‘Coops’ scours book as Crocs face grand final
PRELIMINARY FINAL SCHEDULE Saturday 15th September 10.45AM Womens Final: South Cairns vs Manunda Hawks 12.30PM Reserves Final: South Cairns vs Pyramid Power 3PM Seniors Final: Cairns Saints vs South Cairns DOG-EARED notebooks and late-night diary scribbles will guide Port Douglas Crocs mentor Brad Cooper as he manages his players through an extended break ahead of the club’s third consecutive grand final.
Cooper’s Crocs were too slick when the game was on the line against Cairns Saints in their qualifying final last Saturday, forcing Saints to play South Cairns Cutters in the preliminary final at Cazalys this week.
Having advanced straight through to the grand final last season, the former AFL Queensland coach of the year said he would likely play a scratch match this weekend in order to stop his team from “going to sleep” during the break.
But he added his carefully guarded notebooks would be revisited during the week in search of an edge.
“I’ve got notes from last year where I think we went wrong,” Cooper said.
“I think I laid off the boys a little too much in the first week and ramped things up much in the second week.
“I keep a diary of what I do and refer back to them. I’ve got about 20 diaries, to be honest, but we’ll make sure we get some good quality training in.”
While Cooper will often refer to as many as three statsfilled magnet boards during the match, forward Adam Gross said his game day mes- too sages were often brilliantly succinct. “Coops’ understanding of the game is as good as anyone’s,” Gross said.
“He’s got everything you need to know and it’s so easy to pinpoint where you’re going wrong because he has those stats. He’s a great footy mind and if he’s got 17 whiteboards in the huddle to help him, that’s okay.”