Chad Warner

all righty one of the more exciting conclusions to a game we've seen this season Friday night the Sydney Swans came from Oblivion I reckon on the back of huge last quarter from Isaac Kenny and the M are about to speak to Chad Warner to overhaul Collingwood and uh just to get themselves back on track after a few hiccups over the previous few weeks Chad joins us now on Drive good afternoon Chad good day how you going chatty pleasure to have you joining us again on Tuesday drive now we do have to start with that final quarter on on Friday night you were four goals down at three quarter time and and Midway through that final turn five goals down and and the ship from from where we were sitting and watching the game looked to have sailed what was the messaging like from horse at the final break to be able to pull it out of the fire yeah I mean it was um I mean yeah it was pretty interesting that last one we um he kind of just went back to telling us to have a smile on their face and um I guess take the game on and leave nothing out there and leave no stone on turns that's what we kind of went back to um was just having fun with our footy uh you certainly did in that last quarter what about the just the the atmosphere at the ground itself it must have been an electric atmosphere in one of the more exciting games you've been a part of yeah it was crazy the crowd was just so loud and um obviously it was a bit different to the last couple weeks so we did really well to turn that around and um yeah the atmosphere at the SG I think we had 37,000 um on Friday night which helped us massively did you and Isaac just turn to each other sort of one stage in that last quarter and be like let's go now it's time let's put the foot down yeah I mean he was just huge wasn't he um it was obiously nice to I guess kick back like we did um but yeah he's just such a competitor and um he's hard to stop especially when he's gone forward um again those matchups like he did as well Chad you you'd found the footy only 10 times deep into that third term on Friday night your own form I know hasn't been where you would have wanted it to be in the weeks leading into that game what was I guess running through your head in being able to to get yourself up to play the final quarter you did and be able to turn it around and step up when your team needed you too yeah I think I just went back to um the basics and I know it sounds pretty pretty clear sh but back to I guess the process um and what was working I guess up until this last kind of month of footy um and that was I guess yeah just KN getting ahead of ourselves and for me to be honest it was just playing like I said before playing with a massive smile on our face and um I guess relishing the opportunity that we have um and I think all of us boys did really well not to panic um I gu halfway through that last quarter and I think just staying connected with my teammates um and not losing them was the thing that helped me certainly the case he after a performance like the week prior against Port Adela such an outly despite the fact I guess the swans form hadn't been up to scratch the the month before that performance against Port was was a big outlier throughout the week is it are you able to keep it calm and composed and just go through your processes as you normally would or after a performance like that are there a few more I guess alarm bells ringing yeah well I guess you guys probably saw we had um Fair bit time away from the club which obviously um that I guess changed we um definitely needed that I think we all head down to the beach and um just caught up as a group nothing really to do with footy at all we kind of just sat around and just enjoyed each other's company to be honest um played played the waves for a little bit and um yeah kind of had a bit of a rest which I think we all needed to be honest like I saying uh before the season is very long um and I think the thing you have to keep doing is changing um and evolving even when you are playing well could you I guess see that evolving when when things did go south for a period there Chad because I know James robottom did an interview in the leading to last week off the back of that performance against port adelay and and really touched on the fact that that physical and mental exhaustion had played a big role in that drop off do are those comments that you would agree with and was that something that you were seeing evolve over that period at the time yeah definitely I mean obviously every team um is going to have fatigue set in um so I guess it's not really an excuse but I think the main thing um that we weren't doing was I guess saying to what we know was best which um was letting letting ourselves play and I think the last Yeah couple bad month or so we were too worried about what the opposition were going to throw up and um I guess didn't do as much confidence in our in our own ability to be honest I think we just kind of yeah like I said we too worried about what they were going to do and we changed that on Friday the almost ridiculous level of performance your Midfield group has put up for much of the Season yourself Isaac Errol I guess Prim I has seemed to switch the way teams have started to approach playing you a bit more um I guess defensive uh certainly negating tactics at times as opposed to playing more head-to-head earlier in the season is that something you've noticed and has it taken a little while to adapt to tactics from opposing midfielders yeah 100% I think the a lot of game plans did change when we'd go up against them I think the main thing that was happening um I guess after the buy was teams are taking a lot more uncontested marks and just trying to hold the ball and possess the ball a lot which didn't allow us to pressure um as much and kind of move around us um and not go down the line as much and I think yeah like you said that's something we had to adapt to a lot especially with all us with um James especially James robon who helps us so much when the ball is on the ground when he's tackling and pressuring um if they don't give us that opportunity it's kind of hard to do that it's a great point and and when you are going as well as you were teams are are in that position to be able to to study every inch of your your game style and your processes when you are out there to be able to combat that and we saw some real close checking from steel side bottom with Errol Gordon there on Friday night who who did a a great job in quelling his influence for as long as he could and knowing how vocal and open that Errol can be Chad with his feedback and getting around and connecting with his teammates at times when when the shoe is on the other foot was that something that you guys as a Midfield group were made aware of as it unfolded in that game because while it might not be your night Errol certainly showed it can certainly be your moment yeah 100% I think he um he's a classic example of um I guess a lot of lessons that young players and that can learn in games and he yeah like you said we all did notice and um I guess there were stages that maybe us teammates could probably have helped him out a little bit more um but he was a little bit frustrated at the start which um as everyone probably would be I've been in those positions as well before um but the main thing that he did was kind of get it off his chest um and just say how he was feeling um that he wasn't up um up to his best and kind of a bit frustrated and um I think ramp actually spoke to him and just said um look if this is a if this is a grand final um I guess what would you be doing how would you be helping your teammate um and that kind of helped us from there he kind of looked to just block and do whatever he could to help the team from there and funny funnily enough the C bus came around how important has it been to have a player like James Ro bottom off that injury he had for a few weeks back in the side because with with the role that he plays it seems he allows players like yourself and and ISAC Heeney to to really get creative and aggressive and and play with that freedom that held you in in such good stead over the first three months of the year yeah I mean he's massive I think at the start of the year um talked about how much he has an influence on my game and how much I think on the team as well and um obviously we he was missing for a couple of those games um in the last month or so but his pressure around the ball was just crazy and the hit and um hardness that he has like you said it helps myself and Isaac so much and there's a couple Clips um that we looked at yesterday in the review um that just shows exactly what he does when myself or Isaac needed to push forward and um I guess try and test the opposition out he was there covering us um taking out uh Oppo players which is just massive cross what were the key takeaways from the review Chad leading into I guess not only moving on from the weekend's game but looking ahead to W and in this week because while it wasn't a surprise to see it was a real arm wrestle it was certainly two teams doing better with plenty on the line in the Contex in the context of their respective Seasons yeah I think the main thing we actually reviewed um yesterday we'll probably do a bit more tomorrow um but but the main thing we reviewed was um the last quarter to be honest and I think obviously uh the last couple off few sorry few months or so um reviews haven't been the most positive thing so we kind of just went back to um I guess showing what we did well yesterday and how connected all of our teammates were I think when times were a bit tough in that last quarter you could see everyone still talking to each other still making sure um everyone was I guess doing the right thing um for the and for themselves and I think we just also showed a lot of contests that we won which hadn't been getting done in the past as in this week under the roof chat a team you've had some success coming up against over your last few encounters but there's been some close games in there as well another really good challenge as we head into the business end of the year yeah I mean I can't wait for it it's going to be a massive game again Friday night this in the pretty exciting when they're on too and they've got plenty to play for this week as well and yeah I guess so have we um another game to try and stay on top of the ladder but um yeah they're going to be another challenge as well they've got some great bow users like Zack Merritt through the middle there who's having an amazing season so um yeah we have to put a lot lot of work into them Reon I see you talk about exciting teams uh you are absolutely one of those exemplified in that incredible last quarter on Friday night and R as we said every team AFL you don't have 24 rounds of AFL action this uh modern football and not have a down period the swans are back they'll rebound they'll be absolutely one of the teams to beat in September and Chad just before we we let you go I was hoping I could get a word from you on on Dean Cox who has officially pulled himself out of the race of the vacant West Coast Job the the riding on the wall and understanding around the AFL Community is that he will eventually take over from horse when he does step aside whenever that may be can you give us some insight into the time that you've spent working with Dean the the kind of coach that he is and and how successful you could see him being as a senior coach if he were to to eventually take over yeah I mean he's um yeah I think the he would have been the perfect man for the job but yeah he's decided to stay here which is great um he's such a competitor um you saw that when in his playing career and he's just such a great fellow as well has so much care and passion for the players and it has especially for me as well um obviously coming from wa too he's been a massive influence on I guess more Midfield and um yeah the player I am today and he just like I said before he has so much passion for the game he's actually really really smart um as a footballer too which is weird to think as as a Rockman but um he's yeah he's really passionate about the game and um yeah I think that's the direction he'd like to go in Chad thank you so much for giving us a bit of your time yet again here on Drive you're so good with your time you playing absolutely fantastic Football let's hope it continues this weekend against the bombers best of luck and best of luck headed towards the business end of the season in September thanks again perfect thank you very much have a good week boys thanks CH Chad Warner joining us on