Coach Post Match – Todd Curley Round 3

WHAT South Fremantle coach Todd Curley had to say following the Round 3 WAFL victory over Peel Thunder in Mandurah and looking ahead to this Saturday's clash at home with West Perth.

Curley offers some insight into how the Bulldogs bounced back from a disappointing loss to Swan Districts to beat Peel by 43 points and what most impressed him along with looking ahead to this Saturday's clash with the Falcons at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

QUESTION: You must have been happy with the way they bounced back from last week's loss to Swan Districts?
ANSWER: They've been a pretty consistent group the last 12 months or so and they were really disappointed last week with aspects of the game and I thought the response was pretty strong.

Q: Were you always confident you'd be able to bounce back in that sort of fashion?
A: We certainly weren’t at our best last week and we knew that there was a lot more in us than we displayed. I thought we defended really well as a group and moved the ball pretty well as a group as well. Peel were a real challenge for us in the first 15 or 20 minutes of the game, but I thought after that we controlled it pretty well.

Q: Shane Hockey coming back makes a significant difference to your midfield?
A: Even last week we had plenty of the ball, it was just our use of the ball that let us down badly. It made it really hard to defend last week with some of the turnovers we had, so we cleaned that up this week, used the ball better and that makes it easier to defend. Hocks is an important player for us, he's in our leadership group and it was great to have him back.

Q: The contested ball area was something you would have been especially happy with?
A: I don’t think 15 minutes in we were going that great around the footy, but we made a few changes and to the boys' credit we challenged them to get it back on even terms and they did that. You have to win the ball at the contest or you are playing from behind or giving up first use all the time. We addressed that and were able to play the majority of the game in our forward half rather than our back half.

Q: Your younger players are really grabbing their chances too, especially Kyle Russell?
A: He has stepped up really well and has probably even surprised us a little bit, but his composure with the ball is great. Some kids just find a way. He has stepped up and adjusted really well and full credit to him, but also to the guys playing around him. He has been really consistent for us and was really good again this week. He makes good decisions and like most left-footers he is pretty good by foot.

Q: Great to see Adam McIntosh back to some strong form after his broken leg last year?
A: Yeah he is coming back from a pretty serious injury. About this time last year at this ground he broke his ankle so he had to overcome those demons of coming back here. He had been a really consistent player since I've been at the club and it's good to have him back.

Q: How big is a performance like that for Cory Dell'Olio in his comeback too?
A: I thought the forwards worked a lot harder this week and they were really selfless, and they worked hard to create space for each other. They all sort of chipped in and Cory was one of those. Across the board they were really disappointed the guys who played forward last week so they bounced back strongly.

Q: Back home now on Saturday to take on West Perth, what are your thoughts?
A: I know they are a proud club but to be honest until this week I haven’t looked at them at all. They are always super competitive so we expect no different this week. It's always a good challenge.

Q: Shaun Bewick plays his 100th game too against his old team. You saw him early on back at West Perth, now have coached him the last two years here. What comes to mind when you think of him?
A: He just has an enormous work rate and is a great clubman. He works hard, he trains hard and does all that he can to keep getting better. He has an enormous work rate and his ability to run and cover, and run back to help the defence and be up to deliver the ball inside-50 makes him an important part of our group. It will be an important day for him and his family.