An impressive performance by the SUNS’ younger players in Thursday’s NAB2 game has set the scene for a gripping match at Metricon Stadium against the Adelaide Crows on March 11.
After a relentless pre-season, which saw the vast majority of players complete the entire training regime, the SUNS are showing a new depth of talent, evident in their perseverance against West Coast.
Aaron Hall produced a standout performance in NAB2, registering a game-high 16 tackles, double that of any Eagle, and become only the third player to achieve more than 10 tackles in a NAB game since 2010.
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Speaking with SUNS TV post-match, Hall was confident the SUNS would have their best talent on show for NAB3.
“Adelaide are a quality outfit. I think most teams in the round three of the NAB are going to play their round one side, so we will probably have our best available side out on the park and we will look to get a win and go into the season with a bit of momentum and a bit of confidence,” he said.
On paper West Coast greatly outranked the SUNS in last night’s game, with 15 of their 2015 grand final side taking the field. And despite leading the disposal and inside 50s counts, the relentless pressure by the young SUNS outfit kept the Eagles trailing on the scoreboard until the dying seconds of the game.
“Just goes to show how good our pre-season has actually been. West Coast had a quality side in today, we all know last year they were grand finalists and we respect them highly. And to only get done by three points, we’ll take a lot of positives out of that,” said Hall.
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“We thought that the team really cracked in today and had really good effort. The intent around the contest, and a few guys individually, were really good.
“A couple of young backs back in defence when the heat was on, I thought that they really withstood that pressure. Unfortunately we couldn’t get away with the win but I think we’ll take a lot more out of that than we probably thought we would.”
