FootyGoss :: All the Latest AFL and WAFL Breaking News

Sharks blood youth

By Mr Dandalooa

East Fremantle Football Club is on a five game losing street as further injuries add to coach Shane Woewodin’s woes.

The Sharks are using the opportunity to blood its youth, but in doing so has seen the club slip from being top of the WAFL ladder after four straight victories at the start of the season to plummeting just one game off the bottom with five straight losses.

In Saturday’s loss to Subiaco, Woewodin was missing some key players, noticeably Courtney Johns, Brent Staker, Chris Hall and Ryley Dunn, while Eagles duo Matt Spangher and Josh Kennedy still not available to play.

Courtney Johns, Daniel Dalby, Jamie McNamara, Brent Staker, Chris Hall and Ryley Dunn are still out injured, captain Kasey Green has only just come back and Andrew McCarrey missed Saturday’s loss to Subiaco for personal reasons.

Woewodin has smartly blooded a bevy of young up-and-comers, all the while not making any excuses for the Sharks’ recent poor form.

The coach said that while its tough when you have an injury-laden team, he never uses “kids or injuries” as an excuse.

Woewodin said despite consecutive losses and a slippery slide down the WAFL ladder, he considered the team had kept a good attitude and stuck to the game plan, despite often losing players early in the game and affecting structures.

The blooding of youth has worked in East Fremantle’s favour with the likes of Brad Sheppard, Kane Lucas and David Swallow getting opportunities, while Kym Monteath and Kyle Hardingham have stepped up at times.

Coming off a year to forget last season, Woewodin is poised to spend this week in Melbourne to work with an AFL club to improve his coaching skills, something he is adamant about doing.

The Sharks take a breather for an all-important five weeks remaining in the season.