AHEAD of the AFL Carlton Respects Round clash with Gold Coast, David Teague spoke to the media on Thursday morning.
This is what the Senior Coach had to say.
On backing up last week's win and performance:
It’s really important. It’s been a challenge of ours and it’s what the good teams do: their consistency of effort and the brand that they bring every week. The opposition will go out there to challenge your brand and who you are. That’s a growth for us, to become more consistent — not only week-to-week, but throughout games as well. We need to make sure our preparation is as good as it was last week and we turn up with the same energy and intent that we did on the weekend.
On Charlie Curnow going again this weekend:
Charlie pulled up really well. He’s looking pretty good and he was pretty excited to get through, from a psychological point was probably a greater challenge from a physiological point for him. He got through the game and he feels good to be back out there. He enjoyed kicking that goal and even his energy late in the game, when St Kilda started to come at us, his ability to run into the midfield and get around his teammates and get some energy going is something we really value.
On the prospect of the top eight:
It’s adding a little bit to it, but our focus from a club point of view is just being really consistent with who we are and how we turn up to play. We let ourselves down a few weeks ago, we responded last week but the most important game for us is the next one. We need to make sure we bring the same effort, energy and intent to that game and we believe we can be a really good side when we do that. If we don’t, then you fall back really quickly and you’re susceptible to anyone.
On correcting lapses in-game:
What I do notice is that when things aren’t going well or we start to get a bit frustrated, we try too hard and we go away from playing our role. We end up with too many players at the contest and teams are able to get the ball on the outside and use it against us. It’s often from over-trying: this group is a pretty proud group in the way they train and the way they prepare. In-game, it can be a case of trying to help too much instead of just getting your job done.
On Tom De Koning's availability and potential inclusions:
Tom is a test: at this stage, it’s looking more likely than unlikely. We’ll wait and see, training is after this so we’ll see how he pulls up. He’s more likely than unlikely, Levi Casboult is a possibility to return this week as well and we played Mitch McGovern in the ruck at VFL level and he did quite well. We’re going to have a few options: we’ll see how the guys get through training and at this stage, hopefully Tommy is available and we’ll play him.
On Jack Silvagni's recent form:
He’s been great. He’s a competitor and he’s very passionate about playing for the Carlton Football Club. I know his teammates love that and his ability to compete. He’s been really important for us, particularly as a ruckman and putting pressure on in the front half. He probably hasn’t hit the scoreboard from a forward’s point of view, but when he’s been thrown into the ruck, his follow-up and second efforts - he had nine tackles last week - sees him lead the way in there. He’s been great for us: we love seeing the energy he brings and the passion he plays with.
On the response to the North Melbourne loss:
I know we were extremely disappointed in the way we played. We got to half time and the boys were flat in the rooms, yet we were two points up. We went back out and North Melbourne flogged us in the third. We were more disappointed in the way we played: we reviewed it strongly, we needed a response and we got that. The challenge for us now is to continue to play that way: we know we’re at our best when we play strong, contested team football. We need to make sure we’re doing that again this weekend.
On blocking the external noise:
The challenge is getting it our of your head and getting back to what you can control. From the line coaches and development coaches, to a high performance point of view all the way through the football department, the ability of the whole club to continue to focus on getting their job done and try and put out their best performance each week is something the guys have done really well. Am I proud of it? Yes, I am proud of the group.
