Senior coach Luke Beveridge spoke to the media at VU Whitten Oval this morning. Here’s what he had to say…
Building momentum…
“To keep it rolling is the critical thing. I don’t think we’ve won three games at the start of the season since I’ve been here. Gold Coast have won three out of their last four games if you look at the JLT form, and they beat us up in Mackay. We’ve been impressed by the way they’ve gone about it, so our boys will need to have their minds on the job.”
Jason Johannisen to face the Suns?
“He’ll train today. It’s unlikely – he’s close.”
How about the Pies next week?
“It’s part of our thinking, coming out of the Sunday game this week you go into a strict recovery mode more than anything. To have him up our sleeve will be a good thing… He’s a chance to play against Collingwood on that Friday night.”
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Jackson Trengove…
“Jackson is unlikely to play. He’s actually crook, he’s got a bout of gastro so he actually won’t be at the Club today. He won’t play at all this week. He’s got a little bit of an ankle tweak as well, so it’d be a good idea for him to have a week off.”
Is the ‘Bulldog Spirit’ back?
“Spirit’s aligned and attached to your culture, and your environment, and it’s the people that establish that and nurture it and maintain it. I suppose at times that’s compromised through various things - when you talk about spirit on the field, sometimes injury, sometimes belief. We’re looking to re-establish that. There’s no doubt that after Round 2 there are some good signs, but the reality is it’s just Round 2…. It’s good for the boys to be acknowledged at the moment for their recent efforts, but feeling it (the spirit) and looking forward to the promise of the future.”
Tom Liberatore…
“There’s no doubt he’s having a tremendous effect on the way we’re playing… It’s encouraging, the way that he’s going about it. I think Tom’s almost playing some of the best footy that he’s ever played really. That was the question – he’s been out of the game for so long, a second ACL, there were some challenges afoot. He’s come up and met those challenges.”
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The forward structure…
“We’ve definitely tinkered with what we’ve been doing forward of the ball, and we’ve challenged our players on a couple of fronts around how best to run and how best to work with each other so we can connect a little bit better.”
Josh Schache…
“I think he’s progressed significantly. He’s always had the promise, as we know. We’ve seen glimpses of that in the past. Josh has never shied away from the contest, and that’s a big plus for him… Also he’s contributing in the ruck and he’s actually scoring and running offensive patterns pretty hard and challenging opposition ruckmen there too… There’s no doubt that last week’s game against Hawthorn will do him the world of good.”
