PORT ADELAIDE assistant coach Jarrad Schofield chatted to SEN SA Breakfast program on Friday morning to discuss the club’s season opener against Gold Coast at Metricon Stadium on Saturday evening.
Here are the key takeaways from Schofield’s interview.
Schofield on the excitement heading into round 1:
“We have had a long, tough pre-season - as all clubs have - where we have worked on a lot of things.
“We’ve exposed a lot of players to new roles. We’ve expected more players to step up and improve themselves, and we feel like we’ve achieved that.
“Now we are looking forward to taking on the Gold Coast on the weekend.
Schofield on some unlucky players to miss selection against the Suns:
“There are a few boys there. Young Farrell and Mayes just to name a few
“Pete Ladhams is a tough one as well. It’s not ideal, but we’ve got a season to play. A different scheduling to the season we’ve been told.
“Definitely guys will be given opportunities who miss out this week, but they’re definitely knocking on the door.
Schofield on Charlie Dixon’s fitness:
“He was very close, and looking at the bigger picture we just didn’t want to risk Charlie.
“He got moving yesterday and just wasn’t quite 100 per cent, so we’ve taken the conservative approach and decided to leave him out.
“It’s a big loss, but someone else will step up. We are made up of 22 players not just one, even though he is an imposing figure, and he was in some really good form over the pre-season.
Schofield on the mixture of youth and experience in the forward half:
“There is some youth there, but we think we have some experience at ground level too.
“Motlop, Gray and Ebert and the likes going through there. Hopefully they can settle the nerves, especially for young Mitch Georgiades who is an exciting player.
“Going up there with no crowd might be the best medicine for him. He can just really go and play.
“It’s exciting for the young fellas to be our key targets, but we feel like we’ve got enough at ground level to hopefully kick a winning score.
Schofield on Port’s focus heading into round 1:
“We haven’t been focussing on anything besides Gold Coast.
“If you look at their form and statistics over the pre-season, they were the number one side in the competition. They were number one for time in forward half. Their contest work is at a really high level at the moment.
“I know the way I will be addressing it with my midfielders is to no underestimate these guys. Not for one minute are we taking these guys lightly.
“Over the last three years, they’ve won their first month of football. They are definitely up and about and a lot of energy.
Schofield on the trying to let the players build their own atmosphere:
“We haven’t been saying too much at training, so they could generate their own atmosphere and be on-field leaders even more so, without us having to instruct them.
“At the moment, we haven’t discussed at length where we will be coaching from during games.
“We don’t want to change too many things, there have already been enough changes to the game.
“We want to keep things pretty streamlined, and as it is, we will be leaving some staff behind due to the virus with the protocols the AFL have put in place.
