What the coaches said: Paul Roos declares some Melbourne players were big-headed in loss to Essendon

WESTERN Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge says Hawthorn will be a good challenge for his young team. WHAT THE COACHES SAID ON SATURDAY

AFL: Round 2 St Kilda v Western Bulldogs Easton Wood Picture:Wayne Ludbey

ESSENDON recorded a shock win over Melbourne on Saturday at the MCG, a game Melbourne would have pencilled in as a win and coach Paul Roos didn’t hold back.

Here is what the winning and losing coaches had to say after Saturday’s Round 2 games.

ESSENDON 80 DEF MELBOURNE 67

MELBOURNE coach Paul Roos conceded some of his players went into Saturday’s clash with Essendon with “big heads”, saying it may have contributed to the club’s shock 13-point loss at the MCG.

A frustrated Roos said claims from Triple M’s Wayne Carey that some Demons had “fat heads” following last week’s win over Greater Western Sydney and took the Bombers too lightly had some merit.

“It’s a bitterly disappointing day, given our last month and where we think we’re at, but hopefully it’s not a true reflection of what we can dish up through the course of the year,” Roos said.

“We didn’t see it (over confidence) going into the game. I think some of them were tired. (But) I think there’s some of them that probably would have turned up today thinking it’s a pretty easy day at the office and we know in AFL footy it can certainly bite you in the backside.”

Roos credited Essendon with a first-rate performance, but admitted that he was concerned with the attitude of some of his players.

“The guys you generally felt were tired, you have to work out whether you play them next week or rest them during the week,” he said. “There’s definitely that factor with probably half a dozen of them.

“The ones you perhaps thought were big-headed, you need to sit them down and say ‘You’ve got to respect the competition’.”

He admitted the Melbourne match committee erred in selection, give some of the youngsters looked tired at stages on Saturday.

“Every individual within the team needs to prepare himself well and needs to present well every week. Today we didn’t have enough individuals (do that),” he said.

“So that does make me angry. It makes me angry for our supporters, but we have to take responsibility as coaches as well.

“Clearly, we didn’t pick the right team. It’s hard coming off the back of a win to make too many changes, but I don’t think we picked the right team. But it is hard unless you see signs during the week to crystal ball what Saturday is going to look like.”

Roos said he was confident the club could bounce back from the disappointing result in next Sunday’s clash with North Melbourne in Hobart.

“Clearly from our point of view, it’s Round 2, and we’ve had a good five weeks, but (Saturday’s loss) was not acceptable,” he said. “You’ve got to get back on the horse and work out ways to fix the problem.”

“The reality is statistically we got well beaten in most areas and unlike last week, when we hit the front, it still didn’t look like we had much energy to go on with the game.”

- Glenn McFarlane

ESSENDON supporters went to the MCG on Saturday to “Make A Stand” in support of their club, but it was the players who made the biggest statement with an uplifting and unexpected victory over Melbourne.

The importance of the on field victory, watched by a host of past players who had formed a guard of honour as the team ran on to the field for the first bounce, wasn’t lost on Essendon coach John Worsfold.

“I’m just rapt for the club, rapt for the supporters who came out today and the players really,” Worsfold said.

“It’s been tough to get to this point. It’s a really hard earned win so (I’m) pretty proud of getting to that point but (we’re) really aware of the challenges we still face going forward.

“In the context of a normal season, it’s just nice to get a win on the board, but certainly for us, pulling the team together, the work and the desire that the players have shown has been outstanding — to want to learn and to want to challenge themselves to get better, so it has been a big day for the club.

“I really enjoyed seeing some of the past legends of the club lining up as the new generation of players ran out and I think that says a lot. Essendon footy club has an unbelievably great history and it’s got a really bright future.

“It’s our job now to create that.”

- Eliza Sewell

ADELAIDE 144 DEF PORT ADELAIDE 86

DON Pyke liked the 22 goals on the scoreboard, don’t worry.

But on Saturday night, as the Adelaide coach assessed his first win in charge of an AFL side in a commanding 58-point Showdown victory, it was the numbers and notes next to the names of his 22 players that impressed the rookie leader most.

“Really happy,” Pyke said. “It’s great to have a win. It’s what we’re in the industry for.

“It was a really even, consistent performance from our guys today and that’s the sort of team-first approach we’ve been talking to the players about.

“The pleasing part was, I look down the list of our players and their impact on the game — they consistently performed their role and did what we asked them to do.

“As coach, you can’t ask any more than that.”

Pyke and Adelaide now sit 1-1 after two rounds, having racked up the biggest winning margin in Showdowns since 2009.

— Scott Walsh

PORT Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley insists Saturday’s Showdown flop was a case of one bad day — not a sign of deeper problems at Alberton.

“Lots. Lots went wrong,” he said.

“Adelaide played really well, they got on top of the game early on and made us pay with every opportunity they got.

“But I don’t go looking for recipes for past and future. What we got today was a side that was in much better form than us on the day and they made us pay.

“We had a really poor day today, there’s no hiding from that. But we’re going to bounce back.

“We’ll review the game and look at the things we got really wrong.

“Sometimes I reckon we’re just going to say ‘Adelaide got it done too well for us’.”

In Showdown 40 the Power was outgunned and outclassed by an Adelaide side that scored the biggest first-half total in derby history before cruising to a 58-point victory.

Where Port was able to respond in the final term against a weaker St Kilda six days earlier, the Power had no reply from the first bounce to the Crows’ hard-running, overlap system.

In contrast, the Power’s forward pressure and midfield accountability on the rebound was poor.

Alarmingly, Champion Data analysis shows Adelaide scored 10.2 — almost half its score — from chains of play that began in the Crows’ defensive 50.

The AFL average is 15 points.

— Scott Walsh

BRISBANE 83 DEF BY NORTH MELBOURNE 117

FRUSTRATED Brisbane coach Justin Leppitsch has called on his leaders to lift after North Melbourne claimed a giftwrapped 34-point win over the fumbling Lions at the Gabba on Saturday night.

And if the series of schoolboy errors and missed shots at goal were not enough for Brisbane, captain Tom Rockliff (calf) and vice-captain Daniel Rich (hamstring) played little or no part after three-quarter time.

Rich had just seven touches after being owned by Kangaroos tagger Ben Jacobs while Rockliff had 10 touches after going into the game with an arm injury.

Vice-captain Daniel Merrett had an unhappy return after giving away four free kicks in goalkicking range.

Rockliff will get scans on his calf ahead of the Round 3 clash with Geelong next Sunday while Rich’s hamstring tightness will not warrant scans.

Brisbane led by four points at quarter-time but were blown away in the second term as North Melbourne cashed-in on the home side’s mistakes to romp to a 21-point buffer at the main break. The Kangaroos stretched that lead to 37 points at the last change.

“It was a pretty frustrating game, I must say. Probably as frustrated as I’ve been for a number of reasons,’’ Leppitsch said.

“They kicked 5.6 from free kicks. Whether they are there or not, I don’t know. It means you are second to the ball either way.

“That’s the game really, that number right there. The soft goals were extremely frustrating.

“There’s things that we are doing well but we are just shooting ourselves in the foot just a little at times … The positive is the effort’s there.’’

Leppitsch said for Brisbane to get as close as they did to North Melbourne with “five or six’’ players who were “average or above average’’ was a good effort but the Lions need more from their leadership group.

“It was a bit of a perfect storm for our leaders tonight … that will happen, they are not perfect. They are going to have bad games like everyone. Just because you are a leader doesn’t mean you are supposed to have 22 perfect games a year,’’ he said.

“But they’ve taken ownership of that and want to get better than that. We want them leading the way as they did last week. It’s important to get back on the bus there.’’

Lewis Taylor (22 touches and two goals), Pearce Hanley (24 possessions) and Dayne Zorko (24 touches and two goals) were Brisbane’s best.

— Greg Davis

NORTH Melbourne coach Brad Scott was reluctant to “individualise’’ after the tradesman-like 34-point win over a fumbling and bumbling Brisbane at the Gabba on Saturday night.

But the weight of Jarrad Waite’s best-on-ground performance left with him with little choice as the Kangaroos’ veterans handled the heat and an early Brisbane uprising to continue their perfect start to 2016.

Waite (five goals, six marks, five tackles and 23 possessions) was well supported by fellow veterans Daniel Wells (23 possessions and seven clearances) and Brent Harvey (two goals, 24 touches) along with Ben Brown (three goals) and Jack Ziebell (22 touches, four clearances and a goal).

Scott said Waite’s pressure was just as important as his return on the scoreboard as the Kangaroos trailed by four points at quarter-time but surged over the top of the home side.

“There are three very basic ways you can score in AFL footy. Scores from turnovers rank a clear number one. If you can pressure really well and your whole team can pressure really well, you get offensive opportunities,’’ he said.

“Waitey leads the charge in terms of our defensive pressure. When we’re on with that he often gets the direct rewards. He’s just been exceptional for us. He had a really good pre-season and he adds a different dimension to our team.

“I thought it was a very good team performance though, I thought we had a number of players in defence who stood up really well. Our midfield was solid and Wellsy and Jarrad played really well. Ben Brown had 15 possessions, kicked his three goals, he plays a really important role for us, and Drew Petrie competed really well again. Drew’s had an outstanding two weeks.

“It’s probably up to you guys to individualise a bit more, I’ll keep reverting it back to the fact we need all of them.

Scott said the club’s sports science department and two NAB Challenge matches played in stifling heat prepared the Kangas for the trip north.

“The conditions up here are really deceptive. I’m fortunate having experienced these conditions over a long period of time. When it’s warm, it might as well be wet,’’ he said.

“The sweat on the ball, the slippery nature of footy up here at this time of year means if you’re too cute with the ball and you turn it over, you’re in danger of being scored against. We were probably a bit cute early and Brisbane are a very good counterattacking team.

“Everyone knows they kicked over 100 points last week over in Perth, and if you make mistakes, they’re able to capitalise on that pretty well. I thought overall, we took out a lot of ways for them to score, and then we were the recipients of scoring from turnovers as well.’’

Scott Thompson (soreness) and Kayne Turner (hamstring) were late withdrawals and were replaced in the 22 by Ben Jacobs and Lachie Hansen.

Thompson is expected to be fit for next weekend’s clash with Melbourne.

Scott praised Jacob’s effort to restrict Lions vice-captain Daniel Rich to a career-low seven touches.

“Jacobs had late notice, he played on Rockliff last year and did a good job. Daniel Rich was really impressive last week and he’s a very, very good player. That job went a long way to helping us win,’’ he said.

— Greg Davis

Luke Beveridge congratulates Nick Riewoldt after the Doggies win. Picture: Getty

ST KILDA 36 DEF BY WESTERN BULLDOGS 93

WESTERN Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge says his team is well-placed to challenge reigning premier Hawthorn next weekend after continuing their Etihad Stadium hot streak against St Kilda.

For the second-straight week, the Dogs kept their opposition to only five goals, led by another sparkling performance from first-year full-back Marcus Adams.

Beveridge questioned whether another key defender had played their first two AFL games as well as Adams, after picking the 22-year-old as a mature-age player from the WAFL last year.

Beveridge said last night’s 57-point win over St Kilda helped prime the club to knock off the Hawks at Etihad Stadium next weekend.

“We couldn’t have started off any better to prepare and we will all go and watch the Hawks versus West Coast game tomorrow and take it all in,” Beveridge said.

“They’ve had had some changes in personnel since last year and they are going through their own challenges but they are still a great team, and like anyone, you are not sure where they are going to end up at the end of the year.

“But everyone expects the Hawks to be up there and they have been the benchmark for a long time, so we go into next week’s game treating it that way.”

The Dogs are shooting for their 12th-straight win at Etihad Stadium next weekend but Beveridge said their fast-paced game style stood up at the wider MCG as well.

“I think we only played two games there last year and we won one and lost one and we didn’t change what we do,” he said.

“I said during the week I think our game definitely transfers. The G is wider but it is not much longer so there is not a huge difference.

“I don’t know whether people think about the wind or the conditions being outside is a factor, but we are probably still mucking up enough offensive transitions when there is no wind at this place without worrying about the wind at the MCG.

“So we look forward to playing there. I think we play Melbourne in Round 8 is our first game at the MCG so we won’t change too much.”

- Jay Clark

DISAPPOINTMENT was the overriding factor for St Kilda coach Alan Richardson in the wake of Saturday night’s 57-point loss to the Western Bulldogs.

Richardson said his young team “hung in there” but was simply punished both inside and outside by a hungry and effective Bulldogs outfit.

“We hung in there, but to be honest it was on the back of some poor goalkicking by them,” he said post-match.

“Some of our stuff was OK.

“Some of our rebound against a pretty aggressive defensive team was reasonable. Some of our stuff on entry was really poor.

“We didn’t make the most of our opportunities, but we were beaten pretty comprehensively inside on the contest. That was disappointing.”

He said the Saints were “stripped” by the Bulldogs who laid just eight more tackles than his side, but made every one count.

“The (Saints) guys — their energy, their want and their understanding of what we were trying to do — was reasonable, though their ability to be really aggressive and stick it and make it work was disappointing,” he said.

Richardson admitted emerging forward Paddy McCartin “struggled” after missing the NAB Challenge with a hamstring injury, and said he could have had better delivery.

St Kilda faces Collingwood next week — a side Richardson said his men could take a lot from after its one-point win over Richmond on Friday night.

“They bounced back after a really disappointing week — it’s a good lesson for us that you can turn things around really quickly,” he said.

— Lauren Wood

FREMANTLE 100 DEF BY GOLD COAST SUNS 126

FREMANTLE coach Ross Lyon is confident he can dig his side out of its early-season rut, but admits he might need to throw their new centre-square tactics out the window.

Fremantle’s decision to implement a more attacking centre-square set-up has backfired badly in the opening two rounds.

The Suns were able to kick six goals from centre-square stoppages - a stat that clearly alarmed Lyon.

“It hurt us early last week and its clearly hurt us again,” Lyon said.

“We’ve chosen to go a certain way out of the middle - structure up that has certainly left our backline exposed and not coping, and our mids not coping.

“So we certainly have to look at that.

“It’s a bit of a rude awakening.” The Dockers face tough matches against West Coast and North Melbourne in the next two weeks, putting them in danger of slipping to 0-4 less than a year after winning the minor premiership. But Lyon isn’t panicking just yet.

“It’s not my job to execute people. That’s not what I’m about,” Lyon said.

“I’m about possibility, creating opportunity.

“We’re 0-2. I’ve been in bigger holes than this. We’ll work through.

“We won’t be intimidated into to what other people think. That’s not the way we roll.”

- AAP

GOLD COAST are riding high after posting impressive wins over Essendon and Fremantle in the opening two rounds of the new season.

And with games against strugglers Carlton and Brisbane to come in the next fortnight, Gold Coast have an excellent chance to improve their record to 4-0.

But coach Rodney Eade isn’t getting carried away just yet, especially after watching his side become decimated by injuries last year.

“We have to be mindful now that we don’t get comfortable,” Eade said.

“We can’t just think we can turn up and it’s going to happen.

- AAP

Originally published as What the coaches said: Paul Roos declares some Melbourne players were big-headed in loss to Essendon