lazy efforts today, and Godden described the first quarter as their worst for the year. North had too many contributors prepared to run and make space for themselves. There were also a couple of players more interested in winning frees than winning the hard ball.

Allan found plenty of the ball, as did Thring, Ryzwyk was very good and kicked 4 goals. I was particularly impressed by Bennett and Young, and big fella Boras who provided a target up forward with 5 goals.

That is the North I've been expecting to see. God only knows where they were in the first 2 games against South and Glenelg. A definite finals chance.

Well said AH. Jimmy notched up over 40 touches even though he was scragged by 3 players all day at the stoppages and was tagged by Shirley. Thring, Thiele and Bennett all had good days and used the footy well. Miles kept Grocke quiet and most of Grocke's possessions came when he ran way up the ground. Gallman played a stopping role on Lewis and did the job to perfection. North's defence held firm, with Johnston, Ivens, Clisby and Blee giving good support, and Ryswyk ran rampant for his 4 goals. Boras provided a target and kicked 5. The Eagles might be the "easy beats" of the competition at the moment, but North did come to play, and certainly didn't have that mentality of having won the game before the entered the oval as they seem to have done in the past. The Eagles really didn't have much going for them, and their skills at times were woeful, which were often illustrated by their kicking for goal. If the Roosters can play that footy consistently, they will worry some sides, and with Glenelg, Sturt and Port losing, there are plenty of openings.

The good news... Eagles are only 2 games out the five.
The bad news... they (we) haven't looked like winning a game yet!!

That was a miserable day @ Prospect, in more ways than one

Like what North have done with their refurbishment of the Old Stand.

Not much to talk about, in terms of Eagles performance - terrible.
Not a single winner on the ground IMO.

In keeping with the Centenary Year of Titanic...
"Man the life boats, Man the life boats"

I won't write us off yet (from making the finals) but a LONG WAY from even being competitive, let alone a finals contender @ this stage.

Very disappointing

Great Cock's today !

Margin was only 13 goals in the wet, lucky it was't dry

Hope it's wet next week too against the legs

Really, really surprising to see just how far Woodville/West Torrens are off the pace at the moment. It's hard to pinpoint what the issue may be for a team that is missing Craig Parry and Luke Powell primarily from their best 21, but not a heap of others that would have such a massive impact as this.

This takes nothing away from North Adelaide, who were devastating on the day and executed the skills perfectly in the conditions. 44 possessions for James Allan summed it up, particularly after only five disposals in the opening term, but thought James Bennett was outstanding for them all day. Good to see Boras's confidence right up with five majors, but they had winners across all lines and played a very attractive brand of football that fully deserved the result.

Certainly the wettest day of SANFL this season, I only dried out late last night.

Thought Miles was excellent for North. Had Grocke in his pocket all day and didn't he enjoy kicking that goal.
Bennett was very good as was Alleway and Boras up forward. Allers dropped a couple he should have held but was still too much for his marker.

As for WWT, they looked as interested as North did against the Bays two weeks ago