Central District's new breed show promising signs in win over South

CENTRAL District's new breed is showing signs of the legacy left by the old guard.

CENTRAL V SOUTH

CENTRAL District's new breed is showing signs of the legacy left by the old guard.

Without injured captain Paul Thomas to set the tone on Saturday, the Bulldogs' youngsters won a physical, wet-weather contest against South Adelaide at Elizabeth which kept the side in the top five.

While the experienced midfield of Ian Callinan, James Boyd and Brayden O'Hara broke even with South Adelaide, it was the lesser names who stepped up to deliver the 24-point win.

Jarrod Schiller tagged danger man Nick Liddle out of the game, Corey Reichert dominated Ken Farmer Medallist Michael Wundke and provided run off half-back, Jackson Potter made an impressive debut, Sam Colquhoun showed why he's on an AFL list and Josh Glenn kicked two first-quarter goals.

Coach Roy Laird said the emergence of youth was encouraging for the club's future.

"His competitiveness is very good Potts (Jackson Potter), and Josh's (Glenn) ball use has been really good all year," Laird said.

"He kicked a couple of goals early on which showed a good skill level and he's competitive and fit.

"(Sam) Colquhoun we've seen this year, he's a hard worker, and (Josh) Waldhuter is playing in the early stages (of his career) so we've been rapt with their efforts for the year.

"I don't know what (Nick) Liddle had in the second, but (Jarrod) Schiller controlled him to half-time. Schiller is a dogged competitor."

The Bulldogs won by four goals but were made to fight all the way as South Adelaide finished the game with more disposals and inside-50s.

Justin Hardy kicked two goals in a five-minute burst in the second term to establish a lead the Panthers were never able to reel back in.

Laird is hard to please at the best of times and although Central got the points on the weekend he said there was plenty of room for improvement.

"We want a hard attack on the ball and a hard attack on the opposition and I don't think we were good enough in either area," he said.

The Bulldogs have a 7-6 record and are locked in a fight to play finals.

They face two tough games against the Eagles and North Adelaide in the next three weeks.