South Adelaide pursues training run at Adelaide Oval in preparation for battle against Port Adelaide
SOUTH Adelaide has approached the SANFL is a bid to have a rare training session at Adelaide Oval on Friday night.
SOUTH Adelaide has approached the SANFL is a bid to have a rare training session at Adelaide Oval on Friday night.
The Panthers are keen to have another run at the stadium in preparation for the preliminary final clash against Port Adelaide on Sunday.
Their preferred option was to have a workout at the venue tomorrow night but the ground is unavailable because of the Power training session followed by the Magpies.
“We can’t train there on Wednesday night so we’ve put in a request for Friday night,’’ Panthers coach Bradley Gotch said.
The Panthers had their first workout at the Oval in the lead up to their elimination final victory over Woodville-West Torrens and they looked at ease on the ground when a 68-point winner of Sturt in the first semi-final.
Gotch praised his players for their mindset since the commanding win over the Double Blues. After a recovery session on Sunday morning, the players had another session with Leading Teams’ Daniel Healy on Monday night.
“We talked about where we are at, how far we have come and the expectations going into this week,’’ Gotch said.
“It was handy reinforcement of how we are going.’’
Port Adelaide coach Garry Hocking faces a tiring weekend, travelling to Perth for the Power’s battle against Fremantle on Saturday night as an assistant before rushing back to Adelaide for the SANFL confrontation with the Panthers.
He said there was absolutely no doubt about his presence at the Adelaide contest and is adamant there would be no compromise in the Magpies’ preparation.
“It has not been an issue all year,’’ Hocking said.
“It is part of the job I do and I’m comfortable with that.
“I’ve had to deal with it all year and all the coaches and players will be ready to go for Sunday.’’
The Panthers are set to retain the same 21 who conquered the Double Blues while the Magpies must wait on a fitness test for Robert Young.
The youngster was taken to hospital on Saturday night following the second semi-final loss to Norwood to have a dislocated finger put back into place. There is no fracture in the finger and the club is hopeful he will be available.