Q – Mark you have had some time to reflect on the final result from season 2001 - how disappointed were you in the wash up with what happened?
A – Terribly disappointed knowing how much hard work had gone into the year trying to achieve back to back titles – we were under enormous pressure. I am concerned that the group takes the loss like they should. We have just had success – if we had not had success in the last 20 years I know the players would have taken it really harshly. The coaching staff needs to make sure the players take the loss as if they have never had a premiership in the last 20 years.
Personally, that is the first time as a coach that I have been involved in a losing Grand Final. As a player, in 1990 we lost to Collingwood, I vowed never to go through that again as a player. Now hopefully I won’t go through that again as an assistant coach.
Q – What crossed your mind immediately after the match – was that was an opportunity gone missing or was it Brisbane are a good team.
A – I was not disappointed in the players at all. They gave it whatever they had. What I mean by that is they were basically spent at half time. It was a combination of things – a combination of injuries, a combination of two weeks in the heat, a combination of the home and away series. Every side that we played in 2001, physically and mentally, everything was thrown at us. In the end we were exhausted, not that that is an excuse.
As far as fitness and training goes, in the end everything just took its toll. I guess we knew we were in trouble after half time when we had that six minutes of play in the third quarter and we didn’t convert. So at the end of the day, that last quarter Brisbane could have run away with the game, but to our players credit they stayed in touch. In the end we were beaten by four goals but it doesn’t matter if it is four goals or two points – it is how we redeem ourselves now that is of up most importance.
Q – What was the most positive thing to come out of season 2001 from your point of view?
A – The players coming into the group through injury and through good form in the seconds. The development of our second and third year players that is always exciting. The concern is that our draftees last year – we didn’t get a big amount of games out of those particular players so we are hoping for big things out of those players. We have lost a lot of experience from our list this year with retirement and trades. One of the other big positives was it was always an exciting challenge to see how the group operated and how teams coming at them – being reining premierships – and how they handled that.
Individually, the way Matthew Lloyd conducted himself after winning the goal kicking award the year before and to do it again – was a sensational effort. He didn’t get many easy goals. The Jason Johnsons and these sorts of players who had to really lift in the mid-field when we had a lot of injuries. I thought a really good sign for us was that in the finals there were a few players that really stood up – Soloman, Alessio and these sorts of players. What they need to do now is convert that into consistent home and away form and take that into the finals. I thought Wellman, the way he played for us was sensational and I had an utmost importance for the team. The way Dustin Fletcher played in the last month of the season with basically a broken leg – that is a lot of courage and character and hopefully that reflects on the group.
