Clearly disappointed, we’ve come here to try and bank 4 points. We played a team that worked really hard in the contest, they won the ground balls convincingly and they almost doubled our tackle count. Their desire on the surface and the evidence was stronger than ours for a longer period of the game. We got desperate when it got desperate. I thought we had some opportunities late if we would have forced some pressure. Overall, the players and coaches are disappointed.
The second quarter – was that where it got away from you?
Not particularly, we didn’t score in the first half very well. We should have had 10 or 11 shots on goal and we had six. It was pretty even on the surface on entries but they scored at a reasonable rate and we didn’t score that much to be honest. In the second half we had a few more entries, then every time they went in in the third quarter they scored. We were scoring at a reasonable rate but leaking the other end. It’s a tale of two halves – couldn’t score and then couldn’t defend.
Pav stood up and you still couldn’t score enough? Did you miss Michael Walters?
That’s where you’ll take it, I didn’t think it was an issue. As always, when the opposition play well and you can’t get in the game, we’ve always said it’s about you winning the ball. They were a really desperate team with huge desire tonight and we spoke about it, but at the end of the day you can only control your own actions. I think it’s irrelevant to Michael Walters really. At points, other forwards need to do a bit more really. 'Pav' got them late to be frank, early he was like the rest of the forwards and not super effective. We’ve had multiple goal kickers across the board, the whole team wasn’t allowed to play well by a team that wanted it more than we did. That comes back to me as the coach and our leaders and the whole group. There’s a good lesson to learn out of this.
Ross is there any part of the ground you thought could have done better?
All over – attack, defence, midfield, but we worked into it and we didn’t give it up. We fought on and made a game of it. You come out with more entries and more clearances, all it tells you is that they were harder for longer and worked harder getting to the pointy ends of the ground at both ends. It’s a game of transition, it’s a game of up and down. More credit to the opposition, I think they should feel good about themselves and we’ve been reminded of what’s required to consistently win games of AFL football.
Were they more desperate and hungry?
We always acknowledge the opposition and talk about their mindset and what they’ll be coming in with. I don’t think you need to be a genius to identify it was going to be desperate. I thought we started well but again you need to score off those sort of entries. We’ve been doing it okay but we didn’t do it well tonight.
Luke McPharlin on Buddy Franklin?
I thought Luke was pretty good for a fair while. I think, particularly in the first half, Luke was fantastic. He got a couple late, he kicked four and 'Pav' kicked four – it’s neither here nor there really.
Did the six day break affect you at all?
No excuses. Perfect conditions, we pulled up perfectly. I think you’ve got to give kudos to the opposition. We’re a hard working team, we’re not a team full of superstars. We bring our workboots but we get sharp reminders of what we need to do as a coaching group and as a playing group.Clearly somewhere in our preparation from my end and in the coaching panel and the players wasn’t were it needed to be. We’ll try and identify that and work on it.
Do you think your side could have capitalised more on the hit outs? You won the hit outs.
We won the clearance count as well so I think scores were pretty even. Again, it’s about desperation and tackle pressure. I thought they did that really well.
How did Fyfe handle sitting on the sidelines for the past couple of weeks?
It’s not something I have spoken to him about. I deal with the players that are available. He was made available and he trained then he played. He won a fair bit of the ball, he’ll only get better from here.
Are you as patient as you’ve always been with Josh (Simpson) or is it starting to run out?
Really I should be talking about the game but I will indulge you because it’s topical. He has a number of family, cultural and attitudinal situations to work through. He’d done enough to be picked but in this case clearly Josh was disappointed about being out of the team so he’s basically dropped his bundle. That’s what’s occurred there. In previous times Josh has gone home for cultural reasons and they might be family illnesses and western medicine versus traditional medicine where there is a need to go home. He’s a young father of two children so there’s a lot of pressures there. His background and foundation, he hasn’t walked out of Hale School with a silver spoon in his mouth. He comes from 500km north-west of Perth and he’s been through, in his life, trying circumstances. Therefore, we’re trying to build a base and nurture and work with Josh and counsel and also at times discipline and encourage Josh to be able to handle the rigours of AFL football. That is a big transition. It is occurring and it occurred to the point where Josh was able to play last week. But even last week there were still some cultural issues that saw Josh return home to Mullewa during the week for certain health reasons. When you put all that together, it’s really trying circumstances for us as a football club because sometimes you’re trying to do what the education system, families, mentors, elders and the government can’t quite do. We’re working through all those things with Josh. But in this particular instance it’s been an attitudinal issue with 'taking your bat and ball and going home'. To answer your question, no I haven’t ran out of patience. We’re here to support the person and challenge the action or the behaviour. In this situation we’ll come together as a football club with leaders and with Josh and with his manager and talk about potential ramifications and what it means and how he needs to earn the trust back. I hope that helps.
What confidence have you got that he can reach his potential and have a long-term solid career?
We’re talking about a kid that’s played two games. Certainly don’t get seduced by talent. With all the resources in the world, no one will leave our football club without being fully supported, fully resourced, given every opportunity. If you end up not being with our football club you’ve actually chosen that in the end. Let’s hope we don’t get to that point.
