SANFL 2006 ROUND 19: STURT
v GLENELG
Double Blues desperate for end of
season
By ROB BIDMEADE
THE end of the season cannot come soon enough for Sturt.
The Double Blues are really struggling to be competitive at the moment
and are reviving memories of the dark days of the late '80s and early '90s when
it had eight consecutive wooden spoons.
The team only has three wins for the season, two of these against
bottom side West, and has had many massive defeats.
The latest of many Sturt thrashings was a 98-point drubbing by Glenelg
at Unley Oval last Saturday. This followed a 119-point thrashing by the Eagles
and a 106-point loss against Central.
The Double Blues have the low percentage of 39.71 and have had a
staggering 2124 points scored against them this season.
This is worse than the 1936 points scored against bottom team West, which has had only one win for the season.
The loss against Glenelg shows how much the fortunes
of the two clubs have changed this season.
The Tigers are now sitting in third position with 10 wins and seven
losses for the season and look set to play in their first major round for some
time.
The Double Blues had beaten Glenelg in the previous seven games and the
Tigers' previous victory was in round 10 of 2003 at Unley.
Sturt is in danger of finishing bottom because it meets South at Unley,
Port at Alberton,
The Double Blues have now lost eight of their past 10 games in a dismal
performance.
The tone for last Saturday's big defeat was set in the opening term
when Glenelg poured on nine goals to one, for a match-winning 49-point lead at
the first change.
Sturt had its most productive quarter in the second term when it scored
four goals to three, to trail by 47 points at the long break.
The Double Blues were inept in the second half as the Tigers scored 14
goals to six, for a percentage-boosting victory.
There were only a few positives for Sturt in last Saturday's game but
the form of 18-year-old rover/forward Tom Hurley, who is sure to attract
attention from AFL clubs, was a highlight.
Hurley was released onto the ball for most of the game against Glenelg
and he had 15 kicks and 11 handpasses in a promising display.
Other highlights for Sturt, which lacked discipline, cohesion and
confidence against Glenelg, were the performances of forwards Brant Chambers
and Luke Button.
Chambers kicked four goals for the game to take his tally to 58, eight
behind Mark Passador of the Eagles in the race for
the Ken Farmer Medal as the leading goalkicker.
In only his fourth league game, Button, 20, looks a player of the
future and he scored three goals to support Chambers.
The next coach for Sturt, after the decision by Brenton
Phillips to stand down at the end of the season, faces a challenging task to
revive the fortunes of the ailing club.
SCORES: Glenelg 9.2 12.8 19.12 26.17 (173)
defeated Sturt 1.1 5.3 8.7 11.9 (75).
BEST: Glenelg - Backwell,
McConnell, Mitchell, Duldig, Kirkby,
Allen, Gibbs,
GOALS: Glenelg - Duldig,
Kirkby 5, McConnell, Douglas, Graham 2, Kirk, Smith, Backwell, Gibbs, Allen, Yeomans, Willits, Mitchell, Hinge, Ruwoldt; Sturt -
Chambers 4, Button 3, Davies, Hurley, McLeay, Taylor.