Norwood general manager Daniel Menzel is confident West Coast Eagles will benefit from playing on small ground

Playing against Geelong on the tight confines of Norwood Oval will give West Coast a significantly better chance of competing than if they’d been fixtured to play at Adelaide Oval or in the Barossa Valley, according to a former Cat who is now Norwood’s general manager of football. The Eagles are facing the daunting task of playing against last season’s grand finalists just one week after suffering the fifth biggest loss in the club’s history. Norwood Oval is the same length as Optus Stadium but is 20m narrower, making it the most confined venue in the AFL. And while that makes the ground similar to Geelong’s GMHBA Stadium, Norwood football boss Menzel believes that will help West Coast to stay competitive “I don’t think the ground will hurt West Coast,” Menzel told The West Australian. “The ground keeps you in the contest at all times. It’s not one of those stadiums where you can get opened up like last week against Sydney. “I don’t think it’s the worst thing for the Eagles to play at Norwood Oval. You can get opened up on those other grounds. “At the stage West Coast are at, which is a development stage with a couple of really good wins in recent weeks, I don’t think we will see what happened against the Swans this weekend against the Cats. “Geelong have similar dimensions at their ground so they will certainly have comfort but I do think it might suit West Coast as well with the style they are playing.” There have been six AFL games played at Norwood Oval during Gather Round, two of which included an eventual finalist against a bottom-four team, and the average margin across those matches is only 23 points. But Menzel made it clear the Eagles must be prepared compete harder for the ball than they did against Sydney last week when they lost the contested possessions by 43 and the clearances by 13. The Eagles went into the clash against Sydney having won the contested possession count across their first three games combined, and were equal with their opponents for clearances. Menzel said that is the style of play that wins games at Norwood. “It’s more of a contested game, and we’ve seen that in previous editions of Gather Round,” he said. “I don’t think that’s a bad thing for the Eagles. There’s not a lot of easy, free flowing ball movement. We find that games are contested here and then open up when we got to Adelaide Oval for finals. It’s very much about winning it in the fight. “At AFL level you have to be up for the fight at a contested level. That is going to be critical.” West Coast held their main training session at Norwood Oval on Friday so players could adjust to the unique conditions. Coach Andrew McQualter called on assistant Mitch Duncan’s experience playing for Geelong on the thin GMHBA Stadium to educate the team on what to expect. McQualter hopes the session will have the team ready for Sunday’s challenge. “This is why we wanted to come here and do this main session. It will be important for the understanding. It’s a little bit narrower than the grounds we play on,” he said. Menzel said Eagles fans who travelled to South Australia for Gather Round would love their experience at Norwood Oval. “When people come here for the first time, they are amazed at how close the crowd is. It’s the venue that sells out the quickest. It’s a great atmosphere with a full house,” he said.