THIS is what Senior Coach David Teague had to say on the 31-point win against St Kilda on Friday night.
On whether the performance was the best of the season:
Of this season, possibly. It’s an interesting one — I thought our pressure was as good as it has been, so in that area absolutely. Accuracy in front of goal obviously really helped: from an inside 50 point of view as well as shots on goal, St Kilda won the count, so our ability to convert was critical.
On the need for a response from last week:
I’m really proud of our performance tonight. Last week’s game was really disappointing and that’s the difference between the really good sides and the teams that aren’t there yet. And we’re not there yet. The effort we put in last week wasn’t up to it, but to their credit, the players responded and had some honest conversations throughout the week together with the coaching staff. Our challenge is replicating that and finding that motivation and internal drive to be the best we can be ourselves, and not be too caught up on what the outside noise is saying. It’s about being the best we can be every single week and that’s the challenge, for our coaching group and playing group, to get the best out of each other.
On Jack Silvagni's role and the midfield performance:
I thought Jack was outstanding. His midfielders around him really supported him. From a hitout point of view, we were under the pump, but our midfielders’ ability to break even and give us some supply into our front half — I thought they did a really good job. Maybe not having a recognised ruckman there switched them on a bit, their attention to detail was at a level that we need to be at every week and replicate that. The collective effort through the midfield, whether it was having to defend when we had to defend or making it hard for their exits, but then we also made the most of our chances to win the ball and go forward.
On Charlie Curnow's return:
It was great to see him out there. Even late, he was rallying the group with the energy he brought. I know from a kicks, marks and handballs aspect, people might look at it. But to see him out there, to see him and Harry playing together alongside Jack early in the game, it’s an exciting future for our footy club. The more time they spend together and build the cohesion and synergy they need [is crucial]. It was great to see him kick that goal: he’s done 1000 of them for the last month at training. His family has been through a bit, so to see him and Ed together and just for him to be back out there playing, I think they’d be really excited.
On playing the long game with Charlie:
We took our time with him. Some experts said he could’ve come back a lot earlier but we got as much information we could, we planned it and we pushed It back a little bit. I’ve got a lot of confidence in the program he’s done and his preparation and now it’s going to be around getting him confidence, to attack pre-season. We won’t see the best out of him yet, but we loved having him out there and the energy he brings.
On Jacob Weitering's response against Max King:
King got those first three, but it shows a sign of who Jacob is. He doesn’t drop the lid — he keeps competing and fighting hard and in the end, I thought Jacob was a very important player for us along with Liam Jones. Our backs held up really well. They got a fair bit of supply there for period, but our ability to break even, to create a stoppage and to number off and be strong was something we needed. We didn’t do it last week, and to the guys’ credit, they did it this week. I thought Jacob, Liam Jones as well as Lachie Plowman who played as our third tall did a really good job in the end.
Taking care of a very important order of business:
A quick shoutout to the BPS Thunderbolts. They won the under-eights basketball premiership the other day. Due to the AFL protocols, I couldn’t go, but a big shoutout to those guys — well done.
