Yartapuulti senior coach Glenn Strachan says his side has taken valuable learnings from last weekend’s clash against Hawthorn, with the group turning its attention to Sunday’s Round 3 meeting with the Giants in Canberra. 

Speaking to the media at Alberton ahead of the main training session, Strachan also provided an update on the availability of Indy Tahau, Sachi Syme and Piper Window, while discussing the development of Lauren Young and the progress of Gemma Houghton and Teagan Germech. 

Strachan on reviewing the clash against Hawthorn 
“We've spoken a little bit about it (the second half). I think our third quarter was okay. Momentum obviously started to shift, but when we reviewed it and looked at it, with a couple of minutes to go, we were a point down, so they were pretty much level. Clearly, in the last quarter they kicked four goals, and we didn't score, but at the same time, we're pretty happy with the way that the game turned out, albeit the scoreline.” 

“We got a couple of things wrong structurally, and probably more with the ball and what we did with it, but we're so early on in our journey that it's just a great learning opportunity. It's certainly not something that we're super worried about, it's just a good opportunity for us to learn from. When you change things, you hope that it's going to look different straight away. But there's times where you don't quite get it right, but importantly it wasn't an intent thing, it wasn't like the players tried to do something that wasn't in their role, we just we just got some of it wrong.” 

Strachan on the feedback from the group on their fourth quarter performance 
“I think they were pretty disappointed with it, as you are with the scoreboard when it looks that way. But we've spoken a lot about how we're not going to be dictated by the scoreboard, so we want to take the positives out of it. Hawthorn is a good team; we're certainly not taking anything away from them, but we just have plenty to learn in the way that we want to play. I see it as being just another great opportunity to learn from.” 

“I don't want them to walk away from the loss all doom and gloom and that's certainly how we feel about it, and the group's been great. Obviously post-game you feel all the emotions, but they've bounced pretty quick, and we're excited for the Giants this weekend and hopefully we can put together four quarters.” 

Strachan on Indy Tahau’s availability ahead of the weekend 
“Structurally, her knee's good, which is obviously the biggest concern. With her history it's something that we didn't want to take a risk with. But it's nice that she'll be able to train today and hopefully be up for selection again.” 

“She's super versatile, which we think helps us as a group. We think she can do all three roles, but we'll just work out what best suits us for each game. If she can get up against the Giants, we'll have a look at what that looks like. We're really wrapped that that yeah structurally everything was okay in her knee.” 

Strachan on Gemma Houghton’s role 
“We’re getting plenty out of Gemma, and she's been really positive. We've changed her role, and that’s different to what she’s done in the past, and obviously with that comes some teething issues. We think that she's doing well, but at the same time, do we want more? Yeah, it'd be nice if she could hit the scoreboard more. We think she's playing her role, so nothing will change from our end.” 

“I think because it's a new role her work rate is going to look different, and what we're asking her to do is different. But I see that through lots of our players, we ask a lot of Kaitlyn Pope, who has played two really good games, but again we're asking something different of her, and we think they're having success in a lot of ways. I think it's premature to look at some of the way that the players are playing and determine if it's good, or not good. We’re still really early in our game style.” 

Strachan on Sachi Syme’s availability for selection following a hamstring injury 
“She'll train today, and if she gets through, then she'll be available. It was a great decision to make sure that she was fit and ready to play. The Hawthorn game was pretty quick, and no doubt this week against the Giants will be too. If we feel comfortable that she's done enough, then yeah, she's available for selection.” 

Strachan on Piper Window’s return from injury 
“She’s in a pretty similar boat (to Syme). We felt like giving Piper the extra opportunity to train and making sure that she was at the level she needed to be and wasn't hampered in any way was important. We wanted to make sure that both of them were at 100 percent.” 

Strachan on Lauren Young’s development as a player 
“Yeah, I saw a really cool video yesterday of Youngy (Lauren Young) when she was a 15- or 16-year-old about how talented she was. It’s just great to see her get a chance and take some opportunities, and I think she's been awesome across the pre-season and what we've seen so far.” 

Strachan on preparing for the Giants in Canberra 
“I think all the games are super important, when you play 12 games, you rely on trying to get in front of the ledger as early as you can, so it'll be a great test. We’re playing Canberra so that's different, and many of the players wouldn't have played there before. I think it's a great test to see where we're at and see if we can bounce off the back of last week.” 

Strachan on Teagan Germech facing her old side 
“I feel for anyone that she's playing on if she's going to play with an extra chip on her shoulder! As I've spoken about the last couple of weeks, her progress over the pre-season and just the way that she applies herself is first class. 

“She works as hard as anyone; she reviews her game as hard as anyone. I don't know if she loved the attention after the Fremantle game, so that's something that she'll have to work through. She's a pro, and hopefully she can have a nice showing up in Canberra on the weekend.” 

Strachan on his first game coaching in front of a home crowd 
“It was wild, I loved it. There were a couple of times where it took me by surprise just how loud and excited the fans were. It’s nice to be the home crowd, that's for sure.”