Q. I think the meticulous planning that occurred on the weekend was thorough and well executed, especially from a midfield point of view.
Is there any thought of leaving Mark McVeigh as a permanent on-baller? I think the two games that he has played in the middle this year (Sydney and Port Adelaide) have been his best and our midfield has looked better with him in there also. (Jamie Grixti)
A. We thought we would try him back in the middle against Port Adelaide and it was a great success. The difficulty about playing him in the middle is that he is so good at doing his job on small forwards such as Phil Matera, Ashley Sampi, Jeff Farmer, Paul Medhurst and Aaron Davey. To find a player to play on these sorts of players is harder to find than midfielders.
We know that Mark can play in the midfield, he has shown us that. But you find me a good specialist to play on small forwards and we will put Mark in the midfield more regularly.
Q. What is the reaction in the coaches’ box when a player with time and space running through the midfield kicks into the forward line and it is an uncontested mark to the opposition? (Matthew Tait)
A. There is two points to mention with this question.
1.Either our forwards haven’t led to the right spot and haven’t worked hard enough and are waiting back for easy delivery. Or
2. It is a poor judgement decision and poor vision. I would agree with Matthew Tait, that it is possibly the most frustrating thing that can happen, particularly when they have space. Kicking directly to the opposition is very a poor judgement call.
Q. Will Jason Laycock finally get a run seeing that Matthew Allan is injured? Or will Mark Bolton or Dustin Fletcher be rotated to help David Hille out? (Andrew McHarg)
A. A personal judgement only – it is not necessarily a club opinion. We have four weeks without Matthew Allan and I think to go into the finals with just one ruckman is exceptionally dangerous.
Bolton and Fletcher have proved in the past that they are better suited as key defenders or key forwards. To play a non-specialist in a specialist role is fraught with danger. I will be encouraging our match committee not to go that way and to give a Jason Laycock or a Kepler Bradley a month of very solid football in the ruck at senior level. When you get to the finals you will need two ruckmen.
Q. Do you think James Hird should hand over the captaincy to Matthew Lloyd seeing that James wouldn’t have much time left and so he can work on his own game and get the best out of himself before he retires? (David Cowling)
A. Off the top of my head no. I think Hird should lead the club this year and certainly next year. Then I would revise the situation at the end of 2005. That is only a personal opinion though.
I think we saw on the weekend a significant step in Lloyd’s role as a future captain. That is one of the best games that I have seen Lloyd play from a captains point of view, I thought he was outstanding.
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