blues go fourth

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72 Herald Sun, Monday, September 19, 2011 heraldsun.com.au + + + +       F       B       1       2       3       C       M       Y       K       D       H       S       1       9          S       E       P          2       0       1       1       P       A       G       E        7         2       F       I       R       S       T BREAKING NEWS I LATEST SCORES heraldsun.com.au AFL SUPERFOOTY.COM.AU OFFICIAL STATISTICS (s) - starting sub (r) - subbed off EFF%-% ofdisposalseffectiv e CON.POSS-ContestedPossesions UNC.POSS-UncontestedPossesi ons CLEARANCE-Clear ballfromstoppage PRES.ACTS-Implied& physicalpressure SCOREINV-Scoringchainsinvolvedin TOG%-% Timeongrou nd TOT-Match total AV-Average DISPOSALS FREES SCORE RANKING 1 2 3 4 T K      I       C      K       S      H       /      B      A      L      L       S      E      F      F      %       M       A       R       K       S       C       O       N   .       P       O       S       S       U       N       C   .       P       O       S       S       C       L       E       A       R       A       N       C       E       S       C       L       A       N       G       E       R       S F A T      A       C      K      L      E       S       P       R       E       S   .       A       C       T       S G B A       S       S      I       S      T       S       S       C       O      R      E      I      N      V      T       O       G      % TOT AV MUSTKNOW HIT OUTS ( Adv%) FREES CON. MARKS INSIDE50s FORWARD 50 DEF.50 MID FOR.50 MARKSI50 TACKLESI50 %GOALONCEI50 DISPOSALS FREES SCORE RANKING 1 2 3 4 T K      I       C      K       S      H       /      B      A      L      L       S      E      F      F      %       M       A       R       K       S       C       O       N   .       P       O       S       S       U       N       C   .       P       O       S       S       C       L       E       A       R       A       N       C       E       S       C       L       A       N       G       E       R       S F A T      A       C      K      L      E       S       P       R       E       S   .       A       C       T       S G B A       S       S      I       S      T       S       S       C       O      R      E      I      N      V      T       O       G      % TOT AV MUSTKNOW HIT OUTS (Adv%) FREES CON. MARKS INSIDE50s FORWARD 50 DEF.50 MID FOR.50 MARKSI50 TACKLESI50 %GOALONCEI50 EAGLES M.PRIDDIS 6 5 6 10 27 11 16 70 1 17 10 14 2 3 1 9 20 1 0 0 9 84 125 114 J.DARLING 2 2 3 5 12 9 3 83 3 4 7 1 2 1 1 6 22 3 0 1 6 85 116 72 D.COX 5 6 0 8 19 10 9 47 4 10 8 3 7 2 1 5 11 1 0 0 8 71 111 119 D.KERR 7 9 5 6 27 18 9 67 3 1 1 16 8 3 4 2 2 12 0 1 1 9 75 107 92 L.SHUEY 2 7 5 3 17 11 6 82 2 9 9 3 3 0 1 9 16 0 0 1 5 84 101 95 Q.LYNCH 3 3 6 1 13 6 7 62 3 10 5 0 0 1 0 3 12 1 1 0 4 93 9 6 8 2 A.EMBLEY 6 6 11 5 28 14 14 68 5 13 15 3 3 4 2 2 11 0 0 0 3 92 94 94 A.GAFF 2 3 7 3 15 7 8 87 4 6 10 2 0 1 0 0 3 0 0 3 3 77 87 63 JJ.KENNEDY 0 3 4 3 10 8 2 70 6 5 6 0 3 1 3 4 9 3 3 0 9 82 87 86 S.SELWOOD 4 7 6 4 21 9 12 57 4 10 11 3 3 1 1 6 15 0 0 2 5 83 85 83 S.HURN 5 3 4 3 15 14 1 67 4 3 11 0 4 0 1 2 8 1 0 1 2 89 74 82 M.LECRAS 1 1 5 5 12 6 6 58 5 4 10 0 2 2 2 7 14 1 1 2 7 86 72 84 M.NICOSKI 2 6 3 3 14 9 5 57 3 6 7 2 3 1 2 2 10 3 1 0 6 79 71 74 N.NAITANUI 2 2 1 1 6 2 4 67 1 5 1 2 2 2 2 5 13 0 0 0 4 81 6 9 9 2 A.SELWOOD 6 5 6 0 17 14 3 82 6 6 10 3 3 3 1 2 4 0 0 0 3 88 63 64 S.BUTLER 4 4 3 2 13 10 3 62 3 4 9 0 1 1 0 3 6 0 0 0 2 91 6 2 8 1 D.GLASS 3 3 3 2 11 3 8 9 1 7 6 5 0 1 0 0 2 11 0 0 0 1 86 58 55 B.WATERS 6 2 2 0 10 5 5 8 0 4 5 7 0 1 1 1 1 8 0 0 0 1 93 57 71 W.SCHOFIELD 2 4 3 1 10 7 3 80 4 3 7 0 1 0 0 3 10 0 0 0 1 92 56 59 C.MASTEN (r) 5 3 3 2 13 7 6 69 2 2 10 2 1 0 1 5 11 0 0 1 3 72 54 59 E.MACKENZIE 1 3 2 2 8 6 2 75 2 5 4 0 1 1 0 2 7 0 0 0 2 96 48 60 P.McGINNITY (s) 0 0 0 4 4 3 1 50 0 2 1 1 1 0 0 3 6 1 1 1 3 20 39 59 RUSHED3 TOTALS 74 87 88 73 322189133 69 76 146 179 47 47 29 22 83 15 11 13 173217 40 TI MEINFRO NT 88m(66%) BIGGES TLEAD 21pts (Q421m) IN TE RC HA NG ES 11 1 TEAM 61( 25%) COX 35( 23%) NA IT AN UI 26( 27 %) 5 19 5 13 GLASS 3 LYNCH 2 SE LW OO D 2 48 SHUEY 6 KENNEDY 6 SELWOOD 5 9 10 31.0% BLUES M.ROBINSON 5 10 8 4 27 15 1 2 7 4 8 13 15 3 3 4 1 8 19 0 0 0 5 85 128 91 M.MURPHY 8 6 4 5 23 16 7 65 4 13 1 1 6 6 3 4 8 23 2 2 0 8 89 109 120 C.YARRAN 4 1 5 4 14 13 1 86 2 6 6 0 1 0 1 3 10 0 0 2 5 83 96 8 8 K.SIMPSON 2 5 8 5 20 14 6 55 6 8 11 5 4 0 2 4 16 1 0 0 7 89 93 94 J.LAIDLER 4 4 4 3 15 12 3 87 7 6 8 1 1 1 0 4 9 0 0 0 1 91 91 72 C.JUDD 4 5 3 5 17 10 7 53 2 11 6 7 4 2 2 7 26 0 0 1 4 85 9 0 1 13 L.HENDERSON 5 3 5 4 17 11 6 82 8 8 8 1 1 1 0 1 13 0 0 0 0 98 87 6 5 E.BETTS 2 1 3 3 9 3 6 67 1 10 1 2 2 1 2 8 12 1 1 3 5 85 87 82 H.SCOTLAND 4 6 4 3 17 10 7 76 2 6 12 1 1 1 0 2 5 1 0 0 4 80 76 1 05 D.ELLARD 5 2 4 4 15 12 3 47 5 9 7 3 3 2 0 4 13 2 0 2 5 67 75 73 A.WALKER 2 3 3 2 10 7 3 80 3 4 5 2 1 0 0 2 6 3 0 0 4 92 75 84 A.CARRAZZO 5 3 7 5 20 12 8 50 1 11 8 3 3 1 2 5 18 0 0 0 3 79 73 94 R.WARNOCK 3 0 3 4 10 8 2 40 2 6 4 3 7 2 4 4 12 0 0 1 3 81 63 8 6 J.GARLETT 4 2 2 1 9 7 2 56 2 5 4 1 2 0 1 5 17 2 1 1 6 87 63 74 A.JOSEPH 1 4 2 1 8 7 1 100 4 4 4 0 0 1 0 2 11 1 0 0 2 76 58 5 5 M.JAMISON 4 4 2 1 11 5 6 73 1 3 8 0 2 0 1 1 7 0 0 0 1 97 57 67 Z.TUOHY( s) 0 0 4 6 10 6 4 70 1 4 4 2 1 0 0 0 4 1 0 0 4 45 53 48 N.DUIGAN 3 2 4 2 1 1 6 5 82 2 6 5 0 1 2 0 1 7 0 0 0 1 90 51 68 S.OHAILPIN 4 1 2 3 10 7 3 60 4 11 0 0 6 1 2 1 8 0 1 1 3 83 46 73 D.ARMFIELD 5 1 6 3 15 9 6 67 1 5 8 2 4 0 3 2 12 0 0 0 0 84 36 5 4 B.THORNTON(r) 3 5 0 0 8 6 2 75 1 3 4 0 3 0 2 1 2 1 0 2 4 45 36 80 M.DAVIES 4 0 0 3 7 2 5 71 1 3 4 0 3 0 2 2 11 0 0 0 2 91 25 39 RUSHED3 TOTALS 81 68 83 71 303198105 68 68 155 143 42 59 22 29 75 15 8 13 156817 25 TIM EINFRON T 37m(28%) BIGGES TLEAD 23pts(Q1 17m) IN TE RCH AN GE S 13 7 TEAM 38( 24%) WA RN OC K 31( 26 %) O’H AIL PIN 4(25%) 6 14 2 16 O’ HA IL PI N 4 LAIDLER 2 JOSEPH 2 51 OHAILPIN 4 MURPHY 4 CARRAZZO 4 9 14 29.0% Blues: Go fourth Missed chances leave Carlton Glenn McFarlane  A SHATTERED Andrew Carrazzo says the Carlton players felt ‘‘sick to the stomach’ after Saturday night’s loss. The hard-working Blue la- mented lost opportunities and an inability to stem the Eagles’ flow during the second term, but main- tains the lessons learnt over the past three Septembers can be put to good use next season. ‘‘Yeah, everyone just feels sick in the stomach. To have come so close and to fall jus t sho rt is real ly dis- hearte ning, ’’ Carrazzo said afterthe three-point loss to the Eagles. ‘‘We will look back at the game, anda fewlitt leerror s wemade, but it just doesn’t get any easie r (to deal with). It just gets worse. ‘‘I just think everyone emptie d everything they had. I’m sure the coaches will look back over what happened and try and work out a few points on how we can get bet- ter. It is just really disappointing.’’ Carra zzo said coach Brett Rat- ten had spoken to the group in the moments after the match and im- plor ed everyone to try and lif t their output for next year. Glenn McFarlane CARLTON defender Michael Jamison has declared nothing less than a top four finish will be ac- ceptabl e next year, as the Blues come to terms with yet anoth er agonisingl y close finals defeat. Still feeling the pain of Saturday night’s three-point semi-final loss to West Coas t in Pert h, Jamison said there was plenty of scope for improvement at Carlton but a top four berth — and more home finals — was critical. The Blues lost elimination finals to Sydney by five points last year and to Brisbane by seven points in 2009. Those games also were played interstate. Jamison said that must be avoi ded next season and Carl ton mus t cont rol its own destiny by securing the double chance. ‘‘You obviously don’t want to be looking too far ahead, but we cer- tainly know that we want to be top four next year and play the games more on our terms,’’ Jamison said after Saturday’s loss. ‘‘That’s already our goal. ‘‘We feel like we are a much bet- ter football side than to only equate to one further week in the fina ls. It hurts in that rega rd, but we lost to a pretty good footy side. ‘‘The improvement they have shown over the last 12 months has been remarkable, and that means we can keep improving as well.’’ Carlton finished fifth — its best resu lt since 2000 — and won 15½ games, including its first finals victory in a decade, against Essendon last week. But Jamison said the pain of the loss to West Coast — whic h beat Carl toninto four th plac e, maki ng a road trip inevitable after week one — would drive the players through the summer. ‘‘It does sting . . . but as Ratt s (coac h Br ettRatt en)sai d tous, we should be proud. But we certainly don’ t accept the loss and feel happ y about it. I am sure it will drive the boys even more this pre- season than the last. ‘‘We have to take it to the next leve l. Wehave to keepimprovingto make sure that we finis h high er than fifth.’’ As disappointed as Ratten was, he made a stirri ng post-game speech to the players and the club ’s full- timestaff memb ers,urg- ing them to commit to improving. Jamison said Ratten’s perform- ance as coach had been one of the key factors in the club’s improve- ment across the board this season. ‘‘Ratts has had a great year,’’ he said. ‘‘You couldn’t have asked for any more of the coach. ‘‘I’m really proud of him, and all of the boys are. You can see the hurt on his face. He has been through it as a player and now as a coa ch,andwe wil l certa inl y tryand do it for him next year.’’ Ratten said at his post-ma tch press conf erence thathe wasconfi- dent of securing a contract exten- sion with the Blues.

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8/2/2019 Blues Go Fourth

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/blues-go-fourth 1/1

72 Herald Sun, Monday, September 19, 2011 heraldsun.com.au

+

+

BREAKING NEWS I LATEST SCORES heraldsun.com.auAFL SUPERFOOTY.COM.AU

OFFICIAL STATISTICS

(s) - starting sub(r) - subbed off  EFF% -% ofdisposalseffective CON.POSS -ContestedPossesions UNC.POSS -UncontestedPossesions CLEARANCE -Clear ballfromstoppage PRES.ACTS -Implied& physicalpressure SCOREINV -Scoringchainsinvolvedin TOG% -% Timeonground TOT -Match total AV -Average

DISPOSALS FREES SCORE RANKING

1 2 3 4 T K     I      C     K      S

     H      /     B     A     L     L      S

     E     F     F     %

      M      A      R      K      S

      C      O      N  .      P      O      S      S

      U      N      C  .      P      O      S      S

      C      L      E      A      R      A      N      C      E      S

      C      L      A      N      G      E      R      S

F A T     A      C     K     L     E      S

      P      R      E      S  .      A      C      T      S

G B A      S      S     I      S     T      S

      S      C      O     R     E     I     N     V

     T      O      G     %

TOT AV

MUST KNOW HIT OUTS (Adv%) FREES CON. MARKS INSIDE 50s FORWARD 50

DEF.50

MID

FOR.50

MARKSI50

TACKLESI50

%GOALONCEI50

DISPOSALS FREES SCORE RANKING

1 2 3 4 T K     I      C     K      S

     H      /     B     A     L     L      S

     E     F     F     %

      M      A      R      K      S

      C      O      N  .      P      O      S      S

      U      N      C  .      P      O      S      S

      C      L      E      A      R      A      N      C      E      S

      C      L      A      N      G      E      R      S

F A T     A      C     K     L     E      S

      P      R      E      S  .      A      C      T      S

G B A      S      S     I      S     T      S

      S      C      O     R     E     I     N     V

     T      O      G     %

TOT AV

MUST KNOW HIT OUTS (Adv%) FREES CON. MARKS INSIDE 50s FORWARD 50

DEF.50

MID

FOR.50

MARKSI50

TACKLESI50

%GOALONCEI50

EAGLESM.PRIDDIS 6 5 6 1 0 27 11 16 70 1 1 7 10 14 2 3 1 9 2 0 1 0 0 9 84 125 114

J.DARLING 2 2 3 5 12 9 3 83 3 4 7 1 2 1 1 6 22 3 0 1 6 85 116 72

D.COX 5 6 0 8 19 10 9 47 4 108

3 7 2 1 5 11 1 0 0 8 71 111 119D.KERR 7 9 5 6 27 18 9 67 3 11 16 8 3 4 2 2 12 0 1 1 9 75 107 92

L.SHUEY 2 7 5 3 17 11 6 82 2 9 9 3 3 0 1 9 16 0 0 1 5 84 101 95

Q.LYNCH 3 3 6 1 13 6 7 62 3 10 5 0 0 1 0 3 12 1 1 0 4 93 9 6 8 2

A.EMBLEY 6 6 11 5 2 8 14 14 68 5 1 3 15 3 3 4 2 2 11 0 0 0 3 92 94 94

A.GAFF 2 3 7 3 15 7 8 87 4 6 10 2 0 1 0 0 3 0 0 3 3 7 7 87 63

JJ.KENNEDY 0 3 4 3 10 8 2 70 6 5 6 0 3 1 3 4 9 3 3 0 9 82 87 86

S.SELWOOD 4 7 6 4 21 9 12 57 4 10 11 3 3 1 1 6 15 0 0 2 5 83 85 83

S.HURN 5 3 4 3 15 14 1 67 4 3 11 0 4 0 1 2 8 1 0 1 2 89 74 82

M.LECRAS 1 1 5 5 12 6 6 58 5 4 10 0 2 2 2 7 14 1 1 2 7 86 72 84

M.NICOSKI 2 6 3 3 14 9 5 57 3 6 7 2 3 1 2 2 10 3 1 0 6 79 71 74

N.NAITANUI 2 2 1 1 6 2 4 67 1 5 1 2 2 2 2 5 13 0 0 0 4 81 6 9 9 2

A.SELWOOD 6 5 6 0 17 14 3 82 6 6 10 3 3 3 1 2 4 0 0 0 3 88 63 64

S.BUTLER 4 4 3 2 13 10 3 62 3 4 9 0 1 1 0 3 6 0 0 0 2 91 6 2 8 1

D.GLASS 3 3 3 2 11 3 8 91 7 6 5 0 1 0 0 2 11 0 0 0 1 86 58 55

B.WATERS 6 2 2 0 10 5 5 80 4 5 7 0 1 1 1 1 8 0 0 0 1 93 5 7 7 1

W.SCHOFIELD 2 4 3 1 10 7 3 80 4 3 7 0 1 0 0 3 10 0 0 0 1 92 56 59

C.MASTEN (r) 5 3 3 2 13 7 6 69 2 2 10 2 1 0 1 5 11 0 0 1 3 72 54 59

E.MACKENZIE 1 3 2 2 8 6 2 75 2 5 4 0 1 1 0 2 7 0 0 0 2 9 6 48 60

P.McGINNITY (s) 0 0 0 4 4 3 1 50 0 2 1 1 1 0 0 3 6 1 1 1 3 20 39 59

RUSHED3

TOTALS 74 87 88 73 322 189 133 69 76 146 179 47 4 7 29 2 2 83 15 11 1 3 1732 1 740

TIMEINFRONT 88m(66%)BIGGESTLEAD 21pts (Q421m)INT ER CHANGE S 111

TEAM 61 (25%)COX 35 (23%)NAITA NUI 26(27%)

5195

13

GLASS 3LYNCH 2S EL WOOD 2

48

SHUEY 6KENNEDY 6SELWOOD 5

910

31.0%

BLUESM.ROBINSON 5 1 0 8 4 2 7 15 12 74 8 13 15 3 3 4 1 8 19 0 0 0 5 85 128 91

M.MURPHY 8 6 4 5 23 16 7 65 4 13 1 1 6 6 3 4 8 2 3 2 2 0 8 89 109 120

C.YARRAN 4 1 5 4 14 13 1 86 2 66

0 1 0 1 3 10 0 0 2 5 83 96 8 8K.SIMPSON 2 5 8 5 20 14 6 55 6 8 11 5 4 0 2 4 16 1 0 0 7 89 93 94

J.LAIDLER 4 4 4 3 15 12 3 87 7 6 8 1 1 1 0 4 9 0 0 0 1 91 91 72

C.JUDD 4 5 3 5 17 10 7 53 2 11 6 7 4 2 2 7 26 0 0 1 4 85 9 0 113

L.HENDERSON 5 3 5 4 1 7 11 6 8 2 8 8 8 1 1 1 0 1 13 0 0 0 0 98 87 6 5

E.BETTS 2 1 3 3 9 3 6 67 1 10 1 2 2 1 2 8 12 1 1 3 5 85 87 82

H.SCOTLAND 4 6 4 3 17 10 7 76 2 6 12 1 1 1 0 2 5 1 0 0 4 80 7 6 105

D.ELLARD 5 2 4 4 15 12 3 47 5 9 7 3 3 2 0 4 13 2 0 2 5 67 7 5 7 3

A.WALKER 2 3 3 2 10 7 3 80 3 4 5 2 1 0 0 2 6 3 0 0 4 92 75 84

A.CARRAZZO 5 3 7 5 20 12 8 50 1 11 8 3 3 1 2 5 18 0 0 0 3 79 73 94

R.WARNOCK 3 0 3 4 10 8 2 40 2 6 4 3 7 2 4 4 12 0 0 1 3 81 63 8 6

J.GARLETT 4 2 2 1 9 7 2 56 2 5 4 1 2 0 1 5 17 2 1 1 6 87 6 3 74

A.JOSEPH 1 4 2 1 8 7 1 100 4 4 4 0 0 1 0 2 11 1 0 0 2 76 58 5 5

M.JAMISON 4 4 2 1 11 5 6 73 1 3 8 0 2 0 1 1 7 0 0 0 1 97 5 7 6 7

Z.TUOHY (s) 0 0 4 6 10 6 4 70 1 4 4 2 1 0 0 0 4 1 0 0 4 45 53 48

N.DUIGAN 3 2 4 2 11 6 5 82 2 6 5 0 1 2 0 1 7 0 0 0 1 90 51 68

S.O’HAILPIN 4 1 2 3 10 7 3 60 4 11 0 0 6 1 2 1 8 0 1 1 3 83 46 73

D.ARMFIELD 5 1 6 3 15 9 6 67 1 5 8 2 4 0 3 2 12 0 0 0 0 84 36 5 4

B.THORNTON (r) 3 5 0 0 8 6 2 75 1 3 4 0 3 0 2 1 2 1 0 2 4 45 36 80

M.DAVIES 4 0 0 3 7 2 5 71 1 3 4 0 3 0 2 2 11 0 0 0 2 91 25 39

RUSHED3

TOTALS 81 68 83 71 303 198 105 68 68 155 143 42 5 9 22 29 75 15 8 13 1568 1 725

TIMEINFRONT 37m(28%)BIGGESTLEAD 23pts(Q1 17m)INT ERC HA NGES 137

TEAM 38 (24%)WAR NOCK 31(26%)O’ HAI LPI N 4 ( 25% )

6142

16

O’HAILPIN 4LAIDLER 2JOSEPH 2

51

O’HAILPIN 4MURPHY 4CARRAZZO 4

914

29.0%

Blues: Go fourth

Missed chances leave CarltonGlenn McFarlane A SHATTERED Andrew Carrazzo

says the Carlton players felt ‘‘sickto the stomach’’ after Saturdaynight’s loss.

T h e h a r d - w o r ki n g B l u e l a -mented lost opportunities and aninability to stem the Eagles’ flowduring the second term, but main-tains the lessons learnt over thepast three Septembers can be putto good use next season.

‘‘Yeah, everyone just feels sick inthe stomach. To have come so closeand to fall just short is really dis-heartening,’’ Carrazzo said afterthethree-point loss to the Eagles.

‘‘We will look back at the game,anda fewlittleerrors wemade, butit just doesn’t get any easier (todeal with). It just gets worse.

‘‘I just think everyone emptiedeverything they had. I’m sure thecoaches will look back over whathappened and try and work out afew points on how we can get bet-ter. It is just really disappointing.’’

Carrazzo said coach Brett Rat-ten had spoken to the group in themoments after the match and im-plored everyone to try and lifttheir output for next year.

Glenn McFarlane

CAR L TO N d e fe nd e r M i c hae lJamison has declared nothing less

than a top four finish will be ac-ceptable next year, as the Bluescome to terms with yet anotheragonisingly close finals defeat.

Still feeling the pain of Saturdaynight’s three-point semi-final lossto West Coast in Perth, Jamisonsaid there was plenty of scope forimprovement at Carlton but a topfour berth — and more home finals— was critical.

The Blues lost elimination finalsto Sydney by five points last yearand to Brisbane by seven points in2 0 0 9. Thos e g ame s al s o we r eplayed interstate.

J a m is o n s a i d t h a t m u s t b eavoided next season and Carltonmust control its own destiny bysecuring the double chance.

‘‘You obviously don’t want to belooking too far ahead, but we cer-tainly know that we want to be topfour next year and play the gamesmore on our terms,’’ Jamison said

after Saturday’s loss. ‘‘That’salready our goal.

‘‘We feel like we are a much bet-te r footb al l s i de than to onl yequate to one further week in thefinals. It hurts in that regard, butwe lost to a pretty good footy side.

‘‘The improvement they haveshown over the last 12 months hasbeen remarkable, and that meanswe can keep improving as well.’’

Carlton finished fifth — its bestresult since 2000 — and won 15½games, including its first finalsv i c t o ry i n a d e c a de , a g a i n s tEssendon last week.

But Jamison said the pain of theloss to West Coast — which beatCarltoninto fourth place, making aroad trip inevitable after week one— would drive the players throughthe summer.

‘‘It does sting . . . but as Ratts(coach BrettRatten)said tous, weshould be proud. But we certainly

don’t accept the loss and feelhappy about it. I am sure it willdrive the boys even more this pre-season than the last.

‘‘We have to take it to the nextlevel. Wehave to keepimprovingtomake sure that we finish higherthan fifth.’’

As disappointed as Ratten was,he made a stirring post-gamespeech to the players and theclub’s full-timestaff members,urg-ing them to commit to improving.

Jamison said Ratten’s perform-

ance as coach had been one of thekey factors in the club’s improve-

ment across the board this season.‘‘Ratts has had a great year,’’ he

said. ‘‘You couldn’t have asked forany more of the coach.

‘‘I’m really proud of him, and allof the boys are. You can see thehurt on hi s face . H e has b e enthrough it as a player and now as acoach,andwe will certainly tryanddo it for him next year.’’

Ratten said at his post-matchpress conference thathe wasconfi-dent of securing a contract exten-sion with the Blues.