CTV in Dubai > Mick Malthouse press conferenceMick Malthouse emphasises the effects of Collingwood’s high-altitude training camp will be felt over the next three or four months, not in one game.
Speaking after Collingwood’s loss to Adelaide in Dubai on Saturday, the opening match of the pre-season cup competition, Malthouse heaped praise on the Crows for their efforts, dismissing any excuse for the Magpies’ 81-point loss.
“If we had an excuse, we would be robbing Adelaide of a comprehensive victory, and they deserved it,” Malthouse said.
“They are, no doubt in my mind, and our forward scout has backed this up, they’d be the fittest January, February side going round.”
Collingwood travelled directly to the United Arab Emirates after spending two-and-a-half weeks conducting a high-altitude training camp in South Africa, and while the players were put through an exhaustive training program during that time, the club is hoping they will benefit as the season wears on.
“We’ve been away for a long time, and one of the things that you don’t know is the residual effect of how you’re going to play.
“We came off altitude down here, and technically you should have a lot more go in you given it’s sea level, but they’re young men, they were away from home for a long time, and we took that gamble.
“We went to altitude training not for one game, we went to altitude training because we want to be better for the whole year, so the test of that will be over the next three or four months.”
Saturday’s match showcased the AFL’s controversial interchange rule limit for the first time, restricting clubs to 16 player rotations per quarter, something Malthouse said impacted significantly on team selection and how he used certain players.
“You know my thoughts on the interchange rule, it’s a disgraceful rule the way it is.
“It just meant, that even in the first couple of quarters, I had to leave someone out in fear of a blood rule, we might’ve had one of the players go off, you don’t want to give away an easy goal, and we gave away enough of them as it was.
“Also, it negated probably four of five of our players who were on the cusp of playing, we couldn’t genuinely take them in there, because it would’ve been impossible to rotate 16 times, because those players would’ve taken up three or four themselves, so you just can’t do it.
The Magpies will now have a week off before travelling to Albany on the southern coast of Western Australia to take on the loser of this weekend’s Fremantle-West Coast clash, and Malthouse was clear in his opinion of the AFL’s scheduling of the match after sending the club to Dubai in week one.
“I reckon that’s a bit bewildering, but anyway, that’s the way it works out. We’ll take, perhaps, all our younger players that didn’t play today, if they’re fit.”
