LOWER PLENTY has been one of the competition’s most improved sides in 2014 and sits fourth on the Division 1 ladder with a 7-4 record.
For the first time since returning to the top flight in 2012, the Bears have claimed four successive wins ahead of a clash with ladder-leader Greensborough.
Senior coach Vin Dattoli has just been reappointed for a further two seasons, keeping him at the club until at least the end of 2016.
NFL media manager Samuel Zito chatted with Dattoli ahead of a huge clash with ladder-leader Greensborough.
SAMUEL ZITO: Well done on what’s been a superb start to the year. What have you made of it?
VIN DATTOLI: We’re on track. We’re still developing but the group has come a long way with its game knowledge. That’s probably been the biggest improvement and the reason why we’ve fortunate enough to knock over sides like Mont and Heidelberg, due to everyone buying in to the game plan. The educational side of it has been really good.
SZ: You’ve won four games in a row. Has it been the club’s best month since returning to Div 1?
VD: It’s really pleasing that the club, for the first time in its life in Division 1, has won three games in a row, now four. To be sitting in fourth place on the ladder is a massive achievement for the club. To be sitting where we are now, if the season was to stop now it’d be seen as a massive over achievement. But there are still games to be played out.
SZ: You were staring down the barrel at 3-4 and trailing at half time at Macleod in Round 8? What has changed over the past 14 quarters of football?
VD: You’re pretty much spot on. The first half against Macleod we thought we were fortunate to still be in the game. But on the flip side of that, going back to West Preston (in Round 2) we were disappointed we went four or five goals up at half time. It comes down to sides taking their opportunity to apply scoreboard pressure. If you don’t do that, it comes back to bite you. If you can do it, you obviously put yourself in a good position in the second half.
SZ: Pre-season you mentioned your leading players like Darcy Barden, Bill Barden, Patrick Flynn, Matt Vasilevski and Matt Duckworth would be in the best players within any Division 1 team. You must be pleased with the way they are leading the side this year.
VD: Absolutely, and it’s gone a long way that all those players are playing well at the same time. Our bottom six players are growing as well because the top seven or eight are really doing their bit and it’s becoming infectious on the bottom six.
SZ: Are there any players who have exceeded your expectations this year?
VD: To be completely up front, the consistency from the whole group has been the really good thing. I’m talking not just from a game sense, but also a preparation perspective. I keep going back to the education, but the group has taken on board a clear understanding of how you need to prepare for games week in and week out. That’s probably been our biggest improvement.
SZ: The focus for the past two years has been to avoid relegation. Does the group now feel a real sense of belonging in Division 1?
VD: A couple of weeks ago we touched on the fact that the biggest games for the club were about finishing second last. That was our Grand Final once upon a time. Whereas, going back to playing Mont, we felt we were a legitimate chance to win and with other games around we were a chance to take fifth spot. Last week Macleod lost which put us in the five and now we’re only half a game off third spot.
SZ: Does your club’s mindset have to change now that you’re going somewhat from the hunter to the hunted?
VD: It’s funny you say that because that’s part of the conversation that we’ve had from last year to date. You can’t keep going to games being disrespected and walked over. You have to change your psychology and we want to be hunted and we want sides fear us. If they don’t fear us, they will step all over us. Hopefully the psychology within the competition starts to change a little bit.
SZ: Where does the win against Heidelberg rate amongst your victories as a coach?
VD: It was one of our better wins. Blair Harvey is a superstar of the competition and we touched on the emotion of Heidelberg in his 300th game. That emotion lasts for 10 or 15 minutes and then the game plays itself out. We were good in that we didn’t give Heidelberg a big start. To be down by two goals when they’d had more of the play was a good sign for us. Over the past month we’ve really been finishing games off really well, which demonstrates that our preparation is working. We’re quite happy with how we are running out games at this stage.
SZ: And another huge test this Saturday against new ladder-leader Greensborough?
VD: In my opinion, I think Greensborough is the best side in the competition so far that we’ve come across. It’s going to be a big challenge. Last time we got a few things right against them, but we got a lot of things wrong. Second time around we get an opportunity to change a few things around, but I’m sure Greensborough also will. We’ll see how the result pans out.
SZ: The bye follows the Greensborough game. How does the club prepare for the week off?
VD: In the previous bye we rewarded the group with a night off on the back of how hard they’d been working and this time will probably be the same. We’ll train either extremely hard the Tuesday or Wednesday in the week of the break and then reward the boys with a few days off before the Bundoora game.
