JACOB Weitering has lauded his side for their ability to play consistent football across four quarters and having the whole team stand up when needed.
Specifically mentioning the inclusion of Liam Stocker and in particular the late call-up for Lachie Plowman, the co-vice captain noted the ability of the players to get on with the game and play their role, regardless of the circumstances.
Following a disappointing loss to Fremantle in Perth in the previous week, Weitering was happy his side was able to respond with a comprehensive win over North Melbourne.
“I guess ‘Vossy’ was on us to respond after last week: it was disappointing to go over to Perth and lose the way we did,” Weitering said,
“To lose a couple of guys as well and guys come in and contribute, Lachie [Plowman] came in and did a super job, ‘Stock’ came in and you saw the bump and laid his body on the line.”
Weitering also had a shout-out for his teammates in the centre, complimenting their ability to win the ball from the centre and set up opportunities for the forwards.
“The boys up the field are doing a super job as well, we’re winning the contested ball, we’re winning centre bounces and the forwards are either winning or halving it,” he said.
“I guess you saw the pressure we applied tonight which we’ve somewhat failed to do over four quarters and I think we did that [on Saturday night].”
The Blues' second-half struggled have been a point of contention in recent weeks.
Weitering said while the Blues didn’t specifically address this at half time, their work and belief in their system was crucial in the stronger finish to the contest.
“I guess it’s been noticeable in our recent games that we haven’t been able to come out the way we wanted to post half time,” he said.
“We haven’t made too many changes, we’ve just made sure that we’re ready mentally and physically and we just go back to what we were doing.
“We’ve had some great starts, our strength is contested ball, winning it out of the middle and our mids did a super job at that: we’ve got leaders all over the ground and they stood up.”
It was inevitable that Weitering would be asked about his drought-breaking goal that saw him kick his first major since 2018.
Ever the humble leader, Weitering was keen to pump up his teammates rather than take the credit.
“I was able to snag one in that third quarter but it was a massive team effort today,” he said.
“It was nice to hit the scoreboard but I think there were 10 or 11 goal scorers for us tonight, it shows the spread. We’re spreading the load and the boys did their job all over the field.”
