Coach says Tigers just didn’t come to play
TORQUAY coach Dom Gleeson says his team was simply outplayed by a Queenscliff side that turned up the heat in a blistering first half.
Gleeson said his team “just didn’t come to play” and left a spirited final-quarter charge too late, falling eight points short. But the third-year coach is not fazed by the defeat as his side quickly moves on to preparations for potentially the game of the season against Barwon Heads.
“Queenscliff were outstanding today,” he said.
“We knew they would be, they had an outstanding year last year. They probably started a little slow, but we certainly did our homework.
“But they came out and really ruffled some feathers early and I thought they were outstanding and caught us on a hop, so we just got beaten on the outside today.”
Jumped five goals to one in the first quarter, the Tigers, by their own admission, had produced one of their worst quarters of footy for the season. “We were just probably trying a little bit too hard around the contest and we were probably having five or six in and the outside then got vulnerable,” Gleeson said. The Tigers’ coach said a lack of accountability, mainly the simple fundamental of manning up, led to the defensive breakdown that left his side 40 points down at half time. “We were a little bit laissez-faire (let people do as they choose) about it,” he said. “We certainly talk about it as a coaching group all week and when that happens and eventuates you start to question how switched on the group are — what was addressed during the week? “Did we address it during the week? Et cetera.” Gleeson said his side “smelt a little bit of blood” at three-quarter time with Queenscliff down on rotations with two players out of the match. “We just said ‘roll on at all costs, have confidence in the process’,” he said. “And they were two (players) down as well, so we smelt a little bit of blood. Some people had huge influence on the game — players and officials.” Tiger Billy Henderson snagged a trio of goals for the match, while big man Josh Hovey was best for the home side. “We will have a session tomorrow (Sunday) ... we’ve just got to get up for the following week,” he said. “Selection’s a thing. We’ve got a really healthy list and there might be some opportunities for some guys playing who are plugging away in the twos. “We just didn’t come to play today, which was the biggest factor I think”.