Without a doubt, we were disappointed with our performance against Hawthorn last Friday night at the MCG. Our second half really let us down and we didn’t play the type of football we want to play at this club.

Our ball movement and our defence were down after half time. We didn’t defend well and when we did defend and got the ball, we just turned it over, so it came down to some just really basic errors. It was disappointing, but it’s something we’ve worked on and we’ve reviewed the game pretty solidly, and the boys understand where we need to improve and we’re confident we’ll be better this week.

The rewarding thing about finishing in the top-four is that you get that second chance, but we know there are no second chances when it comes to this week’s game. We know we’ve got another challenge ahead of us when we take on Carlton, but we’re looking forward to stepping up and really taking the game on this week.
There are six teams left, so we’re excited to still be playing at this time of year and we’ve got a great opportunity with a home final at ANZ Stadium on Saturday night to show our best.

This week we take on the Blues and last week they showed that their best was definitely good enough when they defeated Richmond by 20 points in front of a packed house at the MCG. They are a well-drilled side and they are well coached by Mick Malthouse. They’ve got really definitive set patterns of play in the way they move the ball and the way they defend, and we’ve done our homework, so we understand the challenge that lies ahead.

Carlton are going to be hard to play against and in a final you need to bring your best, so we need to concentrate on what we need to do, keeping in mind that the Blues are a very good side when they’re playing the way they want to play.

One of their players who really stood out last week was Chris Judd. Judd was great to watch last week and he is one of the top players in the competition. His third quarter against Richmond was special and he got them going and he’s capable of that, so he’s someone we really need to keep an eye on and we can’t let him be best on ground, because his best is very, very good.

Looking at our own side, we’re going to need an even contribution from our players this week, particularly in the midfield. With our defensive stuff and our ball movement and even the stoppage work, we probably left it to too few players last week, so we need to get more players breaking even with their direct opponent or beating their direct opponent. The boys are really motivated this week to bring their best footy, so I’m expecting the mids to be fully firing.

It’s great to play at home, we get really good support, and we’ve got really passionate supporters. The louder they are the better, because it means we’ll be going alright, so hopefully they are nice and loud at ANZ Stadium on Saturday night.