Coach Post Match – Todd Curley NAIDOC Round

WHAT South Fremantle coach Todd Curley had to say following the NAIDOC Round loss to Claremont at Fremantle Community Bank Oval ahead of a bye this week and then a Thursday night clash with the league-leading Subiaco at Medibank Stadium.

QUESTION: Those conditions always create a bit of the unknown and it's usually the team that competes harder for longer, and that takes their chances that wins. And that's what Claremont did?
ANSWER: The disappointing thing is that we were outworked and they were certainly harder than us in the first quarter. To give up six goals in those conditions make it a long way back.

Q: They did well to take their chances too despite the conditions?
A: I thought we didn’t defend really well in the first quarter. We started OK in the first couple of minutes and then for whatever reason they got some pretty simple goals from the goal square. We did miss a couple of chances, but we just allowed them to score too easily in those conditions. We tried hard after the break but the scoreboard pressure was always on us and it's hard to get back from there.

Q: What in particular let you down in the first half and what were you able to turnaround after half-time, but left too much work to do?
A: We just didn’t compete in the first quarter and didn’t work hard enough. We allowed them some easy scores and that was really the message to get back on the bike to show some character to compete, and at least get back in the game. We did that for periods but went to sleep for two minutes before three quarter-time which was really costly again. There was a lot of good things for us to learn from but ideally we wouldn’t have liked them all to happen on one day and cost us four points.

Q: Was it more disappointing to happen after a loss last week and you would have hoped for a better response?
A: I think what happened last week is irrelevant to this week. We were keen to bounce back of course, but it doesn’t really have an impact on what you do this week and that's similar to our next game. The fact that we've lost a couple has no bearing on how you prepare to play.

Q: It was a big job for Zac Strom with Brock Higgins a late withdrawal, and he battled hard in the ruck against Mitch Andrews and Darcy Cameron?
A: He tried really hard. There wasn’t much we could do with Higgo pulling out reasonably late but Zac competed pretty well. He probably dropped a few marks and he could have had a stronger influence on the game if he held those but the thing you love about Zac is that he works hard and tries his absolute butt off the whole time. He is never disgraced.

Q: Would you expect Josh Pullman and Brock Higgins back to play Subiaco, and are Haiden Schloithe and Ashton Hams getting closer?
A: Josh and Brock should both be available for the next game. They both trained on Thursday but just didn’t come up. Ideally you don’t want to risk anyone so we've done the work early in the season to bank some wins and unfortunately it's our turn to go through those injuries, and it gives us a chance to have a look at others. Hopefully a few of them grow as a result. Haiden and Ash will both be around the mark to play but it's a bit too early to know for sure.

Q: Does the bye come at a good time to regroup and get ready for six straight games heading into the finals?
A: I don’t think it ever comes at a good time after a loss like that because you want to get back out there to show you have improved, but it gives us some time to work on some things that we need to get better at.

Q: Big game now against Subiaco next Thursday and you need to win to stay in the top two?
A: We're not worried at all really about a top two spot or anything like that, we just have to get back on track by winning games of footy. It will be another good test for us away to Subi. We just have to regroup and bounce up, and come with more consistent effort and intent otherwise we'll be in trouble again.

Q: They are the one team that you've struggled against in your time here, what do you need to do better this time?
A: We certainly need to turn up better and compete harder than we did this week.

Q: Thursday night game is an interesting proposition, your thoughts on it?
A: It's a challenge when guys work and study full-time to have to juggle around training to get ready to play on a Thursday. It's a challenge but it's on TV and it's a great opportunity for us to play and see how it goes. It's a bit of a trial to see if it works for TV and we are happy to be part of that. It's on the schedule so we have to rock up and play. We'll just prepare the best we can and hope to bounce back.