On pre-season
“Now we start to get into more football-focused drills and a little bit less running, which is always nice. We started match play last week as well, so the season's certainly not creeping up on us. I feel we've had a pretty good body of work thus far, but we feel it's getting closer.”
On the grand final
“Our supporters probably don't want to hear that we've just reviewed it. They want to see us put some stuff into action, and that's what we want to do this year.
“We've spoken about it as a team, was it mentally, what space were we in? Was it gaps in the way we played as a team all year that we maybe were able to cover up with moments of brilliance throughout the season that you ultimately can't get away with on grand final day? There's been a lot of those instances watching the game back. The stuff that we don't necessarily want to give away to our opposition, so I'm not going to say it here.”
On personal areas of improvement
“I just want to become a more rounded player and help the team in that way. I suppose the big thing was just reviewing the game, not shying away from it, seeing it for what it is, and then implementing some things into my game. Also, hopefully I can grow a bit as a player and a leader, and I want to help influence those around me.”
On training under Dean Cox
“We've kept a lot of the pillars of our game plan and how we want to play as a football team. Horse’s track record speaks for itself as an amazing coach. We did a lot of things right last year so we're not reinventing the wheel. Just a few little tweaks here and there and he's wanted to challenge us mentally…
“I feel like we've really gelled as a team and really embraced all the challenges he's thrown at us. Whether it's been the back-to-back 2K or we had a training session when we went out there and ended up doing all running.”
On on-field team dynamic
“I can tell you that without the likes of James Rowbottom, Jake Lloyd, Callum Mills, Tommy McCartin, all those boys, we can't do what we do. At the end of the day, if it's three verse 22 out there, we're not going to win. It doesn't matter how good of a player you are.”
On positional changes
“There's been boys playing multiple positions in pre-season. I think everyone, with the strength of a team we have, you've got to be able to have a few strings to your bow.
“This is a time of year where you've got to practice it. You might see a few things if you guys come down to training and a few boys at the other end of the ground or a few midfielders forward and vice versa. But whether that means that that's something we take into the season, I'm not too sure.”
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