Blues coach Michael Voss spoke to the media post game.
How do you process that result?
I felt like ... [We lost] composure different times of the game. Up until now, our best is pretty good but we do seem to be straying from us more than we would like. It is little pockets and windows for the opposition to walk through – we are inviting them into the game. That is not giving enough credit to the opposition because you still have to get that done. I would like to think they know I appreciate what it takes [to be] in a position to be able to step up. [In the] second quarter, we gave two D50 [defensive-50] stoppage goals against ... [there’s something in] the detail of that and being able to stick with what we do, our method, how we want to defend that part of the ground.
In the third quarter, [we were] just enabling their marks and [they were] getting territory really easy on the ground. We weren’t able to take that off them. Through the third quarter ... inside-50 entry was off and we fuelled the game and invited them back in.
We didn’t have the composure, giving away eight free kicks in the last quarter. [We] just have to get better. The consistency, and what we need to be able to play, it is not where we want it.
I could spend a lot of time on the numbers, but it is not going to matter because the numbers actually stack up OK. It is the small moments that is enabling the opposition to get back into the game. It has been on our boot, and we haven’t been able to finish the deal so we have to own that.
Is that the third game in a row where composure has been an issue in the final quarter?
That is fair. We have to find a way through that. So, we will go back, have a look at it – some people will say, ‘Are you not running out games?’ Maybe that is part of it. Maybe we should factor that in.
If we had better moments to be able to control the ball, we would have found ourselves on the different side of the ledger. That is something we will have to look at and see if we can, in the fourth quarter, do that better.
What is going on in the second half?
A lot of that is inefficiency – a lot of points attached to that in the first half. Today, varying reasons, but ultimately the Bulldogs were able to step up their game, owned the ball more than we would like. In the last quarter we were unable to finish the way we wanted to. We will keep persisting through that, keep looking for those moments and how we get better, but a simple thing like being able or not able to give away eight free kicks – that is not running capacity, that is showing care in the contest. You can be frustrated by it, but the reality is they probably were there without looking at them in any detail. If we don’t accept it, we won’t get better. We have to find ways to go and do that.
Is it a panicking, or a pressure thing?
All I can do is look back at the vision and look at it and see the moments and show the moments where we could have done better. That is how we defend better, or what we needed to do with the ball in hand.
(Voss also said he didn’t know if Patrick Cripps had an injury concern. He said they hoped Zac Williams had a minor calf injury but he hasn’t confirmed that with the medical teams)
