It might be just me...

[MissMagpie_20]

...but geez i can sense a sarcastic tone in this interview. What a pr***. Lets show him and his mob on Saturday night

Pies 'red hot' for Cup final: Smart
5:35:17 PM Wed 12 March, 2003
Alan Shiell
afl.com.au

Nigel Smart, Adelaide’s longest-serving player, says the odds are all in Collingwood’s favour and the Crows are the underdogs in Saturday night’s Wizard Home Loans Cup grand final at Telstra Dome.

Smart piled praise on the Magpies on Wednesday, hailing them as “a pretty awesome unit”, but still insisted the Crows could win the pre-season competition for the first time.

“Collingwood in the past have failed to capitalise on some of the things they’ve been given, and that might occur this week as well,” Smart said.

“It seems they have a perception of things going their way. But as yet they haven’t really taken advantage of those small things, so maybe this won’t be any different this weekend.


“They’re got the home-ground advantage, home-ground crowd, they’ve played every game in Melbourne (against Carlton, Hawthorn and Geelong), they’ve got a very good list, so they’re probably going into the game red hot.

“But we’ll give them a competitive game and hopefully take the cup back to Adelaide.

“The good thing about our form is that we have won (successive cup matches against Port Adelaide, West Coast and the Kangaroos) but I don’t think we have played our best football yet. Mark Ricciuto’s coming back and Wayne Carey’s not too far away, so that holds us in good stead coming into round one.”

Asked whether he thought Collingwood would be over-confident, Smart said: “I don’t know about over-confident. I think they’re a pretty down-to-earth side.

“They’ve got a very good base of players and Nathan Buckley and the team will just be focusing on quarter by quarter. I’ve got no doubt about that.”

Did Adelaide “owe Collingwood one” after last September’s preliminary final loss?

“Not particularly,” Smart said. “Last year was last year. This is the Wizard Cup grand final. It’s all new and fresh.

“Last year they were one of the form teams and I think this year they’re going to be around the mark and probably in a top-four position as well, so we won’t be taking them too lightly.

“I think their overall list has improved: the signings of a couple of key players … (Shane) Wakelin in the back half … and (Anthony) Rocca’s stepped up another gear … their midfield with (Paul) Licuria and Buckley – they form an awesome combination … and Steve McKee is one of the most difficult ruckmen to combat.

“So they’ve got winners all over the field and (Shane) Woedwodin’s come into the side as well, so they’re a pretty awesome unit.

“I think we have to lift a gear this week. Against the Kangaroos, it was just an arm wrestle the whole game and Collingwood, I think, are a step above that.

“We’re playing at Telstra Dome so it’s foreign soil and probably a foreign crowd so we’ll need to be playing at our best if we want to win. They’ve beaten us the last few times and they’ve always been difficult opponents.”

Smart, 34 in May and starting his 13th AFL season with a club-record 251 games behind him, described Telstra Dome as “a unique stadium”.

“It’s quite different from any other ground, so we have to combat that,” he said. “We haven’t played there this year. The surface looks pretty ordinary from a TV point of view.

“We’ll go over there and have a look at the ground and see what that’s like. Collingwood have played a fair few games there (all three in the cup competition) so they’re acclimatised to it and are playing some good football

“So the odds are all in their favour so we’ll be the underdog once again.

“I’m looking forward to playing Collingwood and taking them on head-on. I think we can win the game, I think they think they can win the game, so it should be a very good battle.”

Smart said the Crows were “not fearful” of going to Melbourne.

“We’ll go over there as a professional unit and play accordingly, and I think Collingwood would be the same if they were playing here at Football Park (AAMI Stadium),” he said.

“So I think both sides are professional enough to play at Telstra Dome or Football Park. I just wish they could just toss a coin to decide where the game was going to be played. That’d be the simplest way to do it.”

Smart said he enjoyed playing in front of Collingwood crowds.

“They’re vocal and they have a culture about them, and hopefully they’re at their fiery best this weekend and our young players can experience that,” he said.

[MAGPIRA]

Just a few little mind games from Smart there. Let's not forget that this particular tactic of 'pressure' worked for us against Port in the finals, when MM came out stating that they'd have more to play for b/c of their abysmal finals record.

BUT...this is a different team in a different era, the past losing finals have nothing whatsoever to do with our current squad. An MM coached side is far beyond these immature mind games and will prove that come Saturday night

I hope .....gawd old habits certainly die hard!

[Proud Pies]

I think he secretly really wants to play for an awesome winning side.....COLLINGWOOD!!!!!