AFLW SENIOR Coach Daniel Harford was quick to praise the temperament and commitment of his players following the Round 7 win over St Kilda.
The Game Changers were dominant from the opening bounce to the final siren, keeping the Saints goalless until the final minutes in a 27-point victory.
It was a performance built on the back of the team's pressure which got the job done for the Blues, recording 25 inside-50 tackles and having nearly double the amount of forward entries.
This is what Harford had to say.
On a resounding performance and return to winning form:
“It’s much better than the alternative.
“I’m very proud of the crew and the way they set the game up through the week: we were able to go out there and do it. That’s more of an exhibition of what we are and what we’re capable of: we haven’t really given ourselves that chance too often this year for many variants.
“We were able to do that tonight, on the back of a fair bit of pressure and a sub-par performance last week. I’m extraordinarily proud of them and the way they did it.”
On the shift in focus:
“If you can find a teammate in space, it’s much easier than having to barge through the numbers all the time. We’ve resorted to, perhaps too often, trying to barge through and surge through numbers — it hasn’t been effective for us.
‘It was an opportunity to reset that movement pattern and try and make it a bit more beneficial for us and the way we want to move the ball.
“It’s not revolutionary by any stretch of the imagination, but it gives you the opportunity to take possession, take the ball and move it the way you want to move it.
On a Carlton record amount of inside-50 tackles:
“You don’t want it ping ponging off the other bat and trampolining out. You don’t try and get 25 (inside-50 tackles) a week, but we try and put some forward pressure on.
“The make up of the players in that area of the ground tonight helped with that. They really bought into that and our forward-half numbers were through the roof.
“That’s a nice way to play footy. It takes pressure off your defenders who don’t have to work as hard, while it gives you an opportunity to score, which we haven’t been doing very effectively for the last however long.”
On Darcy Vescio’s impact in defence:
“Loved it. We’ve been thinking about it for a while.
“‘Darce’ probably hasn’t had the year they would’ve liked to have had impact-wise in the forward half: in fairness, none of our forward players have because the ball hasn’t been there very often.
“They’re such a creative player and a great reader of the ball. We thought it might be able to get them in the game a bit and we could benefit from that. We saw the results of that.”
On a dynamic Gab Pound up forward:
“I thought she was classy in many respects. Gab was enormous: her pressure, even when it wasn’t real or physical, it was perceived pressure. There was a lot of hunting.
“Plus her ground-ball capability where she fed it to teammates, I thought Gab’s impact in our forward-50 in particular was enormous.
‘She’s a terrific player, Gab, and she’s been an All-Australian as a defender. But what she’s showed us in training and in games in that forward area of the ground, it has added another dimension to her. I think it excites her too.”
On ruck duo, Brea Moody and Jess Good:
“‘Moods’ has had a great year full stop: this was another opportunity for her to exert some dominance. Tonight, she got enormous support from Jess Good, who was fantastic around the contest.
“The way they moved themselves between ruck and forward in the game was really positive for us. ‘Moods’ certainly gets a chance to exploit her experience against more inexperienced opponents, and she’s an unbelievable athlete.
“To have the sidekick riding shotgun with you and doing such a good job, like ‘Goodie’ did tonight, it gives ‘Moods’ a bit more confidence to free up a bit and not have to worry about dominating all of those moments.”
