North Ballarat Roosters coach Marc Greig has asked his players for a nothing-to-lose attitude from the opening minute of the game against Essendon at Windy Hill on Saturday.
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Greig said the team’s ability to nail a few goals early and establish a lead in the opening half could be the difference between a win or a loss, with mindset critical.
“While we have had a couple of heavy losses, in two out of our last three games we’ve actually been in the mix and we could have won,” Greig said.
“We need to make the most of our opportunities in the first and second quarters, we’ve got to start kicking a few more goals early in games to put on some scoreboard pressure.
“The boys have been playing some reasonable football but we haven’t rewarded ourselves.”
Greig is looking for fast-moving football, competitiveness and risk-taking play rather than the sluggish start that can sometimes eventuate after a bye.
He said the ruck and midfield areas would be critical.
“Against Werribee, we were minus 60 in the hit outs, which is a massive deficit, but we were only minus six or seven in clearances so our midfielders had a really good day,” Greig said.
“…we’ve come up with some ideas and strategies to negate the effectiveness of their (Essendon’s) hit outs.”
