BILL GETS GRILLED – BILL MONAGHAN ROUND 3 Q & A

WEST Perth's longest-serving coach Bill Monaghan talks following Saturday's narrow loss to Subiaco at HBF Arena and looks ahead to this Saturday's clash with South Fremantle at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

QUESTION: Worked hard but just couldn’t get over Subiaco in the finish?
ANSWER: I thought our first half, especially when we were challenged halfway through the second quarter when they kicked a couple clear, was good when we fought back well. But we just weren’t able to match them in the third quarter. All the statistics that we were pretty happy with at half-time like contested possessions, clearances and inside 50s swung in their favour. In the end it was more of a case of they just wore us down, but the players kept coming right to the end. A couple of better choices with ball in hand and some better execution might have changed the result.

Q: You kept Liam Ryan in check, but Ben Sokol got away from you in the second half?
A: We had a clear match for Kody with Liam Ryan. He got out the back once and there was a handover when he beat Blake Wilhelm in a marking contest and in the second time much to my frustration Kody was on the bench and when Liam came on we weren’t quick enough to change the match up. Kody was outstanding on him. But Sokol had a real hot patch for a while there in the third quarter and unfortunately we held one down but someone else popped up so that was disappointing.

Q: Trent Manzone, Kris Shannon and Corey Chalmers are among the players enjoying their increased responsibility?
A: Kris Shannon probably played the best game of senior footy I've seen him play. He was clean with his hands and kicked the ball really well so I doubt he has played any better than that. Corey looked lively and again just with Blacky being out of the side and Steve Potente not being up forward, we used Corey through the middle a little bit and we missed his speed and goal sense and smarts up forward. Trent found a fair bit of the ball and there was a couple of kicks and patches where I was frustrated with his decision-making, but overall he was fantastic.

Q: Good effort up forward from Tyler Keitel to kick four goals?
A: Our forward-line is a work in progress and we think that's got some significant improvement. We have worked all pre-season on having Joe Morrow there and he's out for an extended period of time now, but Lourey kicked three last week and Tyler four this week. I think there's upside there and Tyler probably missed a couple of others he should have kicked so he easily could have had five or six. We just need to keep leading at the ball carrier and be a little bit better with our body positioning, but our forwards have shown in the two games that we are capable of scoring. We just need to be a little bit more consistent with our efforts.

Q: Disappointed you didn’t have Aaron Black due to suspension?
A: Blacky is probably more disappointed than anyone else and we've all spoken to him about it. He knows he let the side down so I don’t need to dig in any further. We would have loved to have him out there, but Subiaco would have loved to have Halligan, Hancock and guys like that. You deal with who's out there but it's a game where we went in a little shy in terms of outside run and Blacky would have helped us there. The good news is he will be fresh for next week.

Q: Who comes in the mix now to play this week?
A: Both the Lynch boys were unlucky last week not to come into the final team so they'll be around the mark again. We are lucky to have Hutchison and Riddoch play twos and even though they are a little way off, they'll come in at some point. Then we have Black, Munns and Potente who we all think should be fit this week.

Q: Thoughts on taking on South Fremantle this Saturday?
A: It doesn’t get any easier for us. Most people after Round 1 had them as the best side in the competition, they had a hiccup last week and bounced back this week. It's always tough against South, they've got a lot of talent but like always we think if we bring our A-grade game we'll be a chance to win. We just have to probably be a bit better with ball in hand.