Monday, May 03, 2004
Eels need more intensity
Brian Smith has denied last week's loss against the Cowboys will require any "soul searching" just a realisation that more intensity is needed if the Eels are going to not fall into an early hole like they did last Saturday.
"It is just a matter of getitng the players to understand that you cannot perform with that amount of intensity at the start of the game," he said at the post-game press conference.
"We weren't what you would call dreadful, we just didn't play at the tempo that forced them into trouble. They had enough time to complete their plays, use the wind, and take the chances that we gave them. That's what happens when you play with confidence and are not pressured. When we turned it on in the second half we had plenty of it - we had more than we needed at some stages, but we just didn't turn it into points."
Smith said Wade McKinnon had the "fire in the belly" he was looking for, while "the others showed it from time to time but there just wasn't enough of it for my liking".
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"It is just a matter of getitng the players to understand that you cannot perform with that amount of intensity at the start of the game," he said at the post-game press conference.
"We weren't what you would call dreadful, we just didn't play at the tempo that forced them into trouble. They had enough time to complete their plays, use the wind, and take the chances that we gave them. That's what happens when you play with confidence and are not pressured. When we turned it on in the second half we had plenty of it - we had more than we needed at some stages, but we just didn't turn it into points."
Smith said Wade McKinnon had the "fire in the belly" he was looking for, while "the others showed it from time to time but there just wasn't enough of it for my liking".
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