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Farrer League grand final 2024 media conference
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00:00Thank you guys. Brad Heath, here for the third time, third consecutive year Grand Final. Has what you did last year sort of eased the nerves and maybe given you a bit of confidence that you've been going?
00:18Yeah, it does. Obviously, playing in the final four probably helps our plays more than us as coaches. Hopefully that allows them to settle a lot quicker. But it's a Grand Final. It depends on who turns up and plays well.
00:34Does everything ride mate, to be honest? Grand Final experience does help but it's another game of footy. You still would have played the same way so it doesn't really change anything to be honest.
00:44On the three consecutive Grand Finals, obviously that's pretty impressive. Are you proud of what you've been able to build out the role?
00:53Yeah, we're extremely privileged to be in the position that we are and that's full credit to the club and the players that we brought in. We obviously pretty well documented that when we took over we didn't expect the rise to happen so soon.
01:07But we got a bit of quality in and then our local blokes really backed Brad and I on during the weeks and done all the hard work. So yeah, we're really fortunate to be here again and proud for the club more than anything.
01:20A good judge suggested to me after Saturday that this Grand Final might be able to establish you as the Premier Team since COVID. There's been two flags to win, one flag each between the two clubs.
01:34Mara's won 59 out of 71 since COVID and the Rocks won 55 out of 72. Is this a good opportunity this weekend to establish yourselves as the Premier side of the last few years?
01:51We don't look at it like that. It's a here and now. What's happened in the past few years has happened. They've won one, we've won one. Whoever wins one on the weekend obviously goes to one up but that doesn't make a difference.
02:10Cal, first Grand Final press up ahead of your last game. How are you feeling?
02:17Yeah, obviously nerves are starting to build since watching these blokes on Sunday and knowing exactly who we're coming up against. The nerves are there but the excitement is there also so it's super exciting for the club to be here on this final day.
02:32Obviously a little while ago you made the call to finish up this year. Now you've let the boys go to the Grand Final, potentially a Premiership. Have you had any second thoughts?
02:44No, I think it's the right time for me. As these boys will know, there's so much time and effort that goes into coaching. Footy's been a massive part of my life for such a long time and I just need that break. It's not to say that I'll never be back in the coaching side of things because I've absolutely loved it. For me right now the right decision is to send Warwick for a little while.
03:06What would it mean to go out with a flag?
03:10Yeah, well a flag just generally is huge and a flag as a coach is even bigger. You put on top of that that it's my last game for a club that I absolutely love and have played for for so many years. It would be an awesome way to go out.
03:25Personally mate, you made the switch to defence probably about halfway through the year after years and years of probably forward and midfielder. Why and how did that come about?
03:36Bit of a midlife crisis. There was a bit of a hold down back for Simon Deslotty as a medium-sized defender and someone who can use it well coming out. We thought why not try it early in the season just to see how it might pan out. In terms of all the selectors in the culture, they're all pretty happy with how that went.
03:58I have been starting down back but swing forward as well at times. We'll have a look at selection on Thursday and see what happens there.
04:08On selection, Bryce May not too used to the second semi. Is he a certain side on Saturday?
04:14Yeah, Bryce will definitely come in. He trained fully last night, trained well, pulled up well so he's very excited which is great for the team but that does mean that he has one unfortunate player to go out.
04:25How's that going?
04:26Yeah, it's a lot tougher now that the reserves aren't playing and obviously the player that goes out doesn't get a game on grand final day. Whichever player does miss out, there's no good way to put it, they're going to be unlucky. Whichever player goes out, they will play first grade for the majority of the year. It's going to be a hard story but I guess it's a good position for the club to be in.
04:50Brandon Heath, Don Roberts went down to come back, is he right for the weekend I presume?
04:58Yeah, I spoke to him last night and he's ready to go. He's obviously seen the physio and he's getting his normal training that he does. He's pretty able with his recovery. Donny's obviously played high level footy, he knows what it takes to get back up for another game. He's ready to go and he'll be right for Saturday.
05:16Will you be tempted to make any changes?
05:20I don't know. Now that we'll consider our options, obviously we've got a squad of guys that have been training through the final series and every one of them will put their case forward this week and we'll finalise that Thursday. But we're not ruling out anything in terms of whether there will be a change. Obviously we played well on the weekend and that gives those guys probably the advantage in that aspect but still to be decided.
05:43Very good. Two weeks ago you fell short against Myra. Have you studied what went wrong and how do you go about fixing it?
05:54The game obviously had midfield dominance. Obviously Brown and Bolger got on top of us early and their boys just seemed to work hard enough. When you get easy footy into Emery, into their front half the way they did, allow that to happen. It doesn't matter how good your defenders are, you can't defend it. We've got to be a lot better on Saturday.
06:17We sort of addressed a few things in the last few weeks and obviously we played a lot better on Saturday but it's going to be another step up again. If we allow that to happen again on Saturday the same result will happen. It's up to Ethan and I and the players to change that and work hard when we don't have it and work hard when we do have it.
06:37You touched on two questions there. The midfield with Brown and Bolger. Traditionally you guys haven't been taggers I suppose. Do you change your philosophy heading into this weekend?
06:53Probably not to be honest. We're a pretty system based team in that I think every team's got their really good players and we back ours to play well. I'm sure Cal looks at us and goes, you know there's some guys that they've got to contain. It's just a matter of our players playing better. As Brett said, Myra probably full credit our players in every aspect for us on fortnight.
07:14It's up to our boys as a collective to improve. Those two boys are good footballers. You give anyone time and space but if they're out there they're going to carve us up. We'll address them for the dominance they had but hopefully it's a collective attitude adjustment more than targeting them as such with a specific tagger.
07:38Brad touched on Kieran Emery as well. You started with Corey and then changed things up in the last quarter. Do you look to change things up again there or are you just going to stick to what you know?
07:52We'll have a look on Thursday night when we sit down and do our selections and see where we think who's best suited to take him. At this stage Cody probably will start with him again. It comes back to the midfield dominance that Myra had. It doesn't matter how well you defend him or drop blokes back if you get quick footy like you did two weeks ago it's pretty hard to defend.
08:16It might be the same with us in the league with James Roberts and Dan Beaman. The quicker you can get supplies on them and get one-on-ones and that's what you're after in your front half. It's pretty hard to defend but we'll work hard on that this week.
08:30Harry Reynolds said earlier this week he spoke about Jake Brown having a few words after the Tamora loss. Can you share or give us some light on what exactly that conversation was and probably the impact Jake's had at the club this year?
08:48It was great for someone to speak up in that regard other than myself. Players can get sick of hearing the same message from the same person. From our planning group to stand up after a pretty disappointing loss like that was just looking at the boys' faces you could tell immediately that had an impact on them.
09:06There were just a few home truths about our general attitude going into that game and how we thought it would happen. We probably didn't prepare the best we could that week as well. He touched on a few things but generally Brandy's had a massive impact ever since day one. He walked in the club, he's obviously played at a pretty high level, he's got a great footy like you and he shares that with the group.
09:31Two weeks ago you had a win over The Rock but I suppose there's a theory that your best players played to their best and The Rock probably didn't have too many winners. Is that a concern going into a meeting again in two weeks time?
09:49I've definitely thought about that. I thought our best players played and a few of The Rock's top players were probably down on the game. I think there's a degree of we didn't allow them to play that way as well so we have to give ourselves a little bit of credit there and we'll look to go out and stop their top players from doing their thing this week.
10:08The last Grand Final appearance in 2022, I think it's about depending on how selection goes, there's only eight or nine players left from that day. It's only two years time so it's quite a big turnover. You've kind of managed to bring a new side through and be back on Grand Final day two years later. Was that by design or by force or how have you gone about that?
10:32We had a pretty high turnover of players, not in the off-season, just gone on the one before. One of the staffs finished up and handed over to me. I thought we had quite a young list last year and that's what we identified at the end of the season.
10:46Yes, we had some quality players but we probably didn't have that mature head and experience to provide direction and that's what we really targeted this year with our off-season recruiting and I think we just got that in some of our players. I thought we probably didn't quite have the balance right last year although we had a great team but I think we've balanced it right this year.
11:06Steel is obviously a prime move for them and cops a lot of attention week in week out. Is that something you guys will look to implement on Saturday?
11:18No, we're going to be focusing on our own system mostly. When you look at their midfield, yes Steel can have a big impact with minimal touches but you've got someone like Bud in there who can rack up the possessions and be quite explosive out of there as well. You've just got so many quality midfielders that roll through there. Yates is having a really good finish to the season so we won't particularly look to run a hard tag on anyone. However, if there is a certain player that is getting on top then we're certainly open to that.
11:48You came in to the finals in third spot and then initiated BNB. What do you put that down to? What's changed or what's clicked or what's going on there?
11:58Yeah, we probably dropped a couple of games earlier in the year that we felt like we shouldn't have and we've reflected pretty hard on that and reviewed that well and put some changes in mainly from a defensive point of view. The way that we defend, particularly the middle part of the ground, to try and stop that supply going in so easy to their key forwards.
12:15There's been a little bit of work on that and I guess we're just taping off pretty well towards the end of the season just to make sure we're ready to go for game day. Not any major changes, I guess we're just playing footy at the right time, good footy at the right time.
12:31You've played these guys three times now this year. Where ultimately do you see the game being won and lost on Saturday?
12:37I think for us, we just look to have 21 contributors. It's all well and good to have your Browns and Bulgers firing but if other blocks around them aren't doing it, it makes it very hard for them.
12:49So for us it's pretty cliche, I know, but when we play our best footy it's when we sit down at the end of the game and we find it very difficult to pick our top six players because there's so many that could go in there.
13:00When I go through and review each player at the end, there's no one that I can pinpoint and say, you were down in your game today. So it's a consistent effort across the park.
13:10In saying that, it's not about everyone going out there and getting 20 touches or kicking four goals, everyone knows their exact role inside it.
13:17Although their game might not statistically look too well, as long as they've played their role that we've given them, we feel like that puts us in the best position.
13:26I suppose it's probably the same thing, but you've had a fair look at Mara now. Where do you see them going on hostile Saturday?
13:35I think we've played each other enough. I reckon Cal knows what we want to do and we know what they're trying to do.
13:41It's just a matter of bringing in intent and all those things, but in the grand final you have that. That's not an issue.
13:48We identify the midfield battles in any game as massive, but in the big game that's obviously going to be super important.
13:56Our boys can at least halve that. I think we got destroyed two weeks ago in sending clearances and probably exiting the clearances as well.
14:05So if we can halve that battle at least, then that probably goes a fair way to giving us a chance anyway.
14:10They're super, as Cal said, working defensively. They're actually quite frustrating to coach against at times because you look up and they work so hard for each other behind the footy.
14:20We've just got to be smarter in how we try to get them to 50 and that's been something we've worked on all year.
14:25It's still a challenge, but we'll be hoping that the midfield group works.
14:30As Cal said, each side's got their top players, but it's the side that probably brings 21 contributors on the day that will probably give themselves the best chance.
14:40Mara were there in the first week of finals. You guys haven't played with Mara this year, probably in a few years. How does that sit going into a grand final?
14:51It's another footy ground, same shape, but maybe a little bit longer, a little bit wider than where we've been playing.
14:59Still playing consistently for the 21 contributors. All the basic stuff, we've just got to control what we can control.
15:08The rest takes care of itself, to be honest. The ground and umpires and all that sort of stuff doesn't ever come into it.
15:16We've just got to turn it up and work hard for each other.
15:20The opportunity to go back-to-back doesn't happen very often. I think the club wouldn't.
15:24Just in Farrow, the Rocks aren't once. Are you excited by the opportunity? The boys realise the opportunity that's in front of them on Saturday?
15:34We haven't really spoken about it, to be honest. We're just identifying it as an opportunity to play in a grand final.
15:43If we happen to win or get the chance to win, that's great. Positive for the footy club and all the hard work that everyone's put in at the club, it's a reward for them.
15:51We haven't really spoken about it, to be honest. We're just approaching it as another game. It's obviously a bit bigger than most, but not really.