Brad Scott’s eyes are firmly set on improvement for the Bombers’ next test.
Despite a disappointing 69-point loss to Port Adelaide during Gather Round, Scott’s upholding confidence in his playing group to respond strongly against the Bulldogs this Friday night in a big clash at Marvel Stadium.
While the review from last week’s defeat highlighted the Power’s centre clearance dominance on the night, Scott is firm on his midfield’s ability to get back to what’s been working for them in the early stages of the season.
“I’ve always been a firm believer that your wins confirm the things you’re doing well and the losses you tend to learn a lot more from,” Scott said.
“We had a lot of things that have been going well for us at the start of the year and ironically they’re the things that let us down on Friday night. My comments post-game probably stood up to review (that) we were just very disappointed with some of our stoppage work, particularly our centre bounce work, and that fed into other parts of the game.
“We’ve got a very good opportunity against a very good midfield this Friday night to atone for that.”
While the Dons are set to regain some grunt with Sam Durham back in the selection mix after missing last week to concussion, the loss of Archie Perkins to a hamstring injury will also open the door for some different looks in the midfield group.
The challenge of finding the right mix in the centre is at the forefront for Scott, who’s excited by the proving ground presented against a strong Bulldogs outfit.
“We’ve got players in the midfield that are going to be up for the challenge and looking to respond from a below-par performance, particularly around stoppage,” Scott said.
“The week before we were talking about some really dominant inside big-bodied midfielders doing the job, so it’s going to ebb and flow and we’ve got to continue to improve our midfield depth.
“It’s certainly been tested at the moment against some good teams, but we’ll keep working away at it. We’ve got full confidence in the group that we’ve got.
“It’s going to be a really big challenge for our guys, but when you have a sub-par performance in that part of the game, I think it’s a real opportunity to come up against quality opposition and take them on. We get that chance on Friday night and we’re looking forward to it.”
While the Bombers manage the injury recoveries of key players such as Perkins and defender Jordan Ridley, the pending returns of Matt Guelfi and Dylan Shiel are also set to create selection flexibility in the coming weeks.
In a competition that continues to get more even, preparation is key for Scott on all fronts, especially as he weighs up his options for Friday night’s challenge.
“We’ve got to have an attitude that (with the injuries) we can prevent, we’ve got to make sure we’re turning over every stone to get everything right in the preparation,” Scott said.
“We’ve built some flexibility into our back half and we’ll have to look at all those options (for selection this week). We’re sitting here on Tuesday before we play Friday, we’ve got a main session to get through and we’ll assess all those things.
“There’s challenges everywhere you look this Friday night, and we’ll make sure we’re up for it.”
