News.... Burning Pies still have hunger, says Clement

[MagpieMad]

Burning Pies still have hunger, says Clement
05 February 2003 Herald Sun
By BRUCE MATTHEWS in Sydney

HEADING into an eighth AFL season, experienced defender James Clement was buoyed by what he saw when Collingwood players reassembled for the first time after the Grand Final defeat.

An eight-week break hadn't dulled the sense of despair and the Magpies are trying to channel that into a powerful motivating force for the new season.

"I don't think I've been part of a group where we've come back from a holiday that guys have been hungrier or fiercer as a group," Clement said yesterday.

"Obviously it had been burning in a lot of the guys' stomachs for the whole eight weeks. It was impressive, that they're not going to rest on their laurels and use that to drive them on to better things.

"I think we really let go of it only just before Christmas. The fire in the belly was still there at the start of pre-season. Where we're going for 2003 was set around what we were still feeling.

"When we came back from the Christmas break it was time to, not forget about it, but to concentrate on the task ahead."

Clement outlined the desire to defy past trends of losing grand finalists as a group of Pies, including Shane O'Bree, Steve McKee, Jason Cloke, Simon Prestigiacomo, Chris Tarrant and Leon Davis, ran a clinic for 200 kids at Campbelltown Football Club, 43km south-west of Sydney, as part of the AFL's training camps.

"The hurt that we felt after the Grand Final, it was inevitable that we would come back hard," Clement said. "History has shown that Grand Final losers have dropped away and the players were aware of that. And they don't want to be part of that history. We can't go backwards."

Clement believes the Collingwood team, lacking Brisbane's finals experience, wasn't exposed in any particular area on the big day.

"We're aiming for a general improvement across the board. Every team gets better every year and unless you improve in increments like every other team does during the pre-season, you get left behind," he said.

"Ultimately, the biggest improvement for us will be another pre-season under a lot of these young guys' belts, another year of understanding and I think that is the biggest step forward for 2003.

"Our aggression, general game plan and discipline was pretty good for the Grand Final and, I guess, just lucky breaks or the cream rose to the top and Brisbane took the points.

"The coach obviously had his ideas on where the team needed to improve and where they need to go. One good thing about Collingwood is that it's very player-driven and as a group we're pretty motivated."

Clement said the players were surprised by the general standard of skills from the eager youngsters during the brief kicking and handball drills on the huge Campbelltown Oval, built to the same dimensions as the old AFL Park at Waverley.

"To be honest, I wasn't expecting the kind of understanding they had towards AFL football," he said.

"Some of the younger kids, obviously, wanted to throw the ball rather than handpass it.

"But the older kids of nine or 10 had a very good understanding. I would think most of them have been involved in a junior club or at least a junior program like we helped out with today."

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[This message has been edited by magpiemad (edited 05 February 2003).]