COACH Paul Roos says his side must play like “maniacs” against Carlton at the MCG on Sunday, after coming off a terrible 98-point loss against the Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium last Sunday.
Roos said this week was all about his team and “how we respond, regardless of who we play”.
“We’ve got to respond in a manner that is befitting of the poor effort last week, rather than the opposition we’re playing this week. We’ve got to play like maniacs and play as hard as we possibly can,” he said on Roos’ Views.
Roos said the loss to the Bulldogs was quite simply “a shock”.
“After the solid five or six weeks of footy we’ve played, to come out and play like that in the first half was quite shocking,” he said.
“The way we want to play was in the third quarter, but then we dropped off again in the last quarter.
“We need to respond this week – it was bitterly disappointing.”
Roos said the coaches reviewed the first quarter with the players to show why they were “so poor”. For the record, the Dogs kicked eight goals to nil during the opening term.
“It was really, really important … so it was pretty glaring from a coaching point of view,” he said.
“We showed 14 or 15 edits from the first quarter, which were really unacceptable and hopefully the players respond.”
Roos said the third quarter was just as frustrating as the final margin, as it showed what his side could do, when it booted five goals to zip.
“[The third quarter] was equally as shocking as the end result,” he said.
“[The media asked post-match] ‘was it frustrating, because of how well you played in the third quarter?’ I think it did add to the frustration and the fans’ frustration as well, because we know our best is so much better than it’s been last year and so much more than the year before [in 2013].
“But coaches and fans are so sick of seeing the massive drop off – and I’m sure the players are as well at seeing the massive drop off between the best and the worst.”
Roos said the Bulldogs were energised as they were fighting for a top four finish, but he added it was hard to know how his team’s mindset was with the season nearing the end.
“We prepared well and were ready to go. We had two good games against the Bulldogs [this year in the NAB Challenge and round eight], but they were fighting for top four and they played like it on the weekend.”
Looking ahead to selection against the Blues, Roos said adamantly: “we’re going to pick the team that gives us the best chance to win this week”.
“That’s been made clear to the players and that’s what we have to do,” he said.
“What’s the best team that we think can [defeat Carlton?] It’s a really important week for us to bounce back. We’ll pick the best 22 regardless of whether they’re from Casey, who lost on the weekend or from our team, which was really poor on the weekend.”
Roos said defender Neville Jetta will face a fitness test this week, after injuring his neck against the Bulldogs.
“He’s probably a bit better than we’d hoped. The scans were pretty good on his neck, which was great, because you don’t want to see injuries to the neck and head,” he said.
“I think he’ll have a quiet week and there is every chance that we’ll probably rest him this week, but we’ll see how the week progresses.”
Roos was optimistic second-year Demon Christian Salem (illness) and midfielder Dom Tyson (hamstring) would return after withdrawing from the initial side last round.
“Salo would’ve played last week, but he got crook … there was a bit of gastro and a bit of flu floating around the club and hopefully we’re over that now,” he said.
“We’d seriously look at him again and Tyson, hopefully it’s just a one week [injury] and if he trains well on Friday, he’ll come straight back in as well.”