The Colonel
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JASON TAYLOR POST MATCH MEDIA CONFERENCE - ROUND 25
27 August 2006
Q) HAS THE BUBBLE BURST OR DID YOU JUST LOSE A GAME OF FOOTBALL?
A) We played against a team that played really well today. You guys have been the ones talking about the bubble. We have just been playing one game at a time. Today we didnt play so well and the opposition were really good.
Q) DID YOU THINK THEY PLAYED A MORE PHYSICAL GAME BECAUSE YOU HAD A LOT OF FORWARDS OUT?
A) I think thats just how they play their games. Thats their style. That first half reminded me a lot of their first half against the Melbourne Storm. They were really strong in the forwards and got a couple of tries in that game, and the Storm only won the game late in the second half with some really good footy. We probably had some chances in the second half today but to be honest we probably missed our chances in the first half, we needed to have some points on the board in the first half I thought. The things that we have been doing well in the past few weeks we did not execute so well today.
Q) HOW IS JEREMY SMITH?
A) He has a fracture we think to a bone in his hand. That contributed a little bit. His hand was really sore for the last 20 minutes of the first half and a few passes went to ground at crucial times when we were at their line. I am not necessarily saying we needed to score tries in that first half, but a couple of times when we got down on their line, we just didnt put any pressure on due to some passes that went to ground. There were some contributing factors to that. Playing the second half without Jeremy meant that we had players all over the place at various stages trying to find some combination. I wanted to keep PJ Marsh at dummy half because he is dangerous there, Mark Riddell was at five eighth, John Morris was at half, and we moved them around a bit after that.
Q) HOW FAR IS TIM SMITH AWAY?
A) He is getting close thats for sure.
Q) WILL HE PLAY NEXT WEEK?
A) I dont know.
Q) JT HOW HARD IS IT FOR YOU NOW WITH A FIVE GAME TURNAROUND KNOWING YOU HAVE TO WIN TO AVOID MELBOURNE?
A) The top 8 for us, as I have been saying to the boys all along was a bit of a myth. We were only there on for and against, and unless we won every game until the end, we werent going to stay there. A long time ago, we talked about giving ourselves a great shot to make the semis and enjoying our footy until the end of the year and making sure the season didnt fizzle out. Now you guys want us to be disappointed, and I dont mean that disrespectfully, but you are saying are you disappointed well, we are in the 8 and we are going to rip right into it and enjoy what weve got between now and however far we can get. How we react to that loss is what matters. What we do from here is a result of how we react to that. The boys understand that. Moping around about a loss is not going to help us at all. But we are there. There are a lot of teams that will swap with us, Ill bet.
Q) HOW YOU REACT PERSONALLY IS IMPORTANT TOO?
A) Early on when we had a few losses I was acutely aware that how I reacted after a loss was the most important thing. If I was in there kicking the garbage can and getting down on everybody then that was going to rub the boys the wrong way. How I respond is tremendously important.
Q) SO IT IS A MATTER OF NOT GETTING TOO CUT UP ABOUT IT?
A) Definitely. I havent been doing cartwheels for the past 9 weeks so I am not going to be banging my head against the wall this week.
Q) A LOT OF PEOPLE SAID MELBOURNE NEEDED A LOSS. DID YOU GUYS APPORACH IT THAT WAY AS WELL THAT A LOSS WOULD NOT BE THAT BAD?
A) Melbourne needed a loss because they were Minor Premiers by a long way and a loss wasnt going to hurt them. Why would you NEED a loss when a loss took you from fourth to seventh?
27 August 2006
Q) HAS THE BUBBLE BURST OR DID YOU JUST LOSE A GAME OF FOOTBALL?
A) We played against a team that played really well today. You guys have been the ones talking about the bubble. We have just been playing one game at a time. Today we didnt play so well and the opposition were really good.
Q) DID YOU THINK THEY PLAYED A MORE PHYSICAL GAME BECAUSE YOU HAD A LOT OF FORWARDS OUT?
A) I think thats just how they play their games. Thats their style. That first half reminded me a lot of their first half against the Melbourne Storm. They were really strong in the forwards and got a couple of tries in that game, and the Storm only won the game late in the second half with some really good footy. We probably had some chances in the second half today but to be honest we probably missed our chances in the first half, we needed to have some points on the board in the first half I thought. The things that we have been doing well in the past few weeks we did not execute so well today.
Q) HOW IS JEREMY SMITH?
A) He has a fracture we think to a bone in his hand. That contributed a little bit. His hand was really sore for the last 20 minutes of the first half and a few passes went to ground at crucial times when we were at their line. I am not necessarily saying we needed to score tries in that first half, but a couple of times when we got down on their line, we just didnt put any pressure on due to some passes that went to ground. There were some contributing factors to that. Playing the second half without Jeremy meant that we had players all over the place at various stages trying to find some combination. I wanted to keep PJ Marsh at dummy half because he is dangerous there, Mark Riddell was at five eighth, John Morris was at half, and we moved them around a bit after that.
Q) HOW FAR IS TIM SMITH AWAY?
A) He is getting close thats for sure.
Q) WILL HE PLAY NEXT WEEK?
A) I dont know.
Q) JT HOW HARD IS IT FOR YOU NOW WITH A FIVE GAME TURNAROUND KNOWING YOU HAVE TO WIN TO AVOID MELBOURNE?
A) The top 8 for us, as I have been saying to the boys all along was a bit of a myth. We were only there on for and against, and unless we won every game until the end, we werent going to stay there. A long time ago, we talked about giving ourselves a great shot to make the semis and enjoying our footy until the end of the year and making sure the season didnt fizzle out. Now you guys want us to be disappointed, and I dont mean that disrespectfully, but you are saying are you disappointed well, we are in the 8 and we are going to rip right into it and enjoy what weve got between now and however far we can get. How we react to that loss is what matters. What we do from here is a result of how we react to that. The boys understand that. Moping around about a loss is not going to help us at all. But we are there. There are a lot of teams that will swap with us, Ill bet.
Q) HOW YOU REACT PERSONALLY IS IMPORTANT TOO?
A) Early on when we had a few losses I was acutely aware that how I reacted after a loss was the most important thing. If I was in there kicking the garbage can and getting down on everybody then that was going to rub the boys the wrong way. How I respond is tremendously important.
Q) SO IT IS A MATTER OF NOT GETTING TOO CUT UP ABOUT IT?
A) Definitely. I havent been doing cartwheels for the past 9 weeks so I am not going to be banging my head against the wall this week.
Q) A LOT OF PEOPLE SAID MELBOURNE NEEDED A LOSS. DID YOU GUYS APPORACH IT THAT WAY AS WELL THAT A LOSS WOULD NOT BE THAT BAD?
A) Melbourne needed a loss because they were Minor Premiers by a long way and a loss wasnt going to hurt them. Why would you NEED a loss when a loss took you from fourth to seventh?
:crazy:
