Coach Post Match – Todd Curley Qualifying Final

WHAT South Fremantle coach Todd Curley had to say following Saturday's WAFL qualifying final loss to Peel Thunder and looking ahead to this Sunday's cut-throat first semi-final against Swan Districts.

QUESTION: Was that a similar slow start to what you did suffer at different times during the second half of the season?
ANSWER: I actually don’t think it was much to do with our start, I think we were just beaten by a team that was a bit harder around the contest to be fair. I thought they were much better around the ball early and got it going their way. I don’t know if it was a sluggish start, I just thought we were beaten.

Q: That ability to be good in tight and win the contested ball has been a strength of yours throughout the season, what was your reaction to being beaten in that area?
A: It's probably disappointing more than anything. Certainly for the first half they were better around the ball than us but they even spread better than us which is not our go. The thing about finals is that you've got to be at your best and we were well below that with a lot of guys down. We had some senior guys who just couldn’t contribute so we have to be better.

Q: Was it just the contested ball that you were disappointed with in particular, or was there more that you saw that you didn’t like?
A: Physically they were just better. They won the ball and they tackled much better than us. We just have to get better.

Q: You need to get more out of your forward-line?
A: I thought really apart from Shaw, Vandeleur and Parker late, the rest of our forwards really struggled and were well beaten. 

Q: You talk about the physicality, the obviously question is what advantage do they get from having 14 full-time footballers in their team?
A: Not much at all I wouldn’t have thought. I've played with some scrawny type blokes who had a lot of desperation so I think I's more a mindset thing than anything. I think they wanted it more than us and we weren’t up for the fight which is disappointing.

Q: Do you take much heart from the last quarter fightback?
A: It's probably more disappointing than anything that we didn’t bring that intent for the first three quarters. It's pleasing that we hung in and were still fighting at the end, but you see the last quarter and it makes the first three quarters even more disappointing.

Q: You didn’t have too many players who delivered to their potential?
A: It's pretty obvious we had a lot down. We might have had half a dozen blokes who could walk out the room with their head high thinking they delivered what they expect when they came to the ground. We have some boys who need to have a look at themselves in the mirror and work out how they went, look at their own game and figure out why that happened. But we've worked hard all year, won 16 games and earned the right to have a second chance. From here there are no second chances.

Q: The good thing is that every time you've had a disappointing performance this year, you have bounced back really strongly?
A: We have a group that has developed some really good character, they bounce back and are pretty honest with each other. We just have to get better now. We can't do anything about this game so really it's about recovering, training well and bouncing back next week.

Q: You'll fancy your chances of bouncing back with a win on Sunday at home to Swan Districts?
A: Certainly if we bring better effort and intent we'll be in the mix, but if we roll out what we did this week we'll be in trouble again. It's nice to play at home, but really what matters is what happens after the ball is bounced and you just have to win the ball. Home ground is fantastic and it's great for our club, our fans and supporters to come to their home ground, and we've earned that right, but at the end of the day we have to be able to get it done wherever we play.