The guys trained pretty well today, I think there have been a lot of external distractions throughout the week, but the guys have had the mind on the job at hand. It’s been a pretty strong week on the track, so the guys trained well this morning and that’s all we can ask for. There’s a lot of noise externally but certainly the focus has been pretty calm inside.
How do you block that noise out?
It’s relatively easy in the fact that when you come into the club it’s all about another game of footy, it’s not the focus on ‘this could be our last game for the year’, ‘it’s a prelim’, that sort of stuff. It’s more about how we go about things, our preparation in a normal week. The distraction comes when you’re outside of the club and people are in your ear or you have some thinking time, and that’s where we revert to what we have for a long time, our normal mental preparation and trying to relax as much as we can because we know it’s a big game.
Can you also feed off that in some way, this is the biggest week in the club’s history. There’s purple everywhere around Freo, can you actually grasp that energy?
Probably not, I think it’s probably more of a distraction than it is anything else. We love the fact that we are given an opportunity like this, but clearly it being in your face 24-7, for some players it can be a distraction more than a positive. We recognise that and we acknowledge that guys are going to have different feelings about it, so it’s more about keeping things as status quo as we can.
What’s been your advice to the younger guys going into a prelim?
Don’t look for anything new. Particularly since Ross and the new regime has been here we’ve put in a lot of work and been focussing on some core basics, and that’s been a real strength of the group for a long time, to stay in the moment and not look for anything too magical or too spectacular. That’s been the main message.
Having the week off, Ross has been in the situation a number of times before. What’s been his message to the group on how to approach this fortnight?
To train hard, stay in focus, stay in tune, not look too far ahead, worry about the next session. It’s all the things that sound boring but are really important at this stage.
Are Sydney a more difficult opponent because they’re not the Sydney that won the premiership last year, their personnel is continually changing. Does that make them more difficult tactically?
Probably not, I think the fundamentals remain the same in the way they play. Certainly the personnel are a bit different and there’s a few young players in there that we need to do a bit more research on just to understand exactly how they go about it, but they’re a tremendous side, their culture is really strong and they play a brand of football that is going to be really hard to beat. The fundamentals remain the same regardless of the personnel changes.
You trained here this morning, not at Patersons?
Well, we've only trained at Patersons I think a couple of times throughout the whole year, so we wanted to stick to our routine, stick to what we know. We recover, lift and have all our meetings and then in the afternoon our physio and massage and all those sort of things, so it would have been another distraction if we trained up there. We play there enough and the guys are mature enough to handle the fact we’re not training there, so it’s not an issue.
Did Michael Johnson train? Will he play?
Yeah, he did. Match committee has to happen and I don't have the privilege of being completely involved in that, but from what I saw, he’ll play.
Your thoughts on his All Australian selection?
It's tremendous for him, we’re really happy for him given his story and his path to where he is now. Really rapt for him, but as I said to him straight away, and as he recognised, it’s great, but move on to the team goals now which are more important, obviously.
Are you surprised he was the only one?
I think it's a reflection of the way we go about our business, we certainly play as a team and try to gel that way. But I think any time you finish in the top four you think there might be another couple, but clearly there's a lot of very good players that miss out on AllAustralian each year and unfortunately some of our guys were some of those players this year.
Do you appreciate this moment more after 2006?
I can't really remember, it was seven years ago. I can't really remember how or what I was thinking then. All I do know is it’s a great opportunity and the guys are ready to take it on.
Do you appreciate what you may achieve if you win?
I think we recognise and acknowledge that it's a big moment for the club. In those big moments, in those big games there is heightened focus and anxiety and all those things that come with it. Do we appreciate the opportunity? Yeah, I think we do. But only time will tell, a couple of hours on Saturday night will show whether or not we do appreciate and we do take that opportunity. It’s really hard because when you're in the moment it's so much about what’s next and the next focus and making sure you prepare all the time, you try not to, at least, focus on the bigger picture.
Have you spoken to any of the young players about the size of the opportunity?
Again, it's not something that we talk about because that external bigger picture stuff just gets us clouded and thinking about the outcome too much. What we need to focus on is what we have for the last, almost, two weeks, it’s the next training session, and our preparation, both mentally and physically.
Is this the biggest game in the club's history?
That's one person's opinion. What I do know is that it’s a great opportunity and the guys are ready for it.
Does all your experience of recent finals count?
I think for the guys that started their career only 4-5 years ago it’s probably important - to handle the week and the external distractions. We have played one home final and at least the guys understand that external noise. But the game itself... you are still going to have to be hard at the ball, you have to use it well, you are going to have to defend as a team. The fundamentals don't actually change that much, they are just highlighted a bit more because of the heightened focus on the game.
Matt de Boer plays his 100th, how important has he become for the team?
Very important. Matty's actually a bit flat cause he debuted in my 200th, played his 50th in my 250th; he's playing his 100th now and I haven't quite kept up my end of the bargain. But he's a terrific player - someone you absolutely love running down the race with; you know he's going to give it his all and that's why he's in our leadership group and so well thought of within the four walls of our footy club.
Do the pressure players like de Boer and Chris Mayne bring a barometer to the team’s performance?
I think so. Certainly it's a really core aspect of how we play; Hayden Ballantyne, Michael Walters, our forwardline group including those two - Chris Mayne - when we're hunting the opposition, really pressuring their disposal out of the backline, we certainly know we're on and we certainly know we're giving ourselves the best opportunity to score. Barometer, or however you want to term it, it is certainly a key aspect of our game.
Many pundits are writing Sydney off.
Who are? Are you sure? We're certainly not. I'm not sure who watched the game last Saturday night but they were upwards of 10 goals up at one stage against Carlton. We're certainly not writing them off. Reigning premiers, their culture is strong, they have gotgreat leaders, they are going to be a very hard side to beat on Saturday night and we know they are going to go to the end. So, we've prepared as best we can to make sure that come the 30 minute mark of the last quarter, that we're out there competing, because they are going to be red hot.
Do you admire them as much as any other club?
You admire a lot of teams in the AFL but certainly Sydney, their culture, leaders, the way they go about their business, we very much respect what they're about. And that's why we're preparing ourselves for what we call footy war, because it's going to go until the end. They are contested, big-bodied players. What they're about is exactly what we'd like to be about as well. We understand how hard a game it's going to be.
Do you see any similarities between you and Sydney?
We're modelling ourselves slightly differently, like everyone does. But clearly, what they stand for and what they've been able to develop over a long period of time is what most teams try to aspire to. Huge amount of respect for what they do and how they go about their business.
How important is the ruck battle?
Very important. Both Shane Mumford and Mike Pyke have had stellar years and continued on from their premiership last year. Aaron Sandilands and Zac Clarke have come to hand in the last half a dozen weeks. We really believe the two of those guys work in extremely well together both forward and in the ruck. As always, first use in the midfield is really important. We understand it's going to go a long way to winning the game.
Who do you normally get?
Ted Richards or Heath Grundy. I obviously didn't play the game earlier this year at the SCG. And I think we played them round two the previous year. So it's been quite some time since I've run out against them.
Can you sum up the different coaches you've had?
It's pretty self-evident what Ross stands for and what, as a group, we've been able to develop previously. More recently, the way we defend and the way we use the ball also. We want to be top-four defensively and offensively. Ross is the best coach I've played under, but a lot goes unsaid about Mark Stone, Brett Kirk, Peter Sumich, Michael Prior, and the rest of the coaching group. They've done a power of work to get us to this position and give us an opportunity.
Does Brett Kirk bring extra knowledge on the Swans?
Probably to a few individuals, but to the broader game plan, probably not. Both he and Mark Stone have been away from the club now for a number of years, so the IP as such is probably gone. But the individuals, they probably know quite well and I'm sure they'll share the knowledge.
Do you enjoy the big stage?
I think everyone does. It's an emotional risk to be in that position and I think what you'll see from our guys on Saturday night is they'll leave everything out there. We may win, we may lose, but as long as we can look each other in the eye after the game and say 'we gave it our all', we'll at least be able to move forward as a group. We want to win, that will be the ideal result. We'll be disappointed if we don't. But if you can look at each other at the end of the game and say 'you know what, we gave it our all' we'll be able to move forward, regardless of the pressure, regardless of the situation.
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