Swans reserves coach Jared Crouch said he felt ‘mixed emotions’ in the wake of his Swans reserves side suffering a 30-point loss at the hands of Queanbeyan in yesterday’s NEAFL Eastern Conference Grand Final in Canberra.
Although pleased with the development of his players throughout the 2012 season, Crouch said he was disappointed the team couldn’t get over the line in the Conference decider.
“Of course you’re disappointed about losing a Grand Final, but I guess what I am is a development coach - I’m about getting the guys to play well, and when they don’t play well is probably more why I feel gutted,” Crouch told SwansTV in the Manuka Oval rooms after the match.
“This is a big game and you know when you play finals, and play them well, how much they can elevate a player.
“Unfortunately we didn’t have enough guys playing well today, or as a group playing as a team.
“Disappointing, but full credit to Queanbeyan, they came with a game plan. They’re big, strong bodies and they played smart footy and got a win in the end.”
Watch Jared Crouch speak to SwansTV after yesterday's NEAFL Eastern Conference Grand Final in the video player above
After holding a nine-point lead at quarter time, the reserves fell behind in the second quarter and trailed by five goals late in the third term. Goals to Harry Cunningham, Trent Dennis-Lane and top-up David Lycakis either side of the three-quarter time break brought the Swans right back into the contest, but Queanbeyan proved too strong in the end, eventually pushing the margin back out to five goals.
“When you allow sides to be in front, they’ll keep that momentum up and they’ll keep playing good football, which is credit to them,” Crouch said.
“When we did get within a goal, we just couldn’t quite have that killer punch right at the end and they kicked a couple of nice goals and ran away with it.
“As I said to (the team) at the end, to take the next level, which I want all these players to do to play senior AFL football, they need to do it for four quarters. You don’t get the ability to do it for a quarter, or a bit here, a bit there, you’ve got to do the basics, do it well for four quarters.”
Reserves captain on the day, Jarred Moore, echoed the thoughts of Crouch after the match, hoping that the progress the side made during 2012 can continue on next year despite yesterday’s loss.
“I thought most of the year we played pretty well and just couldn’t back it up on the day,” Moore told SwansTV in the rooms after the game.
“They beat us at the stoppages, they beat us in and under the footy, and that’s what we are normally good at. So they beat us there and then on the outside they got on the end of a few goals too.
“From looking at the tape from the start of the season until now, the structures and the stuff we pride ourselves on, has really been a big improvement and hopefully a few of those guys can continue that on for next year.”
Watch Jarred Moore speak to SwansTV in the rooms after yesterday's NEAFL Eastern Conference Grand Final
