Six year old Omar asks if Ryan O’Keefe baked you a cake for your birthday last week?
Marty says: It was my birthday on Friday, the same day as Ben McGlynn’s. Ryan O’Keefe was good enough to make us a cake; he’s a pretty good cook, so it was quite a nice cake. He baked a chocolate cake, which is my favourite, and all the players had a piece before training on Thursday.
Eugene asks, how did it feel being the player who provided the assist for Lewis Jetta's goal and were you specifically looking out for him?
Marty says: Thanks for your question Eugene. I guess it was pretty good for Lewis to kick his first goal; it’s taken him a fair while. I didn’t really know it was Jets out in the pocket. I just heard a voice come from behind me and I kicked it over towards the voice. But when I saw that Jets had it I knew he was going to kick the goal. He enjoyed the celebration and it was a pretty good end to the game. It was great for Lewis to get his first goal and hopefully he can kick a lot more for the rest of the year.
Pete asks, with the upcoming trip to Subiaco and a chance to really confirm a spot in the eight, how does the team prepare this week in comparison to any of the other interstate trips?
Marty says: Thanks for your question Pete. This week going to Subiaco against Fremantle is a bit different to most other weeks. We’ll travel on Wednesday and then train on Thursday so we can get over there a few days before the game and acclimatise to the change of time and the weather as it’s a bit warmer over there. The biggest thing between the SCG and Subiaco is that it’s a bigger ground. You need to really make sure of your kicks; you need to kick longer and run a lot more.
Rob says well done on Saturday's great win and he wants to know with a tough run home, an inconsistent season, farewells for Roos and Kirky, and a potential finals campaign - how do you go about staying focused in the last few weeks with so much on the line?
Marty says: In answer to your question Rob, we have had a pretty inconsistent season and I guess the hardest thing now is getting some good form. We showed against Hawthorn that we’ve turned the corner, but we’ve got to put 2-3 weeks together of good football. But it was a great win on the weekend. It’d be great to make the finals and play some finals football and send Roosy and Kirky off in a good way. But at the moment we’re just looking week to week. This week against Fremantle is an important game; they’re going to be a finals contender and we haven’t beaten a top four side so far this season. So the big focus for us this week is to play some good football against a top four side.
Freidrick thinks that this year has seen a really positive injection of youth and new faces into the team and he’d like to know who you think have been the standout new additions to the team?
Marty says: It’s been good this year to see a lot of the young guys stand up and play some senior football. We’ve had a lot play their first game this year for the club which has been great. Lewis Jetta and Gary Rohan are two that probably stand out as being the best first year players. But also someone like Dan Hannebery who only played a handful of games last year, has really stepped up in our midfield and had a really good year.
Moz asks does it bother you or Heath Grundy when commentators mistake you for each other on TV and radio? And also, is it just a myth that players seem to lift when they play their former clubs, e.g. you and Adelaide, and McGlynn and Kennedy against Hawthorn?
Marty says: It can be good and bad I guess Moz. It can make it look like you’re getting more football than you really are. We probably are a little bit alike; he wear number 39 and I wear number 29 which is probably something that gets them confused, and we both have short, dark hair. Other than that though there aren’t many similarities between Heath and I.
In answer to your second question, I think there’s a little bit of motivation to play well against your old team because there’s nothing worse than losing to your old team. So I guess we’ve been lucky this year we’ve beaten both Adelaide and Hawthorn. It’s always nice to have a smile on your face at the end of the game.
