Senior coach John Longmire has kicked off preparations for Friday's Preliminary Final with a press conference on Monday. Speaking to the media he discussed the opposition, Callum Mills and how he has evolved as a coach.
See what he had to say below.
On playing Port Adelaide
“It's about playing well this week. They're a very good football team and have been for a long time. They've been so consistent, they've been coached well, they're a great playing unit and so they've always been hard to compete against and they certainly played well against us last time. This week's a new week, we're really looking forward to it, great to be playing in our home prelim here at the SCG, so everyone's excited."
On chasing a goal deficit
“Come match day we'll concentrate on each play as it comes. We’re very much living the moment, looking at what we can control… we didn't do it that well last time, but we feel like we're in a space to be able to do that and concentrate on the moment."
On the club’s win-loss record with Port
“They're a terrific footy team and interestingly enough we've only played them once I think in the last six meetings here at the SCG. I always look forward to it and for this week that's what really matters for us, how we meet, how we train, how we do our weights, how we prepare, what we're putting our focus in and that's what really matters, it's really focused on the day by day.”
On Callum Mills’ injury
“Yeah, it was disappointing. He's as we know a very important player for us and he got back to some really good form too. We'd obviously missed him for most of the season, we were able to cope with him for most of the season and that was important to be able to do that. He only did a light training session, it was a very light kick and unfortunately, he hurt his hamstring. It's disappointing, these things happen, we've moved on from that and we've got to focus on this week.
“He hasn't been ruled out but it hasn't been our focus just yet, it has been with the medical conditioning staff, they're doing all the work.”
On replacing Mills
“We're sitting down and working that out now. Hopefully there's a couple of options there - is it a like for like type? We know we can't replace his leadership ability, he's very good in that space but we've got some options there - nothing's locked in.”
On what Port Adelaide did well against Hawthorn
“You would have seen both games on the weekend, the typical big finals games, it was red hot early on in the game and it stayed that way for the entire game. It was a fierce contest and Port Adelaide were able to apply enormous pressure on the opposition, they were able to withstand the heat that Hawthorne were able to apply, and they were able to stand up in the moments and to their great credit. That's the thing that really stood out."
On reviewing Round 22
“It doesn't really help you, we weren't good enough and Port Adelaide were terrific, that's where it sat so you've got to give Port Adelaide a lot of credit.”
On Dane Rampe’s 250th milestone game
“It's one of the great stories. He went through four drafts, he got missed at four national drafts and he was picked up in our rookie draft and who knows whether he thought he was ever going to make it, it might have been his last chance…
“He's a great example of just being ready. He was ready for four years and didn't get drafted and then he's been ready ever since; ready in training, ready in meetings, ready to care for people, ready to compete, ready in games and it's been a real pleasure to coach him for a long period of time.”
On playing finals footy
“I feel fortunate to be playing at this time of the year, the weather's great, you get out there and you look forward to playing this Friday night. I'm confident we've sold our crowd at the SCG, they'll be in full voice. How fortunate are we to be able to do that but I also know that you've got to go out there and get the job done. You've got to concentrate on your process, you've got to really hone in on what you're good at and you’ve got to respect the opposition. Those are the things that are in front of your mind so great to be playing this time of the year, but we also know of the challenge ahead of us.”
On Justin McInerney and Braeden Campbell
“Justin has done some extra training which has been good for him, some specific training that he needed to do over the last couple of weeks. So, he's come through that well. Braeden's trained well. He was a bit sore leading into that game, one of the reasons why we put him as sub was because of that, but he's been training well."
On evolving as a coach
“Not so much in finals. I think I've evolved hopefully as a person and as a coach, which you expect everyone to do - whether you're a staff member, a coach, whether you're a player. You learn over the journey, I've learned an enormous amount, not just about finals but about coaching. It's a tough job, it's tough for the team to compete every week, it probably gets underestimated how hard and how difficult that is in a draft and a salary cap type environment, but I'm really pleased that we're here at the pointy end. We're about to play another preliminary final, we're about to play one of the SCG in front of our fans and we can't wait.”
