Kane McGoodwin
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- May 21, 2001
- 95,616
- 105,167
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- Adelaide
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- Adelaide Crows
Here's the extract from the media conference - makes for interesting reading!
HAVE YOU UNDERACHIEVED?
No, I'm a great believer in the fact that after 22 rounds the premiership table is a great indicator of your team's performance. We had to fight pretty hard to get into the top eight and it was a top fight for us, but considering the whole season, to get into the top end I thought was an average performance for the year for us. So we've gone from two prelim finals to probably finishing eighth in the comp. We've certainly gone backwards as far as the scoreboard is concerned, we need to acknowledge that, which we obviously do but I reckon eighth was, well, its middle of the road, isn't it?
DO YOU NEED A BIG CLEANOUT?
The last couple of years we've drafted five players a year, which seems to be about the right number, I reckon. You can say, let's clean out nine or ten players, we'll get nine or ten younger players in but it's not just a matter of getting young players, you've got to get young players who are actually capable of playing AFL footy. Otherwise you just get young people into your footy club and nothing else happens. That's a matter of us having a good handle on the draft and knowing where everything sits, and doing a really good strong, rigorous assessment of our playing list, which we'll do between now and after the trade week, before we make any decisions. I'm sure there will be some tough decisions that have to be made, and if they have to be made, they will be.
We've still got some things to go through like I know there is some interest in some of our players in terms of trading, and we've still got some guys who have got some injuries, so we need to go through all that just to see how it all settles down. The reality is we won't make the decision on that until the end of trade week.
WHAT TYPE OF PLAYERS DO YOU NEED?
I think we need to refresh our forward line and continue to build some talent in there. I mean last year unfortunately Kurt Tippett, who we drafted as a forward, he wasn't able to spend a lot of time playing or training. So hopefully he can get through the pre-season, but we need to continue to bring new people into this area, and bolster that area of footy club.
TRIGG THOUGHT YOU MIGHT NEED SOME MIDFIELDERS AS WELL?
Every club is always looking for midfielders, because week after week we talk about where the game is going to be won or lost, we all know it's in the midfield, so that goes without saying. But (being) really specific to our football club, is obviously a fairly key forward if we can find them.
SMALL FORWARD?
Yeah it is, yeah. Small forwards seem to be becoming more and more dominant in the AFL, you look at some of the clubs, Essendon for example, even Geelong on the weekend, some of their small forwards. We had Matty Bode last year, so that is the type of player, Jason Porplyzia was starting to develop, a different style of player but a small type forward. It's interesting from a fashionable point of view that type of player has become pretty important.
TIME TO REFLECT ON THE WEEKEND, WHAT WOULD YOU DO DIFFERENT?
I just thought up until 3/4 time I thought we played some pretty reasonable footy and our biggest disappointment was our last quarter. We pride ourselves on being able to play pretty tough footy and playing the whole game out, but it needs to be recognised that Hawthorn were far too good for us in the final quarter. You might say it was only three points but the reality is Hawthorn could have beaten us by three or four goals with the opportunities they missed...they dominated the last quarter in a very important game, which we have to be really disappointed with. If we could rectify one thing it would just be our competitive nature in the last quarter.
CRITICISM of YOUR COACHING ON MATCH DAY?
What particular area?
THAT YOU'RE NOT REACTIVE ENOUGH
Obviously I've said before, you look at the criticism, you take it on board, if there's any truth in it, analyse, reflect on it, use it, make some changes, I guess the topical one would have been Massie on Franklin, we've all had time to reflect on that and a variety of areas, which I've done. In terms of match day coaching no, I'm pretty comfortable in what we do. I tend to stick with players longer in positions, maybe longer than some other coaches, that seems to be a style of mine. I tend to look more for the cause rather than the end product. The end product is often on show pretty much easier to see than where it's starting from. And the system that we use to play, from a flexibility point of view, is probably an area we need to look at as in the system we use and the number of players weve got available to go through that system as well. That's probably the area we need to look at as a footy club.
LOOK AT COACHES AS WELL?
No, I'm really happy with the assistant coaches we've got, so that's not an area of concern for me.
DOES PETER JONAS LEAVE THE BOX TO GO INTO DEVELOPMENT?
No.
HOW ARE YOU FEELING? THE FANS FEELING SHOCK.
I can understand that. We fought hard to get into the finals and that gave our supporter base a lot of hope and expectation which was great for them. That's important for any football club. And to have that all taken away from them in one game and in particular the last 40 seconds if you like where it just goes, I can certainly understand from the supporter base point of view how disappointed and angry they would be with that. Whilst there's no guarantees, it's certainly a game we thought we could win. The way we went about it in the last quarter and particularly the last set play, if you like, was nowhere near the standard we set ourselves. For a two minute period before half time we held onto the ball for two minutes. They couldn't get it back off us. Whereas in the last part we had to do it maybe for less than 30 seconds, we couldn't do it. So I understand exactly, and we feel no different to how you described how the supporters feel.
I thought this is probably our worst result in terms of finals results.
I feel disappointed, loss of opportunity, to go through to the finals, but in this game you can't wallow in those sort of emotions. And even now what it does is sort of increase your resolve for 2008 to do it better and get stuck back into planning, and look at your list, and things we need to change or add to our footy club. I know the players have been through their own review which we'll get the results of that. Once the emotions of that start to diminish a bit, then the resolve starts to come back. To our supporters, make no mistake about it, it increases our resolve for 2008 to do it better.
IF YOU HAD YOUR TIME AGAIN, WOULD YOU HAVE CHANGED MASSIE ON FRANKLIN?
I've been through it and if the time came to go in with exactly the same circumstances, you know i'd probably give Kris first go at him again. I've been through that, I'm happy to walk you through the journey of that if you want me to.
He got a goal in the first quarter, I thought Kris was really good in the first quarter, he got it on a lead which was the sort of style we thought he would get it on. A quick lead, Kris was really close to him but good mark.
Second quarter it was a contest, ground ball, great snap by franklin. The third goal he got was probably the one that concerned me the most, where Franklin took Kris a bit deep, one-on-one, ball coming in high, that was an area that was causing us concern if Franklin continued to do that, but he didn't. His fourth goal was a free kick from Jason Torney.
So at half time Kris was still at a strong competitive spirit. Probably my major concern at that stage was probably Roughead, as well, I thought he was a really dominating forward, particularly in the air, you know strong contested marks.
Third quarter Franklin had two possessions, gave away two 50m penalties, he didn't kick a goal, Kris was a really good player for us. So we were sort of saying this is going pretty well.
Fifth goal, i thought defensively we were really poor and he got Kris on the lead.
Sixth one Scotty Stevens was on him, and the last one you all know about it, and I'm saying that's team responsibility. That's Massie defending the space behind him, and we have two players in front, and we still can't cut it off.
When you walk through it objectively that's why i'd give Kris first go at it again.
DO YOU TRADE FOR A BIG NAME?
If they exist, but the one that was going to be a big name was Pavlich of course, and clearly our club would have been aggressive in that area. First of all is there a big name available, does it fit your needs and have you got the trades available that clubs would want so you've got to satisfy all that criteria.
So we go into trade open-minded, and as I've said there is some interest in some of our players but you're not going to upgrade your list massively by the trade unless a guy like Pavlich is there and he's not there.
YOU CAME HERE TALKING ABOUT WINNING FINALS FOOTY YOU ARE NOW 2-4 IN FINALS DOES THAT TELL YOU YOU DONT HAVE WINNING FINALS FOOTY IN YOUR GAMEPLAN?
It's what two out of six, its 33 per cent positive strike rate, that's not good enough for what we want. We've created it, well, I've created it, I need to live with it and in the end I need to change it. So if we get good enough to get back in the finals, there's no other way round it, it's no good sitting here and offering up excuses for it, finals footy if you get in there, you are judged on win-loss purely and that's the way it should be.
WHAT DO YOU CHANGE?
A whole range of things you look at personnel, you look at structures, you look at the way you play, we talked about the last quarter against Hawthorn, which we pride oursvels on, but once again we have to look at the skills of perseverance, resilience, all those sorts of aspects of it. It will never be (just) one thing, and that's where our reviews in those areas need to be full of rigour so we don't miss out on any point at all.
HAVE YOU TOLD ANY PLAYER THEY'RE NOT REQUIRED?
No I haven't, reviews are still ongoing both from a coaching perspective and also from a playing group. So that will unfold in the next couple of weeks. Players have been asked to stay here this week, so all the medicals and the physical side of things and all the other discussions can take place. They are still at the footy club for their competitive year if you like, and they finish on Friday, that's when their eight weeks will start. And from there we will have a lot of information on the table and we can start to make decisions.
SHOULD HAVE PLAYED MARK RICCIUTO?
My decision wouldn't change, Mark had kicked three goals against Collingwood, he trained on the Wednesday before the Hawthorn game and actually trained really well, in actual fact going into the game Mark was more pleased with his body to my view he looked better felt better going into the game, so there was no hesitation from my point of view that I selected him on his form and based on his capacity to perform going into the Hawthorn game. I know there's been some insinuation I gave him a game to break the record, but that certainkly wasn't the case. Mark was selected based on his form and his capacity to perform against hawthorn.
EFFECT OF INJURIES
I'm happy to stand by our record, from a coaching point of view, I'm happy to stand (by the fact) that we won 12 games for the year, we can be judged on the way we played, we can be judged on whether we played aggressively, or too defensive, I'm just happy to talk about our performances.
Injuries always play a part, and it's important you understand certain areas where they do have an effect on you.
But we all know, what injuries did we have in round six? Anyone remember? No. And that's the way it is. Okay that's the way it is. And in two weeks time you won't be able to remember what injuries we had going into the elimination final, and that's the way it should be. Externally, that's the way it should be, internally we need to be better than that.
BEEN A CONTENDER FOR A FEW YEARS, IS IT TIME TO LOWER THE BAR?
Well, I'm glad you're not in our club, you want to come to me and talk about lowering the bar and taking it easy, you'd be first on my trade list, young fella.
HAVE YOU UNDERACHIEVED?
No, I'm a great believer in the fact that after 22 rounds the premiership table is a great indicator of your team's performance. We had to fight pretty hard to get into the top eight and it was a top fight for us, but considering the whole season, to get into the top end I thought was an average performance for the year for us. So we've gone from two prelim finals to probably finishing eighth in the comp. We've certainly gone backwards as far as the scoreboard is concerned, we need to acknowledge that, which we obviously do but I reckon eighth was, well, its middle of the road, isn't it?
DO YOU NEED A BIG CLEANOUT?
The last couple of years we've drafted five players a year, which seems to be about the right number, I reckon. You can say, let's clean out nine or ten players, we'll get nine or ten younger players in but it's not just a matter of getting young players, you've got to get young players who are actually capable of playing AFL footy. Otherwise you just get young people into your footy club and nothing else happens. That's a matter of us having a good handle on the draft and knowing where everything sits, and doing a really good strong, rigorous assessment of our playing list, which we'll do between now and after the trade week, before we make any decisions. I'm sure there will be some tough decisions that have to be made, and if they have to be made, they will be.
We've still got some things to go through like I know there is some interest in some of our players in terms of trading, and we've still got some guys who have got some injuries, so we need to go through all that just to see how it all settles down. The reality is we won't make the decision on that until the end of trade week.
WHAT TYPE OF PLAYERS DO YOU NEED?
I think we need to refresh our forward line and continue to build some talent in there. I mean last year unfortunately Kurt Tippett, who we drafted as a forward, he wasn't able to spend a lot of time playing or training. So hopefully he can get through the pre-season, but we need to continue to bring new people into this area, and bolster that area of footy club.
TRIGG THOUGHT YOU MIGHT NEED SOME MIDFIELDERS AS WELL?
Every club is always looking for midfielders, because week after week we talk about where the game is going to be won or lost, we all know it's in the midfield, so that goes without saying. But (being) really specific to our football club, is obviously a fairly key forward if we can find them.
SMALL FORWARD?
Yeah it is, yeah. Small forwards seem to be becoming more and more dominant in the AFL, you look at some of the clubs, Essendon for example, even Geelong on the weekend, some of their small forwards. We had Matty Bode last year, so that is the type of player, Jason Porplyzia was starting to develop, a different style of player but a small type forward. It's interesting from a fashionable point of view that type of player has become pretty important.
TIME TO REFLECT ON THE WEEKEND, WHAT WOULD YOU DO DIFFERENT?
I just thought up until 3/4 time I thought we played some pretty reasonable footy and our biggest disappointment was our last quarter. We pride ourselves on being able to play pretty tough footy and playing the whole game out, but it needs to be recognised that Hawthorn were far too good for us in the final quarter. You might say it was only three points but the reality is Hawthorn could have beaten us by three or four goals with the opportunities they missed...they dominated the last quarter in a very important game, which we have to be really disappointed with. If we could rectify one thing it would just be our competitive nature in the last quarter.
CRITICISM of YOUR COACHING ON MATCH DAY?
What particular area?
THAT YOU'RE NOT REACTIVE ENOUGH
Obviously I've said before, you look at the criticism, you take it on board, if there's any truth in it, analyse, reflect on it, use it, make some changes, I guess the topical one would have been Massie on Franklin, we've all had time to reflect on that and a variety of areas, which I've done. In terms of match day coaching no, I'm pretty comfortable in what we do. I tend to stick with players longer in positions, maybe longer than some other coaches, that seems to be a style of mine. I tend to look more for the cause rather than the end product. The end product is often on show pretty much easier to see than where it's starting from. And the system that we use to play, from a flexibility point of view, is probably an area we need to look at as in the system we use and the number of players weve got available to go through that system as well. That's probably the area we need to look at as a footy club.
LOOK AT COACHES AS WELL?
No, I'm really happy with the assistant coaches we've got, so that's not an area of concern for me.
DOES PETER JONAS LEAVE THE BOX TO GO INTO DEVELOPMENT?
No.
HOW ARE YOU FEELING? THE FANS FEELING SHOCK.
I can understand that. We fought hard to get into the finals and that gave our supporter base a lot of hope and expectation which was great for them. That's important for any football club. And to have that all taken away from them in one game and in particular the last 40 seconds if you like where it just goes, I can certainly understand from the supporter base point of view how disappointed and angry they would be with that. Whilst there's no guarantees, it's certainly a game we thought we could win. The way we went about it in the last quarter and particularly the last set play, if you like, was nowhere near the standard we set ourselves. For a two minute period before half time we held onto the ball for two minutes. They couldn't get it back off us. Whereas in the last part we had to do it maybe for less than 30 seconds, we couldn't do it. So I understand exactly, and we feel no different to how you described how the supporters feel.
I thought this is probably our worst result in terms of finals results.
I feel disappointed, loss of opportunity, to go through to the finals, but in this game you can't wallow in those sort of emotions. And even now what it does is sort of increase your resolve for 2008 to do it better and get stuck back into planning, and look at your list, and things we need to change or add to our footy club. I know the players have been through their own review which we'll get the results of that. Once the emotions of that start to diminish a bit, then the resolve starts to come back. To our supporters, make no mistake about it, it increases our resolve for 2008 to do it better.
IF YOU HAD YOUR TIME AGAIN, WOULD YOU HAVE CHANGED MASSIE ON FRANKLIN?
I've been through it and if the time came to go in with exactly the same circumstances, you know i'd probably give Kris first go at him again. I've been through that, I'm happy to walk you through the journey of that if you want me to.
He got a goal in the first quarter, I thought Kris was really good in the first quarter, he got it on a lead which was the sort of style we thought he would get it on. A quick lead, Kris was really close to him but good mark.
Second quarter it was a contest, ground ball, great snap by franklin. The third goal he got was probably the one that concerned me the most, where Franklin took Kris a bit deep, one-on-one, ball coming in high, that was an area that was causing us concern if Franklin continued to do that, but he didn't. His fourth goal was a free kick from Jason Torney.
So at half time Kris was still at a strong competitive spirit. Probably my major concern at that stage was probably Roughead, as well, I thought he was a really dominating forward, particularly in the air, you know strong contested marks.
Third quarter Franklin had two possessions, gave away two 50m penalties, he didn't kick a goal, Kris was a really good player for us. So we were sort of saying this is going pretty well.
Fifth goal, i thought defensively we were really poor and he got Kris on the lead.
Sixth one Scotty Stevens was on him, and the last one you all know about it, and I'm saying that's team responsibility. That's Massie defending the space behind him, and we have two players in front, and we still can't cut it off.
When you walk through it objectively that's why i'd give Kris first go at it again.
DO YOU TRADE FOR A BIG NAME?
If they exist, but the one that was going to be a big name was Pavlich of course, and clearly our club would have been aggressive in that area. First of all is there a big name available, does it fit your needs and have you got the trades available that clubs would want so you've got to satisfy all that criteria.
So we go into trade open-minded, and as I've said there is some interest in some of our players but you're not going to upgrade your list massively by the trade unless a guy like Pavlich is there and he's not there.
YOU CAME HERE TALKING ABOUT WINNING FINALS FOOTY YOU ARE NOW 2-4 IN FINALS DOES THAT TELL YOU YOU DONT HAVE WINNING FINALS FOOTY IN YOUR GAMEPLAN?
It's what two out of six, its 33 per cent positive strike rate, that's not good enough for what we want. We've created it, well, I've created it, I need to live with it and in the end I need to change it. So if we get good enough to get back in the finals, there's no other way round it, it's no good sitting here and offering up excuses for it, finals footy if you get in there, you are judged on win-loss purely and that's the way it should be.
WHAT DO YOU CHANGE?
A whole range of things you look at personnel, you look at structures, you look at the way you play, we talked about the last quarter against Hawthorn, which we pride oursvels on, but once again we have to look at the skills of perseverance, resilience, all those sorts of aspects of it. It will never be (just) one thing, and that's where our reviews in those areas need to be full of rigour so we don't miss out on any point at all.
HAVE YOU TOLD ANY PLAYER THEY'RE NOT REQUIRED?
No I haven't, reviews are still ongoing both from a coaching perspective and also from a playing group. So that will unfold in the next couple of weeks. Players have been asked to stay here this week, so all the medicals and the physical side of things and all the other discussions can take place. They are still at the footy club for their competitive year if you like, and they finish on Friday, that's when their eight weeks will start. And from there we will have a lot of information on the table and we can start to make decisions.
SHOULD HAVE PLAYED MARK RICCIUTO?
My decision wouldn't change, Mark had kicked three goals against Collingwood, he trained on the Wednesday before the Hawthorn game and actually trained really well, in actual fact going into the game Mark was more pleased with his body to my view he looked better felt better going into the game, so there was no hesitation from my point of view that I selected him on his form and based on his capacity to perform going into the Hawthorn game. I know there's been some insinuation I gave him a game to break the record, but that certainkly wasn't the case. Mark was selected based on his form and his capacity to perform against hawthorn.
EFFECT OF INJURIES
I'm happy to stand by our record, from a coaching point of view, I'm happy to stand (by the fact) that we won 12 games for the year, we can be judged on the way we played, we can be judged on whether we played aggressively, or too defensive, I'm just happy to talk about our performances.
Injuries always play a part, and it's important you understand certain areas where they do have an effect on you.
But we all know, what injuries did we have in round six? Anyone remember? No. And that's the way it is. Okay that's the way it is. And in two weeks time you won't be able to remember what injuries we had going into the elimination final, and that's the way it should be. Externally, that's the way it should be, internally we need to be better than that.
BEEN A CONTENDER FOR A FEW YEARS, IS IT TIME TO LOWER THE BAR?
Well, I'm glad you're not in our club, you want to come to me and talk about lowering the bar and taking it easy, you'd be first on my trade list, young fella.
