As you all know, we lost to the Dockers on the weekend, but for a WA fan and member I take all the Tiger pleasures I can get. It started with the Q&A after Saturday training, having the opportunity to welcome the players on the ground and to finish it all off, the meet and greet.
To supporters in Melbourne this is somewhat of the norm but for someone living 600kms east of Perth it was quite a treat.
Q&A
In the Q&A there were a couple of good questions asked and as I have only my memory to go off I will paraphrase.
Q. Patterson’s Stadium has been a happy hunting ground in the last couple of seasons, is this ground one that the Tiges like to play?
A. (Danny Daly) We certainly like the opportunity to travel together and with the longer ground and narrow boundaries it certainly suits our style of play.
Q. What was different about the preparation this pre-season?
A. (Danny Daly) As seen in round 1, the defensive press was one of the big things that we looked at as well as bolstering some of our weaker areas such as the ruck with the recruitment of Ivan Maric
Q. (to Tom Derickx) Do you know what position you will be playing?
A. I’ll be starting off as a sub but will probably do 80% of the ruck work in the second half
Q. (to Shane Tuck) how do you think we will go against the Dockers with Ross Lyon as the new coach?
A. Yeah we’re pretty confident we can get the result which is what we came here for
The Game
The first quarter was an absolute cracker we really out played the Dockers in our defensive press and transition of the ball, which frustrated the crowd and up until half time we were very competitive. Considering there were a few key players that did not make the trip, such as Trent Cotchin, Brett Deledio Shaun Grigg and of course Reece Conca. We successfully relied on Tuck, Martin, Maric and Co. to get the job done.
Maric gave us first use of the ball for the majority of the first quarter which really helped towards a healthy lead early in the first. The Dockers were able to influence the score sheet late in the quarter to be just 2 points behind at the first break.
In the second it was more of the same with the tiges jumping out of the blocks but this is when the Dockers started to hit their straps and pulled away to a 10 point lead at the half time break.
The game got away from us in the second half after subbing off Martin, Riewoldt, Maric and the young brigade were brought in. Even though the Dockers got away from us, the young Tiges put in a good show and in the last quarter got back within a goal, but the Dockers put on 5 goals to win 105 to 67.
My two Cents
I understand the concept of the pre-season is to trial new rules and new players and get a feel for what might work in the season proper. However, I would still like to see us have a red hot go.
I’m all for trialling new players in new positions, but such a drastic change all at once really changed the flow of the game. I believe that it is also good for the psyche of the players to win where there is the opportunity.
I can see the hard work that the coaching staff and players have put in over the off season and I reckon we could make the eight this season, but to be successful in finals we need to have practice and isn’t that what the pre-season is also about?
