Big game already, you obviously want to get it done on Sunday?
We need to improve, we didn’t put our best foot forward on the weekend. Players and coaching staff are eager to rectify that straight away. We come up against a good opponent who are in the same situation as we’re in, in front of our home crowd so we want to put our best foot forward.
Improved skills… it seems like it’s been a common theme, do you just flick the switch?
I think it is flick the switch. I haven’t seen that level of skill from us especially forward of centre for a while. I know what we’ve done the over the pre-season, it’s not as though we’ve neglected our skill, we’ve done a lot of it. Hopefully it was a one-off and we can get back to playing aggressive, back ourselves in type of footy
What do you put the lack of skill down to?
I think there’s a lot of factors. Some players that we took in hadn’t had a lot of game time over the pre-season, four or five guys hadn’t played and were coming off long term injuries. It’s a ground we hadn’t played at for a long time, you miss a lot of opportunities early and that puts pressure on. I think there’s a lot of factors, none of them are acceptable and we’ve discussed that as a group, but I think it’s an easy fix.
What’s been your biggest focus at training this week?
Our ball use, and really it’s just getting back to what we’ve done all pre-season. Like I said before we haven’t neglected our skill, all the players can still kick, mark and handball really well we just need to get back to the basics and get that right.
Does Sean Darcy come straight in and go forward?
Yes, Sean comes straight in and he’ll play forward. It’s unfortunate he missed out on game time at Peel last week, but he’s definitely done the work behind the scenes. He just needs to give us a contest and complement Taberner.
Is it a slow burn with Sean in the early stages given that the skills were down a bit due to people coming off injury?
Sean has been able to run the last three of four weeks, he was ready to play at Peel last week and we decided to travel him because of Taberner being in a little bit of doubt. He’s probably had the extra week on the track that some of them missed out on. We’ll just peel it back for him and make it really basic, he’ll play forward but give Meek a chop-out in the ruck at times. All we need is a contest and for him to engage his opponent and I’m really confident he can do that role.
What’s the latest on Liam Henry?
It looks like he’s going to miss this week. We’re a bit unsure whether it’s a calf tear or a cork but we’ve ruled him out. He’ll miss this week and likely return next week.
How much advice do you have for Sean playing ruck/ forward this weekend?
I’ve had a few chats to him and it’s really just about keeping it simple and making sure he really understands the role and gives us a really predictable contest in the air. I know if he does that, he’ll stick a few marks, create a few shots for goal and create a few opportunities for us at ground level. Most importantly it will help engage a really good defender and give our other forwards a good look one on one.
Has he had much past experience in that role?
Yes, he has and that’s why I’m confident he can play there. He played a bit there last year, him and Lobby in the second half of last year were splitting the ruck role a bit more and he got an opportunity as a forward. He did hit the scoreboard the second half of last year and he took some good marks inside 50 and the front half, I’m confident he can play that role.
How was the selection process this week?
Like any other week, we’ve got enough players to pick from, we’re really confident in the side we picked that it’s going to perform. Yes, we’re going to be a bit shorter down back this week without Hamling, but we dealt with that all of last year so it’s a bit of the same really. I feel like we’ve got a forward line that can function together really well and I thought our midfield was the best line last week. There are no doubts around selection for me, we’ve picked a strong side.
What will Heath Chapman’s role be?
We’ll play him a bit higher in the backline, he’s played that position throughout all of his colts football, he played that the last two weeks at Peel and has performed really well. I thought when he got his opportunities in the pre-season, although he was coming on fresh later in games, I thought he really put his strengths on display, and the last two weeks at Peel he’s been able to do that across the whole game. He’s ready, he deserves his opportunity so he’s going to bring some real excitement to the team.
Where’s Nathan Wilson at?
He will play. He’s probably had to earn his spot in the side given our depth through the backline. He needed to get his fitness right as well but I’m really confident he’s ticked those boxes. He’s ready for that opportunity and deserves it so he’ll come in. He gives us a little bit of ball use and a bit of run and carry out of the backline as well which is probably something we missed as well.
Are you relieved with Josh Treacy’s situation?
Yes absolutely, it’s a great result for the club but a great result for him as well. He’ll be available for selection next week and we’ll just see how that falls after this week.
He’s probably looking pretty good to take on Carlton given the issues you do have in the forward line?
We’ll get through this week first, we haven’t really looked at next week yet. We’ll judge every performance on its merits and see what we dish up on Sunday.
Do you put the onus on the players to improve their skills this week?
I don’t really put the onus on the players or any pressure on the players it’s more about trust and trusting themselves. If safe worked in AFL footy we’d do a lot more but I want them to really back themselves with their skill. I thought we tried to be a bit safe with our skills on the weekend and place kicks and place handballs rather than just backing ourselves. I want to get ourselves back playing with a little bit more freedom and a little bit more instinct and getting our players to trust that they’ve done the work and trust that they’re good enough to execute.
Is Nathan Wilson’s run and carry a bit of a trend that you’ve seen him play?
Yes, it is. I feel like Hayden Young’s been doing it pretty well for us and got into the game especially in the second half last week but with Willo obviously that’s his one wood as a player, so he’ll give us a little bit of that. I think most importantly he’s been defending better at WAFL level and his contest is first class so that’s something that probably lacked a little bit in our back half last week as well, just that contest on the ball at times. He’s a welcomed addition.
How do you coach the confidence to take the game on?
We do a lot of work around staying in the moment and being able to let go of past mistakes, past anything really and just make sure that your next moment is your best moment so we’ve spoken about that this week. I’ve spoken about what the players do on their best day. It’s really not that long ago we were good with our skills so I don’t think it’s been a pattern and that’s why I think we can bounce back pretty quick. I don’t think it’s been a pattern of our pre-season I think it’s a one-off and like I said I’m confident we can bounce back.
Do you have an injury crisis at the moment?
No, I don’t think so. We’ve got a lot of short-term injuries and I think that over the next two or three weeks you’ll see our list become a lot healthier. It’s not in the situation we want it to be at the moment, but I think in two or three weeks’ time you’ll see a different injury list from us.
Does a home crowd automatically give you bit of a boost?
It’s hard to say. I think if you start well the crowd can really get behind you. I think when you’ve got momentum in the game the crowd can really lift you and keep that momentum going. It’s a hard one to quantify, I know our crowd is loud and passionate and we want to put our best performance out this week for them. It’s our first game this year in front of our home crowd so we want to put our best foot forward.
What do you make of the role of the ruckman under the new rules?
It’s a good question. Having said that, centre bounce is as important as it ever has been. It’s an interesting one and I think that at the moment it’s round one, creeping into round two, and we’re making predictions of what the whole season is going to be like based on one round of footy. I think the game will change over the next six weeks and if we’re still seeing the same thing in six weeks’ time then we might have to go a bit smaller and get a few more runners into the side. The patterns definitely aren’t there yet, I’d imagine it will become a little bit more congested as the season goes on, players get a bit more accumulative fatigue in them, mistakes sometimes mean more the season goes on and you don’t want to be turning the ball over as much as teams are in the back half at the moment. We want to just wait for the season to settle before we make any bold decisions, especially on ruckman.
What did you see from the GIANTS last week?
I thought they played a really good brand of footy last week and were unlucky to lose in some sense, they played the game in the front half, they were really strong in the contest and they’re going to be a formidable challenge.
Did you lose Taylin Duman yesterday?
Yes, he rolled his ankle and that’s going to rule him out this week which is unfortunate. It was just one of those injuries that’s unavoidable, he just stood on someone else’s foot in a ground ball situation. It’s nothing serious but given that it’s this late in the week it’s going to rule him out this week.
Have you officially rules out Michael Walters?
Yes, Sonny’s not going to make it this week. As you would’ve seen the other day he joined in a portion of training and it looks like he’s on track for next week which is a bonus.
Gallery: Training and match sim 25 March
AFL decision regarding Josh Treacy's WAFL suspension
Three more for Tabs!
