Sir Scott Burns - Good Read

[WhyPhilWhy?]

(From The Age, so should be safe to post)

Magpies ready to go after wake-up call: Burns

By Melissa Ryan
March 24 2003

The "kick up the backside" that Adelaide delivered to Collingwood 10 days ago in the Wizard Cup grand final has shaken any early complacency out of the Magpies as they undertake final preparations for Friday night's season opener against Richmond.

But it is that very need for improvement that lends a glimmer of excitement to the new season for Scott Burns, one of a number of Magpies who will be absent on Friday night, but ready for the hard work ahead as the premiership race begins.

"I just think we got past a few games there with Hawthorn and Geelong where we weren't doing things right and it got swept under the carpet a little bit," Burns said.

"In that regard it's good to get that loss now, get a bit of a kick up the backside and we know where our strengths and weaknesses are and what we've got to improve on. We can really go into that game against Richmond knowing that we've had 13 or 14 days to improve in some areas, rather than thinking we're doing all the right things but we probably aren't.

"We've got a lot of improvement still in us. I don't know from a percentage point of view what we're playing at, but we can certainly pick up at least 10, 20 per cent for sure," he said.

Such improvement was vital if the Magpies were to stay ahead of the chasing pack, as well as making "a bit of an inroad on the Ports, the Adelaides and Brisbanes who were ahead of us in the minor round, quite easily really, I think, in the end".

His own part in that mission has been put on hold, to miss the first two matches of the season because of a suspension for striking Brisbane's Jonathan Brown in the grand final.

But he is pleased with his pre-season despite some "on-off" aspects to it, and with the state of his fitness, feeling far better now than he did during last year's pre-season.

It is an ominous sign, perhaps, given that Burns's efforts last year resulted in him finishing second in the Copeland Trophy.

"Generally, I've been really happy. My body's a long way ahead of where it was 12 months ago so I'm happy with that. I really struggled through pre-season last year and early in the Wizard Cup, and probably the first five or six rounds of the year I was a bit behind the eight-ball," Burns said.

The Magpies are also aware of the doubters who believe they fluked their spot in the grand final.

"We've been out of the eight for seven years and then we jumped into the eight last year, so you've got to keep reproducing that each year before you get the total respect of not only the other teams but the community as well," Burns said.

"I just really think it's up to us. It's not something that we go out to play in spite of anyone.

"We know how good we can be and we know at times when we play bad the areas we drop off in, so it's just a matter of doing the right things at the right times and playing some good football."

[Kristin5]

Great to hear him say those things - they're obviously not too cocky, which is good. Sounds like they still are hungry to improve and a couple of GF losses have merely spurred the players on to bigger and better things this year! Time will tell.

[Warbler]

I'm sure MM will keep the players focused and we haven't lost anyone - except Nancy Davis and Didak will more than cover for him & not be so injury prone . Then there's Wowey , Rhyce Shaw looking like he really wants to play and Lokan who reminds me of Burnsey in the no-fuss way he goes about it .
I love McKee & Frazier for their comittment , I just wish they were 10-15 kg heavier - but they're both young and big blokes seem to need time to fill out .

GO PIES

[Joel]

I hope the loss pulls them into line. It seems they are still focused, which is a good sign.

I'm looking forward to Friday.