Reserved with Matt - Round 18, 2018
Monday, July 30, 2018 - 12:55 PM
Subiaco's Reserves side currently sit second on the ladder and are well placed for a run at the 2018 Finals.
Subiaco Reserves coach Matt Cavedon sat down last week over the bye to give an update on how his team is tracking over recent performances and what he is looking forward to in the last five weeks before finals.
With updates about young players and key players including Tim Sutherland, Max Dennis, Christian Martin, Aaron Breman and Jakob Atkinson, Reserved is the must read to stay on top of the entire Subiaco senior playing group.
Matt, heading into your last bye you sit on top, must be happy where you are currently placed and looking forward to the last five games to come?
It’s great to be well placed to play finals but most importantly its vital to maintain the development of the players and provide depth and support to the League group.
You’ve flirted in and around the top three the past two months, but your past two wins over Peel and South Fremantle you seem to have really exerted a sense of dominance over some pretty good opposition, do you feel you are now getting a consistent brand of footy from a consistent group?
We have continued our growth and look to continue to educate and learn which is positive but we still have a lot of growth opportunities in the group! It’s really hard to get consistency in the team when the nature of Development football means there are a number of forced changes every week through injury and League opportunities. All the development players have an Individualised Development Programs to drive improvement in skill fundamental elements, that time spent working specifically on their craft is starting to reflect on the field.
One of the notable statistical outliers of the past couple of weeks has been the ruck, with Tim Sutherland having 114 hit-outs in the past two games, how important has having Tim back at full fitness helped your side?
Tim is going well and has definitely been able to take advantage of the additional game time with Andy Doyle and Jack Fletcher currently out with injury.
Obviously the wet weather played a part, but your team laid 108 tackles against South Fremantle, Luke Norriss laid 12, Craig Hoskins 11 and Max Dennis 11 as well. Typically tackle count highlights strong effort, does this high tackle count indicate that real thirst there is in your side, either to hold a spot in your team or push for league selection?
We try not to refer to the term ‘effort’, as coaches we ask the players to bring energy on the field which can be infectious and creates a good environment. Energy yields positive results as all the players want to contribute and thrive off each other. The list is really healthy at the moment which means that we have a number of players who are having to play at their local clubs (Country and Amateurs) and are desperately pushing for their opportunity, which is proving to be a real driver for performance accountability. Additional to that Jarrad has shown that he and the senior coaches will reward players who consistently play their role which is encouraging for all the development players, as they all have ambitions to play League footy.
Another notable change the past couple of weeks has been Max Dennis spending more time in the midfield, he had a career best 26 possessions a fortnight ago and has laid 16 tackles in two weeks, how have you seen the ongoing development of Max?
Max is very talented player and if you were looking to summarise him you would talk about how much of a competitor he is, he loves the contest and hates to be beaten. Max has proven his ability to play as a defender and hence, the progression is to give him more opportunities through the midfield and he his game against Peel Thunder a fortnight ago highlighted his potential.
You have continued to improve week on week defensively, last week was an outstanding effort conceding just one goal, how impressed have you been with the ongoing improvement of your defensive group?
That’s an interesting one, we have just stripped it back with a focus on defensive fundamentals and it seems to be working.
Christian Martin debuted a fortnight ago and has kicked five goals in two weeks and seems to have added something a bit different to your forward line?
Christian has great hands, knows how to kick goals and certainly helps us with structure in front of the football. I think if he continues to buy in and invests in his athletic development and adds size to his frame he will become a fine player.
Another couple of young players at opposite ends, Aaron Breman and Jakob Atkinson also are showing some nice growth and have played some good recent footy?
Aaron has been working hard on his forward pressure and this has certainly helped him have a bigger influence on the games. What Jakob does well is close to elite, it is just a matter of working on his game sense and other areas of improvement, the more he works on his game will see marked improvement in his performance and potential to push for League football.
Finals pretty much locked up now, does it change how you approach the last five weeks, are there any specific goals you have for your team heading into a 2018 finals campaign?
There are Goals and then there are Goals… Essentially It’s not win/loss. It’s supporting the League side to win the 2018 premiership, continued growth for all development players and making sure we play all games in a manner that meets the Subiaco standards.
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