Magarey Medallist Joel Cross sparks South Adelaide to SANFL win over Woodville-West Torrens
BRILLIANT midfielder Joel Cross was back to his best form to lead South Adelaide to victory over Woodville-West Torrens and stay alive in the race for the finals.
Dual Magarey Medallist Joel Cross admits he had his concerns when Woodville-West Torrens midfielder Jared Petrenko nailed the opening goal of the second quarter in the Noarlunga clash on Saturday.
The Panthers had “steadied the ship” after the Eagles opening barrage — four goals in the first eight minutes — so to concede the Petrenko goal when the home side had the strong wind at its back put it in a precarious position.
Cross cites increased confidence as a major influence for the rest of the game when the Panthers went on the rampage with a stunning performance to triumph by 83 points and stay in the race for the finals.
“It is just a case of confidence, we have not been playing with a lot of confidence,” Cross said. “Buddha (coach Garry Hocking) has been trying to instil us with belief for a period now and we have just not clicked.
“But everything came together on the weekend. Buddha has been trying everything to get us up and about and he has done amazing work.
“The Eagles’ first four games came really quickly and then we steadied the ship so we were not too concerned going into quarter-time because it could have been a lot worse.”
Cross was back to his Magarey Medal form, having a massive impact on the ball and grabbing some strong marks to be named The Advertiser SANFL Player of the Week. He noted the form of Codey Ellison, Abe Davis and Matthew Raitt, claiming they produced their best games in the navy jumper to have crucial roles in the win.
“The body is holding up well and I got an early tackle, bump which made me feel pretty good, got the adrenaline pumping,” Cross said.