Assistant coach Josh Francou gave us an insight into preparations for tonight's clash against Carlton at the SCG in this week’s Coaches Column, thanks to Cellarbrations.
Were you guys impressed with the players’ attack on the football and hardness at the contest on Saturday night against Hawthorn and if we bring a similar intensity are you confident we can bring home another win?
One of the things we haven’t been all that consistent with has been our starts. As far as looking at the first eight rounds of the season, we’ve been a little inconsistent with how we’ve started games.
If you get off to a good start and play with that high intensity, high octane type football, as well as bring that hardness and competitive brand, it really sets the tone for the rest of the game.
When we talk about different sides and the evenness of the competition, it’s vital we bring that same intensity week after week.
It’s no doubt a focus for us this week, as it is any week. It’s crucial we bring that same mindset to game day and the thought processes that come with. We get that right and everything will take care of itself.
We’re the second highest contested ball winning side in the competition – is that a stat you guys in the coaches’ box hold in high regard?
Yeah, absolutely. Football is an impact game and a competitive game so obviously that area of the game is one of our key indicators.
There are obviously other key indicators we look at but – and you can ask any coach in the AFL this and I’m sure they’re on a similar page – contested ball is one of the big one.
Carlton sit first for stoppage clearances and fifth for centre clearances so we’ll need to get our hands on the footy first to quell those numbers.
Ben McGlynn ticks off game 150, will it be good to see him reach such a milestone and became such an integral part of this side? His ability to show his worth as a run with player is a feather in his cap…
We gave Benny a specific role two weeks ago against Geelong and he did a terrific job against Joel Selwood.
It’s widely known how important Sam Mitchell is for Hawthorn and was the one we wanted to shut down and entrusted Ben with a similar task.
Ben started the game superbly and to kick two goals in the opening half and execute really set the tone for the rest of the players.
What has your homework on Carlton uncovered and what do we need to do on Friday to ensure we come away with a win?
Like any club they have a lot of talent in their side. Obviously, with Mick Malthouse no longer there, it’s hard to say how much that will change things.
Will it fire them up? What has it done to their preparation? I don’t know, I guess that’s a bit of the unknown.
But what I will say is as far as we’re concerned our focus and approach doesn’t change in terms of what we need to bring to the table to beat Carlton.
If you’re looking at the numbers, their clearance numbers I mentioned earlier and work ethics around the stoppages is very good so at the end of the day we’ve got our work cut out for us and we’re gearing up for a challenging night.
