Doc’s Debrief | Round 12

The Bays proved their dominance for three quarters at Stratarama Stadium on Saturday afternoon, and secured the win despite a late scare from the Double Blues.

Doc Clarke’s men stood up to the occasion on Saturday, putting on an impressive display of contested football in a grand final rematch at home.

“There was really good energy around the whole stadium, and we’re really happy with the performance,” Doc said during Monday’s match wrap.

“Obviously, the first three quarters were really good footy, and then we fell asleep a little bit.

“Sturt are a pretty good team, so you’ve got to expect they’re going to have a moment. They probably would have been disappointed with their first three quarters.”

The Tigers led the charge in front of a crowd of 3,139 at home for majority of the game, leading by 46-points at the third term. However, in the final quarter, the Double Blues came back hard, outscoring the Tigers.

“Anytime you come up against really high-quality opposition, they’re going to have periods where they’ll get on top. We probably just let it drag on a little bit long.”

The first half performance from the Bays set up a successful result, Doc crediting the high contest around the ground to the result.

“I thought the contest work all over the ground was at a really high level. But, I (also) thought the midfielder’s ability to put on pressure around the stoppage, and take it forward, to give our forwards a good look at it, was probably a real feature,” Doc said.

Lachie Hosie continues to contribute to the Bays forward line in big ways, finishing the day with 5 goals – now leading the SANFL Player Stats by 18 goals at the top of the ladder.

Glenelg premiership stars Luke Partington (27 disposals, 5 tackles) and Corey Lyons (24 disposals, 6 tackles) continue to show their fine form across season 2026.

“The players recognised Beau Symonds for his job on (Joshua) Hone. He played an important job for us,” Doc said.

“I think probably the most pleasing aspect was that it was a pretty even performance across the group.”

Glenelg’s reserves side impressed early in the day, finishing with a 73-point victory over Sturt.

“The reserves performance was really, really impressive and it backs up last week, which was equally as good. So, our selection is tough, and a lot of those guys are really unfortunate not to be getting a go at league level. But, hopefully as the season progresses, they’ll get their opportunity and make the most of it.”

The Bays travel to the Parade this weekend, we’re they’ll face the Redlegs in a quadruple header at Coopers Stadium.

“Norwood are the form team of the competition, so it’s a great challenge for our group.”