This all comes down to experience, confidence and fitness. The players fall away at the end of these type of games through a combination of exhaustion and then panic. The young players are the biggest culprits for this - turning the ball over, making poor decisions and hurrying skill execution.
Another preseason for players like Conca, Batchelor, Ellis, Helbig and even Post will do them the world of good running out games. We need to constantly place them under training conditions where they are harassed and pressured but saying this, it's very hard to recreate these types of environment. The best practice for this is what they just had this season.
Most of our narrow defeats have come on the back of inexperience and I know that excuse has worn thin for most but it is the cold hard facts. That many young players learning their role in a team and then faced with a situation where they need to adapt, is very difficult.
This weeks draw though was brought about more because of what Port did rather than what we didn't do. They played well and cut through our zone. Again young players playing the zone to the letter of the law and being fearful to take the initiative to cut off a pass or support a team mate was a big reason why we were not as good defensively. We should have played man-on-man earlier imho but perhaps the coaches were worried the older/stronger port players would win enough of these duels to allow them through.
Roos is correct. This is going to be one of our biggest and more important preseasons in decades. I hope we get it right
