Nice goal you kicked in the first quarter Jordan. We've only had 3 rounds and you've almost kicked as many goals this year as you did last year. Is this part of the coach's move to spread the goal kicking load?
To be honest, I don’t think I’m worrying too much about it this year. Last year I wasn’t really accurate with my shots on goal, but it has just a natural progression this year with changing to wing and midfield role. I am more confident on my snapping and set shots and if I kick one, I forget any old habits.
I have done a fair bit of work with our Goalkicking and Development Coach Darren Harris and am more confident with both goals on the run and set shots.
It was a disappointing loss after being 27 points up in the second quarter. There is a lot of media speculation that the team was getting ahead of itself. What do you put the loss down to?
I don’t think we got ahead of ourselves, as it was only round 3 and how can you get ahead of yourselves after only 2 games of footy? Essendon has had the wood on us, but the major reason for the loss is that we didn’t stick to what we knew.
We had a few things in place for the game, and their game style is chip up and hit the leads, but we were standing off too much. We battled hard in a tight game, but we shot ourselves in the foot and need to get back to basics.
We were very disappointed in the rooms said a few things as a group after the game and on Monday morning. We knew what we did wrong and what we should have done better. To come away with a loss in a match we should have won was disappointing. We should have been further ahead but there is always next week to redeem ourselves.
We haven't beaten the Swans since 2000 and haven't won in Sydney since 1993. Has this been talked about amongst the playing group?
We haven’t said too much about it but it is an amazing stat. Since Ratts came on board, he has been big on getting rid of negative records. We haven’t spoken about the Swans record too much this week, but it will be part of Ratts’ motivation. He is trying to instil into us to knock the unwanted records off and has been good motivation. Last year winning away from home and interstate was part of that effort, when we won 3 out of 4 out of Victoria which was a great.
What do you remember about 1993? What were you doing?
I remember Tony Modra kicked 129 for the Crows, and that the Crows made Preliminary Final and should have won through but lost to Essendon. I would have been in year one or two and just kicking the footy around in the backyard and was too young to be thinking about much more than that!
The SCG is an unusual size – a short but wide ground. How will this figure in preparations?
Sydney play the ground well. It’s important to keep the ball in the corridor, as the ground is similar to Telstra not so much in the dimensions but in that you can score goals quickly if you get the ball down the guts and get it on with turnovers. You need to move the ball well out of defence.
There is a lot of pressure on our running players given our increase in depth over the last few seasons. Players like Grigg and Joseph are emerging and a regular in Scotland was omitted last week. Has your role changed this year and are you doing anything differently to grow and cement your role in the first 22?
Yep as a player I have tried to be more versatile. You just can’t be one dimensional these days, and I have tried to grow my role as wingman and backman where I played in first 3 rounds, and this gives me a few different options if I’m struggling.
We have many midfielders who can break lines. Stevo, Judd, Murph and Simpson are in that category, and I want to be able to break lines and hit the forwards up in the same way. The coaches want me to hit up forward and be another link for the team.
With Travis Johnstone in round 2 against Brisbane, I had played on him late last year and did a reasonable job, which was good motivation for the coaches to put me on the job again. I spent some time on Lovett this week, but generally where I play is a week-by-week thing depending on the opposition.
It can really hurt the opposition when ‘run with’ players get a lot of their own possessions, and you’ve had your hands on the ball a lot this year compared to other years. Is that one of the ways that you measure your improvement?
Not so much in terms of just getting possessions, but I also wanted to start using it better when I got it. Last year I only got 12-13 touches per game as half forward and this year I wanted to get to 15 touches per game.
I have worked with Robert Harvey to get into that mindset in trying to aim for 15 touches. I am moving up the ground more and playing tagging roles on good players and they have brought me to the footy. It gives me more confidence when I am getting more of the ball and hitting targets.
You’ve played almost every match since Brett Ratten became coach. How do you see his impact on your career compared to Denis Pagan?
Ratts’ impact has been massive, I’m not saying that Dennis didn’t have an impact as he showed a lot of faith in me and gave me a lot of game time, but Ratts has said that he likes how I go about it and he thinks I can be a good player for the club. He has said that he wants me to go out there with some confidence and to concentrate on my game and not worry if I make a mistake. He said it to me in the 2008 pre-season and it gave me all the confidence in the world to move on and keep improving
Carlton has a number of high profile midfield stars such as Judd, Murphy, Stevens and Gibbs. Are you happy flying under the radar and being a quiet achiever?
Definitely! I am not sure if I’ve done too much compared to those guys, but makes it easier when they can perform so well even when they are tagged heavily, and it frees up some of our other players to do a job. Those guys are under pressure with taggers week in and week out but they always do the job and help guys like me get into the game.
Do you see yourself as more of a senior player in the team? If so, are there any younger players you’ve been mentoring?
Personally I like to get to know the young guys and have a chat to them about their games. I really do enjoy that part of things, and it keeps me going and keeps my mind off footy. I don’t want to overthink things with my own game, but I like helping the younger guys out.
I am rooming with Rhys O’Keefe, who is a bigger body and a bit of a half back type, and I talk to him about his game and try to help where I can.
There is always talk surrounding an interstate recruit about a potential home-coming. You've lived in Melbourne now for a few years now and have established yourself as a regular. Do you consider yourself a Melburnian by now?
As much as people in South Australia might not like to hear it, I really do enjoy living here! It is a different way of living here and Melbourne is mad about footy, and I don’t think I could go back to Adelaide for a while as I love it here and I am here to stay for hopefully 10-12 years!
How's Adam Hartlett going? You joined the team at the same time, both from West Adelaide, but he has struggled a lot with injuries over that time. Do you think he might turn the corner this season?
We looked back recently and he has had 2-3 knee surgeries, hamstring injuries, and some bad luck with other injuries. I have played with him since we were kids and I know he has got a lot of capability, and he has shown glimpses of what he can do in the seniors. I am keeping my fingers crossed for him as I think he could really contribute to the team.
When you were drafted your 20 metre times at the draft camp were quicker than Judd's. Do you ever remind him of this?
*Laughs* No I don’t, he has obviously won a Brownlow Medal, been a premiership captain, All Australian and played over 150 games so I’ll keep my mouth shut!
Any gossip you want to share with us about your team mates?
Not sure whether I can dig something up here – I’ll throw up something about Rhys O’Keefe. He fancies himself as a ladies’ man and thinks he is a hit with them but hasn’t really had any success. Hopefully this might help him out!
After figuring predominantly as a ‘run with’ player since his debut in 2005, Jordan Russell has become a vital cog in Brett Ratten’s emerging team. In addition to shutting down key opposition playmakers, Russell’s recent form has shown that he is also capable of picking up damaging possessions of his own. Russell and his team mates will need to rebound well against a resilient Sydney team on Saturday if it is to record its first away win against the Swans since 1993.
