Roos Skipper Upbeat Despite Loss
The Sunday Age
Sunday February 17, 2008
KANGAROOS captain Adam Simpson sensed around this time last year his team was up and running when it had an opening-round victory over Collingwood in the NAB Cup.
It was a different feeling on Friday night in Darwin when the Bulldogs held off a late charge from the Roos, but the skipper said "it's not panic stations" and that there were positives to be drawn from the match."I didn't feel like we deserved to win in the end. The Doggies played better footy and probably wanted it a little bit more," he said. "They were up and running . . . you could tell they were fair dinkum."It was a pretty good scrap. I just thought they had the edge on us and we didn't really ignite until 'Drewie' (Drew Petrie) kicked that nine-pointer and you could see the excitement in the boys."Nathan Thompson, 30, who made his return on the night after nearly 12 months out of the game, was among the positives, according to Simpson.The full-forward had a quiet night, but stood up to the rigours of a physical, low-scoring contest in humid conditions.Lachlan Hansen had 15 disposals and Leigh Harding had 12 disposals and two marks after returning from knee surgery. -- MARTIN BOULTON
© 2008 The Sunday Age
