By Ben Pollard
There is plenty of room for improvement at Sandringham ahead of Sunday’s TAC Cup Round 1 encounter with Western Jets.
That’s the assessment of Assistant Coach Shane Joyce, who took the head coaching reigns for the Dragons’ final practice match against Eastern Ranges at Linen House Centre on Sunday.
Joyce believes Sandringham won by 14 points (there was no scoreboard), but still saw the performance as “a little bit patchy”.
“In our previous two practice matches the boys, in terms of their attitude and rolling out a new game plan this year, were very receptive,” he said. “But we thought they were slightly off on Sunday.”
Joyce said the Dragons’ ball movement was good at times, but tended to see a drop in defensive intensity when Eastern started to gain momentum.
“It was a good learning experience for the boys (about what happens) if they don’t come to play, if they don’t have the right attitude and you’re challenged,” he said.
“I think you learn more out of that game where you’re challenged versus having a win by 10 goals.”
Joyce said the coaching staff thought some players may have already had their eyes on Round 1.
“The boys’ attitude and application throughout the pre-season has been really positive and that really started to gain momentum on our camp down in Gippsland in February,” he said.
“The boys have been really good for about a four to five-week period... It’s always a tricky one, that last practice match.”
A hurried change of ground from Trevor Barker Oval on Thursday night provided another challenge for the players to deal with, but several Dragons adapted with ease.
Joyce praised key defender Lachlan Ritchie for playing well on a number of Eastern’s key position players.
“We thought Lachie was an improved performer on his previous practice match form,” he said.
“We think he’s got some huge upside. He’s a top-ager; he didn’t play any games for us last year and he’s had a really strong pre-season.”
Joyce also said Christian Salem was the best of the midfielders across the course of the match and newly-named co-captain Max Hayes starred in a “grunt work” role across half-forward.
The only injury concerns to come out of the match were Elliot Le Grice with a tight calf and Nathan Smith pulling up with soreness.
“We think Le Grice would probably be 50-50 this week to play for us,” Joyce said.
“Smith is a little bit questionable as well heading into Sunday’s game, but apart from that, we’ve got pretty much a full list.”
Last Modified on 21/03/2013 16:03