Had we known before round one that we’d go into the break 12-2, we’d have pinched ourselves. So it’s been a real credit to everyone at the club and most importantly, the players, who have put in a good even contribution so far.
We hope to have guys returning from injury after the break but, because we haven't had everyone playing, we won’t hit our best until round 17 or 18 when hopefully by then we should be at our strongest. Playing our best football.
We face the Swans next weekend and there’s no doubt we’re a better side than when we played them last year. That was round 22, when we lost by 72 points.
They’re probably the only side that we haven’t beaten in a home and away match since Alastair took over as coach and we’re hoping to rectify that.
We look at our season in four-week blocks and next weekend will be the start of a new one. The next month is really big test, with games against the Sydney Swans, St Kilda, Geelong and Collingwood. They are all quality sides, finals material, so we want to measure ourselves against them.
As we get players coming back into the team we will look forward to getting some of midfield personnel back. Hodgey has been playing on and off, Jordan Lewis missed a few and Brad Sewell’s been out, but the good thing is we’ve had some new players coming through. Cyril Rioli has been a good pinch-hitter and Rick Ladson did a solid job for us there last week with 25 touches. It has been handy learning experience for us as coaches, knowing we can lean on those boys in the future.
The midfield is important as the more times we can get our hands on the clearance balls, the more opportunity the forwards are going to have to score.
As for the forward unit, we’re really pleased with the way they’re going. Because of the attention that Buddy’s getting, guys like Jarryd Roughead, Mark Williams and Michael Osborne are having a real impact. The spread of goals from all four players has been great and Cyril's work in that group has been terrific for us.
We’re not predicting ladder positions and we’re not looking any further than the next four weeks.
We have to nail the next month so we can have a look at where we’re going to end up in the eight, if at all.
It’s a big month of football ahead and we are looking forward to the challenges it will bring.
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the club.
