West Adelaide's midfield bulk too much for Sturt

WEST Adelaide's muscled up midfield proved that size matters in a 56-point win against Sturt on Saturday.

WEST Adelaide's muscled up midfield proved that size matters in a 56-point win against Sturt on Saturday.

In a contest which was reduced to an ongoing series of ball-ups because of the wintry conditions, Bloods midfielders Travis Tuck (94kg), Chris Schmidt (87kg) and Ben Macreadie (85kg) had their way with the young Double Blues onballers.

They led West to a 51-32 edge in clearances - allowing the Bloods to create enough opportunities in attack to kick a winning score.

"Unfortunately we're not really built for these conditions," Sturt coach Seamus Maloney said. "We're a bit light and it doesn't totally suit us. For us to have any chance we were going to have to break even clearances and get enough ball forward."

Sturt has made inroads this season but showed a fortnight earlier in a similar defeat against Norwood it doesn't have the strength to take on the big boys yet.

"When you get smashed in the clearances it's hard work."

"It's about holding your nerve as much as anything and playing the percentages," Maloney said. "We weren't able to do it today."

The Bloods controlled the game from the outset but struggled with accuracy in the first half. In between Jon Beech's opener at the two-minute mark of the first term and Tyson Slattery's set shot 19 minutes into the second, West scored 10 consecutive behinds.

Sturt wasn't any better, opening with six straight behinds before Luke Panozzo took advantage of a 50m penalty to nail his side's first major just before half-time.

But any hopes of a third quarter comeback evaporated as the Bloods finally found a way to score to the northern end.

Jason Porplyzia, back from the Crows, became heavily involved and Aaron Fielke started having an impact in attack.

The Double Blues only managed one more for the rest of the game and in a sign of West's dominance it also came after a 50m penalty took them within range of goal.

"In some ways we're a really good wet weather team - because of our genuine hardness," Bloods coach Andrew Collins said.

"Central District gave us a lesson in wet weather footy a few weeks ago and we've been a lot better since."

West was one short on the bench for most of the game because Logan Hill left the field after just eight minutes with an AC joint injury. He's hopeful of returning for the final game of the minor round..

West has a short turnaround to Tuesday night's Foxtel Cup Grand Final against East Fremantle.

Collins has already identified two players who pulled up sore from Saturday's game and will likely be held out of the game.

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