IT WAS a good win on the weekend. We weren't allowed to play the way we wanted to play because of Carlton's pressure, but certainly after half-time things were better.
We spelled out a few home truths to a few guys at the break, and they certainly responded. There were too few carrying the work load in the first half, and our season so far has been built on 22 guys having a crack.
That wasn't the case in the first half, so we really needed the other blokes to pick up the slack. Mick was to-the-point about what we had to do in his half-time talk, and he said a few blokes were flying the flag while others were sitting back and enjoying the ride.
Speaking of flying the flag, I thought the brawl at quarter-time was just one of those hard things. It's like people going to the pub and having a drink; not many people go to the pub and not have a drink.
It was the same as what happened with the brawl. I know it's a bad analogy, but it's like going to the park and not going on the swings. When one of your mates gets knocked to the ground and pushed around, naturally you want to help out.
It's a very un-Australian thing to do to just stand by and watch as your mates get knocked around. It's hard – you've got to fly the flag, but the rules are there and the fines are there, and there's nothing much you can do about it.
I don't know how you'll ever stop it. Ultimately, I think the fans just want to see good games of footy. They don't go there to watch a punch-up. If they wanted to watch boxing or wrestling, they'd go to the appropriate sport. They're there to watch footy.
Get rid of all that stuff and just play footy. If you ever saw me play, you'd know I'm not a big fan of it. As I told some of my players, you never get fined for carrying a water-bottle in your hand.
We don't think we've exceeded expectations so far. Before the season, we just set ourselves expectations on playing good football, team football, and all we can do is do that against the opposition that come out each week.
The win-loss ratio will then take care of itself. We're seven rounds in now, and we haven't played all the sides, so it's a bit hard to draw a line in the sand and say, "This is where they're going to finish."
At this stage, we are certainly happy with the results, but you can't draw that line until later in the season when you've played all the sides and you have a better understanding of it.
James Clement is a very, very remote chance to play this week. At his age, with the pressure and where he plays and how he'd like to play, there would be some risk.
It's a good thing we've had such a long break from last week and we're playing Sunday, so he'll be given until the last training session to prove his fitness.
Jimmy is a very quick healer and a fairly resilient person. We've got our fingers crossed and hopefully he does come up, but if he doesn't, we'll soldier on.
Paul Medhurst almost had a run last week, but he should be cherry ripe this week. Whether it be with the seniors or at "Willy", he'll be right to go.
Tyson Goldsack had a good warm-up last week. We had a boy who was crook before the Carlton game so we had a couple of our emergencies warmed up and ready to go in case, and he was one.
He's very close to playing. His form has been excellent, and he's a fairly competitive animal, and competitive people obviously succeed at AFL, so he's not far away.
His form has been good. He's come off a horror run with osteitis pubis the last couple of years, and he's getting closer to full fitness, and certainly his form and fitness is improving at Williamstown and he wouldn't be far from selection.
The Bulldogs are coming back to their best football. They run and use the ball very well, and our pressure skills are going to have to be paramount.
They make you pay for your mistakes, and that's why it's going to be a focus to get in first to win the ball, and more importantly, when they win it, to make sure they win it on our terms.
Their pace is a bit of a concern, as they are certainly one of the quicker sides going around. I think they have the most running bounces in the league, and they do move the ball with speed and efficiency.
We cannot let it turn into an athletic shoot-out, because like most sides do when they play the Doggies, we'll come up short.
