ROUND 1 - Q & A WITH COACH BRAD DODD - OCEAN HILL ESTATE PEEL THUNDER COLTS

The Peel Thunder Colts kicked off their 2018 campaign with a 25 point win over last year's WAFL Colts Premiers, East Fremantle, at Bendigo Bank Stadium on Good Friday. After the game, we spoke with Head Coach, Brad Dodd.

East Fremantle got off to a fast start. You must of been pleased with how the players responded?

BD: We thought our attack on the ball and the man was fine in the first quarter, but we didn’t use the ball well and fumbled in tight. It’s generally a strength of ours but a combination of nerves and East Fremantle’s pressure got the better of us. It was something the players acknowledged at the quarter time break. We had a couple of defensive lapses early that really cost us.

The 2nd Quarter was a real arm wrestle.  You had plenty of opportunities going forward but the Sharks held firm and seemed to kick a goal when they needed?

BD: We felt we had the better of the 2nd term, giving our forwards plenty of opportunities to score but we couldn’t quite nail the Inside 50 kick. We went Inside 50 16 times for the term, so to come away with 2.4 for the quarter was a little frustrating. Even though we were a goal down at the break, the players felt we weren’t far away from turning the game around.

It was pretty much more of the same in the 3rd until a late burst saw the Thunder open up a good lead. What did you feel contributed to the scoreboard finally turning over?

BD: In the end, I think weight of numbers told the story. We had another 18 Inside 50s and we managed to take advantage. Our smalls were excellent in the 3rd, Jarrad Fazioli kicked 2 for the quarter while Tyrone Thorne, Lachlan Riley and James Sturrock all kicked goals. Our young key forwards in Jack Sears and Ben Middleton weren’t getting great service, but they were providing a contest and giving our smalls a chance.

Heading into the last with a 5 goal lead, was there a particular focus for the quarter?

BD: Not really. It was a hot day and it’d been a pretty physical game, so we were mindful of fatigue- especially with 7 debutants. We left it up to the players really, in terms of how fast we wanted to move the ball. In the end, we chipped it around a little and we didn’t quite create the opportunities we had earlier- but to see the group control that themselves was pleasing.

You mentioned the 7 debutants, care to shed some light on them as players?

BD: Pretty exciting to give 6 of our 17 year olds debuts along with a promising 18 year old ruckman.
I mentioned the key forwards in Jack Sears and Ben Middleton, they’re going to be quite a handful next year as 18 year olds if they continue down their development pathway. Ben had a great pre-season and has really put on some size- he’s just a natural goalkicker who can take a mark. Jack hasn’t set the world on fire in terms of goals so far but his pressure and contested work has been really important in our forward line. Cam Gavin is a big inside mid, who hits the ball hard and has a high work rate. Zach Rankin is one of our South West kids, hard running winger who can also play inside. Lachie Beverly is part of our back 7, real old fashioned type footballer who is very good one on one. Tyrone Thorne is a small forward who pinches through the middle. He’s only little but provides excellent tackle pressure up forward. He kicked 2 on the weekend and was really important for us. Jai Tregenza is a developing ruckman who has come a long way over the pre-season. He’s quite athletic and gives our mids great support on the ground and Jason Carter also made his Peel debut- he’s only been back 2 games from injury but he’s slotted in nicely across half back.

Who were the Thunder's better performers on the day?

BD: We shifted Durak Tucker onto Dillion O’Reilly late in the 1st term after he had kicked 3 goals. Durak had to curb his natural game a little as a result but still managed to find the ball while keeping Dillion in check. I thought our captain, Jake Howes, was excellent. Stood up early, hit the scoreboard and created scoring opportunities for others. I thought Brad Oldfield and Tom Joyce had a pretty even battle through the midfield. Brad had missed the last 2 weeks with injury but picked up where he left off with his ability to get from contest to contest. I was really happy with our back 7. Our backs coach, Danny Chartres, has done some great work with them and we’re starting to see some strong performances as a unit. 2 of our defenders were forwards last year in Lee Chapman and Lachlan Cullen, so we’ve seen some growth from them every game they’ve played. Tyrone Thorne and Jarrad Fazioli up forward gave us a lift when we needed it.

Next week, off to Steel Blue to play Swans. Sounds like plenty to work on this week?

BD: Definitely. Swans had a good win on the weekend and are traditionally always strong in the Colts. I think as a coaching and playing group, we left Friday feeling there’s still some areas of our game that we can definitely sharpen up.