Round 3 2006
From Snoutslouts
ROUND 3
CENTRAL District has lost its past two games, including Saturday's 95-point thrashing at the hands of Glenelg, which has brought into question the club's depth - one of its attributes over the past six seasons.
The loss was the club's worse since the Bays defeated the Bulldogs by 125 points in 1992, at Adelaide Oval, the same venue as the weekend.
Through the 21st century, Central is yet to lose by 100-plus points, while
claiming 12 victories by three figures.
"Our depth has been questioned, as players coming up haven't the experience, skill-wise and work-rate-wise, Central coach Roy Laird said.
"The fact is, it's not just a question of depth, which is a concern.
"Over the next two to three weeks we will have (Luke) McCabe, (Brad) Currie, Stuart Cochrane, (Daniel) Schell, and (Nathan) Steinberner coming back, which will help."
But the Bulldogs are faced with a mammoth task, playing two games in five days - the Eagles next Tuesday followed by a Saturday night game at Elizabeth against West Adelaide.
The last time Central played two games so close together was in 2001, when it faced Glenelg on April 21 on the Saturday and the Eagles the following Wednesday on April 25, the Bulldogs winning both contests.
Laird said he wasn't too concerned with the short rest.
"We will make sure the players have time to recover, and we will only train lightly, he said.
"Firstly though I just want to worry about this week's game against the Eagles."
Central has a relatively inexperienced line-up, with eight players - Leigh Westhoff, Chad O'Sullivan, Scott Dutschke, Alan Obst, Adrian Wilson, Stephen Brooks, Chad Norsworthy and Reece Francis - with single digit SANFL games experience, although Wilson and O'Sullivan have played in the VFL.
Against Glenelg that inexperience was exposed, and the Tigers beat the Dogs at their own game, running in numbers and gang tackling, playing as it wanted, while Central had little spark in its game plan.
Perhaps the only redeeming feature for the Bulldogs was their effort to match Glenelg in the last quarter, although the game had been shot, and at least resisted the Tigers' push to win by 100 points.
On form Central will be in trouble against the Eagles in the Anzac Day clash at Adelaide Oval, but the Dogs have shown over the years to be a resilient club, and when their backs were against the wall last season, they came back and put together some good football to get back on track.
SCORES: Glenelg 22.16 (148) d Central District 7.11 (53)
BEST: Glenelg - Backwell, Fisher, Sherwood, Willits, McConnell, Mitchell, Mules, Panozzo, Douglas; Central District - Slade, Symes Thomas.
GOALS: Glenelg - Rogers 5, McConnell 3, Mitchell 2, Duldig 2, Logan 2, Douglas 2, Fisher 2, Ruwoldt 2, Backwell, Willits, Moore; Central District - Slade 2, Ware 2, Westhoff, Scoullar, O'Sullivan.
See also: 2006
