We've rated it as a good season – we haven't played those monster games, but we've still played really well in most of them, for a big part. That might be a maturity, that we haven't just smashed sides and been that ruthless best; we get sides in positions where we know we're going to win and we just cruise through.
When you get to that situation where you know the game is won, are you then trying different game-plans – experimenting under pressure?
It's not so much a 'Plan B', but ... you need to be flexible inside games. Once upon a time you could just look at your opposition and you'd know how they were going to play for the whole day, but more and more now, teams are just having different setups inside games, which makes it really hard to plan against them. We're just going through that process, just changing a few things up.
Where does this season rate in terms of the last three seasons?
It's been more consistent, more solid, and they've been easier to coach than any of those years. Whether that's an experience, confidence, maturity thing, and understanding that they've got to a level where they know what they need to do ... it's certainly been an easier year to coach this group.
Are you a better team this year?
I think we may have improved a bit, but I certainly think the opposition has improved. I think there's more good sides around now than there were two or three years ago. You can just see it on the ladder – the Bulldogs, Adelaide, Collingwood, St Kilda, the Hawks are still really dangerous. It's really competitive, the Blues and the Bombers are going well, and Brisbane.
You've lost just three games from almost 60 now. Do you care about that too much, or does the fact that you lost the grand final last year have more impact?
I think losing the grand final definitely has more impact. To be honest, we don't look at those figures. We might look at them one day, when we're all finished and retired, and we have the 10-year reunions and everything, and we go, 'How good were we going back then?', but at the moment, no. We don't look at that as an achievement, really.
Do you need to win this year to make the most of this three-year block of real dominance?
It would be disappointing if this team didn't win more than one premiership, whether it's this year or next year. I think the quality of the team, they should be entitled to win more than one grand final.
Speaking of grand finals, we talked earlier about Plan B, doing things differently inside games, etc. Are you looking at that sort of thing more now as a result of that game, or did you just need to kick better on the day?
We just evolve with the game and the game's telling you that if a side can play well against you, then it can restrict your ability to perform a skill. So when that happens, you do need to go and do something different to see whether you can expose the opposition again. That takes a high degree of intelligence and skill to be able to do that. But did we do it because of last year's loss? No, we did it because that's just the evolution of footy.
I guess this is related, but has this year, or the last two or three years, taught you anything?
It's taught me that winning is fun – it's much better than losing! Seriously, what it's taught me is that if you have a whole group of people who are really motivated to do well, and you've got the resources to do it, then you can achieve great things. We've got an unbelievable staff and systems here, we've recruited well, we train players well, look after players well and we get them to enjoy their footy. That's what I've learned, that it's all about people – that makes great things happen.
About 'the club', not just 'the team'?
Oh yeah, absolutely. We're a unique little football club that's competing against the rest of Australia, in a town that was once seen as smelly and stinky and unpopular. Well, it's popular now – it's a city in Australia, it has a brand, and that brand is that Geelong is a big part of Victoria, and a big part of Australia.
The Saints – did you see that improvement coming from them?
It's funny how teams, from year to year, if they have a bad start they can just fall away, but then there's always that team that wasn't expected to do well, in many people's eyes, but do well, and the fundamentals are still there. And I think with St Kilda, they were there. They've always had ability and talent. I think Ross (Lyon, Saints coach) is doing a good job in coaching them, and obviously they've got some good support around them.
How's the hype re the Saints game? Do you get up for big games like this?
No, we go from week to week ... you can't look solely at one week, and that's the St Kilda game. But we are looking forward to the game, and when it arrives, we'll focus on it. We'll look at them, we'll study them, and we enjoy playing those big games. And I think players, when they get to play in front of massive crowds, or they have these really big games, it's so enjoyable. Everybody's going to look forward to it.
You've got a pretty tough run into September – is that a good thing?
Yeah, I think it is really important. Last year's was a bit soft coming home, and we probably nurtured and managed and over-managed our players a bit. We've got a different plan this year. We had a really good think about it over the bye, where we challenged all our staff to come back and think about how we're going to train and do things in the second half. Yeah, we're going to do it differently to last year, we're going to try and do as much right as we can.
You've had quite a few goals kicked by your smaller forwards this year. Does the fact that they're kicking a lot and that's compensating for your lack of talls kicking them, does that worry you a bit?
No, I think if you look over the recent Geelong history of goal-scoring, we have a lot of goal-scorers. We don't mind who scores them, as long as we score a lot of them. Look, I think Moons and Tom (Hawkins) – who's only young – if they chip in for one or two goals a week, they're probably doing their job. We've got to have smalls kicking goals, otherwise they feel like they're not doing their job either.
Apparent lairising – is it lairising or being unselfish?
It's a hard one – we ask our players to be creative, and I think that there's a lot of teams now that are moving the ball quickly, and I think football's never looked better. Now, if you're going to play a high-risk game through the corridor, then you're going to make mistakes doing it. Everybody makes mistakes. If they come off, you say 'What a wonderful team play', if they don't, they say 'What a stupid handball, why don't you be a bit more selfish and kick it'. We don't worry about the negative side, we just encourage people to keep doing what they do. We're not the only side doing that sort of thing now.
But you're the best at it.
We've been doing it for a while, so we're probably more experienced at it. I just think it's wonderful football when those bits of play happen. I really like watching the boys play when they do that.
You said football's never looked better. There's a lot of complaints around about uncontested football.
There's more contact, they're contacting with more power, players are more powerful, they're quicker, they're more aerobic and they're smarter. People have less time to deliver the ball because the defensive strategies are incredible – less time to deliver it, and less area to deliver it to. This game of football is the best that's ever been played.
Given there is so much more pressure and it's so much quicker, how much harder is it now to execute those skills than it was even when you were playing?
Oh, it's way harder, and I don't think there's a real understanding of it from the general public. Less time, less target area. It's tough.
Brad Ottens – how's he going?
It's been slower than we thought – he's had complications and his healing has been slow. That's why we've continually had him 3-4 weeks, or 4-6 weeks. He did run 4km last week, and he's going really well. He's kicking the ball, he's jumping, he's doing a lot. He definitely has turned the corner, he's not far away.
Have you thought about protecting him by not rucking him and just playing him forward?
Yeah, but he doesn't play so well when he just plays tall forward; he likes the combination. We really have missed his flexibility – not only his ruckwork, but even his little bursts he has as a forward, because it throws another dimension to the opposition and how they setup.
How are Mark Blake and Shane Mumford going?
They struggled coming up to the bye, but the rest was really important for both of them. They're both young and they've shouldered a lot of load. We've been really pleased with what they've been able to put out for us, even though they don't get a lot of recognition for what they do. It's been fantastic for their development.
Steve Johnson – what have you made of his season?
Look, we think that he's had a fantastic year. He's actually got himself really fit, he's a real professional and that's enabled us to put him up in the midfield. His body is fantastic and his ball-use and awareness is outstanding. He's probably had his best year of his career.
Gary Ablett – how's he going? What's the reason for the increasing handballing percentage – is he being prevented from kicking by teams who would rather he went by hand?
There's a lot of talk that he's got sore groins – he hasn't. Let me just go on the record now – he hasn't got sore groins. I think teams are aware of his strengths and his abilities, and they're just positioning themselves so he doesn't get the kick out, forcing him to handball to make him less effective. I'm sure he'll overcome that little hurdle like he's overcome everything else. So he's not as dangerous, they're cutting down his effectiveness.
Shannon Byrnes – he's having a fantastic year, isn't he?
Yeah, it's great for him – the last game last year he wasn't there, but he continues to just front up and do everything right. He's a really good club person and team player and nobody's happier than me to see him in the team, playing well.
Ken Hinkley – how's he coping with all the speculation about being up for a senior coach job?
He's fine – he dedicated himself to us. If he happens to land a job, then good for him – we endorse that. It's a great recognition for our program, not only to develop players but to develop coaches, and we wish him all the best. If he doesn't get it, well I hope he stays at Geelong.
Are you a referee for him?
Absolutely, yes. Anyone who is considering appointing a coach should ring the people that have worked with him, rather than just people who are making judgment without being informed.
How is Josh Hunt going?
He's going well – he ran just the other day and he's just going to slowly take it and hit round one next year. We're not going to rush him back.
If you were starting a team from scratch, say in Alice Springs, and you could take just one player with you...
From this team?
Who would it be, or is that a really unfair question? Which kid do you want to keep, Mark?
That's a really unfair question. I'd probably take Joel Selwood though [laughs]. He's younger than Gary and he's younger than (Jimmy) Bartel. But oh, to split their ability, it's very, very difficult.
Do you think coaches have use-by dates at a club? It can vary between clubs and coaches, obviously, but do you just run out things to say to each other?
No, I don't think so, because the game changes, and as long as you change with it, and you're open to change and you're not going to do it the same way every week, then you will create this interest in your football club. What you shouldn't do is make change for the sake of change. If things are going along okay, it's a big risk to make a change. You see with Mick Malthouse, he continually gets his sides in the finals, Kevin Sheedy the same, Denis Pagan when he was at the Kangaroos. If it's working, don't change.
Notwithstanding Jimmy Bartel's win in 2007, do you think one of the things that makes it hard for a team like Geelong to win a Brownlow is that you've got so many good players?
Well, we have a lot of good players, but we don't care if they steal votes off each other or not because we're not really that fussed if one of our players wins it or not, to be honest. I don't think we've got a player there ... you'd hope that you don't have one player at your club that's playing to win a Brownlow, because he's playing for the wrong reasons. I'm glad that we've got a lot of good players and they all share the votes, because it's the most irrelevant thing that shouldn't be on our minds right now. Our focus should be trying to play the best team football we can play to win a premiership medal, because everyone gets a medal then. It's the same thing as earlier – in 10 years time, you can look back and say 'I've won a Brownlow Medal, great'. But if you had a choice between a Brownlow or a premiership medal, there wouldn't be too many that would choose the Brownlow.
