PORT ADELAIDE assistant coach Tyson Goldsack has backed the club’s depth to cover any suspension to defender Dan Houston.
Houston has been sent directly to the AFL tribunal for the bump on Adelaide’s Izak Rankine in Saturday night’s Showdown win over the Crows.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday, defensive coach Goldsack said the club continued to support Houston, but also had options to replace him in the backline.
Goldsack also discussed howe well the defence has been functioning in recent weeks, how ruck Jordon Sweet is feeling after hurting his elbow in the game, and how the side will prepare to face Fremantle this weekend, knowing the Dockers may need to win to secure a spot in the finals.
Tyson Goldsack on Dan Houston after the defender was sent directly to the tribunal for his bump on Adelaide’s Izak Rankine:
“He's had the day off today just to gather himself a bit. He's got the tribunal… obviously so he’s preparing for that. I don't know if it's normal (to have a day off), but we felt he needed it. I won’t say that, he's not the victim. We get that, but we're here to look after Dan. We hope that Izak's okay. We know that Dan has reached out to him to make sure he's okay, and now it's up to us as a club to look after Dan and get him through the tribunal, and what goes from there.
“You just have to take it for what it is. It's something that happened, that didn't set out to happen, that wasn't the intention by any stretch. You’ve got to take into consideration that the game is so tough to play, it’s so so quick, and decisions that get made in a split second that can be quite costly and hurtful to the opposition. If you're on the other side, then that's got to take a toll. And we thought a day off today… and he'll kind of recover physically and mentally. Take a breath, and then be back in tomorrow to support his teammates, and they'll be here to support him.”
Tyson Goldsack on who might replace Houston in the backline in his absence:
“We can still play another player. To the caliber of Dan Houston, they're very hard to find, but we have players that are ready to play, so we'll pick them and we'll just set them up accordingly, and then go from there. Ryan Burton was one that went down back (on the weekend). He started as a forward but has played a lot of time as a defender most of his career, so he can fill that role. Josh Sinn is back moving around and playing some okay footy, so he'll be in the mix, Dyl Williams has played some games this year, so there's players that are there waiting for their chance.”
Tyson Goldsack on how the backline is performing since Round 16:
“I think we tidied up a few things defensively around the mid-year, specifically just after the Brisbane game, and I think the response from the team has been great. We've really tapped into our defensive structures and how we defend games. I think our second halves are ahead of our first halves for defensive work. We've been able to shut the games down when we needed to, and then still put scores on the board, which is a real positive for us.”
Tyson Goldsack on how Jordon Sweet is after hurting his elbow on the weekend:
“He looks alright. I think he's pretty happy with his own work - carries on a bit. But no, he's a bit sore. He had a great game for us. We know Reilly O'Brien has given us some challenges over the years, so I thought he battled well with him. We'll just let him recover for next couple of days. But he looks okay to go.
“He's been really good, really good for a guy that was battling for a spot with Ivan, then got his chance, and he's taken it now, and you can see week by week, he's just growing in confidence, doing what we need him to do, keeping things fairly basic, and it's just getting his job done against the other big man on the other team.”
Tyson Goldsack on the side’s inaccuracy in the Showdown:
“The forward line, you have to look at the kicks themselves and the shots that we had. I think Adelaide did a great job pressuring us and pressuring those kicks so they weren't easy shots on goal. Sometimes you've done a mountain of work before you get your shot so all the things that contribute to not kicking straight were there, but then we had to steady the ship and kick on late in the game, which was really good for our team to take confidence in.”
Tyson Goldsack on how to prepare for a Fremantle side that needs to win to play finals:
“We played Melbourne and they were they were hungry. We played Adelaide and they were hungry to win, whether it's to play finals or just to knock us off. The hunger was certainly there. He saw the game was played in that fashion, and like a final so they've definitely beenthere, and Freo will be the same. We've just said we just want to play our brand of footy. We want to play a certain way, regardless of who it is going to be (against). Some teams that play fast, sometimes that play slow, some that really want to win and some that maybe have given up on the season a little bit. But for us, we just want to want to prepare the same way. We want to turn up and perform the same way, and we think that'll lead us into a good spot.”
Tyson Goldsack on how Willie Rioli is doing following online racist abuse directed towards him:
“I haven't spoken to him personally today. It's not a great look. As a society it's not a great look. Regardless of the supporter base that it comes from, it's just a society thing that you just don't need that. (There’s) just no, no place for it in life, let alone football.”
