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Williams lauds the Swans
3:04:34 PM Fri 27 June, 2003
Alan Shiell
afl.com.au
Port Adelaide coach Mark Williams has piled praise on Sydney and emphasised that the Power must play much better at AAMI Stadium on Saturday than it did when it beat the Swans by two points at the SCG in round 15 last season, courtesy of Jared Poulton?s goal after the final siren.
?I?m not sure if the South Australian public or even the media really rates Sydney enough,? Williams said. ?They have been playing particularly well.
?(Michael) O?Loughlin, (Barry) Hall and (Nick) Davis in the forward line, and they?ve got (Adam) Goodes and (Jason) Ball, and (Paul) Williams comes back into the mix with (Daryn) Cresswell, and Jude Bolton?s playing terrific football.
?If you look at all those people and chuck the young guys with a lot of enthusiasm in there, hell they?ve got a lot of good players, they?re all feeling pretty confident about themselves and they?re coming here to beat us.
?We beat them with a kick after the siren last year and we?ll have to play a hell of a lot better than that to win this week. Obviously we?re still confident we can win but we?ll have to turn up to play well.?
Speaking after Port?s midday training session on a wet AAMI Stadium ? and just before more rain bucketed down ? Williams pointed out how the Swans had lost so many close games last season ? seven by 13 points or less and three by 30 points or less (plus one by 38 points and the other by 69).
?That can change the next year and you can win them all, and suddenly everything?s rosy again,? he said.
?I think they just got a little bit of confidence out of last year. Sure, two or three players jumped up with a bit more opportunity from a different coach (Paul Roos, who took over from Rodney Eade after round 12), but others may not have got the same opportunity.
?Every coach, every person understands, there?s a little bit of favouritism with everything we do. Some (players) are slightly in, some are slightly out, and those who are slightly in now are really taking the opportunity.?
Top-of-the-ladder Port has won nine of its past 10 matches after losing its first two. Fourth-placed Sydney has won seven of its past eight matches after winning only one of its first four.
Statistically, the teams are similarly placed, with Port having a points-for aggregate of 1196 to Sydney?s 1201 and a points-against total of 935 (the meanest in the competition) to Sydney?s 995.
Williams alluded to this when he said: ?Don?t forget they?ve got the second-best defence in the AFL and there are only a couple of points difference, so it?s going to be a hard game to score goals in, but we?re confident we can manufacture enough to get over the line, whether it?s pouring with rain or ?
?You might think we?ve had two weeks off, but we?ve been certainly looking at tapes and they have, too. I don?t think anyone?s going to pop up under anyone?s guard.?
Of tall defender Matthew Bishop, recalled to Port?s team after missing the past three games with a calf injury, Williams said: ?Bishop?s really important to us. He can handle tall and small players and that?s always a God-send in the coaches? box.?
Williams said Port?s other inclusion, long-kicking utility Stuart Dew, out for the past 10 matches with osteitis pubis, would probably start on the bench, and he said he hoped Port captain-ruckman Matthew Primus would play against Geelong at Skilled Stadium on Sunday week, after he would have been sidelined for six matches with knee and hamstring problems.
?He?s had some good simulated training under his belt so we can put him in with a bit more confidence than we did last time,? he said.
Williams said Port?s training this week was the best in his four-and-a-half seasons as the Power?s coach.
?We?ve really trained well,? he said. ?I thought Wednesday?s (session) was outstanding.?
And he complimented AAMI Stadium?s head groundsman Jamie Butterfield for the superb condition of the well-grassed surface, despite the recent heavy rain ? and more is forecast for this weekend.
?What a great oval we?ve got,? Williams said. ?To have an oval that?s copped this much water ? Jamie?s done a fantastic job. It?s a joy.
?Back in the old days, with this amount of rain, it would be a mud heap, but it?s terrific.?
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sounds like its been and is pisin down
we suck in the rain
3:04:34 PM Fri 27 June, 2003
Alan Shiell
afl.com.au
Port Adelaide coach Mark Williams has piled praise on Sydney and emphasised that the Power must play much better at AAMI Stadium on Saturday than it did when it beat the Swans by two points at the SCG in round 15 last season, courtesy of Jared Poulton?s goal after the final siren.
?I?m not sure if the South Australian public or even the media really rates Sydney enough,? Williams said. ?They have been playing particularly well.
?(Michael) O?Loughlin, (Barry) Hall and (Nick) Davis in the forward line, and they?ve got (Adam) Goodes and (Jason) Ball, and (Paul) Williams comes back into the mix with (Daryn) Cresswell, and Jude Bolton?s playing terrific football.
?If you look at all those people and chuck the young guys with a lot of enthusiasm in there, hell they?ve got a lot of good players, they?re all feeling pretty confident about themselves and they?re coming here to beat us.
?We beat them with a kick after the siren last year and we?ll have to play a hell of a lot better than that to win this week. Obviously we?re still confident we can win but we?ll have to turn up to play well.?
Speaking after Port?s midday training session on a wet AAMI Stadium ? and just before more rain bucketed down ? Williams pointed out how the Swans had lost so many close games last season ? seven by 13 points or less and three by 30 points or less (plus one by 38 points and the other by 69).
?That can change the next year and you can win them all, and suddenly everything?s rosy again,? he said.
?I think they just got a little bit of confidence out of last year. Sure, two or three players jumped up with a bit more opportunity from a different coach (Paul Roos, who took over from Rodney Eade after round 12), but others may not have got the same opportunity.
?Every coach, every person understands, there?s a little bit of favouritism with everything we do. Some (players) are slightly in, some are slightly out, and those who are slightly in now are really taking the opportunity.?
Top-of-the-ladder Port has won nine of its past 10 matches after losing its first two. Fourth-placed Sydney has won seven of its past eight matches after winning only one of its first four.
Statistically, the teams are similarly placed, with Port having a points-for aggregate of 1196 to Sydney?s 1201 and a points-against total of 935 (the meanest in the competition) to Sydney?s 995.
Williams alluded to this when he said: ?Don?t forget they?ve got the second-best defence in the AFL and there are only a couple of points difference, so it?s going to be a hard game to score goals in, but we?re confident we can manufacture enough to get over the line, whether it?s pouring with rain or ?
?You might think we?ve had two weeks off, but we?ve been certainly looking at tapes and they have, too. I don?t think anyone?s going to pop up under anyone?s guard.?
Of tall defender Matthew Bishop, recalled to Port?s team after missing the past three games with a calf injury, Williams said: ?Bishop?s really important to us. He can handle tall and small players and that?s always a God-send in the coaches? box.?
Williams said Port?s other inclusion, long-kicking utility Stuart Dew, out for the past 10 matches with osteitis pubis, would probably start on the bench, and he said he hoped Port captain-ruckman Matthew Primus would play against Geelong at Skilled Stadium on Sunday week, after he would have been sidelined for six matches with knee and hamstring problems.
?He?s had some good simulated training under his belt so we can put him in with a bit more confidence than we did last time,? he said.
Williams said Port?s training this week was the best in his four-and-a-half seasons as the Power?s coach.
?We?ve really trained well,? he said. ?I thought Wednesday?s (session) was outstanding.?
And he complimented AAMI Stadium?s head groundsman Jamie Butterfield for the superb condition of the well-grassed surface, despite the recent heavy rain ? and more is forecast for this weekend.
?What a great oval we?ve got,? Williams said. ?To have an oval that?s copped this much water ? Jamie?s done a fantastic job. It?s a joy.
?Back in the old days, with this amount of rain, it would be a mud heap, but it?s terrific.?
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sounds like its been and is pisin down
we suck in the rain
The only one I can see here is Black Power...... I had already said on another thread that if the match was at the SCG I'd probably tip Sydney. And as I've already said on this thread, I think it will be a very good match with Port to win by about 20 points......
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