Marty Mattner spoke with sydneyswans.com.au about playing finals footy, the injection of youth and the importance of consistent efforts...

What were some of the highlights of your season?
I guess just being back and playing finals footy. You don’t realise until you miss the finals, just how much you love playing them and that’s what you’re here for. When you actually play finals footy it’s a good feeling and winning that first final against Carlton was really good.

On a personal note, I felt like I had an average year, but finished the year really well so my last two months I thought were pretty good, which is not a bad thing during the finals  Hopefully I have a good preseason and can get stuck into next year.

It was an unsettled year for the defence with key injuries to Craig Bolton and Lewis Roberts-Thomson?
I guess at the start of the year it was a very different look to what it was at the end of the year with Heath Grundy and Ted Richards filling the key position roles. We probably had eight or nine defenders to chose from at the start of the year but ended up with only around six, so I guess if we can get eight players fit during preseason it won't be a bad thing to have a bit of competition for spots next season. It’s good to have some depth and experience in the backline.

Which of your team-mates have most impressed you this year?
All of the young guys did. Dan Hannebery, he’s probably the biggest one, just living up here and doing a full preseason and training with all of the boys. The other two are Gary Rohan and Lewis Jetta, just their speed and ability to run. I was impressed with Lewis’ ability to play on the wing and up forward and kick some goals….finally. Gary started the season as a forward/winger but finished up playing half back a bit too. His ability to run and his competitive nature was great and to see those guys grab the ball and go for a run along the wing was really quite inspiring. We hope to see a lot more of that next year.

Was there a different feel to the team with that injection of youth this year?
Definitely, I think all of the young guys like Sam Reid, Byron Sumner and even Shane Mumford and Joey Kennedy, they’re all pretty young too, so I think it’s been good for the Club. You go through a period where a few senior players leave the Club, but this year I think the injection of youth has been great. I think it has been good for the boys to have a few jokes and a few laughs and the young guys have been really good at that.

What areas does the team need to improve for next year?
I think it's just consistent efforts. If we had of beaten Melbourne and Richmond we may have finished top four. They’re two games that stick out in my mind as games that we needed to win and we probably took for granted that we would win them, and I guess that’s the difference between a top four side and a team that just makes the eight. I think it’s just that consistent effort and that will be helped by a lot of our younger players getting some senior experience under their belt this year.

What are your plans for the break?
I’ll stay in Sydney for a while and then I’m off to LA and Las Vegas for a couple of weeks with a few of the other players. Then I’ll head back to Adelaide and hopefully play a bit of golf.


Marty Mattner in action during season 2010: