WE say often in professional sport, that you spend more time with your team than you do your own family. When you're the coach of that team, especially went things aren't going as well as you'd like, it's easy to feel like the cranky dad.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
It's easy for your players to look at you that way as well. When you spend as much time together as we do, you can get sick of the hearing the same voice over and over again.
When you're in a little bit of a hole like we are at the moment, that voice can become even more irritating. That's why I was particularly pleased with my senior players this week.
Our performance against Adelaide last week was not good enough. To start the way we did and then fade out of the game was hugely disappointing. We did our normal video review as a team and had a pretty brutal honesty session.
It was nothing out of the ordinary, what was pleasing was what happened next. Kevin White and Dave Andersen took it further and called a meeting of their own – players only, no coaches and no filter. As such, I don't know what was said, but you could politely describe the conversations as 'robust'.
I've said from the beginning, we have a very, very high character group. They're not the type to take potshots or point the finger at one another, it was simply about holding each other accountable.
As a coach, you're constantly looking for answers so it was very pleasing to see some of our senior guys step up and say ‘it's all right mate, we've got this'.
It was necessary. I think the game against Adelaide exposed some mental fragility. We got some sand kicked in our face and we didn't respond well.
That was certainly one of things that came up in our honest discussions and, I imagine, in the players’ own debrief. Of course, words mean nothing if you don't follow them up with action.
We're still copping a hiding from the media and other critics out there but we certainly gave them a platform with our performance, particularly in our body language.
One thing I have never, ever needed to worry about with this group is whether we're working hard enough. The guys are working their arses off every day. I see it.
However, watching the film, I can see why people have the perception that that's not the case. There's only one way we can change that, starting against Brisbane on Thursday. They haven't had much luck but they're playing with a lot of swagger.
They're the best three-point shooting team in the league and that always gives you confidence. We're going there trying to re-find ours but I have no doubt we can get the job done.