The Retrospective Coach - Round Three

[Scraggers]

So here it is ... The Retrospective Coach for Round Two

As with last week, I will be interviewing a 'WOOFer' who will be playing the part of our coach, Brendan McCartney.

The idea is to ask questions of the 'WOOFer' (via Private Message) and start the thread with the answers. The last question of every interview will always be a 20/20 hindsight question.

After the thread has been started, your role is to ask questions of our faux-coach!!

This week, playing the role of B-Mac is our very own EasternWest !!!

I appreciate EasternWest helping out !!

Ask your questions of B-Mac (EasternWest) and he will do his best to answer as The Retrospective Coach

[Scraggers]

Hi Brendan,
Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions today.

To start with the most obvious question … Other than the result, what do you see as the difference between the North Melbourne game and the Richmond game?

I like to think that not only are our players improving each week, but they're also learning each week. There may have been some outside factors that played some part in the result against North, but that's not in our control. So with that in mind, I think the players took on board all the disappointment of the last quarter fadeout against the Kangaroos and resolved to take control of the situation so that it didn't happen again.

Last week against North Melbourne, you stated you left the introduction of our sub, Daniel Giansiracusa, far too late. Given that Roughead was injured early in the first quarter, did you again leave Gia’s entry too late?

Yes and no. A lot of it was left in Jordan's hands as to him coming out of the game. Obviously it wasn't ideal keeping him out there, but he felt he could continue to contribute and we trusted his judgement. It may have been better to take him out as soon as he hurt himself. But on the other side of the coin, after a hard contested and free flowing game, Giansiracusa was running on top of the ground and was ready to go at a time when we could really use the fresh legs.

From the outside, the most impressive part of our game is the rise of the young players. Macrae, LIberatore, Wallis, Dahlhaus, Stringer, Jones et al. … the nucleus is there. What do you see as the main requirement / prerequisite / necessity for taking the next step?

As always, developing consistency is key. Each of our players is well aware of the areas they need to work on, so improving those areas of their game is going to help in them reaching a more consistent levels of output. It was always going to be a slow road, but seeing Liam Jones up the ground, actively being a link up player, is a sign that things are starting to come together.

In hindsight, is there anything you had wished you had changed with selection / positions / approach to the game?

The trouble with hindsight is it leads you down the path to regret. You never look back at a game and applaud yourself for all the good things you. You tend to focus on the negatives.

With that being said, revision and review is an important part of what we need to do after a game. So right now I can say that there may be some things I'd like to have changed, but truthfully I am satisfied that we went into that game with the best available, best possible side to give us a chance to win the game.

Thanks again for your time Brendan

[bornadog]

Brendan, after being 37 points up it must have been disappointing we let Richmond back into the game in the third quarter. What happened in the third quarter? Were Richmond better or do we lose concentration and not play the same way as the first half.

[1eyedog]

Brendan, how many time have you watched the last passage of play that led to the last goal of the match? I've watched it about 50 times and have a few questions about it.

1/ Did you speak with Crameri about his limitations on his right side and also about using peripheral vision? When King left Picken to pressure Crameri Picken was free for the receive.

2/ Easton Wood was great keeping his feet against Vickery didn't you think?

3/ What about Higgins' defensive acts in the last few minutes of the game. Are you happy with where he is at with regard to this side of his game so far this season?

[EasternWest]

Brendan, after being 37 points up it must have been disappointing we let Richmond back into the game in the third quarter. What happened in the third quarter? Were Richmond better or do we lose concentration and not play the same way as the first half.

It was a little of both. We felt that, partly due to our pressure, and partly that sometimes it's just the way it is in footy, that Richmond were a bit off the boil in the first half. I'm not sure that they were as prepared for our hard running in the first half as we caught them off guard on the turnover for a few "easy" goals. We knew those things were probably not going to go our way as easily in the third and fourth quarters.

No doubt they received a rest and a rev at half time and they played better after that. We knew they would mount a comeback. With that in mind, it was still disappointing to surrender our lead in its entirety. Good sides handle the ebbs and flows of the game, and we are still working towards being a good side.


Brendan, how many time have you watched the last passage of play that led to the last goal of the match? I've watched it about 50 times and have a few questions about it.

1/ Did you speak with Crameri about his limitations on his right side and also about using peripheral vision? When King left Picken to pressure Crameri Picken was free for the receive.

2/ Easton Wood was great keeping his feet against Vickery didn't you think?

3/ What about Higgins' defensive acts in the last few minutes of the game. Are you happy with where he is at with regard to this side of his game so far this season?

In relation to Crameri, we were more focussed on the positives that he provided us on Saturday that we had maybe not seen up till that point. Given his size and strength, he's an odd match up for other teams. When you couple that with his burst speed and gut running, he has the potential to be a real game breaker - as we saw on the weekend. So yes, of course we would prefer that his skills on the right side were better, and he knows he needs to improve, but we also know just how vital his ability to gut run deep in the game was to our sealing the victory.

Watching the footage again, I thought that Picken was a little behind Stewart and as such out of his vision. An argument could be made that he had time while running upfield to take stock of the surroundings, but I'm satisfied that in the moment he played the play as best he saw it.

Wood did a good job in that situation. In a pressure situation like that it's easy to go to ground or rush the ball out of bounds, and he did neither. I thought he was pretty solid all game.

We're very pleased with Shaun at this stage of the season. Coming off such a long injury recovery, he has done everything right to make sure he didn't have any ring rust. He's had his best pre-season ever and has come out of it a little lighter and fitter and his game is showing the benefits of it. His application to his defensive side has been a focus for us, and it's pleasing to see him taking the instructions on board.

Shaun has natural leadership skills off field, but when your teammates, particularly the younger ones, see you clutching a desperate fingertip tackle late in the game, then you're displaying what leadership actually is, and players respond to that.