Tigers back to basics for win
TORQUAY coach Dom Gleeson has credited Ben Raidme for a rise in form that culminated in a gritty 13-point win over Modewarre.
Gleeson revealed that Raidme, his right-hand man, urged him to adopt a “back to basics” approach that has netted successive wins and lifted their side to within striking distance of the top five.
With a loss to Modewarre likely to put a dent in Torquay’s premiership hopes, Gleeson said he turned his focus away from the ramifications and focused on the “small things”.
“I didn’t want to highlight that during the week,” Gleeson said. “I think the smarter players will look into it and I didn’t need to highlight that we’d go further back in the pack if we lost.
“But what we did do is simplify the message. When you lose, you tend to try and overcoach.
“I talked to a lot of football people and I’m fortunate enough to have the mentors that I do and the best thing was to simplify the message.
“And believe it or not, it came from one of my assistant coaches, Ben Raidme. He just said: ‘maybe we simplify it for this young group for the next couple of weeks.’
“So kudos to his maturity as captain and assistant coach. We just want a simple message and be consistent with the message and we’ve done that.
“Sometimes you can confuse the players, and I’m a young coach and I’ve got a lot to learn, but I was over-complicating it for the playing group.
“On the flip side, we’ve managed to get some players back to our list, and although our twos got rolled, we have got some depth in there for the first time this year.”
Gleeson said the win away from home would build the belief among the playing group.
“It’s a really good win, but I don’t think the playing group is naive,” he said.
“I don’t think that they will feel they’re rockstars now. We had 10.14 kicked against us and we have a lot of work to do on the park.
“I know we had a win and we’re up and about, but it’s such a great, young group to coach and I feel the development this year will have a benefit for many, many years.”
Gleeson conceded the win was crucial in the context of the season, with the Tigers now just a game outside the five.
“It certainly helps with the results this weekend (Drysdale beating Ocean Grove), but with this comp it is really inconsistent and you never consider yourself out of it,” Gleeson said.