What’s the emotions right now?
Disappointing. I thought we created enough opportunities to be able to win that and I thought that largely our commitment to the plan and contest was really strong and generated enough opportunities. They were able to just tie theirs off a bit better than us, whether that was through contested marking or being a little bit tidier going inside 50, they were just able to tie their work off. Only a goal better, but still it was the difference in the game I felt.
You were up by three goals during the 3rd quarter – what changed then?
We lost some ascendancy in the contest and I didn’t think we defended our front half through the back end of the third quarter well, probably bombing the ball too far out and shallow entries which didn’t help. And I think it was a really important period of the game, the start of the third, because I thought we dominated it, created opportunities, but couldn’t put it on the scoreboard, and I felt like we left a couple out there. Whether it was set shots or class forward of centre, we just left a couple out there which left the door ajar. Then they got on top of the contest a bit, it wasn’t much, but it contributed to a bit more field position for them, and like I said I didn’t think we defended our front half with the right method.
With finals out of the equation, how do you coach your remaining games?
The same way as we have coached every game throughout the year. Every individual and every person at the club has something to get out of these last three games, so the mindset shouldn’t change.
And how crucial is that as you build into next year?
It’s not even next year. Every game of AFL is important and we’ll treat it like it is the most important game this week. We expect every player to prepare like it’s their most important game, just like they did for today and just like they did for Geelong. I’d be really disappointed if players thought there was nothing to play for and lacked motivation or purpose.
In terms of your midfield, how did you think they stuck at it today?
Largely there was a lot to like and I thought our midfielders, their balance and their competitiveness around stoppage, given it was an area where they smashed us last time to be blunt. I’m not sure how many goals they kicked from stoppage in the end, but I felt we got on top at stoppage and limited their ability to score from it. It was a disappointing one in the last quarter but they’re a good stoppage team and their forwards win, they’re mature and they all win aerial contests and in the end that was the difference but I thought our mids played really well.
Hayden Young in the middle, are you liking what you see?
I think he’s got the balance between locking away his man and working off him and getting the ball so his balance has been good. I think he adds something different to our midfield mix and I think in terms of his body size, and a left footer, I think he’s shown enough that it is worth persisting with.
Is he enjoying the role?
I haven’t asked him, we’ve just given it to him and hope he accepts it. He’s a young man who loves a challenge so I think he’s embraced the challenge and he’ll learn a lot from playing on Lachie (Neale) and Paddy (Dangerfield) last week.
You’ve been forced to have Luke Jackson rucking, will you look to do anything differently in the last three games?
You end up trying a lot of things throughout the year. We’ll keep having a look at it. We had some players who played really well in the Peel game yesterday and we will keep rewarding guys on form. The last thing you want to do is turn everything upside down and change too much because you lose a bit of continuity and connection if you do that. So we will just keep looking for opportunities to try different things and without upsetting the balance.
Young started with Neale, what was the thinking there?
I don’t want to give too much away, we just wanted to stop his stoppage dominance. I said in the lead up to the week, he had 13 clearances against us last time and 20 possessions pre-clearance and we didn’t want to get beaten by what we know, so that was the main goal. We were pretty heavily focused on the first transition from stoppage but we didn’t want it to be an all away thing, we wanted ‘Youngy’ making sure he brought his strengths to the role and asking questions the other way.
Is it frustrating you haven’t been able to produce these performances more often this season?
Yes, of course it does. As a coach you’re striving to deliver a really consistent brand of footy every week. So that’s disappointing and we’ve just got to make sure we find the line and we get the most we can out of these last three games and we review the season on where we need to improve, and make sure we’re really pointed in the areas we need to get better at because we’re doing a bit right. Clearly earlier in the year, and at times, we haven’t been as consistent as we want so (we need to) strike that balance. But yes, it’s frustrating, of course it is.
How is Ethan Hughes?
We’ll have to get that ankle scanned. It’s a bit of a stranger one, so we will get it scanned and let you know.
Any other injuries?
No, I think its all good
You looked a better team for longer periods, what were some of the other things that impressed you?
I just think we’re finally getting back to trusting ourselves and driving at the game and that’s creating opportunities for us. I think we’ve got back to really focussing on our roles and what we can control and that’s allowing us to set the ground up better, and obviously our clearance work against a really good clearance team, I think number one clearance team, was really strong so that allowed us to get the ball in our front half.
Sam Sturt had a big clutch moment? What are enjoying about his footy?
I’m liking that he’s playing to his strengths more. I think we’re starting to see his speed more consistently on both sides of the ball. He had a great chase down on the far side, he had a great ground ball halve inside forward 50. He’s really worked hard on bringing the intensity to all parts of his game which is allowing him to be more involved in the game. Clearly his finish is (good). Games against top two sides are won on execution largely, today was, and he was able to execute. We didn’t have enough in that boat.
