UNSW/ES Bulldogs playing coach, Rhys McAlister has identified pressure as the key factor if his side is to prevail over Balmain in the AFL Sydney Premier Division Grand Final against Balmain this Saturday.
“In a perfect world, it is a bit of a cliché but our pressure will be important,” McAlister said.
“Every coach would say the same thing but I just think finals and Grand Finals come down to pressure and just that desire for the contest.
“If you’re just not on in terms of your pressure acts and your willingness to do the hard things then it makes it pretty hard to win Grand Finals because they don’t tend to be open and easy games.
“Instead, they are really tight and tough in the clinches and we believe that our desire and effort will hold us in good stead.”
The 27 year-old defender who joined the club this season after spending most of his time with Belconnen has overseen a vast transformation that has seen the Bulldogs leap from an eight-placed finish last season to a minor premiership and a chance at premiership glory.
McAlister believes this season has given the Bulldogs’ renewed belief.
“We have had a few years down the bottom end of the ladder,” he said.
“The boys haven’t had much chance of playing in these sorts of games so most of them are really excited.”
McAlister and his team have not changed their approach leading into the big clash.
“We try to play the style of footy we think would hold up in finals from the start and I think we have done that for the majority of the year,” he said.
“The transition from the home and away season to finals was quite a natural one, so hopefully if we stick to what has worked then come Saturday that is good enough to get the desired result.”
The Whiteboard- with Rhys McAlister
Key players if UNSW/ES is to win- Obviously all of the guys in the midfield; Dane Rampe, Peter Kefalas and Max Collett through the middle of the ground will certainly set the tone for us. Up forward, Leigh Lavery will be a focal point for us and needs to be on. In saying that, we have a good spread of forwards who can take up the slack if someone is having an off day or being well held. We feel the other guys can bob up and contribute like Jeremy Kiel and Tom Heath. Down back is the same as long as we can nullify their key big men- Ian Carroll and these types and Alex Henderson- if they’re on we can go a long way to getting the result.
Stopping the Balmain juggernaut- In all honesty, I’ve said it all year that I think Balmain are the main opposition, I think they are the best team in terms of talent and it’s no surprise we come up against them on Saturday. The calibre of players they have on their list is the best in the competition. They are very well coached by Craig White and Garry Bull, and they’re very good players at the top end like Leigh Conway, Gerard Wilkie, Matthew Round and Ben Taggart are a class above so we need to be conscious of their output and minimise it and get on top of them in that area. That will go a long way to keeping us in the contest if we can nullify them.
Last Modified on 19/09/2012 16:23
