Coach Post Match – Todd Curley Preliminary Final

WHAT South Fremantle coach Todd Curley had to say following the Preliminary Final triumph against Claremont that saw the Bulldogs advance to this Sunday's WAFL Grand Final against Subiaco at Optus Stadium.

QUESTION: You've waited a long time to get a Grand Final now, what's the feeling like to now be there?
ANSWER: It's funny, it's a feeling of excitement of opportunity more than anything. We'll recover over the next couple of days and then do what we always do. We'll review and then train to get better and now only two teams can win it, and we're one of them.

Q: Preliminary final day the last three years has been tough for you and the playing group to deal with, what's it like now to put that behind you and win? 
A: It definitely feels better that we have another week to go. But if you dig into it, we lost one to a Peel team that probably would have beaten any team and did. Then we lost another one to Subi who have been a pretty good team and no double we let ourselves down last year. But we had 11 or 12 guys out there this week that either played in one or none of those games, and we're a new group. I thought when they really challenged us and they did, they certainly went in with all the momentum at half-time, but I thought when we came back out after half-time our boys were fantastic. Then in the last quarter as well, it was a pretty tough and physical game, and they just find a way. They are such an honest group and as I said to them at three quarter-time, I told them just to stick to what we do well and I trust you. At the end of the day the scoreboard will take care of itself and I thought they were fantastic in a really even team performance.

Q: For whatever reason all the scoring went to one end in the first three quarters, were you nervous going to the non-scoring end in the last quarter?
A: It's funny because if anything I probably thought the breeze was going that way but I thought our leaders were really strong in the last quarter, especially early, we dominated the last quarter which I thought was important after struggling a bit early in the first 15 minutes to put our dominance on the scoreboard. But we ended up winning by five goals and after being down at half-time, that was a really good effort. And since I've been here, when this group plays well it's hard to pick the best players and that's what happened in this game. We had some guys who had a down and poor first half, but when we challenged them I thought their second halves were fantastic. At the end of the day we're in a Grand Final so we'll recover, get back into it this week and plot out the week, and look forward to it.

Q: Did you really ask for a lift at half-time and you must have been happy with what you got as a response?
A: I wasn’t looking for anything extra, I was just looking for us to get back to playing our way. I thought we started the game really well and our first quarter was really strong. We only gave up one or two uncontested marks so our pressure was fantastic, but we just lost our way for some reason in the second quarter. They got the ball in their hands a bit and then ended up scoring just before half-time. But we were able to reset. There were a few guys we challenged, but we do that all the time. The great thing about our guys is that when you challenge them, they stand up. Our second half was really strong.

Q: Your intercept marking in defence was important with Blayne Wilson leading the way down back?
A: Generally when you're doing that it's because of your pressure and the way you are using the ball going forward helps. If you have really horrible entries then it makes it hard to defend the opposition on the rebound. I thought once our ball use improved that helped us defend a bit. Then our tackling pressure was really good apart from in that second quarter and that allows some messy ball to come forward to help you defend it. The modern game is all about how you move the ball and how you defend. It's not about one line, it's everyone on the ground. When we do it well we are a pretty competitive team.

Q: All your leaders stepped up too from Higgins to Schloithe and Suban in the second half, even Dragovich's three goals were huge even though he's still fairly young and you captain stepped. You had a lot of players stepping up?
A: That's probably been the story of our year to be honest. Losing eight to 10 of the team that played last year and then young guys got opportunity. For some reason, the younger you are you tend to remain a bit more fearless because you haven’t experienced the lows that you rack up over a long career. Our young boys were fantastic because that's what young guys do I think, but our leaders were just desperate to not allow a negative result again. They were just desperate to go through and it's such a different feeling. I didn’t get a feeling of relief after the game, I got a feeling from the group of excitement and opportunity. They are really looking forward to this week. Subi have been a great team for a long time but as of now, you only have to win one game and you are the premiers.

Q: You lost two guys as well again, what do you know about Josh Collard and Zac Dent?
A: Zac just got a knock so we'll wait and see how he pulls up. Unfortunately it's been confirmed that Joshy Collard has ruptured his ACL. So there's one vacant ticket there and there's probably five or six blokes who have put their hand up depending on how we decide to go. We'll put 22 fit boys out there and there might be a late opportunity for someone, but it doesn’t matter. The strength of our group has been that ability for guys to come in and for us to not lose too much.

Q: Given it's been such hard work to get a Grand Final, do you feel like everyone wants to make the most of the chance and not just be happy to get there?
A: Half the group has never been in this situation really before though. Everyone gets weighed down by what's happened in the past but that has no impact on this group. The overwhelming feeling I got from the group was opportunity and excitement, and they can't wait for the week to come around. It's a Grand Final. That's why we're all here to have the opportunity to play in one and that means you have the opportunity to win one. We don't hold any fears, we'll play our way and the scoreboard will hopefully take care of itself.

Q: What does this mean to your personally after starting to coach in 2006 and now to get into a Grand Final?
A: It's fantastic because it's the reward at the end of how much work you put in, but it's not about me. I'm just so happy for the players and some of these boys have been here with me since I started five years ago and then there's Suban and Schloithe who I knew before that at Fremantle. I'm just happy for the players really, they're the ones who put in all the work and sacrifice more than any. They've earned the right and everyone talks about the prelim losses, but to get that point four years straight shows that we've been a good team for a long time. It shows some real resilience to keep backing up and this group continues to do that. Resilience is one of our really good traits. I'm really proud of them and I look forward to watching them on the big stage on Sunday because I know they haven’t left anything in the tank, and they won't this week either.

Q: Because you've been there as a player as well, is that the biggest difference as a coach where you get the biggest reward from helping players realise their dreams?
A: I know how good it feels when you play and win so really for us as coaches we are just trying to help in whatever small way we can the players we've got to experience the same things that I was lucky enough to a couple of times as a player. They've got their opportunity now and what they do with it, I know they certainly won't die wondering. It would be fantastic to be able to see these guys that I know and have grown to love the way they go about it, I would love them to experience what I have before. They've given themselves an opportunity and I'm sure that they will have a red hot crack at winning.