Click here to see video of Dean Bailey's press conference.
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FACED with the task of driving the Dees back up the ladder, Dean Bailey could have been forgiven for looking to the heavens and asking ‘Why me?’ when his side was drawn to face the premiers on their home patch in the first round of the NAB Cup.
The reality is quite the opposite, however, with the rookie coach delighted by the chance to pit his developing team against the competition’s yardstick on Saturday in front of what is expected to be a near sell-out crowd.
“Geelong at Skilled Stadium? It doesn’t matter; it’s a game for us to practice what we’ve been doing, so it may as well be against the best,” Bailey said shortly before a skills session at Junction Oval on Tuesday.
“I’d be happy to play them for the next four weeks … because you want to play against the best, you want to get better against the best. It will be terrific; they’re the reigning premiers, they’ve got everything ahead of them so it’s going to be good fun.
“It is exciting when the games come around [after] all the training you’ve done and guys are at the stage where they know a games coming, so the last two weeks have been a bit edgy at training. To finally get out there and play a game – I know I’m looking forward to it and the players are certainly keen to get out there as well.”
Bailey will play his “fittest” team rather than his best team with a host of established players being nursed through pre-season. He rated skipper David Neitz a “50-50” chance to lead the side, while Cameron Bruce (knee), Brock McLean (knee), Jared Rivers (groin), Brent Moloney (groin), Paul Wheatley (shoulder) and Nathan Carroll (suspension) lead the list of non-starters.
Carroll’s absence thanks to a leadership group-imposed two-game sanction is particularly glaring given the size of the injury list, but Bailey backed the defender to bounce back strongly from the ban imposed for a lack of professionalism.
“He’s been fantastic, Nathan, he’s been really good on the track almost from the first day [after the ban was imposed] to be honest,” he said.
“His attitude and so forth has been very, very good and I’ve been very, very impressed with how he’s been going, but it’s been a couple of weeks and he needs to put a long period of time together. He’s carried on as a professional player should and he’s been very good.”
Bailey tipped rookies Austin Wonaeamirri and Shane Valenti would be given a chance to impress and said Adem Yze had been cleared of any lasting damage after being taken to hospital in Canberra following a poke in the eye last week.
As for his own feelings ahead his senior coaching debut, an eager Bailey is keen to put his new-look coaching panel – which includes Josh Mahoney, Sean Wellman and Paul Williams – to the test.
“I’m more excited than nervous,” he said. “It’s just a great opportunity.
“I’m coaching a great club, I’ve got a great responsibility, I love what I do and as much as it is a practice for the players, it is very exciting for me, no question about that.
“I think we work pretty well together. Can we put it together for two hours in the box? I think we can and we’ll learn from the experience as much as the players.”
