As Melbourne’s Development Coach, Kelly O’Donnell has a unique perspective on where the team is at, and where it’s heading in the next few challenging weeks.
After the Darwin expedition, O’Donnell is pleased to see that many of the players and staff ‘seem to have had a good dose of Vitamin D! It was a management issue with the heat, and the fitness and medical worked extremely hard pre and post match to manage all the issues relating to playing in such conditions. Everyone is happy with the way they’ve pulled up, and we have an eight day break. Everyone seems in reasonable spirits, with no major injuries.’
With a challenging few weeks ahead - meeting an assembly of top five sides in Hawthorn, Geelong, Carlton and West Coast - O’Donnell says the games upcoming are a rare chance to make an impact. ‘It’s a hard month ahead, but it could define the year. If we play well, decent results will springboard us to a platform where we can launch an attack on the finals. We need to take a scalp above us, and the team is definitely ready to take on the challenge.’
First up is Hawthorn, which presents as a welcome adversary against which the team can prove itself. As O’Donnell says, ‘They’re a very good team, and they’ve been tested with injury. We need to play really well, and they’re a huge challenge for us.’
As for making the trek down to Geelong, O’Donnell is philosophical on the challenge that poses to the team. ‘We have to play all over Australia, so we’ve got to be ready for them. Every week, the opposition is one week closer to beating them at home.’
O’Donnell is actually looking forward to the challenge of the next month, saying that it will ‘define both individuals and the team. The ball’s in our court. We’re all pretty healthy at the moment, so we should make the most of it, play well and win, giving ourselves the chance to compete in finals.’
After the Darwin expedition, O’Donnell is pleased to see that many of the players and staff ‘seem to have had a good dose of Vitamin D! It was a management issue with the heat, and the fitness and medical worked extremely hard pre and post match to manage all the issues relating to playing in such conditions. Everyone is happy with the way they’ve pulled up, and we have an eight day break. Everyone seems in reasonable spirits, with no major injuries.’
With a challenging few weeks ahead - meeting an assembly of top five sides in Hawthorn, Geelong, Carlton and West Coast - O’Donnell says the games upcoming are a rare chance to make an impact. ‘It’s a hard month ahead, but it could define the year. If we play well, decent results will springboard us to a platform where we can launch an attack on the finals. We need to take a scalp above us, and the team is definitely ready to take on the challenge.’
First up is Hawthorn, which presents as a welcome adversary against which the team can prove itself. As O’Donnell says, ‘They’re a very good team, and they’ve been tested with injury. We need to play really well, and they’re a huge challenge for us.’
As for making the trek down to Geelong, O’Donnell is philosophical on the challenge that poses to the team. ‘We have to play all over Australia, so we’ve got to be ready for them. Every week, the opposition is one week closer to beating them at home.’
O’Donnell is actually looking forward to the challenge of the next month, saying that it will ‘define both individuals and the team. The ball’s in our court. We’re all pretty healthy at the moment, so we should make the most of it, play well and win, giving ourselves the chance to compete in finals.’
