Depth carryies Woodville-West Torrens Eagles to lofty heights against West Adelaide

WOODVILLE-West Torrens, despite losing big-name players from its grand final team, has called on its remarkable to depth to produce a strong unit — as West Adelaide discovered on Saturday.

Jared Petrenko on the run during the final quarter as the Eagles and Bloods clash at Woodville Oval. Picture: Stephen Laffer

THERE has never been any question as to the depth of quality personnel wearing the Woodville-West Torrens jumper in recent years.

Just how deep the pool is has been evident in the opening two rounds of this season.

Despite losing a raft of big name players from last year's grand final outfit, and having little recruiting, the Eagles have thumped Central District and West Adelaide to start their premiership campaign.

After being challenged in the first quarter by the Bloods, the Eagles blew the game apart in the second term to showcase their talents with a 60-point win.

There are still the class acts such as Jared Petrenko, Luke Thompson, Nick Hayes and Michael Wundke in the Eagles outfit. But the loss of Andrew Ainger has been offset by the stunning form of Hayes' brother Jack.

Paul Stewart has returned from Port Adelaide and he adds even further brilliance to a reliable backline.

Meanwhile, blokes like Chris Hall, Jarred Allmond, Matt Goldsworthy and Angus Poole have established themselves as leading SANFL performers.

West Adelaide’s Brett Turner marks in front of Woodville-West Torrens’ Chris Hall. Picture: Stephen Laffer

“We lost six from the grand final side and are still producing good footy," Eagles coach Michael Godden said. “The kids like Jake Comitogianni, Jack Hayes and Joe Sinor are starting to find their feet.”

The Bloods were able to quell the Eagles’ run in the opening quarter with terrific pressure and they moved the ball with conviction.

However, it all fell apart for the visitors in the second quarter when the Eagles went on the rampage, constantly getting the Bloods on the counter attack with positive, quick movement.

Down back it was Goldworthy, Allmond and Stewart sparking run, Petrenko fed off Borholm's dominance in ruck and Jack Hayes was supreme in the marking contest.

The Eagles rammed home eight goals in a second term Godden described as “as good as you will see from us”.

That decisive ball movement from the Bloods in the first term was shut down by the hardworking Eagles’ defensive actions.

“Westies have structured up differently to last year, they are definitely a harder footy team to play, so I'm happy with that effort,” Godden said.

Bloods coach Mark Mickan lamented a drop in skill execution, pressure and endeavour after quarter time and said the contrast in ball use between the two sides was chalk and cheese.

“To lose the game by 10 goals and the second quarter by eight tells the story of the game a bit,” Mickan said.