We out-tackled them and out-pressured them and ran the game out really well. We were 10 points down late in the game and to come back from there and win was a real positive for us.
The group was pretty confident that we could out-run them because we believe that we’re pretty fit and have some depth through our midfield, which would see us get on top of their onballers in the long run.
We kept tackling and pressuring all the way to the end and they fell off a little bit and we were able to capitalise. At three-quarter time we talked about how we could run over the top of them because they have had a few fade-outs.
It’s always interesting when you come up against Aaron Sandilands, just because of his sheer size. He’s a big man, a monster. He laid a tackle on me at one point and I think he was on his knees, yet he was still taller than me.
He often gets his hands on the ball first because of his size, but it was a pretty good contest from Matty Kruezer and Shaun Hampson to allow us to win the clearances.
It won’t be easy against the Cats this week because they’ll obviously want to hit back hard after copping a bit of a hiding from the Pies. They’ll be pretty embarrassed at how much they lost by, but we can learn a few things off Collingwood.
It won’t be an easy task, they are arguably one of the best teams going around, but we are looking forward to our biggest challenge of the year to date.
*****
FOOTY clubs are generally pretty lively places and the rooms at Carlton have certainly been a fun environment this year.
The guys are always trying to get one up on each other and I’m always getting asked about what goes on behind closed doors, so I thought I’d try and give you a bit of an insight.
We share a laugh when one of the guys does a photo shoot that’s a bit out of the ordinary. Andrew Walker did one ages ago, but it was in the paper again recently because the book that he’s in was recently released. It’s called Gods of Sport and it's raising funds for the McGrath Foundation.
He had his shirt off and got smeared with all this black tar-type stuff, so of course his nickname has been ‘God’ ever since that came out.
It’s not good when you’re the one getting stitched, but it’s great to be able to give it out.
I’ve been pretty lucky that I’ve done a few little things here and there that have gone under the radar and have been missed by the boys.
But there was a photo of me and Greg Williams in the paper a few weeks back and a few unkind people around here suggested that I looked like Diesel’s lovechild. But I didn’t think that was very accurate at all.
The gym is a centre of activity at the club and Bret Thornton and Jordan Bannister have both been in there working on their guns with the beach weights, as we call them, so they’re always strutting around. And Banno loves getting his top off.
Walks, Banno and Andrew Carrazzo are also known to visit solariums and day spas, so they’re always out to present themselves very well.
Simon Wiggins is probably one of the funniest blokes down in the rooms and has plenty of witty comments.
A few of the blokes consider themselves clothes horses – Ryan Jackson likes to think he’s right up with all the fashions. He loves his fluoro kit and he gets around in these t-shirts which certainly stand out in a crowd.
In terms of who is the messiest person in the rooms, Walks gets the nod once again; he’s notorious for leaving all his stuff lying around. There could be worse, but I do notice him a lot because he’s only two lockers away from me.
Nobody loves their cars as much as Cam Cloke and Ryan Jackson, but Stevo likes to get around in his expensive four-wheel drive. As for me, my Hyundai Tiburon does me very nicely.
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of the club.
