The game – Hawthorn 16.10 (106) d Carlton 15.12 (102) at the MCG, Rd 6, 2009 Toyota AFL Premiership Season
The stats – 10 kicks, 21 handballs, nine clearances, five inside 50m and five tackles
What was your pre-match routine for today’s match?
The night before a match I always have spaghetti bolognese. I make sure I have that every night before a game. Other than that, I try to go through the same sort of routine. I get up early on the day of the match, get some physio on arrival to the ground, have a bit of a kick in the rooms and do the warm-up with the rest of the boys.
How would you describe the atmosphere in the rooms before the game?
The vibe in the rooms was pretty good. We were all excited to play against Hawthorn. They’re such a great side. It was a good opportunity to play against a really good team. We wanted to play well for Dick Pratt, who obviously passed away during the week. He would have been happy with the way the boys went about it today.
Did you get a bit of a shock when Cyril Rioli went to you at the opening bounce?
I wasn’t really expecting it. We played a little bit off each other today. He is a really good player. It was good experience to line up on him in the first half.
In the second quarter, you had up to five opponents – Rioli, Sewell, Lewis, Osborne and Mitchell. How did you deal with having a different opponent line up against you at each stoppage?
With the amount of rotations we have now every week, you are going to come up against a few guys like I did today. You just had to try to make sure when those guys had the ball you got it back. You also had to make sure you were goal-side of them at every contest. If that doesn’t work, you simply try to run them off their legs as best you can.
The brown and gold crowd gave you some words of wisdom after you won a free-kick near the forward 50 in the third quarter …
They were pretty loud all day. I was in front of the Hawthorn members I think, and there were a few choice words in there. I wish I scored the goal – that would have been great. Unfortunately it just missed.
When Fevola goaled after the three-quarter-time siren to cut the deficit to one point – how did that feel?
I was pretty excited. The boys were pretty upbeat going into the last quarter having Fev kicking that goal. Even though they took it away from us in that last quarter, it was good character of the boys to come back.
Did you feel the momentum shift out there today?
You definitely do. When they kicked those goals in the last quarter, you knew it was going to be pretty tough. The boys had to dig really deep, try to slow their movement up a bit and try to get the ball forward. We were able to do that in the end and got pretty close.
What was going through your head during Fev’s final shot on goal?
I was just hoping he kicked it. He kicked eight goals for the day – the result didn’t just come down to one kick in the last minute. There were passages of play throughout the day that led to no result. I thought the character of the side was really good. Despite the loss, we’re upbeat and looking forward to taking on the Dockers in the Gold Coast next week.
How do you feel physically right now?
We knew they were a physical side. I thought we matched them really well all day. I had the feeling today’s match was like a finals game, with the intensity and how the game ebbed and flowed. It was a good experience for a younger guy like myself playing in a game like that. I’m sure a lot of the other younger players will learn a lot from today.
Which of your teammates impressed you the most?
I thought Paul Bower was a standout. I thought his performance on Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin all game was tremendous. Buddy ended up kicking two goals, both of them towards the end of the match. Paulie Bower is stepping up each week and he has been great.
How did you rate your game from a personal perspective?
It wasn’t too bad. Got a bit of the ball. I wish I kicked that goal in the last quarter, but you can’t kick them all.
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
