Since the last time you were here your form has been good, what went wrong?
That is a very good question. We embarrassed ourselves as a coaching and playing group in what we delivered. I spoke to the players as they came off the ground, there wont be a heavy post mortem. Our form coming over six out of seven weeks has been really workman like and we came here to continue on with that. We embarrassed ourselves and we have eight days until we play Collingwood to have a good think about it and prepare mentally to respond. We represent more, being our members and fans, and we didn’t represent them tonight. We haven’t been starting well and again we didn’t tonight. They comprehensively obliterated us around the ball and in the stoppages and then we didn’t defend that well when it went in.
We didn’t structure up very well to get it out, it was world record pace in terms of turnovers and them scoring easily. I know they are a good team, but even by Crows standards that was quite extreme, even in the conditions.
We’re really disappointed. In our second half we moved players around. I thought Lachie Weller really found a bit for us. We moved him into the midfield, like (Jason) Akermanis started forward pocket, back pocket and then midfield. Lachie Weller has that kick and the run forward. He has played in the back and forward and we moved him into the midfield and he was quite strong when he went there.
Darcy Tucker fought on, our young players. I thought (Connor) Blakely fought on a little bit as well and Fyfe never stopped trying. In a real sense, the game was over, wasn’t it? We are really disappointed with that. We changed our routine coming here, because night games we always go two days out, we found that was a bit long sitting in hotels, so we arrived one day less but it’s ifs, buts and maybes. We tried something different, we need to get working. We understand we are a team trying to transition. They are a very good team who sit on top of the ladder and they got a hold of us and taught us some very good football lessons.
Do you think it was more about Freo not getting the ball out of defence 50 or was it Adelaide’s pressure?
We thought there was a bit of both. We know the ground shape. Its very narrow like Domain Stadium. A ground is no excuse. If you want to get in the mechanics we thought our tall forwards really didn’t come up and present for us and left us hanging. I think that was obvious for whatever reason but that group is quite young.
Their ability to position and transition. If you think of (Matthew) Pavlich, (Chris) Mayne, (Matt) De Boer, (Hayden) Ballantyne, (Michael) Walters and bit of (Zac) Clarke. You then think (Shane) Kersten, (cam) McCarthy, (Hayden) Crozier and (Brady) Grey down there, they are still coming to hand with that. There is a system in AFL football and that is the area that we aren’t as proficient in when we have been a high level team. We spoke about that during the week and clearly we need to keep working on that. Our forwards will learn a lot from that. But around the ball I thought the Crouch brothers were super and their wingers. They walked it out too easy, it was a territory battle, we got obliterated around the ball when we needed to stand up. It was a concern when Aaron Sandilands wasn’t out there we weren’t able to stand up. He gives us first use, and we need to adapt to that. I am not sure whether he is back or not. I think the mids and myself would walk away and say we need to be better without Aaron there. I’d like to think we don’t need silver service to compete and tackle and get the ball going our way. Maybe on the surface that was an issue.
Do you start thinking about short term of the game or long term after quarter time?
We are always running a dual narrative but on that point I’m there to lead, I didn’t raise my voice. Even at half time it was disappointing, we are in this together. We don’t separate when we loose, we need to show some football character and fight it out. We need some growth within this rec. There isn’t much, I’m not being overly optimistic but we really liked what Weller did. It was something like…”Boys we need to position better, we need better shape around the ball under pressure”.
It was disappointing. We are bitterly disappointed.
Was the weather a factor early in the game?
You’ve got to be a no excuse football club. To be honest, I didn’t even notice it was raining that heavy in the first quarter. I didn’t think it was torrential rain or anything. There was no wind, just a bit of rain. As a coaching staff that have been with me for a long time, we spoke about how some of our best wins in Adelaide have been in the wet, so that wouldn’t be an excuse.
What sort of attitude did you find from the players as the game went on?
They are only human, it sucks the life out of them. It was about setting little goals for them. We tried different things, putting a forward in the stoppages to help them and change it up a bit. Moving them around, trying to learn a little bit. We need to respond and regroup. I think the season is telling us there are a lot of even lists out there. There are a few really good teams. But the rest of us really need our leaders to stand up. Our boys have done that. It’s a really tough competition if you mentally aren’t there, if you are physically a bit off, whatever percentage that may be, the other team is it you are going to be under pressure. We talk about it from week to week. A week’s a long time in footy. We are now seeing it in halves and then capitulating for a half. I think the physical demand and the mental demand when you have to get the very best out of yourself to be competitive. Which is where we sit in that basket. We are seeing teams go from extraordinary to ordinary very quickly. I don’t think everyone has that absolute out and out talent to sustain high level football for 22 weeks. There is no doubt that is going on.
You reacted (by making changes) last time after round two, is it the same script again?
Good point. We will have a good look at it. Unfortunately Peel didn’t play this week and they trained today. We aren’t getting lost in being 6-4. We brought over Luke Ryan (who) has been very close, Sean Darcy our young ruckman has been very close and Tommy Sheridan. We will have a good look at it. I don’t think anyone will put their head on the pillow and think they are safe. It’s a performance business and that’s what we sign up for. We will be assessed and need to reward people who have been underneath and pushing away.
Do you know how close Sandilands is to return?
Not any more than I have told you. He has KPI’s. We will get some more information. There is nothing to hide.
What did you make of Griffin?
When you win really well, you like to talk about the team. You guys write about the individual performances and are entitled to your view. But as a coach you want to talk about the team when it’s a win. When it’s a really bad loss, you want to follow the same principal. It’s not fair either way to single out people. And I am not fully equipped to assess people. But I wouldn’t think there were many that played super footy.
