00:01Brad, other than two five-minute spells where there were some defensive lapses, there wasn't a lot in there, was there?
00:08There wasn't. I don't know if they're defensive lapses.
00:11Our left edge didn't have one person, doesn't resemble what it looked like.
00:16And it's not excuses, but they tried extremely hard.
00:19They're a dangerous team, and they attack really well.
00:22And we shut down probably more than we let in.
00:26But, you know, Lachie, Max, he's done a really good job there tonight.
00:30He was on the wing. He hasn't trained at all in the wing for not a session all year.
00:34So it was a last-minute change to the team with Lachie to have to put Max on the wing.
00:41You know, they still scored two quick tries in the second half there and had a bit of momentum.
00:45But we scrambled hard and fought well and made a couple of line breaks.
00:49It'd be nice if we just sort of execute a bit better on the back of them and turn them into points.
00:54But we had a fair bit of quality sitting in the grandstand tonight.
00:56And that's not an excuse. I was happy with the boys. Tried hard.
01:00Sounds like you took plenty of positives.
01:02Plenty. Especially the way we finished the game.
01:04You know, we could have put the cue in the rack and we could have started to think about next week.
01:09But we didn't. We got some good minutes into some of our middles.
01:13And, you know, I think that's evident with our crowd and our fans behind the post.
01:17Like they were cheering us right to the end because they were proud of, you know,
01:19the boys fighting hard to, you know, to the end of the game.
01:22Very good side.
01:2422-0 after, I think it was 47 minutes.
01:26It could have got quite nasty.
01:28It could have got some of the scramble at the end of the determination part and stuff.
01:32Yeah, and we screened really hard at the back end of the first half.
01:35And then we made that line break.
01:36And it would have been nice if you could turn that into a six.
01:38You know, like there's 12-6 at halftime.
01:40Just gives you a little bit of confidence.
01:43But, yeah, we just got a couple of system errors wrong in defence.
01:46But I think it's more about just lack of combinations more than anything else there.
01:52And one of them was off an error from a kick.
01:54Obviously, he's got a really nice try at the end.
01:58And Jack showed some good, I mean, you met him a couple of mistakes.
02:02And he showed some really good signs in there.
02:03Yeah, well, you can remember he's still young.
02:05He's still learning the game, you know, managing the team, you know.
02:07And, you know, it's tough for a right footer on that left side of the field.
02:12So it's – but he made the most of it.
02:15And, like I said, you know, that left edge, I'm happy with him.
02:17I know they conceded a couple of tries there.
02:19But we just threw them out there.
02:21And they worked really hard.
02:22And they didn't get beat on effort or physicality there.
02:24They just got beat on, you know, a couple of good players.
02:27And Gunn, I mean, it looked quite serious.
02:30Yeah, well, that's what they were concerned about.
02:32And then he's okay.
02:33So I'm thinking as long as no one trips over getting onto the bus,
02:38we're getting out of the injury-free and we get four back next week.
02:41So that's pretty pleasing.
02:42And, you know, we just talked then about we've worked really hard.
02:46We're so excited about getting a home final.
02:48We need to make the most of it.
02:49Because what's happened up to now, there's been lots of highs and good things.
02:52And there's been a couple of lows throughout a season.
02:54But there's more positives in our season than anything.
02:57And we need to focus on that and make the most of, you know,
03:00what we've worked to get a home final.
03:01Yeah, obviously, this is probably more of a question for the coming week.
03:05But fourth in the table, it's an improvement in four places.
03:09You'd be pretty happy with that.
03:11Well, I'm proud of the club, proud of the boys.
03:13You know, we've got our reserves team in the grand final tomorrow
03:16and then the next week, the kids.
03:18So it's a big turnaround.
03:20You know, there's been lots of contributions from the club.
03:23And I believe you, with the recruitment and the players that we've brought in,
03:27you know, I've made a difference.
03:30Seven guys are in there.
03:33You know, they've been picked for the England squad.
03:35So there's lots of positives.
03:37But it'd be really silly of us now to sit back and get too comfortable.
03:42We've got a big week ahead of us, a big game next week.
03:44And, you know, we need to make the most of the support that we're going to get there.
03:50That's right.
03:51Some bungled for it already, the final.
03:53Yeah, we're good to go.
03:55Yeah, like I went into the sheds.
03:58It could have been different if I walked into the sheds
04:00and we, you know, that last 25 minutes we turned our toes
04:03and we started to think about next week.
04:05But it's not the team that we've tried to be in our team identity.
04:08It hasn't been that all year.
04:09So that's what's got me, you know, pumped up about next week
04:16and plenty of confidence and plenty of belief.
04:18Just in terms of how the team's trapped into the playoffs,
04:21how confident are you that you're going to go in full tilt and ready to go?
04:24Do you feel ready to go?
04:25Yeah, no, we are.
04:26Like I said, that whole left edge will be different again.
04:30And over the last probably five weeks,
04:33I've had to chop and change a lot of positions,
04:35move blokes around on the field.
04:37So it's been quite disruptive.
04:38And to be fair to the boys, no one's complained
04:41and they've just got on with it and have to do what's best for the team.
04:44So hopefully we can, you know, come this weekend outside of Micah,
04:48we should be close to our best team.
04:49I believe Cameron Smith, you know,
04:50we're two guys that won't play, obviously.
04:53But outside of that, we've got everyone available.
04:55Ashy's got two of them.
04:56Yeah.
04:57How big a boost is it to Alashin?
04:59He knows his game so well.
05:02Yeah, and his leadership.
05:03I think he's really grown there this year.
05:05He's got some class too, hasn't he?
05:09You know, like sometimes in those tight games and it's a bit of an arm wrestle,
05:13you need one of your, you know, a bit of class or quality
05:16just to step up and break the game map
05:18and, you know, come up with a flick pass
05:20or a little grubber in behind him or an offload or, you know, a line break.
05:25He's the sort of guy that can come up with that for you.
05:26How well has he done to get back?
05:29Yeah, extremely well, you know.
05:32Probably didn't think it was possible,
05:33but our physios and, you know,
05:35the high-performance guys have done a really good job to get him right.
05:38But Ash has had to buy into it and push himself
05:41to get himself right as well.
05:42It just shows you, you know, the want and the desire from him.
05:44When you came to the club, the game's coming about
05:48what you were seeking to be in.
05:51Does it feel like you're getting to the point of hitting the peak
05:57of getting back to where you think Leeds are now?
06:01I don't think we're, you know, I feel like, well,
06:03we need to be better again next year,
06:05but we're certainly, we're right in this competition right now.
06:08You know, there's six teams that are still alive
06:11and every one of those teams will think they're a good chance
06:13and it's going to come down to who plays the best,
06:16you know, for that 80 minutes because, you know,
06:19all the teams that are in and around us,
06:21we've beaten every one of them.
06:24And, you know, we've been beaten by them in return as well.
06:26So, it just shows any team can win this comp from here.
06:28That's my view.
06:29Just one quick question on Saints.
06:31You've had a couple of battles.
06:32I mean, they've come out on top in three of the four.
06:34How much are you looking forward to getting to grips with them
06:37and maybe even try?
06:39Right, certainly the last one,
06:40was that a really frustrating game against them?
06:42Yeah, we had a couple of frustrating games against them.
06:45But, you know, like,
06:47we need to not worry about too much about the past now.
06:50That's what we talked about in the Sheds.
06:5227 rounds, that's gone.
06:53It only matters now.
06:54You're only going to get remembered for what happens this week
06:56and then it's a week at a time.
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