"WE DIDN'T want to be a flash in the pan."
AFLW Senior Coach Mathew Buck spoke of his pride for his team that secured a second consecutive finals berth, rounding out their feel-good Sunday with a 15-point win over GWS.
In another game played in torrid conditions, the Blues had to stick to the task in a four-quarter grind, eventually breaking through in the final term on the back of goals to Poppy Scholz and the excellent Claudia Whitfort.
Speaking post-match, here's what Buck had to say.
On how the game played out:
“It was a really hard-fought contest. I thought the Giants for three quarters compete really hard and took it to us. We had to hold up against their inside 50s and repeat entries, but what our group has built over this season - and the last few seasons - is trust in the system and trust in each other. If we can continue to play our way for long enough, things will start to happen for us. I think we saw that evidence today.
“To have a first-year player in Lily Baxter come in and have a great influence in the last quarter in particular, you’re proud of the work she’s put in, the work the leaders and coaches have put in with her. To see it all come together like that was really pleasing.”
On responding from the previous week’s loss:
“We thought we weren’t at our best last week, we had a pretty honest reflection of that last Tuesday. To our players’ credit, they were very happy to take that on board and see where we didn’t quite get it right.
“We felt like it was a pretty unusual game of run from a contest perspective: it was important to us that if we were going to do anything, it was show up there and play the Carlton way. Under tricky conditions, we did that pretty well.”
On how the team approached the conditions:
“If anything, the coaching on a day like today becomes more simplistic. It’s do what you can to take the game forward and try and keep it in your half if you can. We had to put some numbers behind the ball at different points as the Giants were coming at us, and it comes down to work rate from there - make sure you get out and look to equalise when you can and take your moments.
“Lily Goss takes the advantage and Poppy Scholz takes the mark at the top of the square. That was just one occasion where we were able to take our moment.”
On approaching next week’s trip to Brisbane:
“Brisbane has been a great team for a long time and had a great win over St Kilda yesterday. It looks like they’ve got their bounce back, I’m sure they’ll be up for their last game of the season. Like every game, we’ll be out to bring our best and see if we can continue to grow and evolve our game to make sure we’re ready for our finals campaign.”
On locking in a finals berth:
“We thought we had a great year last year. We didn’t want to be a flash in the pan, that because you got an easier fixture by finishing 14th the year before, you bounce out of the eight come the next year. Our ability to be really consistent every day with our preparation and the way we train and the way we hold each other to the standards we want has been really important.
“This whole season, we’ve been able to hold that standard and hold that consistency, I’m super proud we’ve been able to do that. We’ll go up to Brisbane and give it our very best shot: where we finish is where we finish, all I can ask from the team is continuing to turn up and give it your absolute best which we did today.”
On the team’s leadership standing up:
“I probably don’t talk about Abbie McKay and Mimi Hill enough. Their leadership of our football club has been outstanding for a long period of time. They model consistency, they model high-performance habits that we want from our players, they bring infectious energy… well Mimi does, Abbie is staunch. They’ve been absolutely fantastic over a long period of time, I think from their leadership we’re seeing everyone else grow as well.
“We’ve had Erone Fitzpatrick join our leadership this year, Tara Bohanna and Harriet Cordner are also in there and have been around footy for a long period of time. We’ve got a nice breadth of leaders in that area, and we’re led by Belinda Clark who is an icon of women’s sport. Our leadership structure and the way they’ve gone about it has been outstanding.”
On the team’s unsung heroes:
“I’ve got a long list. Ciara Fitzgerald has had a remarkable career to this point. She started at Richmond, was delisted, came back through the VFL and was an injury replacement player for us. I’ve probably dropped Ciara more than anybody in the side, and now she’s a consistent AFLW player. I love the way she goes about her footy.
“Yasmin Duursma plays a really particular role for us on and off the bench which can be hard for anyone, her maturity and the way she handles that has been absolutely fantastic. Síofra O’Connell has had an outstanding year which is a credit to the work she’s put in, Aisling Reidy is right behind her.
“Lily Goss, you talk about unsung heroes. Claudia Whitfort is a great player, but she’s helped by people like Lily Goss. Maddy Hendrie is someone we’re really proud of at the footy club: we talk about Harriet Cordner and how she’s a lock for All Australian, but the work Maddy Hendrie does for her has been outstanding.
“That’s to name a few, I can keep going. We also have players that aren’t playing at the moment who are playing an outstanding role for our team, and the way they continue to support and come in with a smile on their face and get better every day is a testament to them.”
On Gab Pound pushing for selection:
“Gab has been an outstanding player across the AFLW competition since it started. I was talking to Gab earlier this year about what she’s built. Although she’s not playing, I hope she’s loving every minute of watching the team play and being successful.
“She’s in our emergencies at the moment and pushing hard for selection, we’ll go back to the selection table this week where I’m sure her name will come up.”
