There seems to be a bit of a divide around our performance on the weekend. Some are of the opinion we should have gone hard, with the same intensity we’ve been playing at, and done our best to win the game. Others feel that was the game we needed to just rest a few players regroup, get some games into returning players and try and make it through as injury free as possible.
I’m in the second camp. I think the intensity we’ve been playing with was the reason we needed a game like Sunday night…but there are dangers, and it’s not guaranteed we’ll bounce back against the Swans.
The mental side of football is as critical as the physical side and at this time of the year it has an increased importance. We had a hard physical game against Melbourne. The toll of that carried over to the first half of the Gold Coast game and it took a big effort to come back and win. Our 50 point wins were suddenly 4 point wins. That was a bit of a clue that the pressure and intensity we’d been playing at was taking both a physical and mental toll. With that in mind the approach to the GWS game, with our position secure, was probably the best option.
The danger of course is going away from the entrenched way we’ve been playing. Will the less stressful week have been enough to freshen everyone up. The other issue is, for the majority of our team it will be their first finals experience. It will be another level. I think our game style stacks up but until we see it under the pressure that will come in two weeks, it’s an unknown.
Nick Newman, Adam Saad, Mitch McGovern, George Hewett, Lewis Young, Blake Acres all have played finals. I may have missed someone, but of those only Young is unlikely to play. So, we’re not without finals experience. The team we’re up against will have a little bit more. The team that played Melbourne have just about all played in multiple finals, including Grand Finals. Amartey is about the only player we’ll face without finals experience.
For some of our very best it will be their first finals game and it will be interesting to see how they go under a pressure they’ve not likely encountered before. You look at players like Cripps, Weitering and Curnow and think…these guys are made for these types of games, but we’ll see.
I’m in the second camp. I think the intensity we’ve been playing with was the reason we needed a game like Sunday night…but there are dangers, and it’s not guaranteed we’ll bounce back against the Swans.
The mental side of football is as critical as the physical side and at this time of the year it has an increased importance. We had a hard physical game against Melbourne. The toll of that carried over to the first half of the Gold Coast game and it took a big effort to come back and win. Our 50 point wins were suddenly 4 point wins. That was a bit of a clue that the pressure and intensity we’d been playing at was taking both a physical and mental toll. With that in mind the approach to the GWS game, with our position secure, was probably the best option.
The danger of course is going away from the entrenched way we’ve been playing. Will the less stressful week have been enough to freshen everyone up. The other issue is, for the majority of our team it will be their first finals experience. It will be another level. I think our game style stacks up but until we see it under the pressure that will come in two weeks, it’s an unknown.
Nick Newman, Adam Saad, Mitch McGovern, George Hewett, Lewis Young, Blake Acres all have played finals. I may have missed someone, but of those only Young is unlikely to play. So, we’re not without finals experience. The team we’re up against will have a little bit more. The team that played Melbourne have just about all played in multiple finals, including Grand Finals. Amartey is about the only player we’ll face without finals experience.
For some of our very best it will be their first finals game and it will be interesting to see how they go under a pressure they’ve not likely encountered before. You look at players like Cripps, Weitering and Curnow and think…these guys are made for these types of games, but we’ll see.