By Ben Pollard
With Round 1 of the 2013 TAC Cup kicking off on Sunday, let’s talk to Dragons Head Coach Justin Plapp about the season ahead...
So Plappy, who have been the standout performers on the training track and in the practice matches this pre-season?
The key ones through the pre-season would probably include Max Hayes, who’s a private school boy for Brighton Grammar. He’s a key forward, a top-age boy. Another one would be Nathan Freeman, who’s a private school boy; he’s an on-ball type. Josh Kelly, who’s obviously AIS, a Brighton Grammar private school boy too; he’s an on-baller. Haydon Whitehead – a full back, top-age kid. He’s a non-private-school boy who’s really developed over the last six months. He played two games last year and he’s probably going to hold down that key defensive role. The other one is probably Charlie Kelso. He’s a developing ruckman, one of our 19-year-old boys.
You mentioned Haydon Whitehead only played two games last year but has performed well this pre-season. Are there any other boys you think could have a breakout year?
There’s another one, Lachie Ritchie, who didn’t play any games last year. He’ll play in our Round 1 team on the weekend. He’s a key-position kid who’s athletic, plays on talls and smalls, and he’s another kid who’s developed really quickly over six months.
Did you see what you wanted to see from the group in the practice matches?
From a philosophy point of view – about the way we want to play footy and move the football – there were definitely some good signs in the Gippsland and Dandenong games. You spend up to 4-5 months drilling the players in a style of footy that you want to play and there were definitely some characteristics there that we’re happy with. Now I suppose the challenge is for them to put it into play in the real games.
Have you changed the game plan over the off-season?
Not a hell of a lot – probably a little bit more aggressive with the way we want to move the footy through the middle of the ground. We’re probably going to be a little bit more high-risk in regards to bringing the ball back into the corridor. Structurally, we’re pretty demanding on making sure the players understand their role and positioning in stopped-play situations. So from last year, just a little bit more aggressive with our ball movement and probably more structured in the way the players understand they have a role to play.
Have you changed anything about your coaching method or style between seasons?
I’ve probably become a better manager of the people around me. Obviously (this is) an environment where you’ve got to stamp your authority and really sell what you’re trying to implement into the program, so based on that I reckon I’ve become a little bit better at managing my assistants to take a lot of the work and then I can oversee a lot of what we’re about.
How has the intensity of this pre-season compared to your first pre-season in charge?
That was a really key area we identified at the end of last year – that we weren’t fit enough. It probably showed in our last two or three games and they ended up being our most important games. We had an aggressive approach to how we wanted the players conditioned and that involved a lot more conditioning running in our training. It didn’t mean we pulled back in other areas, but the amount (of running) that we tried to implement was definitely a focus. I think what we can gather from our measurements and our testing and what the players have done is that we’re definitely way ahead of where we were this time last year.
What were some of the off-season changes to the coaching staff and how have they impacted on the players?
There’s Jeremy Barnard, the brother of Paul Barnard who played at Essendon. He’s come into the program with 250 games of experience in WAFL football, a coach in his own right. He probably brings a lot harder edge in regards to giving more honest feedback to the playing group and on the program itself. He has a really good feel for the game, a good footy brain and he has basically come in and filled a lot of those areas, so it’s definitely been a real positive getting him on board. The other one was Ash Lever, who’s come through our under-16 program. Ash is a coach in his own right as well. He’s still learning a lot about coaching in footy, but he’s coached at under-18 level, so he has a really good feel for kids at that age. For me, Jeremy’s got a lot harder edge to him and I think Ash shows a lot more empathy for the players, so they actually balance each other out really well.
Onto this weekend: How do you think the team will fare against Western?
We’re confident we’ve done the work and we’re confident with what we’ve taught the players and what we’ve tried to educate them in. As a coach, you’re never happy with where you’re at, but I think the players are prepared and ready to go, so I suppose we’ve just got to show a bit of trust in what we’ve taught them and what we’ve educated them in. We’re expecting a pretty hard encounter on Sunday. Western plays a pretty aggressive type of football, so if the guys can trust in what we’ve done, I’m sure we’re going to fare OK.
Looking much further down the track, do you think this group has the capability to go two steps further than in 2012 and win the premiership?
I think we’ve got a talented group, but with the break-up of private school and non-private-school kids, I think if we can have all our players fit and healthy at the right time of the year then this group has got the capability of doing that. But, obviously a lot of water’s got to go under the bridge. I’ve got a lot of confidence in the group and I think we’ve got a game plan that can hold up to playing finals footy.
Would you also hope a number of Sandringham boys get drafted at the end of the season?
Yeah, I think there’s up to 10-12 kids that can fit that category. That’s obviously me being pretty aggressive with that number, but I think at any one stage kids can develop quite quickly. If a lot of those players stay fit and healthy and they have good years, we’ll hopefully show our hand at the end of the year. I’ve got a lot of respect for a lot of the boys and the talent we do have, but they’ve just got to be able to put it together now and perform when it counts.
Last Modified on 22/03/2013 12:08