I haven't thought about it too much at the minute. Yeah, they've got those tall forwards haven’t they, Jarryd Roughead and Lance Franklin and David Hale and Max Bailey goes through there, then they sub one out late. We're still doing our review, tidying that up. I’ll meet with the coaches later today and then we'll have a sharp review tomorrow with the players and then move onto Hawthorn. So it hasn’t occupied too much thinking. Obviously it’s just ticking over, got the tags up on the whiteboard and put the team up, we'll work through that, it's just typical of us sticking to what we do, we take care of ourselves first and move onto Hawthorn. But clearly they've been the best home and away team, a really strong attacking and defensive team. I think their defence is underrated and they're just talent-laden when you look at it. A very experienced team, so we're uncharted territory. I heard Wayne Bennett talk about the Newcastle Knights (in the NRL) and their uncharted territory, but he said they've been doing the basics really well and if they get away from those it will blow up, so the same thing applies to us. We've won a lot of games, I think it’s about 17 out of the last 20. We’ve been smacked a couple by Geelong and Hawthorn but we know if we stand up and we do the basics really well over and over again, I'm sure we'll be fine.
It’s been a long time since round 4 when you played the Hawks, is it too far away to draw parallels?
Yeah look I haven't really got to it yet.They smacked us down in Launceston the last couple of times, so I’m sure they're pretty confident. But Geelong smacked us in round 14 and we went down there and turned the tables, so we'll go to school on it, we'll look at it but we've evolved a fair bit since earlier in the year, personnel wise and really, even the way we play, and we certainly can offer more of an offensive threat than we did in the past. Our stoppage work is at the highest order at the minute and we know our defence stands up, so we think we're in pretty good shape to challenge the best home and away team of the year, but as I said, it’s not about that, it's about being the best finals team. Both of us have won two and whoever gets it on the weekend can walk away being the best finals team. It’s a pretty simple philosophy but we'll just have a good week of preparation and get on the bird and go over and aim to get it done.
Nothing from the MRP today and no injuries – is it nice to have no distractions this week?
Yeah I think you summed it up. It would be a distraction, we've all seen reports during Grand Final week, it’s not ideal for the player or the club, so there's none of that for both clubs. Injury front, I think we're both in pretty good shape. Obviously Brendan Whitecross, it’s really sad to see an AFL player go down with an ACL and miss a grand final opportunity, but we all move on and we'll just focus on those that are available.
Are you peaking at the right time?
Not particularly, I don’t know about peaking, we saw last weekend as an opportunity to improve, to play our best football, so we got a lot right, we're just doing the review, looking at it. There are some things to tidy up and we would have preferred to go through with a bit more polish right to the end, but again, that's a sharp reminder, if you drop off how quickly things can change, so we've got plenty of improvement. As I said, we're a young group, our aim is to continue to improve our football and that’s our focus. We've grown a lot, we've had growth and we're sure we can grow again in the next few days before that ball is bounced on the weekend.
How normal is this week going to be??
Well, look, by definition, it's not a normal week.
It's grand final week, this presser looks a little big bigger. There's the Brownlow tonight which is a wonderful event on the calendar and a worthy winner will come out of that. We have the parade over there; there will be media attention and even the families and kids flying over on the plane will be slightly different. So there are some distractions potentially, but we are professional enough... Then we'll have a really big training session, I'll be surprised if there isn't 15000 people there during the week. There are some differences there that we acknowledge but what is important is not to be distracted, just focus on what you need to do, which is preparation.
Who do you think will win the Brownlow Medal tonight??
To be honest, I haven't thought about it. We have had a few with good years. Scott Pendlebury I love watching play and I thought him and Dane Swan. Dane Swan was unbelievable this year. What those two do for that group… I think Swan probably had his best year almost - he was fantastic... I think Swan or Pendlebury for mine.
How will your role as coach impact the game?
I haven't got my crystal ball, but I know we are in with a chance.
There is no satisfaction or joy for me at the moment. To see the team grow and the club grow and progress to this week is important. We're a serious football club that aims to win premierships so what you have to do is continuously give yourself opportunities to do that, this is an opportunity created. I am focussed on the job at hand. It's a credit to the coaching panel and the playing group that has worked really hard.
A lot of people talk about doing the work, but there's only a few clubs and teams that consistently do the work. So this year to this point we have done the work to give ourselves the opportunity.
The second half drop off in the preliminary final??
I think I have seen it before in preliminaries. I think in 2010 we were well up on the Bulldogs - well on top, I think they had the last six shots on goal because no one wants to get hurt so everyone drops off. So there is an element there, there is an element, as you all know we rested nine or 10 or 12 against the Saints. So the effect of winning the first final is most of our players have played only two games in five weeks. So, they're fresh, but we feel the weekend would have bought them on a bit as well. We go over fresh, but it would have brought us up a notch, that level of performance, so we see some improved match conditioning come out of it as well.
Have you taken a moment to contemplate what you could accomplish?
I'm very pragmatic. I think that answers the question.
Hawthorn tend to kick through pressure rather than handball?
You're probably ahead of me on that one. I'm not sure that's what they do. They are a great kicking team. Look, you come up against lots of different kicking styles across the course of the year. But sometimes pressure dictates how you can use the ball. In a sense we'll dictate how they use the ball.
What makes Ryan Crowley so good at tagging?
He's got very good concentration. He's a running machine. He's got great strength and power, but again, he gets a lot of support from his teammates. We're a complementary team. So team's help, players that get tagged break the tag and the team tagging a player helps cover that player when he gets out. It's a team defence.
Will he tag Sam Mitchell?
He's a good player. We'll have a think about it.
You didn’t take your opportunities in the first quarter of the prelim?
I actually thought about that today. I never talk to them about goal kicking. Maybe that's a weakness. We're a pretty good goal kicking team. It was incredibly blustery conditions on the weekend. Although they all did miss to the right so they all needed to go to school on the first kick. And the MCG often throws up (wind). Teams often kick 7.22 there, and I hope it's not us.
Was it nerves in front of goal?
I haven't asked them. But I can tell you in the review eight of them missed to the right. They certainly didn't go to school on the wind. You need to go to school. Malcolm Blight talks about first shot at the MCG, he kicked it dead straight. See where it goes and everyone goes to school on it.
Was there a time frame with getting this team to a Grand Final when you took over?
No, not particularly. Four years, because that's the length of the contract. I'd like to get it done within four. We talk about possibility, so the possibility is winning a premiership and that's what we're in the business for. Make no mistake that we're trying to play finals consistently. But broader, let's get to a position on the ladder where you can challenge and play finals, top four ideally. But out of that possibility it was aspirational. We had the aspirations to be a premiership club like everyone has. From there it just needs to be what needs to be, what action needs to be taken and then from there that's the way we go about it daily. Just keep building the action consistently, getting the feedback on performance, and keep adjusting and keep working and working and working as a collective. We're not perfect, we've made a lot of mistakes along the way but we've been able to learn from that, work hard, and the players have taken the emotional risk to give the greatest effort when they need it. Not all the time have we come out on top, but because they do that, it's easy to identify what they need to improve and grow. So we're about growth and continual improvement.
Have you learned anything from the two losses that you have had as a coach in a grand final?
No one’s perfect. I haven’t coached the perfect game, or navigated or guided them through, whatever way you want to choose it. I think both sometimes, there is some execution, there is some rotation things or maybe about flexibility, but I certainly walk away with no regrets on effort and preparation. Certainly you always look at ifs, buts, maybes, but it is irrelevant now, it’s the past. I have got to be honest, it feels like a more normal game than it ever has for me. I think due to that experience I am certainly not awestruck by a grand final or the week. I think I’ll enjoy it but more importantly I will see our players enjoy some recognition and being under the spotlight and see the club grow when you see your members and fans be up and about, you sort of take pride in that. But for me personally, it is about the grind of preparation and trying to guide our players through. Under pressure, people are hungry to be led and that’s my job to help lead, along with Matthew Pavlich and Luke McPharlin and all of our leaders.
Can you explain what ‘emotional risk’ means??
Plenty of people shy away from pressure, most people don’t embrace pressure, they withdraw effort, but great teams put themselves out there and are prepared to lose.?
Do you care about the colour of the jumper on Saturday??
I caught that on the radio coming in and I am not into the machinations of it, but clearly the club executives made a decision based on the facts. I am not fully equipped to answer it and I think it would be remiss of me to explore that.
A comment on the buy-in of the players??
Well it’s self-evident isn’t it. (If) players don’t buy in, coaches don’t survive, so we are parasites in a sense, aren’t we, coaches.
Was there a moment when you thought it all clicked??
There is no end point here. We haven’t played a perfect game of footy. All we have done is work hard collectively, done enough to win some home and away games and create an opportunity, so we still have got a long, long way to go here. We are a really young list still. We have got plenty of growth and improvement and we have worked really hard this year. There is no magical moment here, there is no epiphany that ‘geez the Dockers have arrived’. It is about hard work and effort and review and it is a real grind and it’s a treadmill and you have got to be mentally tough and physically tough to go the distance. It is a marathon and we are at the last leg.
Was the start point when Matthew Pavlich and Luke McPharlin bought in??
By that I mean we spoke about weights and skinfolds and training standards and all those sorts of things, so it is all the little things. Then helping to reinforce the direction we wanted to go because, the more that jump on board, everyone gets on board and you get a bit of momentum with what you are trying to achieve.
