Falcons pay for slow start
GEELONG Falcons coach Dan O’Keefe has blamed “poor execution” for yesterday’s disappointing loss to Greater Western Victoria Rebels.
Slumping to their second-straight defeat, the Falcons were blown out of the water in a lacklustre opening term to go down by 33 points at GMHBA Stadium.
“No doubt that first quarter hurt us for the rest of the day,” O’Keefe said of the 0.2 to 7.2 start to the match.
“We actually ended up winning the last three quarters in total, but we had no chance of winning, purely because of the first quarter result.
“What hurt us ... our skills were really flat. Of the seven goals to zero they kicked, probably six of them were from turnovers.
“So that’s not a structural thing, that’s purely execution from the players and as coaches we’ll be there to help in that regard.”
O’Keefe was quick to pinpoint the problem, crediting the Rebels’ workrate and aggression while bemoaning his side’s skill errors.
“One, their pressure in and around the contest was really good and it made us rush a little bit, and two, we just need to improve on our skills and execution. It’s as simple as that,” O’Keefe said.
“And that will come as the season rolls on. It’s probably a realisation as coaches that we need to put more emphasis into it.
“It basically lost us the game today. In regards to how we finished off the game, we played OK.
“We never looked like winning the game, but we looked OK in terms of how we used the ball, particularly the last quarter, and our fitness stood up again and we know it will all year, and our good players tried hard to help us across the line.”
Despite a slow start to the season, O’Keefe was optimistic his side could turn its early form slump around.
“It’s different and opposing to last year, but we’ve certainly got a good enough group to get better and actually win enough games this year,” O’Keefe said.