Jordan you win this week’s Play of the Week – or more correctly Player of the Week – for you outstanding match on the weekend. Did you set yourself up for a big one against one of the game’s leading players?
Yes, I did actually. Ratts came to me early in the week and said that he’d been thinking about playing me on Johnson. It was pretty daunting at first – it’s probably the first time this year that I’ve been given such a big, defined role. So I spoke to a few of the coaches, and watched Johnson’s tape, but by the end of the week I was really looking forward to it.
Seriously though, how did you rate his pace and efforts against what you were expecting?
I’m sure he wasn’t 100%. Obviously he went into the match under a cloud, but you have to remember the old rule about players taking the field. He took the field and played the match and all you can do it work off that. I’m sure it was holding him back a little bit – he’s so dangerous around goals that even at 50% he’d probably be worth selecting.
Do you prefer a challenge like that or is it about just playing any role you can?
I like it both ways I think – sometimes as a lead-up forward it can be hard to get into a game and you might not get the ball as much. In those cases you might find yourself not getting a game the week after. So if you’re in a defensive role it’s easy to work out what you’re supposed to be doing – and its easier to measure your role to the team.
We remember a few years ago when Denis Pagan gave you a specific role…on Chris Judd…
Yeah I remember that all too well. I wasn’t on him for very long I assure you – he carved us all up that day. I’m glad he came to our Club rather than any other club, let me tell you!
One of the comments in the Mike & Dan meetings after the game was that you played the game of a Top 10 Draft Pick. Although the draft was years ago, do you think about stuff like that – or is your role to just play a part in the team?
I think when you first get picked up the draft order plays a part in what’s expected of you – through the pre-season and times like that. But at the start of the year you’re all on zero games and it’s all about what you do from there. These days I don’t really think about that at all.
You seemed to scare the hell out of Scotland when you ran past, calling for the ball.
As a team we spoke about it before the match – Johnson probably wasn’t going to chase me down, so the rule was, every time I was free, you should use me. Sure I had to defend first but I was also asked to create opportunities.
We got close to Geelong in the pre-season competition when playing some of our new young players. Did this give the team any confidence going in, or is the pre-season long forgotten by now?
No, we actually touched on that a little bit during the week. We talked about how a young team got close to a top team, and how we went about it. For Geelong you have to be strong and you can’t back down – they’re a big team and they’re very experienced. You gotta get in their face and not backdown from the contest. That was our #1 focus for the match.
We seemed to be blocking for Judd and Murphy almost as much as Geelong were blocking for Ablett and Selwood. Has the team concentrated on protecting each other more over this year?
As midfield Coach, Mark Riley has been promoting this more and more. With Juddy as our best player and Murphy getting more attention, the focus has been on this in the midfield group over the last couple of weeks. With Juddy getting heavily tagged by Greenwood the other week we’ve had to. One of our statisticians is now focussing on this point and depending on the match-ups he tracks who blocks for Juddy or Murphy.
Some of the recruiting watchers noticed your overhead marking was reminiscent of your pre-draft performances. Is that something that rings a bell?
Well, I’ve never really been a big pack marker – I’ve never had the size to do that. But you never know – when your confidence is up you go for things and they come off.
Amazing how the teams below us don't seem to want to make the 8! Port could have almost sewn up a spot last week but lost to Freo. What do you expect from them this week?
Ha, yes. But obviously they’ll be disappointed and they’re a good team, especially at home. People forget that they beat Hawthorn at home, just because they lost to Freo. They’re actually a bit like us – inconsistent.
So we’re expecting them to come out firing on the weekend for sure.
How important is it to the team to beat Port after a great win last weekend?
That’s been the main focus this week – as soon as the game was over on Friday we talked about not getting caught up in the inevitable media interest in beating Geelong. As soon as the match was over we turned our attention to Port.
Do you get your own little cheer squad of family and friends when you play in Adelaide?
I do actually, but I wouldn’t say its big enough to call a Cheer Squad. I always get into Shane O’Sullivan to get as many tickets in Adelaide as I can.
Russell’s second Play of the Week for 2009 is just another piece to the improving utility of this utility – and a scalp as big as Johnson can only boost the confidence of this 66 gamer as he progresses in Navy Blue.
Please Note: the views expressed in the above article are solely the opinion of the author and do not reflect the opinions of the Carlton Football Club or those employees of the Club. The Carlton Football Club would like to acknowledge the tireless work of those supporters who contribute to carltonfc.com.au.
