AHEAD of his senior coaching debut, Ash Hansen is feeling supported and empowered by the Club to bring his strengths to the table on Thursday night.
Here's what he had to say ahead of the clash with the Western Bulldogs: a side Hansen knows all too well.
On Sam Walsh:
"'Walshy’s' going to play this week which is really exciting, he’s an important member of our team, he did everything right in his preparation so we’re excited to welcome him back.
"Everyone has individual timelines and Sam has ticked all the boxes that we’ve required him to do, both medically and physically. We would never put him in harm's way, especially a man of his calibre and talent.
"We’re really confident that he’s hit all the boxes he needs to and he’ll help us compete tomorrow night. The strength of Walshy is that he can play in multiple positions, so to have that as a coaching group with him being able to be moved around certainly provides flexibility."
On selection:
"I think we’ve had guys playing really strong footy in the VFL and we’ll call upon those. Certainly we’d love to have those players with us but certainly across a season and even this year with the indications of COVID, it’s going to occur from time to time. We’ll get those guys fit and healthy again but also provide opportunities to others.
"We have so many guys to pick from, it’s a good position to be in. We’re relatively healthy so we’ll look at all the connotations and flexibility that different players will give us and then confirm that this afternoon."
On Michael Voss:
"'Vossy' has been amazingly empowering and supportive to the coaching group and to the amazing football staff that have really had to work one-and-a-half jobs this week with certain others being off.
"The AFL has been fantastic in their ability to allow us to explore different ways that 'Vossy' can be connected, but I think that he understands that the game is going to be going so fast that he’ll contribute and have eyes on it where he can but he’s really empowered us as a coaching group to make decisions.
"The best thing about 'Vossy' is from the day he arrived, he’s really delegated and empowered people around him and unfortunately we didn’t want this to occur but it reflects his leadership and his ability to manage people. He’s been able to empower me with the opportunity in the coaching group to get on with the job and support our players in a big game."
On the coaching changes:
"We’ve been really collaborative as a coaching group over summer and it’s about embedding our style and that’s the opportunity we’ve got this week: to take another step in building our identity as a team and coming up against a really good opponent where we have to be at our best.
"Nothing is going to change, it’s been a really systematic approach to the week in terms of our preparation, both in the classroom and on the field, so the players haven’t missed anything that they would’ve."
On his time with the Bulldogs:
"I certainly know what they’re capable of and I’ve seen firsthand what they’re capable of. They’re a really talented group and certainly last week we saw in patches what they were able to do, kicking eight goals straight in one patch and kicking three from centre bounces is a real strength of theirs.
"There are certainly areas of their game that we will really respect and I’m acutely aware of, and we’ll empower our guys to go out and play our brand and match it with them. We’re looking forward to the challenge."
On Aaron Naughton:
"I’ve gotten to know Aaron pretty well over the last few years and seen him develop into an influential player and an upstanding young man and certainly he’s been a focal point for them, without Josh Bruce being available and Josh Schache playing a variety of roles.
"He is an element to their game that is really important and we’ll have to manage and monitor and put plans into place to hopefully subdue his influence."
