Is it fair to say there has been some recent spite between Fremantle and Geelong?
I can only speak for Fremantle, we compete fiercely, we know Ryan Crowley will tag someone. He’ll get heavily, physically targeted on and off the ball. We speak to Rowan Sawers constantly and they apply the rules to both teams, both teams know the rule. The expectation is we go and compete fiercely, push it right to the edge and see where that takes us. It’s not a focus for me.
Generally it seems to be them that go over the edge. Is that something that plays to your advantage?
I don’t know what you’re alluding to. I don’t do a study of it, if that’s your opinion, that’s okay. We’re an elite pressure team, an elite defensive team. They are an up-tempo, high use, high possessions team. It’s a threat to us, but also a wonderful opportunity, so we’ll get asked some serious questions, but we’re going to ask some serious questions of the Geelong football team as well. For a long period of time now we’ve been able to stand up to pressure, so I’m really confident that we’ll stand up again. But talk is cheap, we need to get into action. The only thing that counts, we can discuss suspensions, free kicks, pressure, the only thing that counts for us is action from here.
Did you re-mark Fremantle Oval to emulate Simonds’ dimensions?
Yeah, I think it’s a good opportunity. It’s the same length, and it’s about 10 metres narrower than Subiaco, so we got a feel for it today, we’ll get a feel for it again. It has some uniqueness but it’s not dissimilar to Subiaco, just more narrow and a little bit shorter.
Chris Scott said it’s hard to get a gauge on Freo’s form, or at least because you haven’t been tested in the second half of the year, what are your thoughts on that?
If that’s his perception I can’t change his perception. If that’s what he thinks, it’d be accurate for Chris. I don’t sit there and tend to worry about other people or how they perceive reality. My perception of us is we’ve been in pretty good form. It’s about the whole season, we’ve won 16-and-a-half games, played every team in the competition and played a few twice. Port Adelaide have got a very strong reputation and I thought they were a significant challenge for us and we were emphatic with that. Certainly Carlton at Etihad, we were emphatic, and Adelaide, who have been smashing some teams, we were quite strong. We haven’t been perfect, we could be better, and we’ve got some challenges, which every team has with injury, but we certainly go in understanding we’ve got a big challenge. Mental toughness to us is about powerful response in the face of challenge, so I have a huge expectation that we have a powerful response on Saturday afternoon against the Geelong Football Club.
Can you confirm ins and outs?
Ibbotson out.
McPharlin?
He's got to jump some hoops yet, so there's a bit of water to flow under the bridge there. Clancee Pearce is clearly out with a torn Achilles.
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Walters, Suban and Hill?
Yeah they've got to jump some hoops. We're pretty confident. We'll put all that in. It's an open gambit this isn't it, this presser. We'll put our final team in at the appropriate time on Thursday. There's a little bit to work through, but nothing too dramatic I wouldn't have thought.
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Did you notice a difference at training in the players that were rested?
Just on the surface. I did Channel 7 Game Day in Melbourne on Sunday and Jake King came out and he was hobbling around, and I thought 'gee, it's a brutal game', and that was just general soreness. So that's what they avoided for the week those guys - that general soreness.
They work through (it), but it takes two or three days. They're certainly up and about, we had to hold them back a little bit today.
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Risks and rewards with McPharlin?
I think they're obvious. The reward is he plays and plays well, the risk is he either gets hurt, or he plays and doesn't play well. That's about the size of it.
How hard is it to get back after eight weeks?
For me personally I've never done it. It's certainly a challenge, but I've seen it done before, and I'll see it done again. At this stage he's got a couple of sessions to work through yet.
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Does Hawkins condition come into your thinking at all with McPharlin?
Not particularly, no. Does the fact you're still alive whether you win or lose come into calculations with McPharlin?
No, I wouldn't have thought so. It's a wonderful opportunity. It's a passage into a prelim and a week's rest. So both teams will be fiercely seeking that out.
What does he have to do to prove himself?
He needs to train in the last session.
How long has he been training?
For eight weeks he's been rehabbing and training. I was in Melbourne and he trained on the weekend. If he gets through Thursday, we'll name him and he'll play.
Do you have a gut feel?
No, that's why I've got sports scientists and strength coaches. I'll leave it to them. I try not to get involved. They present who's available and who's not. At this stage, we're working through it.
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Are you concerned with the Achilles and calf problems
I'm not in a position to really comment on the big picture. We'll assess it at the end. Joel Bowden (AFL game analysis manager) said on the back of the continuous nature of the AFL game this season, there's been a spike in calf injuries. So we'd probably just reflect the general competition.
Is it as simple as Crowley on Joel Selwood this weekend?
It can be if we want to name him on that.
Is that what you want?
I have to think about it. It's a possibility. He's a pretty good player Joel.
Ryan did a really solid job on him last time against real adversity. But they're a highly talented midfield. They've got Joel Corey who flies under the radar. They've got James Kelly. They've got (Allen) Christensen. And you've got (Steven) Motlop, those sort of guys. They're a pretty talented midfield. There's a bit to work through yet. It's only early in the week.
Do you think Crowley will be targeted?
No. I just think he should get the protection afforded to every player on the ground. That's all you look for. We all just want equality and fairness and I'm sure that's the way the umpires treat it. I'd be shocked, absolutely shocked, if umpires treated any player on an AFL field any differently whether they were a full back, full forward or a strongly accountable midfielder. I'd be absolutely shocked.
Will you take much from the last time you played them?
Yeah we learnt a lot of valuable lessons there. We made some adjustments we've continued to adjust how we've played all year to continue to get improvement. We'll have a look at it. It's a good guide. It won't be absolute. But at the end of the day, what we've learnt, I walked in and spoke to the guys about Fremantle and myself, we guaranteed that we wouldn't chop and change weekly strategies. There are slight tactical adjustments but our overall strategy, how we play, whoever we play, wherever we play, we'll be the same. It's about getting ourselves right and playing Dockers type football. So under pressure they can be instinctive and aggressive and do the basics over and over again. I'm not a trick coach, there won't be too many things that you haven't seen before and I know the good teams that we come up against, which are all top four teams, that’s exactly how they go about it. There won't be too many surprises.
Will you get to train on Simonds?
No, we're not interested in that. We'll just train here. We haven't trained anywhere where we've flown to play. It's not an issue.
Can you talk us through the ground itself and how different it may be?
We've measured it out. It's the narrowest ground in Australia, 115m and I think it's 170m long. That's its dimensions. It's got a couple of goal posts, a couple of point posts and white marked boundaries. I haven't seen the ground get a kick yet. I haven't seen the crowd get a kick yet. We're going down to play a game of footy.
Do you draw on the ‘Anytime, Anywhere’?
Everyone highlights Geelong's win-loss there but you can draw that anywhere they've gone. Great teams play anywhere and win anywhere. Premierships aren't given away lightly. They're coveted, they're highly sought after and people invest a huge amount of time, energy and emotion into it so you've got to earn the right and you've got to overcome strong challenges and we're playing a really elite team in Victoria. It's a challenge. The great (West Coast) Eagles’ teams went over and overcame all the challenges, so that's our aim.
What is the key to beating Geelong?
Winning the football as much as you can and pressuring them, and when you've got it, use it really well.
Would you say you have contrasting styles, in terms of their offensive focus and your defensive?
I think you're a little bit naïve to that to be frank. They're an elite defensive team. Their ability to press and lock it in is elite. They've been restricting teams to 38 entries. It gets a bit lost. It's what good teams do, they play both sides of the ball really well and they compete really well. I think everyone likes to categorise teams. I think we clearly are strong defensively as well but our offensive side of the game has been really strong over the last five or six games, so that's where it sits.
