Coach Brenton Sanderson spoke to the media following the Club’s opening round NAB Cup wins against Carlton and Port Adelaide at AAMI Stadium on Sunday.
Here’s an overview of what ‘Sando’ had to say:
Brenton Sanderson on what he took out of the ‘mini’ matches against the Blues and Power …
“We’ve been playing Adelaide v Adelaide at training, so it was important for us to see our systems and structures against an opposition. There’s still room for improvement in a lot of things, but at the same time when we review the game as coaches I’m sure we’ll see some positives.”
On the team’s strong defensive effort and quicker ball movement …
“We had a good balance of attack and defence today. I thought at times when we didn’t have the ball, we set up really well behind the ball and it looked pretty safe. When he had the ball too there were times we looked quite dangerous.
“There were a couple of occasions where it was only one or two links in the chain that fell down. I liked the quick movement and at times I thought we came through the corridor a bit more, which was good and something we’ve been working on a little bit. I was good to see that come off.
“Our ability to win contested ball in both games was also good even though we were down by a couple (in that statistic) against Carlton. Our numbers in contested ball and tackles were markedly improved. They were a couple of focuses for us before the game and I thought we ticked that box.”
On what he learned about the Club’s young key defenders …
“We had a look at all the (young tall defenders) today and that was a huge positive for me, that we were able to play 33 players. The depth of the squad looks pretty strong. We didn’t have Ben Rutten, Jason Porplyzia or Chris Knights but (as a result) were able to play Sam Shaw, Luke Thompson and Lewis Johnston in a bit of the second game, as well as Daniel Talia. We were able to look at four key defenders across two games and we were happy we were able to expose those boys to some AFL footy.”
On what impressed him most about the two narrow wins …
“The most impressive thing for me is that the boys were able to find a way to win, coming from behind in both matches. Something we’ve focused on over the summer is making sure we win the close games. There were some fantastic individual efforts, but I think it was giving yourself to the team that made the biggest impression on the group.”
On his first time in the box as senior coach …
“It’s organised chaos of course but the coach’s box worked really well. The coaches had good synergy up there and everything worked pretty much to plan.”
On the use of the video review for goal umpiring decisions …
“The video review was good for us today … because there (was one instance against Port Adelaide) where the goal umpire signalled a point but the review showed it was out of bounds on the full. We won that game by a point, so it worked for us today. You don’t want any unnecessarily long interruptions … but any time you can put a result beyond doubt (is beneficial). We don’t want it (a goal umpiring error) to affect a Grand Final result, so I think the AFL will keep testing the technology and get it right. I’m not sure what the call should be when it’s just too close to call on the video review. Do you take the goal umpire’s word? Or does the third umpire make the call? The players in their hearts would always feel like they want to make the call (to review a decision), but I think we should leave it in the hands of the umpires.”
On the dynamics between forwards Kurt Tippett and Taylor Walker …
“I liked it. I thought the chemistry was pretty good between Kurt and Taylor and there were times where they looked really dangerous. There were other times when both Carlton and Port Adelaide folded back, created uneven numbers and the boys just couldn’t get their hands on the ball. At times, it worked really well. It’s something those boys are working really hard on.”
On the Club’s plans for next week’s NAB Cup clash against the Brisbane Lions in Alice Springs …
“We saw some first, second and third-year players today, who haven’t had much exposure yet. We might keep a few of our older boys at home next week but we’ll have a look at any injuries and see how the boys pull up before we make that call. It’s a six-day break and an interstate trip … so it’s probably a good opportunity to keep playing some kids. The initial report is no injuries. There are a couple of corked hamstrings and calves and those things … but they’re nothing serious I don’t think.”
On Matt Jaensch and Tim McIntyre’s ‘torpedo’ kicks …
“We did plan those (torpedo kicks). We just thought we might be able to catch the opposition off-guard. The defensive press is so aggressive in the modern game there are some opportunities to attack the last line of the opposition’s defence. We researched both teams and looked at opportunities to get it over the last line. A couple of times it paid off today and at other times it didn’t. I think you’ll see that a lot more in the modern game. Long kicking is back and long kicking to a contest. We’ve done a lot of work on contested marking over the summer, so it was nice to see a few of those things work for us today.”
