Colt Corner with Beau Wardman - Round 3
Wednesday, April 18, 2018 - 9:51 AM
The Subiaco Colts made it three wins to start the year with a hard fought win over Swan Districts last Saturday.
The win came on the back of a strong second half with the Lions holding Swans goalless while kicking the last nine goals of the game.
Coach Beau Wardman checked in for his weekly update as Subiaco consolidated top spot on the ladder.
Beau, another week, another impressive win. Your Colts have won three straight and this arguably was the best win of the season so far against a strong Swan Districts side?
I think in terms of our consistent effort and ability to withstand some really strong run from Swans in the first half the boys showed great character today. Its hard to really gauge the strength of the win, but against anther unbeaten side there was much to be pleased about and certainly some areas of our game which got exposed.
You trailed by 15 points early in the third quarter, what was it you saw that turned momentum for your team?
Swan Districts are a quality team, they are well coached. We knew going in it was going to be tough and a good challenge. Our leaders really stood up in the second half. Madoc laid a strong tackle, maybe that set a tone? Others certainly joined in and as coaches we recognise those trademark efforts. The boys also persisted for long periods. Our defenders stood up again and our forwards applied strong pressure with repeat effort. Our mids gained ascendency the longer the game went on – they have worked hard today.
In the last half you kicked nine unanswered goals. Which way do you tend to look at it, impressed with your forward conversion or your defensive structure holding firm for an entire half?
Fair stat isn’t it. Testament to the way the boys responded after half time. We addressed a couple of structural things, they boys implemented so well, I’m so proud of the way they go about it. Chayse has our defenders playing with great courage and they work together well which has made it tough for oppositions to score at times, but our pressure lifted and we capitalised on turnovers really well in the second half.
Speaking of the forward conversion, you kicked 11.2 from set-shots on the afternoon, the goal kicking performance of your forwards was very good, is it something you have been working on?
One of the rare closed skills in our game. We have had a real emphasis on our skills over the last 12-months. Jason Hoskins (Forwards Coach) has worked on this with the boys, and Nick Visser comes down on Wednesday’s working with individuals – its pleasing this is yielding results and the boys are improving this area of the game.
A couple of different players voted into your best in the win with Adam Vallelonga and Mach Deng acknowledged after the game, what stood out with Adam and Mach’s games to you?
Adam responded really well to some feedback early on in the game. His opponent was quite clever, to Adam’s credit he applied himself to the task and was rarely beaten. This has been a trademark of his over recent weeks. Mach really improved his follow-up efforts and output this week. Scott and also Frank Stockely have been working with Mach on his ruck work, but also his follow-ups and positioning. He was able to compete really hard today.
With the win, your team is a game clear at top of the table. Going back through records, the last time Subiaco was undefeated through the first three games was back in 2011, again, it really appears this team is capable of making its own history on the club?
It is really early in the season and our focus is on continual improvement and consistency in performance. We know one quarter or game where we go away from our trademarks can put us in trouble. The whole squad has been really ruthless in their training and desire to get better – that is now evident in our results. As a coaching group we want to see strong team first acts and with this so many individuals have improved and are standing out.
Each week the challenges keep coming, Claremont coming off a disappointing loss to East Fremantle, what are your expectations for Claremont this week?
Claremont have been the benchmark for a number of years at colts level and they beat us last year at home. I know Ross McQueen will have them ready to go this week and it will be a great challenge – we will have to be at our best.
Marquee Thursday evening fixture for the boys playing before the league game, how different is your preparation for a Thursday game as opposed to a Saturday game?
Really tight turnaround this week with a 5-day break but a great opportunity for our players and hopefully a number of the club members supporters from the district come down. A really good initiative in school holidays. The week will revolve mainly around recovery for the players.
Also, the Subiaco 16’s finished their season this week, overall how did you see the representative season for the Subiaco 16’s, couple of nice wins, couple of losses?
They showed some really promising signs throughout the carnival. Some of their play and pressure was great and Tom has done a good job with the other coaches in his first campaign. We have been able to expose a number of kids at the level which has been important and the results aren’t as important. I don’t think we had any representatives in the State 16s program last year and we could have up to 6 or 8 in contention this year which says a lot for the talent development programs we have been implementing over the last 12-18 months with Michael Farmer and the backing from the board and Russell Smith.
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