SANFL: West Adelaide flog Sturt at Richmond

WEST Adelaide moved to second on the SANFL ladder and placed itself perfectly for a strong run at September on the other side of its upcoming bye when it blew Sturt away at Richmond Saturday.

WEST Adelaide moved to second on the SANFL ladder and placed itself perfectly for a strong run at September on the other side of its upcoming bye when it blew Sturt away at Richmond Saturday.

Entering the final term, the scoreboard might have suggested this match was up for grabs, with Sturt trailing by just 20 points, but that belied the Bloods' dominance.

The 58 point full-time margin was a better reflection of the contest as West finally got reward for its strong work rate with an eight goal to two final term.

West had nine of the top 10 possession winners on the ground, gathered 134 more disposals and 23 more clearances than the Double Blues, as their deep midfield simply overwhelmed Sturt.

“From quarter-time onwards they outworked inside the contest, and out ran us on the outside,’’ Sturt coach Seamus Maloney conceded.

“They used the ball better and were the better side today by quite a bit.

“It’s disappointing because we came here today pretty confident that we could match them.”

Sturt’s season is now officially over and Maloney signalled he may give some opportunities to younger players in the closing weeks of the season.

But the mood is very much one of optimism at Richmond, where Mark Mickan’s side kicked 14 goals or more for the seventh time this season, despite a heavy oval and occasional light rain.

The depth of West’s midfield was on display with Chris Schmidt, Taite, Silverlock, Jason Porplyzia and young gun Will Snelling all prolific.

Up forward unlikely duo Aaron Fielke (four goals) and Shannon Green (three goals) continue to lead an unpredictable attack which had a spread of 10 goal kickers.

After its rest next weekend, West faces top five sides South Adelaide, Norwood and Port Adelaide on a run into the finals, which will test its credentials. Eight of the Bloods' 10 wins to date have come against opposition currently outside the top five.

“The bye has certainly come at the right time because like all teams you get sore guys at this time of the year,’’ Mickan said.

“We think playing three really good sides in the last three games is a great preparation (for finals) ...

“I thought after quarter time we were much better with our ball use. I thought our clearance work was good and we held our structure quite well,” he said.

WEST 2.2 6.7 9.11 17.14 (116)

STURT 4.1 5.3 7.3 9.4 (58)

GOALS

West: Fielke 4, Green 3, Middleton, Beech 2, Hardy, Schiller, Stevens, Silverlock, Porplyzia, Haysman.

Sturt: Penfold, Smith 2, Calabrese, Beard, Crocker, Hone, Evans.

BEST — West: Schmidt, Porplyzia, Silverlock, Fielke, Beech, Wasley-Black, Tuck, Snelling. Sturt: Calabrese, Coad, Bartlett, F. Evans.

INJURIES — Sturt: Kurtze (hip) UMPIRES: Bau, Haussen, Burke