Sharks shoot-out highlighted defensive lapses

I don’t think I’ve ever been involved in a 45-goal game before; it was a real shootout at East Fremantle Oval.

The game was free flowing so we gave up a lot of relatively easy goals.

Some of our defensive efforts were very ordinary, which is not what you want to see as a coach.

The Sharks should be congratulated on kicking 21 goals and just three points, but it also means we weren’t putting on enough pressure. It was also disappointing to see East Fremantle nearly take the lead in the last quarter.

But having said that, it was a really good win.

We were also pleased to hear Kody Manning’s knee injury was not as serious as first thought. He’s on a week’s rest so there’s not much else we can do for now, other than be thankful that it’s not an ACL injury.

Our most pressing concern is how we’re going to manage the double bye before playing Perth ” who have been in very good form ” on May 25.

Besides those who are playing in the State game, the players will have some down time this weekend.

We’ll reduce the physicality of training next week and then ramp it up.