Colt Corner - Round 14, 2018

Wednesday, July 4, 2018 - 5:53 PM
Subiaco Colts Coach Beau Wardman checks in after his side won its fourth straight game at the weekend to go top of the ladder, albeit only for the one night.
 
It is another big challenge ahead for Beau and the Subiaco Colts as they prepare for a top of the table clash with Peel. Subiaco fans are encouraged to get down to Leederville Oval this Saturday for what promises to be a great game of footy featuring the next champions of the Subiaco Football Club.
 
Get Beau's thoughts on that next challenge in Colts Corner.
 
 
 
Beau, The most recent victory over West Perth on Friday night, represented a 113 point turnaround on the result back in round six, do you think there was an emphasis from your team on bouncing back from that disappointing last game against the Falcons?
 
I think the boys were really determined just to continue the strong effort we have shown over the last couple of weeks. Chayce Creedy took the reigns last week whilst I was in Melbourne (with the State 18s) and he along with the other coaches maintained our focus areas. I know the boys were determined to show what they are capable of. Our last outing against West Perth wasn’t great, our effort wasn’t as strong as it needed to be, and given the rivalry they were quite determined. It was a great result to win by the margin we did, but more impressive was some of the team play and commitment to our trademarks.
 
 
Xavier Peacock was arguably the difference maker in the game. He was dominant in the ruck with 39 hit-outs, dominant up forward with four goals and followed up at ground level highlighted by six tackles, how big was Xavier’s contribution to the win?
 
Xavier has responded really well in the last couple of weeks after omission from the State 18s team. He has been suffering from a couple of health concerns so it was great to see him back to his best. He showed great strength overhead, some really good repeat efforts imposing himself around the contest and his kicking, often a highlight, rewarding to see him kick a few goals. 
 
 
The other who was really important in the win and had a big first half when the game was there to be won was Jacob Peletier, how did you see the first half performance of Jacob?
 
Jacob has played some really consistent football in recent weeks. He possesses speed off the line and is a composed lateral mover in the contest. Whilst we are still working on his contested game, he won some critical one on one’s and also provided rebound from half back. Hopefully Jacob can continue with his recent form and rise to further challenges in his game. 
 
 
Another debutant, and an exciting one at that with a member of your 16’s program Sandon Page stepping up for Colts football and acquitted himself well with two goals on debut, pleased with Sandon’s first game?
 
Really good for our program to bring in some youngsters throughout the year and showcase their talents. Sandon travelled to SA last week with the state 16s and with a bye in their program we have the opportunity to give him a game at Colts’ level. He looked settled with the group and played a role in the forward line, creating a contest and applying some strong pressure which is pleasing. To kick a couple of goals will give him some confidence moving forward and hopefully some more opportunities in the back half of the year.  
 
 
Kyle Stainsby led your boys in tackling with nine, he seems to be a player that enjoys the physical side and has that edge about him that coaches love?
 
Kyle’s improvement this year has been great. He is one of our strongest competitors and certainly enjoys the physicality. We have given him some additional opportunity around the ball in recent weeks after playing previously off half-back. We encourage all players to live our trademarks and thats what we like about Kyle’s game. We have been working strongly on our tackling at training - its a key fundamental to our game - each session completing a tackling activity. 
 
 
Second time this year the boys have recorded a four game win streak, of course earlier in the year the four starting wins were followed by three losses, do you feel confident that the boys learnt something from having their last win streak snapped that they can sustain this one?
 
We aren’t too concerned about the scoreboard or the ladder. It is great for the players to have success and see the results of their improvements, the wins are good for our parents, members and supporters but we can’t lose sight of constantly wanting to improve the players. We know that if we use the ball well with good decisions and really attack the contest it makes us competitive. The strength of our success so far has been the players who have earned opportunity have performed really well, thats testament to the assistant coaches, Jason, Scott, Chayce, Stu, Nick and Jackson. 
 
 
Notable in that four game winning run, that the last three wins have been headlined by conceding less than 50 points per game. Your defence is somewhat unheralded, but they seem to have really gelled as a unit and playing some good one on one and team defence?
 
Defence is often the uncool position isn’t it. But our players have made it their own to defend really strongly together. Our one on one efforts are reflected in our trademarks and the boys are understanding what is required to compete hard, moreover it is our ability to get across and assist. Whilst our backline have consistently done a good job, some of our pressure up the field has been much improved. Tristan Hobley is one of our best transition runners and Liam Hickmott and Jake McKinnon are our top pressure players through the midfield. 
 
 
Seems every week in WAFL Colts competition that we are saying it; but another huge battle on Saturday morning with a top of the table clash against Peel, how do you think they boys are looking forward to another top place challenge?
 
We have had some good games against Peel, they are a very good side and play a quick brand of footy. They kicked 5 or 6 goals in the third quarter last time we played them. It should be a high quality game of colts football this week shouldn’t it. Each week we look forward to the challenge of constant improvement and this week will be no different. 
 
 
Led by five goals against Peel earlier in the year before being overrun, do you feel the boys learnt from that game and are in a position to play four quarters of consistent football against Peel?
 
Our leaders have really led well in this regard over the last couple of weeks - driving consistency in effort. We have played with great spirit and regardless of the scoreboard thats what we expect. I’m sure this week the players will reflect on their games with a couple of focus areas and hopefully they can execute on these. 
 
 
The debuts seem to come each week, are there any more that you can see in coming weeks, maybe more 16’s pressing for Colts selection?
 
We look to give opportunity when it is deserved, I’m sure over the next couple of weeks there will be some opportunity with some of our 16s, Connor Faraone has been training really strongly and Zeke Bolton and big Wattsy might come into contention. We also have a few boys from Kalgoorlie and Esperance who will get a crack in the colts and Lions Pride teams over the next week or two which is exciting for the club. 
 

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