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Michael Hagan Post Match Media Conference - Round 1815 July 2007Q) IT GOT A BIT DESPERATE THERE AT THE END? A) Yes it did probably. I thought we toughed it out really well. We could have been I thought comfortably in front earlier than that and for whatever reason that didn't happen. The boys played very well and our tryline defence was great and that let us down last week a bit. Q) KRISNAN INU CAME UP WITH SOME BIG PLAYS THERE AT THE END? A) Yes he did and so did Eric - he showed great desperation today which was great to see. Q) WAS THAT THE PERFROMANCE YOU WERE LOOKING FOR AFTER WHAT HAPPENNED ON FRIDAY NIGHT? A) We put the Knights game to bed pretty quickly to be honest. I would have been really disappointed had we not come today with a better attitude and better commitment. I think our first half was outstanding and we only made one error, and we had a couple of players come back who did a really good job for us like Timana, Nathan Cayless and young Joel Reddy did a great job as did Weller Hauraki. It was an important game and the players responded accordingly. There were a couple of opportunities we missed and a couple of calls that I didn't quite understand. Q) HOW GOOD IS INU? A) I don't think there is any question about his talent and his ability but I think today his attitude to his defence was something that I was really happy with. He is only young and is always working on his game and did some great things - kicked goals as well. He came into the side with Ben Smith and Luke Burt out and did a really good job. Q) IT WILL BE A TOUGH CALL WHO TO LEAVE OUT NEXT WEEK? A) Ben Smith will play next week. They are tough calls when you have to make them I suppose - Chad Robinson will also play next week. Q) IS KRISNAN THE SORT OF PLAYER THAT IS EITHER IN THE STARTING SIDE OR NOT IN THE 17? A) I think he is playing with great confidence. He is only young and has played 10 or 12 NRL games which is probably more than I expected him to play. Q) WHERE DO YOU SEE YOUR TEAM AT THE MOMENT IF MELBOURNE ARE THE YARDSTICK? A) I think we probably need to find that out in the coming weeks. We are sitting in the 4 at the moment but we play some quality teams in the next few weeks and I thought today was a very good start to that. I think there is a lot of encouraging signs there for the team - Timana hasn't played in a long time, Nathan has missed a few weeks and there are a few things we could have executed better. I thought Tim Smith was excellent today in the way he executed what he did - a great kicking game and tremendous composure. Q) HOW OPEN IS THE COMPETITION? A) I cannot remember a more open competition. I think if you can be thereabouts and be one of the teams that stay healthy, well anything is possible. But at the same time you still have to play all the teams and Souths was a great example of that today - they didn't worry about the ladder they just came out and played the game. I think our team was just as desperate as they were and deserved to win. There were some decisions out there that I am at a loss to explain. We received a directive from the referees in regards to the ruck. I agree with Wayne Bennett's comments there - just referee what you see and apply the rules and I do not think that was the case for long periods of the game. If I am a fan and come to the game I do not want to see play the balls so slow that you don't see any momentum for the work that has been done. http://www.parraeels.com.au/news/news1585.asp |