What did you make of that?
It was a difficult day for both teams, I would have thought. Small, narrow ground…50km/h winds howling down one way and then the rain came. I thought there was some good intensity. I thought they were beating us around the contest for a fair bit of the day and we didn’t handle the conditions that well. But then I thought we fought it out, exposed some of our young players and got within maybe six or 10 points. The last quarter was reflective of the conditions and whoever had it (the ball), basically, got on top. It was a pretty difficult day.
I was talking to John Longmire during the week and he was saying this was an ideal encounter. Even if it is challenging, it is still good stuff to tune up with.
I think that’s a good observation and John is quite astute. It was quite physical, sometimes there’s a bit more than you would like. It was pretty tough and I think there will be some sore people. I think both teams tried to open it up…at the end of the day it was an AFL game and we had to run and work and had to put your head in the hole a bit, but it certainly won’t hurt us. We’ve got a couple of little concerns. (Tendai) Mzungu tightened up in the hamstring, so I think he’ll be OK. (Hayden) Ballantyne looks like he’s done a calf, so that’s a concern. If it is, he’ll probably miss round one. That’s not ideal. (Nat) Fyfe, (Garrick) Ibbotson and (David) Mundy should all return (next week), Mundy tightened up so we backed him off and we’ve got a few to return as well. In a real sense, there was maybe up to eight or 10 of our best 22 out. We obviously need to regenerate them and get them in, but there’s some upside as well. Not ideal, a tough day, but I thought we fought it out quite well.
Which younger payers did well today?
Connor Blakely showed that he’s clean, he’s brave and he’s smart. We just need to condition him to AFL football. We’re pretty confident we can have a player. In saying that, it’s very early and he’s got work to do. Lachie Weller was the sub late so it was pretty hard to judge him. I thought Lachie Neale was probably our best midfielder with 10 clearances and 33 touches, so he’s continued on. Max Duffy gave himself a real opportunity, so I thought there was a lot to like. (Hayden) Crozier and (Tom) Sheridan were solid, but they probably could have done more to pick themselves for round one. They weren’t disastrous but they were solid. Tanner Smith at the end of the day we demoted to our rookie list and he’s trained on and we let him play on (Adam) Goodes and (Lance) Franklin, so that can only be a win for him, can’t it? That’s a good question because as you drill in there’s a bit more to like than you think on the surface.
Was Sandilands left at home to be rested?
No, well he tightened up. He’s a unique frame, so we’re hopeful or expectant that he’ll play against West Coast next week.
Disappointing for Ballantyne to get injured? Is it a balancing act in the pre-season?
It’s not a balancing act. At the end of the day they’re relatively fresh. Under the new CBA they get two to three-day breaks. They’ve had two consecutive weeks of three-day weekends, so it’s not like they’ve been at the club a lot, maybe it’s underdone. You would think everyone is going to get a soft tissue, you hope not to get one. It’s part of the game, you try to get away unscathed but it doesn’t always work that way.
How did you rate Silvagni down back?
I thought he fought on. I thought the defence fought on really well when they were under siege and we couldn’t clear the ball. The clearances were 0-10 in the third quarter, the ball was living in there. Under pressure they held reasonably but there was a lot of talent going against them. I think he’s carving an AFL career for himself.
And the Walters report?
No, I didn’t see it.
