Young Falcons take lessons from defeat
GEELONG Falcons coach Luke Daffy is hoping his 17year-olds gained some footballing lessons playing at GMHBA Stadium yesterday, despite the 35-point loss to Greater Western Victoria Rebels.
The Falcons will be left to rue turnovers and missed opportunities in front of goal, as the Rebels punished them on the bigger ground, winning 12.10 (82) to 6.11 (47).
Four goals in arrears at quarter-time, the Falcons never really got back into the contest on the scoreboard, missing countless chances to close the deficit.
“Disappointing result again — pretty frustrating the way we used the footy, particularly in the first half,” Daffy said.
“It felt like we turned it over a lot, particularly in our back half or in the middle third of the ground, and scores from turnovers would have been seven or eight goals throughout the day, which really hurt us. We thought the first 10 minutes we controlled the game. I think we had two shots on goal and another couple of opportunities that we missed and I think it shows if you don’t put a score on the board, it keeps the opposition in it. A couple went back the other way and it’s frustrating.”
Daffy said the Falcons were considerably better in the second half, but kicked 2.7 in the third term to blow any hope of winning.
The first-year coach did praise a number of bottomaged players, however, who showed enough promise to put their hands up for a return next year.
“Cam Fleeton was fantastic and also a couple of boys that came into our side after missing for a large period of time to go back and play locally were Archie Hildebrandt and Charlie Ham,” he said.
“I thought they both worked really hard for us, Archie as a midfielder and Charlie off halfback.
“Cam played as a key defender, intercepted really well. We encouraged him to fly for his marks and he did that today, but more importantly just won his one-on-ones. We think he can be real player, so that’s exciting for next year.”
Daffy said the club would continue to blood 17-year-olds with an eye to next year.
“Maybe three or four weeks ago we changed tack a little bit at selection, so really trying to invest in our 17-year-old players at the moment,” he said.
“We feel we’ve given our 18year-olds and 19-year-olds a fair opportunity so far this year and they’ve played a considerable amount of games. We’re at that stage now we need to start looking to plan for this week but also for next year. It’s giving good opportunity to these 17-year-old players and the guys that do come in are looking to learn and pick up what it’s like at this level.”