Eagles prepare to take on Sturt in SANFL preliminary final

Woodville-West Torrens coach Michael Godden and his players hope honest chat after poor second semi-final effort will spark a response against Sturt in the SANFL preliminary final.

Woodville-West Torrens coach Michael Godden. Picture: AAP Image/Matt Loxton

WOODVILLE-West Torrens has kicked off preparations for the preliminary final clash against Sturt at Adelaide Oval on Sunday with a meeting loaded with home truths on Monday night.

In the wake of the poor performance against Port Adelaide in the second semi-final on Sunday, the players and coaching staff had 60-minutes of “really honest conversations” as well as vision.

Eagles coach Michael Godden said every team had a way they wanted to play and his side’s first quarter, when they trailed by 35 points, was as bad has it has performed in the past 12 months.

“It was not so much the way we played, but the way we set up and the type of things we want to achieve,” Godden said. “The players did not execute it, not even close to the mark. After quarter-time we executed much closer to what we want, but the damage has been done. The players know what they have to do this week.”

Godden could not care less if people are prepared to write the Eagles off for the flag after the 33-point loss to Port.

As for fear of dropping out of the title race in straight sets, he said that did not enter anyone’s mind at the club.

“People wrote us off at the start of the year when we lost half our team, yet we have ended up being consistent,” Godden said.

The Double Blues also watched vision of their first semi-final victory over Central District and coach Marty Mattner described the effort as very good.

He said there were still aspects needing improvement, but he praised the effort, intensity and structures. The Double Blues side will be finalised tomorrow although the same 21 is expected to be retained.

“We’ll see how everyone pulls up after the main (training) session,” Mattner said.