- Dec 7, 2000
- 8,442
- 832
- AFL Club
- Port Adelaide
- Other Teams
- New Orleans Saints, Detroit Tigers
courtesy of www.portadelaidefc.com.au
Wanganeen ... on Port and the Brownlow
Gavin Wanganeen celebrated his 30th birthday on Monday, so it seemed entirely appropriate that the “old” champ should endorse the mid-season break.
“The weekend off is great for the players, especially the older players, to rest their bodies, recharge their batteries and freshen up for the following week,” said Wanganeen, who joins three other Port players in the 30-and-over category – Stephen Paxman, 33 this December 4, Damien Hardwick, 31 on August 18, and Brett Montgomery, 30 on June 1.
Of the Power leading the AFL competition at 9-3, after also being 9-3 at this stage last season and finishing minor premier with an 18-4 win-loss record, Wanganeen said: “It’s nice but, at the same time, it’s only the halfway mark of the year and we still know there’s an awful lot of work ahead of us.
“We’ll be getting some important players back after the break, and some fresh players, so hopefully that will inject a bit more enthusiasm just to keep us going.
“The competition is so even these days and some of the sides that are not performing so well will bob up and play quite well against you, so you’ve just got to be careful. We just want to concentrate on maintaining our form.
“We don’t want to really focus too much on where we are at the moment. We’re in it for the long haul. We really want to get our timing right and ultimately play our best footy at the right part of the year.
“But that’s still a long way away. We need to get things right at the moment.”
Wanganeen dismissed some media criticism of Port playing a so-called “chip-and-possession game” at times, particularly out of defence.
“The backline’s been playing very well,” he said. “We kept St Kilda to under 10 goals (7.15) at the weekend and our defence has been in great form. Statistically, it’s been excellent.
“When you’ve got sides flooding these days, you don’t want to just keep bombing the ball into your forward 50. It’s only going to come out just as quickly. You need to sum it up. If we’ve got free targets deep in defence, we want to use them.
“We don’t want to waste the ball going into our forward 50, especially when they (opposing teams) are clogging it up.”
Asked how his own form compared with that of 1993 - his Brownlow Medal-winning year with Essendon - Wanganeen said: “It’s obviously been my best start to a season.
“The body’s feeling quite good for an old fellow and hopefully I can stay away from injuries and hopefully the side can keep playing well. When that happens, it makes it easier for guys like me.”
On his short-priced favouritism ($3.50 and/or $4) to win this year’s Brownlow, Wanganeen said: “Aw, that’s just talk. You hear about it around the traps. Ultimately, that’s so much out of your control, you just focus on the team things and … really, to be quite honest with you, I don’t really worry about it at all.”
Why has his form been so good?
“Injuries – I’ve kept away from them,” he said. “And I think I’ve been able to get away from that last line of defence a bit more than I have in the past. I’ve been given a few more opportunities to play up on the wing, more at half-back and to just be around the play a bit more.”
Reminded of Port coach Mark Williams’ recent comment that he should be leading the Brownlow voting, Wanganeen said: “Look, you know ‘Choco’ … he can get a little bit carried away at times.
“That came off a really good win against Collingwood so he was pumped up a fair bit. You don’t take too much from that and from the talk that goes around.
“As I’ve said before, it’s something you don’t really worry about – individual stuff like that.”
Asked whether he thought Port would have more hunger in the finals after two unsuccessful campaigns, while the Brisbane Lions’ hunger might be queried because they had won two premierships in a row, Wanganeen said: “They (the Lions) and West Coast are the teams to beat. We just want to go out there … obviously our last two seasons in the finals weren’t ideal but we believe deep down we’ve learnt a lot from them and, given another chance, I think we’ll be ready.”
Wanganeen ... on Port and the Brownlow
Gavin Wanganeen celebrated his 30th birthday on Monday, so it seemed entirely appropriate that the “old” champ should endorse the mid-season break.
“The weekend off is great for the players, especially the older players, to rest their bodies, recharge their batteries and freshen up for the following week,” said Wanganeen, who joins three other Port players in the 30-and-over category – Stephen Paxman, 33 this December 4, Damien Hardwick, 31 on August 18, and Brett Montgomery, 30 on June 1.
Of the Power leading the AFL competition at 9-3, after also being 9-3 at this stage last season and finishing minor premier with an 18-4 win-loss record, Wanganeen said: “It’s nice but, at the same time, it’s only the halfway mark of the year and we still know there’s an awful lot of work ahead of us.
“We’ll be getting some important players back after the break, and some fresh players, so hopefully that will inject a bit more enthusiasm just to keep us going.
“The competition is so even these days and some of the sides that are not performing so well will bob up and play quite well against you, so you’ve just got to be careful. We just want to concentrate on maintaining our form.
“We don’t want to really focus too much on where we are at the moment. We’re in it for the long haul. We really want to get our timing right and ultimately play our best footy at the right part of the year.
“But that’s still a long way away. We need to get things right at the moment.”
Wanganeen dismissed some media criticism of Port playing a so-called “chip-and-possession game” at times, particularly out of defence.
“The backline’s been playing very well,” he said. “We kept St Kilda to under 10 goals (7.15) at the weekend and our defence has been in great form. Statistically, it’s been excellent.
“When you’ve got sides flooding these days, you don’t want to just keep bombing the ball into your forward 50. It’s only going to come out just as quickly. You need to sum it up. If we’ve got free targets deep in defence, we want to use them.
“We don’t want to waste the ball going into our forward 50, especially when they (opposing teams) are clogging it up.”
Asked how his own form compared with that of 1993 - his Brownlow Medal-winning year with Essendon - Wanganeen said: “It’s obviously been my best start to a season.
“The body’s feeling quite good for an old fellow and hopefully I can stay away from injuries and hopefully the side can keep playing well. When that happens, it makes it easier for guys like me.”
On his short-priced favouritism ($3.50 and/or $4) to win this year’s Brownlow, Wanganeen said: “Aw, that’s just talk. You hear about it around the traps. Ultimately, that’s so much out of your control, you just focus on the team things and … really, to be quite honest with you, I don’t really worry about it at all.”
Why has his form been so good?
“Injuries – I’ve kept away from them,” he said. “And I think I’ve been able to get away from that last line of defence a bit more than I have in the past. I’ve been given a few more opportunities to play up on the wing, more at half-back and to just be around the play a bit more.”
Reminded of Port coach Mark Williams’ recent comment that he should be leading the Brownlow voting, Wanganeen said: “Look, you know ‘Choco’ … he can get a little bit carried away at times.
“That came off a really good win against Collingwood so he was pumped up a fair bit. You don’t take too much from that and from the talk that goes around.
“As I’ve said before, it’s something you don’t really worry about – individual stuff like that.”
Asked whether he thought Port would have more hunger in the finals after two unsuccessful campaigns, while the Brisbane Lions’ hunger might be queried because they had won two premierships in a row, Wanganeen said: “They (the Lions) and West Coast are the teams to beat. We just want to go out there … obviously our last two seasons in the finals weren’t ideal but we believe deep down we’ve learnt a lot from them and, given another chance, I think we’ll be ready.”
