The Blues began last week in a blaze of goals and glory, but nothing brought more joy than Brad Fisher’s magnificent steal deep in our forward line which wins this week’s Play of the Week. Sure, all of us at Mike & Dan would have loved to have picked his last quarter goal which should have sent us on a winning way, but alas, the Blues could not prevail and Fisher’s first goal of the weekend and 12th for the year takes the proverbial cake.
This week you win Play of the Week for that delightful stolen mark in our Inside 50. At what stage of the cross-the-ground kick did you realise that you were in with a chance?
Yes, I got a bit lucky with that one. I saw with
Tell us a bit more about playing in the forward line at
I think it’s definitely first about getting the footy. The ball use in the first and third quarters was first class, and with the targets we have down there at the moment in Brendan, Jarrad and Whitnall we are in a position to have a big score.
What about the hands in the back rule; Fev said not to worry about it, but some pretty clear ones seem to get missed a la Scott Welsh on young Hartlett...
It’s a new interpretation which may take a while to settle down and a few of us to get out of bad habits, but I agree with Brendan, really. We spent a lot of time on it in the pre-season and we know all about it, so I think its worth sticking with and just getting on with it.
Just on that point… How tall are you? Have you told this to your teammates? Because they seem
to think you're 7 feet tall... Why else would they continually kick the ball so far above your head?
They want to hit you on your chest as much as you want to – the Crows have a classy midfield and there was plenty of heat on our boys up there. This year we are a lot better at delivery into the Forward 50 than last year, and we’re getting more Inside 50’s, so as long as we continue to improve that as a team all of the Forwards will be happy – I know I speak for all of us on that.
Take That Mike & Dan! And by the way he’s 192cm.
13 goals from 7 games is a pretty good average - are you aiming for 2 goals a game?
Back at the start of the year when Brett Ratten was Forwards Coach he said to me that I really need to aim to kick about 30 goals each year, so 13 from 7… that’s not a bad start.
When you kicked 3 in the first half against the Kangaroos, were you hoping to kick your first big bag of AFL goals?
No, you don’t think about it that way – not during a game anyway. Sure it would be nice to get more than 3 in a game, but it’s probably only after a game that you think about how nice it may be to kick a big bag. Really, and it’s true, we just want to win the game. The personal targets like that…well..it’s about winning the game.
The biggest bag we can remember was your debut game for the Bullants after being drafted - 6. Can you remember what jumper number you were wearing that day?
No, not at all – that was a long time ago. That’s a good memory…
Back then Mike & Dan were the Bullants reporters for carltonfc.com.au and believe that it was
Your kicking for goal seems to have improved this year. Do you agree, or is it just our perception? In fact the disposal by foot of a number of players in the side (I'm looking at you, Carrazzo) has improved. Did the drill change over summer, or are you just putting in more practice?
We definitely spent heaps of hours on it over the pre-season – both field and goal kicking. Denis Pagan said his main criticism of my play was my kicking, so he said as much as I could to work on it. We’ve done plenty of hours on it, with a number of coaches. It’s good to see that it’s getting better, not just in goal-kicking either.
Fev's crunched you twice in the last two seasons. What did you do to upset him?
Not too sure! I’ve had a bit of bad luck…but Fev’s said that he’ll give me a few free feeds at his restaurant. I’ll have to try and claim them…it’s Fev after all.
How is the face?
No worries at all; I’ve got a couple of plates in my face all nice & tight but it’s no worries.
How is the knee?
Touchwood, its 100% recovered and has been for some time. It’s almost like I shouldn’t know which leg it was that I hurt.
You seem pretty popular with the kids these days, but you also seem to have a low public profile. Do you seek the solace of not talking to us bigwig media types or do you think you're just under the radar a little bit despite your form?
I don’t mind the attention - sure, a few kids seek me out and I see the jumper #14 around, but I’m happy to keep a low profile and let some of the boys who are better at it than me do all that sort of work.
Are you growing a beard or not? Because we're not sure what's going on there... If so, were you inspired by some of the greats of the 1970’s and 1980’s?
Not too sure really – the boys keep getting into me about it. I don’t know if it’s permanent or not. Jake Edwards had one over the summer too – but he can’t make up his mind whether it should be on or off. He said it helps him a bit with the ladies…
Who won the paintball? Was anyone scary-good, like, you'll know not to cross them in future?
After a few losses in a row, Lance Whitnall thought it would be a good idea to have some fun as a group and re-focus. I think it was a great idea. Scary-good? Well, Brendan’s pain barrier is pretty high and no matter how many times I shot him he just kept on playing…
And finally, how many of the
I see it every day, but I think you’ve got me on that one…I can remember Crowe, Ashman and Sexton….but no more at this time. Who were they?
Rod McLean, Vin English, Bob Crowe, Rod Ashman, Michael Sexton and Billy Dick gets it although he didn’t play 100 games in the #14, also wearing #11, 6, 18, and 1.
On the back of a Forward Line that includes the Fish, amongst the reigning John Coleman Medallist, reigning Club Best and Fairest Winner and 4-goal star from the weekend, the Blues must be primed to register another big score – hopefully one bigger than our opponent, the Bulldogs. Another 2 goals from the Fish is virtually assured…but if that big bag comes along then maybe we’ll all be singing a certain song at the end of the day?
