It was a strange game in some ways for us in the first half; we were giving ourselves enough opportunities, we just weren’t making the most of them. But it’s amazing what can happen if you stick to your guns and a few things start going your way.
We just needed to lower our eyes and not blaze away going forward and make better use of the corridor instead of getting trapped wide.
It might sound overly optimistic, but it’s true that we never lost the belief that we could come back and win despite being six goals down in the third quarter. Winning breeds confidence and I think the fact that we’ve been able to come from behind a few times this year is a really positive sign of where the group is at.
There have been similar situations in the past where we probably wouldn’t have come out on top, but I guess it just goes to show how important the mental aspect of our game is.
It was a pretty rare contest in that neither side really applied any hard tags through the middle. It was like a shootout of the onball brigades and it was really pleasing to come out on top after going head to head with what I consider one of the best midfields going around.
Taggers have been in the news a bit of late and while we’d all love to run around and get kicks at will, run-with players are here to stay.
It is tough having someone on your tail all day. Juddy’s probably the best one to talk about it, but you’ve just got to get inside and try to get those contested balls and work your way into the game that way.
Most taggers are very good at getting their bodies between you and the ball; they’ll try to get front spot and then not be too bothered about going for the footy. There can be a fair bit of hanging on, so you need to work as a group to try to get blocks in for guys that are getting a heavy tag to get that metre or two they need to get away.
When you’ve got someone standing right next to you all day you know you’re not going to be getting too many easy balls, but what I try to do is just keep running and try to blow them up.
Thankfully with Juddy and Stevo in the picture this year we’ve been able to share the load which, I don’t mind saying, has been pretty good.
I got Steven Baker last year when we played the Saints and he was a really tough opponent and when we played North also last year I had Brady Rawlings and he kept me to six touches.
Kieran Jack from the Swans played me really close and can be difficult to deal with, but what I always try to remember is that it is a fair compliment from an opposition to be seen as someone they want to try to stop having an influence.
We’re on the road again this week and Adelaide is a good team to play in terms of gauging how well you’re going. They are a very disciplined side, they work well for one another and you have to play four quarters of football to beat them.
They’ve got some experienced heads and they’re one of those teams that always seems to be playing finals footy.
Our interstate record this year is a fair source of pride, with wins over West Coast and Port Adelaide – we’ve actually beaten them twice over there this year if you include the NAB Cup – so we go to Adelaide with confidence.
I reckon AAMI Stadium is a great ground to play on. It’s nice and open, and if you get up and running you can play some really good footy.
The Crows had a win over us at the MCG earlier this season and it's one game we look back on and think we should have done better, certainly in the first half. Hopefully we can put in a more consistent effort and keep the momentum rolling.
