The pleasing thing in the last few weeks has been our consistency right through the match. We have won the last eight quarters of football which is not always that easy to do. There are highs and lows during quarters and highs and lows during the whole game. To be able to hold our advantage over the opposition, over the four quarters, over two games, is very pleasing.
I think it's due to the fact that we have improved our concentration. It takes concentration to maintain the pressure and not to ease up. It's about understanding the responsibility that you have to the team.
The side itself is moving into a new gear I would like to think.
We have thrown the side around a fair bit. We have tightened the nuts in certain areas of our game, while we have loosened them in others.
We are still trying to find the right balance to head into the finals. The moves the players are making at the moment have all been really positive.
We are still keen to play players right up until the final round. There is no shame in not being in the side, there is no shame in being left out of the side if you have played the previous week.
The word omitted may enter into it but that doesn't mean that the player has played poorly. It just means simply that we have elected to go with a different grouping of the players to encourage numbers by the end of the year. We don't want to have a reliance on just minimum number of players.
Games between top sides are always top level, we understand they are similar to us in all aspects of their game.
The coaching staff ladder has us very close to the top which means we can still press the point. Going by the characteristics of what we believe is good for us, we are not quite as high as we could be after 17 weeks.
The challenge is to make sure we button down when we need to and release in other areas. Until we are satisfied that our coaching ladder represents where we want to be, we cannot possibly relax.
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Contributions most welcome.
The following is an extract from an AFL coach's summary of how he thinks his side is performing during season 2010, heading towards the finals. Pennant connection ?