An overview of strategy and innovation coach Dean Bailey's press conference after Thursday's main training session... 

Dean Bailey on Thursday’s competitive main training session…

“Training has been competitive almost from day one of the pre-season. Today, we did a good 20-minute session of competitive work (as part of the two-hour main session) and the boys looked good.”

On Taylor Walker’s impressive training performance…

“Taylor’s training has been very good. Being that target up forward particularly during training today, he got a couple of nice touches, good, confident touches They’re all screaming for the ball in the forward line and he was good today. Players play on instinct, so the more they’re able to do that the better they’re going to perform. If you try and curb someone’s natural instincts, you’re almost blunting what they can do in a game.”

On his new role as strategy and innovation coach at Adelaide…

‘Sando’ has been outstanding with the delivery of his message, but (part of my role) is following that up. My job is also about assisting with game plan, game design and training with the other coaches. Part of my role will certainly be in the innovations side of things. We have a really good relationship with Flinders University, which we want to expand on. My role is broad in its demands, which is great. We do a lot of forward scouting and going to watch upcoming opposition. The busier I am, the happier I am. Everything I’ve been asked to do, I do as well as I can and try to produce a little bit more. I assist Sando and the other coaches as well and challenging them on what they do I think is also important.”

On Brenton Sanderson’s transition to senior coach…

“Sando’s come in with a clear way he wants to play, so I’m assisting him in rolling out what he wants. He’s put his stamp on the team and the Club very early. There wouldn’t be too many players and coaches here, who don’t understand what he wants. He’s been very thorough and detailed. He’s been very impressive. The players are feeding off his energy and his vibe. He’s been terrific.”

On what advice he can offer Sanderson as a former AFL coach…

“He can probably learn from the things I didn’t do well. Sometimes, you go through a patch where there are things you would like to have had as a senior coach and I’ll pass those experiences on to him as well. He’s been in a very good program at Geelong. Although, he’s brought some ideas from Geelong with him, he’s been very specific on what he wants and has put his own stamp on it as well. It’s probably more the detailed stuff and the planning ahead I can help with him. When you start as a senior coach, you’re into it 24-7 and you can get caught up in the general day-to-day running of it. Being time-efficient is probably the key. Football is an absolute focus for him. He lives and breathes it and that’s a fantastic attitude to have. There are other things along the way that hopefully I can pre-empt before they happen for him. Everything he’s asked me to do, I’m certainly happy to help with. There are some ideas I’ve thrown at him, but at the end of the day he makes the decisions and he’s the one determining what we do.”

On how the Crows compare to his previous clubs, Melbourne, Essendon and Port Adelaide…

“Football clubs develop. They look for new structures, new strategies and structures in the sense that we’ve got more development coaches here now. Steven Trigg and Sando have been very strong on getting a number of coaches involved from a development point of view and making sure you’ve only got 5-6 players to each coach. That helps in the education of the players and 10 years ago that wasn’t there. You’re always looking at trying to get ahead of the curve and I think this Club is at that point now.”

On why he chose to join Adelaide rather than staying in Victoria or returning to Port Adelaide where he worked previously as an assistant coach…

“When I was at Melbourne, I spoke to Sando about coming across to Melbourne after he missed out on the Geelong coaching job. He returned the favour. I’ve known Brenton for a while. Adelaide is a very good club, a well-run club and well resourced. I’m very happy to be here and really excited about what these young players are going to produce.”

On his former President Jim Stynes, and his decision to step down at Melbourne…

“Jimmy’s a fantastic bloke. He’s brought a lot to the Melbourne Football Club. As a person, he’s right up there. You talk about icons of the game and at Melbourne, Jim’s been fantastic. He’s a quality person to have met and I wish him well. He’s outdone all the numbers and just keeps proving them wrong. Fingers crossed he keeps going. He’s a terrific bloke with a fantastic family and although he’s stepped down, he’s going to be hard to keep away from the Club. He loves it and I hope things go well for him.”

On the loss of injured full-back Ben Rutten…

“I think the big unit (Rutten) will be back on a bike in a week. He’s a very experienced player and has a lot of training age behind him. We expect him to be up and going in 2-3 weeks from a jogging point of view. There’s a lot of cross training you can do and ways to stay fit, so even though he won’t be on his legs he’ll be working hard in the gym. He’s only a loss if he’s not playing, but he’s had an operation that’ll get him back in better condition than if he didn’t have it. Chris Knights and Jason Porplyzia came back fairly early from the same operation, so there’s proof in the pudding. The medical guys here have been through it before, so Ben’s in good hands. We’re only the second of February … so there’s a long time until round one. He’s a professional and I’m sure he’ll be around the mark for round one.”

On the Club’s goals for the NAB Cup…

“You have a big pre-season and what you want to do is eventually start playing games against opposition. The boys have been very competitive. Even though there was only 20 minutes of competitive work today, we’ve done that session for a long time now. They’re going to be game-ready from a competitive point of view and that’s what Sando will expect them to be. He’ll expect them to be hard and tough around the contest. We’re doing it at training, so we should replicate it in games and that will be a key for us. Guys have been moved around in some positions, and I think that’s fair for a new coach coming in to see what guys might be able to do in different positions.”