Round 13 – Melbourne v Port Adelaide
Pre Match:
• Maintained a solid training regime over the break at the request of the senior leadership group.
• Following a short break over the weekend we resumed training on Monday with an overnight camp at Sorrento. We stayed at the Sorrento Hotel courtesy of owner & Melbourne supporter Rob Pitt. He was a fantastic host and his generosity absolutely outstanding. The accommodation and food he provided was first class.
• We used the camp to refocus on the weeks ahead and more importantly to identify ways we can keep improving our performance both on and off the field. We had a guest speaker, a fellow by the name of Nick Farr who recently climbed Mt Everest. His story of what he did to achieve his dream of climbing the world’s highest mountain captured our player’s imaginations and had great relevance to how we handle the challenges that lay ahead.
• The camp put the players in a positive frame of mind for our clash with Port Adelaide – a club we have great respect for and a team that has been in excellent form over the past month winning their past 4 games by healthy margins. Their most recent win was over the West Coast Eagles so we expected them to be brimming with confidence.
• Lost Matt Bate with a hamstring strain during the week and included Brock Mclean , a very handy inclusion.
• Our main focus going into the game was to play Port one v one and apply fierce pressure on their disposal, forcing them to go sideways and slow when they were in possession. With Tredrea out of the team and the likelihood they would play a small forward line their main hope would be to get the ball forward as quickly as possible. If they were disallowed this they would struggle to kick a winning score. They like to take you on so tackling effectively would be a priority. Breaking even at the clearances was also imperative as they have been the number one team in this area in the AFL over the past month. White & Jamar rucking well against the in form Lade would be a critical battle.
During the Game:
• Started well enough with Neita & Robbo proving a handful for their opponents with 4 first quarter goals between them. We were a bit fumbly and some of these errors allowed Port to counter attack quickly into an open forward line and score. Our backs were tailing their opponents in which was a bit of a concern and something which we needed to address at ¼ time. Thought our tackling work rate and defensive accountability was very good which is a good sign that we were on the job. Some of our kicks inside 50 were a bit disappointing.
• Wasted a number of relatively easy opportunities in front of goal during the second quarter and this allowed Port to get closer than they should have. To their credit they were a very determined unit and to be honest I felt we needed to take our game to another level in the 3rd quarter to break the game open. Our work rate and intensity had been good but our fumbles and ball use were letting us down. We were confident we could achieve a higher standard in the 3rd quarter
• Produced a high standard effort in the 3rd after Port got the first goal of the term. We got a lot of drive out of the centre and our ball use and handling skills really picked up. This coupled with our great work rate created 11 shots on goal and a handy 5 goal lead at ¾ time.
• We put the game quickly beyond Port’s reach kicking the first 4 goals of the final quarter and had Aaron & Brock not missed shots on the run we could have blown the game wide open. Nietta’s 5th goal of the game typified our great team play with Bruce winning the loose ball in defence, handballing to Travis who was able to run, bounce and deliver Inside 50. The outstanding feature of this passage was the efforts of Ready & Aaron to block for Travis. This allowed him time and space to use the ball. It was disappointing that Port was able to score some late goals but I was still proud of the effort we put into winning the game.
Post Match:
• Very good team effort offensively & defensively.
• We were able to stop Port from moving the ball quickly for a large portion of the game and this contributed enormously to our win.
• Our tackling pressure was excellent.
• Very happy with our efforts around the clearances. We finished on top for the game and scored 10 of our goals from stoppages. In the 3rd quarter it was our dominance at centre bounces that set up many of our goals. Our ground level players were great and our ruckmen Whitey & Mark did a magnificent job to win a good share of the taps against Lade & Brogan who have been dominant in recent weeks.
• Our forward line was flexible and posed a constant threat to the Port defence.
• Our ball use, particularly after half time was excellent. We had 49 Inside 50 entries and achieved 30 shots so this is a great return considering Port flood back well. The second half was outstanding with 18 shots from 26 entries.
• Again pleased with the leadership shown senior players.
• A great challenge looms next week as we travel to Brisbane to take on the Lions. If we can achieve a similar level of commitment as we did versus Port a positive result is achievable.
