Woodville-West Torrens beats Central District by 31 points in SANFL season opener

WOODVILLE-West Torrens' 31-point opening-round win over Central District has been soured by the reporting of Adam Grocke.

WOODVILLE-West Torrens' 31-point opening-round win over Central District has been soured by the reporting of Adam Grocke which threatens to sideline the key forward for a lengthy period.

Grocke had his name taken late in the first quarter at Woodville yesterday after a sickening clash left Bulldogs co-captain Brad Symes with facial fractures and concussion.

Symes, 29, was carried from the field and his future is under a cloud given his history of concussion issues as well as his age.

The incident was the first play after the game had to be halted when Eagles forward Andrew Ainger was flattened in a clash of bodies and then helped from the ground with a shoulder problem and concussion. T

he Bulldogs opened in style with the first two goals. Key forward Bryce Retzlaff nailed a goal with his first kick for the Bulldogs before former South Adelaide spearhead Michael Wundke achieved the same feat for the Eagles to give the home side its first taste of the lead 14 minutes into the contest.

There was no relinquishing of the lead for the Eagles as they went about dismantling the visitors in the second quarter to build a handy 33-point buffer.

Eagles coach Michael Godden had mixed emotions after the contest and said it was not a game he was proud of.

''No disrespect to the Doggies but I thought we were going to play better than that,'' Godden said. ''Whether that is us or the Dogs not letting us.

''The third quarter was very disappointing when Centrals lifted the bar and we were not able to control that. But for the players to arrest that and kick away is a positive for me. It was solid game for us.''

The tackling and harassment of the Eagles, led by captain Luke Powell, in the second term was impressive and created plenty of scoring opportunities for the home side.

The Bulldogs lifted the workrate, however, and attacked the contest with more purpose in the third quarter to close to within five points, only to squander chances with sloppy skills and allow the Eagles to regain the accendency. Former Glenelg small forward Lachlan McGregor bagged six goals in his Eagles debut.

''It was a good effort but we did not get the rewards because of poor ball use,'' Bulldogs coach Roy Laird said. ''From a desperation point of view they were a smidge ahead of us on the day.

''If we were cleaner that gap would not have been what it was at half-time. There were some decent signs but you have to be cleaner at this level.''