A full transcript of Brad Scott’s post-match media conference after North defeated Carlton by 19 points at Etihad Stadium
Q: Looks like you’re smiling now Brad, but you probably weren’t at three quarter time there?
Scott: We knew we weren’t going to have it all our own way. The first quarter was really positive, clearly, but Carlton have proved this year they’re quite a challenge.
Going back in time, they’ve gone through some rebuilding. They’ve got four number one draft picks overall running around out there today and some supreme talent so they’ve gone through a bit of a phase where they’ve been rebuilding but they’re no pushover Carlton.
The way they’ve played this year, the opposition have to play well to beat them and if the opposition is off their game they get done. They’re on the right path and credit to them today, lesser sides would have maybe capitulated after the start, but they came back and hit us right between the eyes.
Q: Is there a bit of a sense of relief after you guys were able to hit back as well in the final quarter?
Scott: I suppose it is, but I don’t look at it as relief. We had to change some things. Carlton threw some different challenges at us and that got them back into the game and stopped us scoring a fair bit.
We threw a few things around and kept throwing things around. We made quite a few changes until we got the mix that we liked. I thought it was a great sign of character because when momentum’s coming against you and the Carlton army were right behind them in the third quarter and at three quarter time.
For the second week in a row our guys stood up to that momentum and pushed it back the other way, which is really pleasing.
Q: Talking about character Brad, Ben Cunnington and Mason Wood, probably having dirty days to three quarter time. Both played a big role in the finish.
Scott: I think that’s a really good point. They were really good when it mattered and there are players that probably concede and think it’s not their day. But we still really needed them and they stood up to be counted when it really mattered.
Nathan Hrovat was another one who really got going late in the game and provided a real spark for us.
Q: Marley Williams had a really good game again. How crucial has he been as a recruit this year?
Scott: He’s been awesome for us. He’s a great guy to have around the footy club. He plays a crucial role, he’s loving life, loving the football club, he’s loving the players and the players are loving having him in the team. He continues to take great strides forward.
Q: You must be impressed with the role that Trent Dumont played on Marc Murphy, particularly in that first half?
Scott: The first half was really good. Carlton play a different style. (With) the evidence put before us to this point, we thought they’d try and control the ball and chip it around a bit.
For the most part we defended that reasonably well but it took us a little while to adjust to what they were doing with massive numbers behind the ball and trying to dry up our scoring. That’s not a massive issue provided they’re not scoring but they were, so we had to change again.
I thought Trent was important.
Q: You mentioned character – are you sure after those capitulations earlier this year that’s now well and truly history?
Scott: Teams are going to lose from winning positions. That’s going to happen all the time. What’s really important is that you can play 50 or 70 games of footy and not experience those three tight losses that we had earlier this year.
While they were bitterly disappointing, they were great experiences for us to learn from and to grow from. We’ve clearly done that. That doesn’t mean we’re not vulnerable to teams coming over the top of us, because every team’s vulnerable.
On the flip side, we want to play a style of footy that we’re never out of the game, even if we’re behind that we can keep attacking and scoring and putting the opposition under pressure.
Q: Just on Dumont, he came off with the concussion test later in the game. Do you have an update on his condition?
Scott: He’s fine, I thought you might ask that so I checked before I came in and he was fine to come back on. A quick check of him, but he’s no worries.
Q: You mentioned before about Carlton maintaining possession of the ball. Why did it take you so long to adjust it, knowing they were going to come in with that particular game style?
Scott: We adjusted, but we didn’t execute it. In the end we weren’t executing what we wanted so we just threw Hansen forward and just played seven or eight forwards at different stages.
Sometimes you don’t want to fall into the rope-a-dope, man them all up and expose your defence.
The great thing about footy is you can throw all these different tactics and play all these different styles, but at the end of the day it comes back to who’s going to win the ball in the contest. Once we got that right then we looked better forward of the ball and behind the ball.
Q: We’re seeing a lot of teams give up big leads this year. Have you got a theory on why that’s happening?
Scott: I don’t think they’re all the same. I think they’re always different circumstances in each different game. I think it’s great for footy because in the past it’s been, if a side gets 40 points up pretty early in the game it can blow out to 80, 100 pretty quickly.
It just shows the evenness of the competition. Sides down the bottom four to mid-range of the ladder can beat the top sides. That momentum shift is not going to happen just week to week, it’s going to happen in-game as well.
The style of footy being played at the moment is pretty good, but it’s even. Unless you put your foot down for 120 minutes you’re going to be exposed to teams scoring quickly against you.
Q: On Mason Wood, he’s had injury struggles and back in the team now. Do you look at his performance in the final quarter in isolation from the rest of the game or does the rest of his game impact whether he keeps his spot?
Scott: Mason’s spot is not in doubt, I wouldn’t have thought. We’ve just been pretty keen to get him back out there. When he’s fit, he’s certainly capable of easily being in our best 22, we just haven’t had him fit for long enough.
We’ll certainly persist with him, but Majak Daw will have something to say about that. Ben McKay when he comes back from injury will have something to say about that. Braydon Preuss will be saying ‘I can play forward and not just ruck.’
While we’ve got a lot of faith in Mason, we’ll just keep picking the side that is performing and I thought Mason – while he didn’t have a great day – he stood up when it counted.
Q: Goldstein probably lifted late a bit as well after a tough start against Kreuzer?
Scott: I thought Kreuzer, Gibbs, Cripps, Murphy – probably more in the second half than the first half – Weitering – their good players played well. And we had a few guys that by their own standards were probably down.
When you look at all that, it’s a pretty good result for us.
Q: Andrew Swallow, he’s been dropped twice this season, about to turn 30. I know he’s contracted for next year but where does he fit in the club’s plans going forward?
Scott: You guys can speculate about this all you want, but he came in for Trent Dumont.
Trent Dumont was injured, then Trent Dumont came back and he went out for him. So you can count the number of times he gets dropped if you want, but he’s the next best midfielder in because he played last week and he played ok, but Dumont came back.
There’s no more to add to the story than that.
Q: Four of the past five games now Brad, do you sort of set a higher expectations for the rest of the season now?
Scott: No we just look at the next week. We’re not in a position to get ahead of ourselves by any stretch of the imagination. By the same token, at 0-5 we didn’t think it was all doom and gloom either.
We’re 4-6, if we were 6-4, our future would be no different. We’ve clearly gone through a lot of change over the last 12 months or so and regardless of the win-loss, the long-term future looks really positive and as far as the coaching staff and the current group of players, we’re looking at the ultra short-term.
