Gold Coast Suns coach Rodney Eade reviews his team’s 67-point loss to Adelaide at Metricon Stadium on Saturday …
On Gold Coast’s overall performance against the Crows …
“The first half was average, below average. I thought in the second half, we attempted to do what was asked at half time. I thought that we tried to play the way that we want to play. Those last four (Crows) goals probably took the gloss off us coming back. (Without those goals) We would’ve won the second half (on the scoreboard) and would’ve gone close to winning the (last) three quarters. So that was disappointing. But I thought we fought back pretty well and hung in there.”
On Adelaide as a team …
“They (the Crows) are an extremely good side. I know they’ve beaten GWS, but I think those two are probably the best two sides in the competition at the moment. They’re slick and they don’t make mistakes. They hurt (you) when you do make errors, which we made a lot of in the first half, probably a lot to do with their pressure.”
On the slow start, which saw the Suns trail by 34 points at quarter time …
“Once they (the Crows) got it inside 50, it was always going to be difficult because of the talent they’ve got and the players we’ve got missing there (in defence). We made some bad blues, but I think we looked a bit on the back foot. I thought in the second half we actually got on the front foot a bit more … we were a bit proactive rather than reactive.”
On Adelaide’s apparent physical advantage at the contest …
“Our ‘boys’ looked like boys. We’re a young squad and they’re quite a physically developed group. We lacked in that area, there’s no doubt. I think we attempted to tackle, but they didn’t stick. But we can’t just label the younger blokes.
“In the first half especially, we got pushed off the ball. We were there first, and just got pushed away from it. I think you’re going to get that with a young team, we’ve just got to be a bit stronger. With ‘Maysey’ (Steven May) and Rory (Thompson) out we just tipped over, maybe, to too young. But we’ll take the positive out, and I think in the second half we were able to steel ourselves a bit better.”
On being denied corridor ball movement by the Crows …
“I thought they were very good at blocking us up not only in the centre, but even in the change of direction. After half time, I think we were prepared to take the game on. Once those couple of errors (occurred) and the scoreboard (was against us) … I think we were only three goals down, we got very conversative and that’s probably that mental steel and mental strength to be able to play the way we want to play – to be prepared to spend a bit to make a bit.
“I was positive with Adam Saad when he got caught holding the ball because at least he was taking the game on. When he came off I said, ‘Mate, that’s fine. Keep doing it’. If you’re going to make a mistake … I’d rather a mistake where you’re trying to do something positive.”
On Saad’s effort in nullifying star forward Eddie Betts …
“He (Saad) was terrific. Betts would’ve kicked two (of his three goals) out the back, maybe, one or two of those were on someone else. I thought his (Saad’s) ability to win one-on-ones and keep his feet … was exceptional. And an attacking game as well, I thought he had a really good balance tonight.
“I thought it was as good a game as he’s played. Betts is probably in the top two small forwards ever to play the game. He can get (the ball) on the ground, in the air and from the boundary and do everything – he’s got the full array of tricks. I thought Adam was terrific tonight.”
On the contentious decision that saw Kade Kolodjashnij penalised for deliberately rushing a behind …
“I’m a bit confused with that, to be honest. I thought that when Kade first went to the ball, he wasn’t under pressure and couldn’t push it through (for a rushed behind). Then he slipped and the ball fell out of his hand and the (opposition) player was I reckon within half a metre. I thought it was a fair way to do it (rush the behind).
“I’ll have to check on that with what the umpiring department will say, but I was gob smacked that it was a free kick. Umpires get it wrong. We made more mistakes than probably what the umpires did, but certainly that free kick I was a bit flummoxed by.”
On the midfield battle, which the statistics suggested was even …
“That’s where stats lie. They (the Crows) were a lot cleaner. Their effect of winning the ball, and their use of the ball out of tight situations was exceptional. Normally, we’d like to play that type of way. We weren’t able to for a couple of reasons – their pressure was good and we made some mistakes.
“It was more about the efficiency of what they did. Maybe, the last half was a bit better, but I thought they outworked us as well. I thought they ran harder. Not only their mids, but their backs they really did work hard. They probably won the midfield battle, I would’ve thought.”
