Coach Post Match – Todd Curley NAIDOC Round

WHAT South Fremantle coach Todd Curley had to say following Saturday's NAIDOC Week loss at the hands of Claremont at Claremont Oval and looking ahead to this Saturday night's match up with Perth at Lathlain's Mineral Resources Park.

QUESTION: You played well in the first half but then struggled after half-time in a pretty tough game, what are your reflections on it?
ANSWER: I thought our first half was really good. But I thought after half-time, they certainly worked harder than us and ran better than us I think. We just couldn’t get anything going forward and we didn’t get any connection going at all. We've got some work to do there.

Q: You went into half-time with plenty of momentum and had played a good first half, were you pretty happy with where things sat?
A: I thought our first half was OK and probably the best footy that we've played for a month. We used the ball well and even though we did miss a couple of chances, I thought at half-time we were sort of happy with the way we were playing. But then after half-time, we did start pretty well and had a couple of shots but then fell away badly. Our stuff ahead of the ball really let us down I think and to their credit, they took their chances.

Q: What did you think were the major factors behind only kicking two goals in the second half?
A: To be honest Main got a big knock early and he was a bit sore, and we're pretty sure McIntosh broke his hand in the first quarter so we didn’t have much choice with the personnel in the forward-line. And after the game, you look at it and McIntosh was probably our best leading forward target because the others just refused to come at the ball which made it pretty hard for the guys further up the ground. We have been working on it for a couple of weeks and it's an area that has been letting us down and we'll continue to work on it.

Q: Just on McIntosh, it's horrible luck for someone who is such a great club man and so dedicated to giving everything to cop another injury blow?
A: He is pretty resilient and he's had some big injuries the last few years so it would be good for him to get a good run at it. But it looks like he'll miss some more time and he'll do everything he can to get back.

Q: Steve Verrier and Haiden Schloithe were two guys whose performances you would have been pretty happy with?
A: I thought they were pretty good. Stevie's first half was especially good and he was a pretty good player for us all day. We were slightly restricted with what we could do through there with personnel but to be honest in the second half our mids as a group didn’t get enough uncontested ball. It was hard going for them going forward. We just didn’t play great footy especially in the last quarter and-a-half.

Q: Speaking of Verrier, he's set to play his 100th game now and he looks to be in the best and most consistent form of his career with his body giving him a good run at it?
A: He was top three in our fairest and best three years ago and since then he's had some pretty significant injuries so he hasn’t had much luck. It's good to have him back and the more you play, the better continuity you get so that's good for him. He is one of that midfield group who we do need to get better for longer moving forward.

Q:Some of the younger guys like Seaton Thompson and Zac De San Miguel probably played their best league games too?
A: All our young guys have been pretty good for us to be honest. We've lost a few blokes certainly over the last six weeks and we seem to have been losing experienced players. So we have been really inexperienced ahead of the ball and we tried to fix that a bit this week but obviously a few things changed and we ended up with some guys ahead of the ball who are different. But that's the challenge. I thought Seats was OK and De San Miguel as well had some good moments for guys who haven’t played much footy. We just needed a bit more from our leaders I think in the second half.

Q: How are you feeling after these three losses that have probably come against the three in-form teams of the competition?
A: I don’t think we are playing great footy and we haven’t been for six weeks really. Since we beat Subi we haven’t played great but we did manage to get out of jail against East Perth and Peel. East Fremantle was probably our best performance when we were down a few men that day. We've had some challenges with personnel but everyone does at this time of year so that's no excuse. One thing I've learned from being in footy for a long time is that you are never going as well as you think  you are, or as bad as you think you might be. We'll hang in there, stick together and work as a group to try and get back on track.

Q: Perth was the only team to beat you in the first half of the year, thoughts on taking them on again?
A: In terms of it being a big game, they are all big games. We're not worried about positions on the ladder at the moment, we're just worried about getting back to playing good footy. If we play well then the position on the ladder will take care of itself.

Q: It's a game on Saturday night, does anything change for a night game?
A: Other than turning the lights on, that's probably the biggest difference. It's a good experience for the players to play under lights. You start a bit later so it changes your preparation and routine a little, but most of them have played enough footy now where they'll just be looking forward to playing under lights. It would be nice to play a dry one, but it's footy and it's a winter sport so in the middle of July we'll take what we get.