Three wins out of three at Alberton last Sunday.
I’ve written about Greg Rowe before and the Bloodhound noted one constant factor in our Reserves recent performances. In a good win, Greg Rowe was best on ground. In a bad loss, Greg Rowe was best on ground. It’s been a hard road back after his knee reconstruction, but he’s had intermittent appearances in our senior side since his return. Parts of his game have needed work and he’s been returned to the Reserves to get them right. The part of his game that didn’t need work was his attitude and his hunger for the footy.
Greg Rowe forced the selectors to reinstate him in the league team for the Port game and your Bloodhound was glad he did. He was named our best at presentations, but that honour could also have gone to several players who had stood up for the jumper that day. He was comfortably in my best just for doing what he always does – bringing the right attitude to the game, putting his head over the footy and giving his all for the team.
Your Bloodhound isn’t the only observer who notes how players react to selection decisions. Our Reserves performance last Sunday showed the effect of reacting the right way and those players who did so grew taller.
As a footnote, I was pleased and interested to read Port coach, Tony Bamford’s after-game comments. “I love the way Greg Rowe plays for Westies. He’s no fuss, gets inside and works hard.”
In our league win, Greg wasn’t alone in having a story to tell. We all saw Ryan Willits take the responsibility of rucking against two experienced and talented opposition ruckmen. He stood up to that responsibility and stood up to the extreme pressure of kicking a game-defining shot for goal in the dying moments.
These successes don’t just happen. There was a lot of hard work and correct attitude behind that shot for goal.
I used to be guilty of judging footballers too early in their careers, I still am sometimes, but football has a habit of rewarding patience, perseverance and hard work. There’s nothing better for any of us than being proved wrong by a West Adelaide footballer.
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Greg Rowe replaced an unlucky Aaron Fielke in our team. Aaron was named best for our Reserves, a game I enjoyed immensely. There were so many individual players knocking down the door to senior selection.
As individuals, they all enhanced their selection claims. As a group, they enhanced the quality of our squad and that was what pleased me most.
Your Bloodhound thought our Reserves team was close to a perfect mix. As well as the more experienced players, I enjoyed watching several developing players continue to make the transition to senior football.
I have to say, however, that I was also keenly looking forward to seeing some of our emerging Under 18 talent in action at Reserves level and I wasn’t at all disappointed. Dylan Ribbons and Nathan Ahmat-Watkins looked at home, Luke Davis showed why he’ll have an AFL future and the even younger Drew Gallard showed plenty of pace on a wing.
Without those players, our Greg Mellor’s Under 18’s still found enough to defeat the top team. With those players, the Reserves also won.
I’ve talked about building a foundation for success. Your Bloodhound checked the foundations last Sunday and liked what I saw.
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You can sometimes measure the feeling in a club by the less obvious things. After our gutsy win on Sunday, the Bloodhound looked around the rooms. Power-listed players Matthew Lobbe and Michael Pettigrew were happy onlookers and former Club Captain and 150 game player, Ed Richardson was also there from his home in country Victoria. The Bloodhound was also pleased to catch up with Tim Symes at the game. Ed and Tim have contributed so much to West Adelaide and it was great to see them back as part of the family.
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Are we playing an attractive brand of footy? There’s been plenty of debate about this topic.
It’s an important question, as it’s vital we do, so that we draw healthy crowds.
Well, your Bloodhound is happy with the way we’re playing, but I’ve always been a bit more patient than most and I’m sure I can see where we’re heading. Getting back an injured player or two will help and as our structures become more second-nature to our players, the goals will come.
Right now, we’re in the five, eyeing the top three, our Reserves and 18’s are top three and once again we drew the biggest crowd of the round.
We’re not kicking enough goals, but we’re kicking more than our opposition and we’re winning. We’re improving in so many aspects of the game and we’re starting to win the close ones. Statistically, we’re also improving in so many areas.
Somehow, I suspect our footy is just going to keep getting more attractive.