Coming off an almighty loss to Geelong, Matthew Knights has taken positives away from the game saying his team has learnt many lessons from the undefeated side.
Knights spoke to the media this morning and said that he felt his team went into their shells and played conservative football in the first half but was pleased they were able to re-adjust in the second half and take on the game.
“Geelong certainly showed us last week, they were clearly better then us at all areas. They really did absolutely smash us in some areas too, particularly in the first half,” he said.
“They were just so strong when it counted; it was good for our guys to see how they did that. They absorbed tackles and then got the handball away which kept the Geelong flow going. We were on the flip side to that, we couldn’t get moving.
“Our players went back into their shells for a brief period in that first half and were too conservative.
“After half time we re-adjusted and said 'listen guys we’ve got to play our own style again and even though they are a long way ahead we have to do what we do best'.
“In the second half we fought back by doing it our way which was pleasing. It was pleasing to outscore them in the last quarter.
“We learnt some enormous lessons and as a coach it’s not such a bad game to go through.
“After you get through the initial 24 hours of reflection it’s not so bad. The first 24 hours is never great but when you reflect you realise as a young team that you can take a lot out of it.”
Knights will face selection pressure this week for the game against Adelaide after some strong performances in the VFL from Brent Prismall and Kyle Reimers and with Scott Lucas eager to break back into the senior side.
“Lucas is probably an even chance to play, I suppose it depends what we do with the ruck situation and depends if we play another tall depending on what Adelaide do,” he said.
“Adelaide hasn’t been playing big themselves; they’ve been playing with just two ‘bigs’ at either end. They aren’t a big side so I guess that will come into the equation as well.
“Probably Reimers, Prismall and Lucas are all in the same category they are all a little closer, we had a brief discussion about them this morning but we will sit down and make a final decision this afternoon.
“This all depends on how Dempsey gets through the sessions this week; I’m assuming he’ll be available but with those ankles you have to get through training.
“Dempsey has to be foolproof if we are going to play him. We’ll see how he goes getting through the main session on Thursday and that will probably weigh in to what happens with Reimers and Prismall.”
