Yes initially after half time but I thought we clawed it back pretty well, we even had some good opportunities late that I thought we muffed to be frank. I thought we had swung it back, fluctuated fortunes, there were times we were in control then they were in control. But the bottom line is there, when the last quarter of the game was up for grabs they dominated ground ball, it was 10 entries to one, eights shots the groundball was five to 19 and clearances two to 12. At the end, out of the centre square bounce, where you are trying to get some drive, it was zero, six. In all those simple but key indicators of winning the ball and getting it forward we struggled. There was a clearance where we surged it forward and kicked it to Matthew Pavlich and four of them released back and they got out 20 metres on us. I commented at the time in the box ‘that’s not a good sign here’, so all credit to them. When the game was up for grabs they won the ball really well, they won the clearances and they drove the ball forward. Late in the game when we actually could win some ball and get it forward I thought we were able to score, but it was all too little too late to be frank.
How surprising is it when they take out their recognised ruckman?
I think it highlights that all the ruckman can do is palm it, doesn’t it? The rest is done at ground level. We were good over the majority, I asked them to surge forward a little more to try and get some score, maybe I disrupted our structures and didn’t help us. I’d rather dare to win than just keep it in tight all day, but that’s okay.
You said you commented in the box ‘it wasn’t a good sign’. Was that as in their run was getting away from you?
It’s not a good sign because it's about winning the ball and spreading. It’s a simple game. Win the ball and spread. Either way, they were winning it and out spreading us and if they are winning you want to be spreading. At the end of the day all credit to them, they are a very good team. We felt why they are a very good team, you can see from the outside, they certainly ran and worked. We’re just a bit inconsistent in our output. There were some really good things, I spoke to the players and what we do from here is we acknowledge that we need to improve and we try to train and improve on the track, that’s all we can do. There will be a lot of opinions and dissection outside of that and abstract views, but at the end of the day, under pressure, we need strategy and structure that allows us to win the ball and spread, so that’s what we are thinking internally.
Is there a particular area you feel you need to improve on?
I think it’s all areas, we’re far from playing our very best football. At times we give ourselves opportunities to go forward, at times we don’t. At times we use the ball really well against their plus one, change the angles, look really dangerous. At times we didn’t. It’s bits and pieces of everything, but fundamentally it’s the core basics. When the game was up for grabs at three quarter time, which it clearly was, I’ll just re-iterate they won the ground ball, they won the clearances and they drove it forward. From there, when you are tired and fatigued, running the other way becomes quite difficult.
Is it fitness based that they managed to run over the top of you?
No, it’s bodywork, getting inside and winning the ball. If you’re winning the ball you always feel a bit better on the run. It can look like that but I’d be surprised if it was.
Do you feel you had the advantage in the first half and if so should have it come up more on the scoreboard?
No, I don’t know. I think both teams had their moments in the first half. I thought they dominated a bit early, and then I thought we fought back really well. The second was very good, we lost them early in the third and then got back, I reckon, to wrestle it back and muffed a few chances forward. Again, I think both teams would have thought we can win this game at three quarter time. They did what they did, they won the ball, they won the clearances and drove it. It’s a game of territory, at the end of the day, you need to do it with a bit of precision. Robbie Gray really got to work, he was dominant, out of those 19 groundballs I think he had six at the time. Wingard takes a special mark and we started to try different things that opened up our stoppages and they scored around their forward 50, which we acknowledge, but it was worth the risk.
The loss of Stephen Hill, what impact did that have on you and what happened to him?
He’s got a sore leg, I think they are talking a knock to the knee. They said he was alright, he struggled. It’s not ideal but everyone loses players and we subbed him out and Clancee (Pearce) came in.
You came down to the bench to talk to a player, what happened?
I was quite animated, but I think that was more about me and my frustrations. It probably wasn’t an ideal look, a bit of theatre. I went to pick up the phone and it was so close and I was up and about a bit. I had spoken to Danyle about looking forward and taking one on ones, and we had a couple of one on ones and he was trying to invent a handball and it went back the other end for a goal. It’s not about Danyle, it’s about me and my frustration. I was going to pick up the phone but I thought for the sake of the exercise, I sometimes like to shake some players up a bit and Danyle tends to respond fairly well when I challenge him, so I just wanted to challenge him. Then he came back on and got the ball and he drove the ball and Clarke marked it, therein lies the difference. It probably wasn’t an ideal look, Danyle’s mum might not be happy with me but I’ve certainly acknowledged it. It’s a bit of theatre, I’ve done it before.
Have you had a look at Duffiled’s bump on Wingard?
I haven’t seen it. It’s a topical thing, has he? I’m not too sure, I haven’t seen it. You wouldn’t like to comment on it but I wouldn’t say Paul is renowned for bumping people.
What’s your take on Wingard as an opposition coach?
He’s a 50 game player with a lot of talent. I think you can write your own headlines. I saw him take a very good mark, I think you have written enough about him and given him enough bouquets without me adding to it. He’s a very talented kid in a very talented team. I don’t sit there, I’m not a theatre goer, but yes he’s a very good player.
What sort of build up do you expect for Pavlich’s 300th game?
We’ll deal with it during the week. It’s going to be an important milestone. He’s a South Australian boy, made a name for himself in the West. We’ll acknowledge it in the right manner and try and honour it with great effort, but once the ball is bounced it will be about the team.
You’re four and four having played 8 of the top ten teams. How do you put that into overall perspective about your form in general?
Well, the overall perspective is we’re not one of the best teams in the competition. If we were we would have been able to beat them and we would have been sitting with one loss or two losses like the best teams, like Hawthorn, Port Adelaide, Syndey and Geelong. They are clearly ahead of us and we are in the ruck with four-four. There will be every endeavour to try improve our football and get a win next week. We’re still right in it, we’re in the bottom reaches of the top eight it would seem with the level of football we are playing. We know we have better football in us. Talk is cheap, we need to pull that out and keep persevering and persisting. We got another game in Hayden Crozier today, Cam Sutcliffe and Lachie Neale. I thought Neale was pretty good again. We’ve got Tommy Sheridan, Garrick Ibbotson, Michael Apeness in the twos, we’ve got a bit to add. We have some challenges but we need to improve our football. The players and myself aren’t thrilled and we are a mediocre team at the moment.
There is always a question about how much Fremantle scores, is that still relevant to you?
It’s always relevant, we're trying to improve our scoring. I think when we are winning the ball and moving the ball we have some really slick ball movements. It's about doing it consistently. the last few weeks we have dissipated. We played with real penetration early in the year. Then we started to bomb to the plus-one, we tried to control it a bit more but it’s going to be about trying to find the balance. The last quarter, if you can't win the ball you can't score. We had one entry, its pretty hard to judge. We can get better, there’s no doubt. We’re not shying away from that. Both years we have been able to improve as the year goes on. We’re making no bones about it, the headline figure is two goals. We have been fifth and seventh attack for most of the year, I think there’s 11 teams behind us and teams sitting in front of us on the ladder are sitting behind us in scoring. We understand were not the most prolific but we acknowledge that. We’ll keep adding systems and use and personnel until we get what we want.
When you say mediocre, is that word you want to ring to the media or among your players?
We acknowledge it. At the moment we are normal, good, average, mediocre. We’re certainly not great, that’s indisputable. We have played some great football in the past but the past is irrelevant, as it sits today we’re in the ruck. There’s a few elite teams around and at the moment we’re not one of them, but let me add we’re going to work our backside off to improve our footy, coaches and players. We’ve done it before, and the aim is to do it again. It’s not easy, attitude wise we’re up for the challenge. How long will it take? We’ll just keep working until we get there, that’s been our model.
