BLUES assistant coach Tony Liberatore runs his eye over Sunday’sclash against the Demons at the MCG.
Lessons from last week
Two of the main issues to come out of the game were our workrate, which dropped off after quarter time, and our accountability – which was alsoreally poor.
The Daniher factor
They played really well against Essendon, there is no doubtabout that – they were probably unlucky to lose the game. Obviously emotions wererunning high because of Neale’s departure from the club.
However, this week, we just have to make sure we play thegame on our terms and we get to the basic fundamentals we need to get better atfor the game against Melbourneon Sunday.
The Riley factor
Mark Riley has said he wants to give the young players ofthe club a real opportunity. Michael Newton and Ricky Petterd are two playerswho have come in and played a handful of games between them. They will beenthusiastic and keen to do well. Of course, we are a very young side too, sowe just have to make sure we beat them on the weekend.
The Fev factor
I think people forget that when we beat Port Adelaide by 39points three rounds ago, Brendan Fevola did not have a huge bearing on theresult. If we can get an equal contribution from a whole heap of players then Ithink it will work out really well for us on Sunday.
Jarrad Waite did well for us last week. Also, it givesanother young player an opportunity to make a name for himself. Setanta O’hAilpinplayed forward last week, so he and Josh Kennedy may be options.
Our backs
We have not been able to restrict the number of uncontestedmarks our opposition has taken inside our back 50 in the last two weeks. Ourbody work needs to be better on our direct opponents and we need to supporteach other better. All these areas have certainly been addressed this week intraining.
Their backs
Clint Bizzell and Nathan Carroll are probably their two keytalls. They may also play Brad Miller as a tall defender this week. The workrate of Nathan Brown has been brilliant and he has won a fair bit of the balldown back. Daniel Ward and Paul Wheatley are also players to look out for. Wehave got to make sure we use our players in the right way and we do not justbomb the ball into our forward 50.
Centreline battle
Obviously Jeff White is one of the premier ruckman in thecompetition. He likes to thump the ball forward a fair bit. We have to makesure Cain Ackland and O’hAilpin curb his influence on the game.
James McDonald returned to a bit of form on the weekend andCameron Bruce is a real class player. I think they are the No.1 side in tacklesthrough the midfield, so we have to curb that and we have to get ourmidfielders – Marc Murphy, Kade Simpson and Andrew Carrazzo to stem the tide.In saying that, one of the positives to come out of last week’s game againstFremantle was that our clearances were very good.
Mission statement
It is a critical game. We have to get back to playing somegood football. We need to get our teamwork right and make sure we trust andwork hard for each other. With everything we do we must give 100 per cent everytime.
