Press conference notes

[NikkiNoo]

quick recap of the press conferences, just what i typed as i listened . Craigy first

positives from the game - not intimitated physically by essendon which can often hapen was one of the positives

picture is close to what he wants in the head

welshy loss - flu, been good for us and gave an opportunity for jericho to play a full game and even spread of goal kickers

kenny - knew that he could always play there, experienced and important part of the backbone group. is an advantage as with bocks form allows it. can we expect it to mean up forward always? - depends, able to play nathan in his position that he is most comfortable. not just kenny improve in form but also bock's improvement.

structure in place helped in the score? yes and the movement in, quick ball in. been very guilty of being wasteful lately

most complete team performance since he has been in charge? quite a few games where everyone contributed and we have lost. need to look behind the scoreboard. easy to get carried away with the scoreboard

skill work bearing fruit? talked about how those watching game from home and the critics need to understand that a night like that which seemed good conditions is not the true story at footy park

(inaudible question from rucci) paul hamilton - kickouts - laughs at rucci, yes, have spent time on kickouts

7-4 very good for us, we push on, 5 to go, tough competition, tough to win those 5

percentage never mentioned at 3 qtr time, foolhardy to do this and is a total disrespect to opposition and we won't go down that path

if we are going to be a good team we need to be able to handle expectations / pressure and is what we are aiming for, to be the best team in the competition and to handle it with humility and is a challenge to us. we welcome it either way, if you win there is pressure, if you lose there is pressure. can't be best in the competition and not handle that pressure

youth development vs winning team (johnK was that you?) - not reluctant to change team, if we can make the team better, we would do that. not an advocate of it ain't broke don't fix it, always looking to
watts very close, van berlo, knights good footy, maric. Keep developing the list and that is not going to change

was he surprised at the ladder position? - no, it was the aim at the start of the season to play finals and they believe that they can

sheedy

difficult for us, very experienced adelaide midfield, centre square clearnaces put enourmous pressure on our backline

outplayed with good running game from half back

dissapointed to get to a game like this and lose like that

how to pick it up again - tell the truth, look at it closely and continue playing the younger ones. will drop some players

didn't show fight - richmond / collingwood game showed character and fightback, mentioned it to his players

no stand out reason to explain it. adelaide took game by scruff of the neck, wants to be in the top 4. silly frees, undisciplined

ruck circle set up now - depends on ruckman you have in your team now, depends on midfield, pressure has been on johnson since loss of ramanaskus

essendon challenge - loss tonight and then off to perth - every season has it's own challenge, hille played best game tonight, fresh player to put their hand up needed for rest of season. mathamatically available still but not reality with a loss like that

midfield experience - pretty good group of players at adelaide

will try to win every week, every match gives an opportnity to perform at your best, what he loves about our game

could have been one goal diff at half time - different game them

this years competition what does he think - good solid teams, not a champion team standout, comp probably where afl wants it to be, 4 - 5 teams to develop into very good teams he thinks (hmm wonder which ones he thinks they are?)

go through tough times 1992 beaten by hawthorn by 22 goals and yet went on win premiership

preperation for this game. western bulldogs play a running handball game similar to adelaide, but adelaide are a lot bigger stronger side than wb, had everything prepared but it didn't show on the day.

is adelaide the surprise team of the year - always said adelaide pretty good side, right mix and all needed was a couple of backline players, harty has been through a tough time. not with a number one draft choice - ruckman 26 years of age, that doesn't happen very often. Mcgregor late in draft, rookies picked up late in draft too have really shown very well the last couple of weeks.

 

[jmorg1]

Great effort. Thanks.

 

[JohnK]

Well picked! Full transcript of my questions on the ATCF forum.

 

[outback jack]

Well picked! Full transcript of my questions on the ATCF forum.

john why didnt you ask specifically why reilly gets 5 mins a quarter? And VB too, but more importantly reilly? This is was the question in its original form wasnt it? Especially considering there wasnt a reason really why both shouldnt have played 100% of the second half. There was a general change in the game when goody and roo were rested, which suggests just how reliant we are on them, the need to bring on the youngsters is very imp. Once again a very general question with a general answer, fairly disappointing imo.

 

[- PC -]

Ty Nikki

At this point in time and with hindsight I think the youth development is within the team already..looking at Jericho, Mattner, Rutten, Skipworth, Bock , Reilly etc this is an internal development of those players we also had forgotten... these listed need game time as much as VB and Meesen etc.

Happy very happy

 

[JohnK]

john why didnt you ask specifically why reilly gets 5 mins a quarter? ...Once again a very general question with a general answer, fairly disappointing imo.

jack, I'm very pleased I didn't ask that question. Reilly had seventy minutes of game time.

 

[NikkiNoo]

Did anyone else listening to the 5aa clowns when they broadcasted the conferences not believe their ears when rowey started bagging the questions asked of sheedy? He said it was boring and he stopped listening after the third question. Well Rowey, that is why you will never be more than an assistant coach! His team just got schelacked and yet he was very patient and had some very interesting answers which as a coach and an adelaide fan I thought were very interesting. Any guy who has coached for around 25 years at the highest level kinda knows what he is talking about, although with sheeds it often is what he doesn't say that is what you have to listen for

Then again Rowey was blaming the state of football for the future as the players all seem to watch the OC and Desperate Housewives! That's his reasoning for the future problems of the game

 

[conVINCEd]

jack, I'm very pleased I didn't ask that question. Reilly had seventy minutes of game time.

What about Van Berlo then?

He has played four games now, with very limited time on the field.

Yes, its great experience for the guy to be in the team, but he needs to develop his game as well, if we want him to be a quality player in the future.

Maybe it would be better for him to play a full game in the SANFL, and play a guy like Schuback, who we need to make a call on at the end of the year.

I think what jack also means - please correct me if I am mistaken jack - and I agree with him, is that you have the opportunity to ask a very specific question, and instead you are serving up fairly general queries that can be asnwered with a stock-standard response.

 

[outback jack]

What about Van Berlo then?

He has played four games now, with very limited time on the field.

Yes, its great experience for the guy to be in the team, but he needs to develop his game as well, if we want him to be a quality player in the future.

Maybe it would be better for him to play a full game in the SANFL, and play a guy like Schuback, who we need to make a call on at the end of the year.

I think what jack also means - please correct me if I am mistaken jack - and I agree with him, is that you have the opportunity to ask a very specific question, and instead you are serving up fairly general queries that can be asnwered with a stock-standard response.

yes you're totally right. Although the question got a mention on channel nine news, which is good. Basically we need youth playing, reilly or VB are guys that are getting very limited game time. Reilly didnt get enough yesterday considering the position we were in imo. A general question will get a general answer too, which is pretty much what happened.

 

[JohnK]

you have the opportunity to ask a very specific question, and instead you are serving up fairly general queries that can be asnwered with a stock-standard response.

...A general question will get a general answer too, which is pretty much what happened.

Sometimes you guys are simply never satisfied.

My question to Craig about youth development was far from general and NC's answer was far from stock-standard.
Here is the transcript:

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johnk: Neil, the team hasn't changed for three weeks. You'll be unlikely to change a winning team now. Where does that leave youth development and who are the next kids to be coming in?

NC: No, we are not reluctant to change the team at all. If we believe that we can make the team better by positional and personel changes , we certainly would do that. I am not an advocate of "if it ain't broken, don't tamper with it". Nothing happens in this world if you don't try to get better and better. So, we don't have that policy, to start with. In terms of the youth, yes, that's a good question. Fergus Watts is very close to playing AFL football. It was an outstanding opportunity tonight for Nathan Van Berlo. We have Chris Knights who is is playing good football in the SANFL; we have Ivan Maric playing leaguie football for Port Adelaide Magpies. Nothing changes on that in terms of our policy. We need to continue to develop our kids beacuse they are so important to us. And that will happen.

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I thought this was an informative answer -- in fact more revealing about the coach and the selection committee's mindset than you would normally expect.

I am sorry that you guys are still not satisfied.

As for game time for Reilly and VB, every armchair expert is entitled to have an opinion, of course but Craig is paid to make the decisions. He played Reilly for 70 minutes, not five minutes each quarter as stated. Let's get that right. Yes, Van B only had a sniff of time but the team won well. On match day, it's Craig's call.

Did you guys know something abut these two players and their future needs that he didn't?

 

[dA Crow]

jack, I'm very pleased I didn't ask that question. Reilly had seventy minutes of game time.

Maybe you could take Jack to a media conference. His hard hitting , albeit misguided line of questioning would seriously lighten the mood.

 

[slappy]

Maybe you could take Jack to a media conference. His hard hitting , albeit misguided line of questioning would seriously lighten the mood.

now that would be worth watching. jack vs pagan would sell on ppv