Despite being a few days late for his calligraphy class, it's a pleasure to have former Aussie junior captain and now scholarly leader of the UQ Passion team John McNaughton take a few moments out from his brushwork to chat over a nice big bowl of miso and a large quantity of warm sake. It does get cold in these shoji-screened rooms during winter, after all...
DojoMojo Blog: Thanks for sparing us a few moments John. I know you're a busy chap, so let's get straight into it. Firstly, just how surprising was it to see a full complement of Dojo players running laps and warming up a full half hour before the game? Did this bizarre sight have any effect on Passion's own immediate pre-game warmup?
John McNaughton: It was definitely a shock. I'd read on the Dojo blog that they were discussing the potential benefits of warming up, especially in light of the exclusive interview with Mikey about the work he's done with Buggers, but had absolutely no expectation that this discussion would be transformed into action (in true Dojo style). However, clearly this is Dojo Revolutions in 2008, like the Rawhide Revamp. It didn't have a great deal of effect on us, I don't think. We don't warm up particularly well ourselves, and personally, I was on the way back from watering the bushes so wasn't hitting much of a warm-up anyway...
DMB: Ah - so it's you the soccer girls on the next field have been complaining about! It seems they would rather have their bushes remain unwatered by the likes of you and your fellow students, John. Anyway, enough about idiosyncratic warmup practices. Just when it looked like Dojo might be gaining the early upper hand, Big Jules finally managed to get his cleats on and the Passion game immediately seemed to open up downfield and clamp down on D. Surely this wasn't just a coincidence?
JM: Nothing about Jules is a coincidence. Especially in Buzz's absence, Jules added an extra thrower with the ability to break and huck, and obviously an intimidating cutting & defending presence. One of the 2007 BPL Rookies of the Season has really come along nicely, and with some extra high-level experience under the belt this year, he's been great for us.
Of course, he's only been great from about the 6th point each week - he seems to be making it a habit to avoid all the fanfare and excitement at the start of a game, preferring to subtly slide into the action. Modest to a fault, our Jules.
DMB: You'll have to start calling him "The Faulty Tower", eh? No? Okay then, we'll stick to asking questions. The lead changed many times on the night, and neither team was ever more than a couple of points ahead. I remember the first point after halftime being very lengthy, and finally (after 3 turnovers?) resulting in a crucial score for Passion to level it 8-8. Any special McNaughton magic in the halftime huddle which helped the men in pink lift a notch?
JM: Mate, I don't know if I've had too many cups of this fine extra-dry sake, but I'm struggling to recall. I might be able to remember some parts of the game itself, but the half time speech is a hazy time. I imagine I probably talked up the fact that we'd got 3 in a row just before half, and seem to recall making a bit of a tactical adjustment. Don't remember any real magic - I prefer to inspire with action than with word. Sometimes I even manage to do it.
DMB: Yes, few would argue with you there. It seems that all you McNaughtons are men of action rather than words. Now - you've mentioned that you found it easier to contain the Dojo offence using a zone rather than man D. Why do you reckon this was the case?
JM: Dojo have really done well in the last season or two of improving efficiency with the disc. You're less huck-happy and more focussed on disc retention. It's a pretty simple style - resets to handlers interspersed with (mainly) open-side shots to hard-working cutters. Your cutters work hard though, and your handlers are quite good at maintaining possession, so unless we manage to make a play and force something, you seem to be getting good at working it down the field to score.
In contrast, the Dojo are somewhat lacking in throwing strike power. It is a deep team - everyone is able to throw solidly, but there is an absence of truly deadly throwers who can carve up the zone. That helps its effectiveness, I think.
DMB: Spot on, John. We've found through bitter experience that our long throws are often more deadly to us than our opponents, so it's definitely something we're working on. Okay - lastly, can we expect to see the Passion team get proper shirts sometime soon? Rumour has it that you instruct all new recruits to take a normal white T-shirt and stick it in the wash with some red undies (or at least ask your Mums to do it for you)...
JM: Sounds like a Bugger-prompted question, my friend. Bring in new red shirts and then try to make the established teams with similar colours change... All part of a mental disintegration campaign, perhaps? I'm not at liberty to disclose anything on this front - it's in the capable hands of the UQ club exec. We'll have to wait and see what happens.
DMB: Yes, it hasn't gone unnoticed that BPL now features teams wearing red, pink and maroon. Matt Eastburn has been wanting Dojo to go red for years as well, but thankfully everyone ignores him...
Anyway, thanks again John for sparing us a few moments. Your comments have as usual been informative, entertaining and inspiring...
DojoMojo Blog: Thanks for sparing us a few moments John. I know you're a busy chap, so let's get straight into it. Firstly, just how surprising was it to see a full complement of Dojo players running laps and warming up a full half hour before the game? Did this bizarre sight have any effect on Passion's own immediate pre-game warmup?
John McNaughton: It was definitely a shock. I'd read on the Dojo blog that they were discussing the potential benefits of warming up, especially in light of the exclusive interview with Mikey about the work he's done with Buggers, but had absolutely no expectation that this discussion would be transformed into action (in true Dojo style). However, clearly this is Dojo Revolutions in 2008, like the Rawhide Revamp. It didn't have a great deal of effect on us, I don't think. We don't warm up particularly well ourselves, and personally, I was on the way back from watering the bushes so wasn't hitting much of a warm-up anyway...
DMB: Ah - so it's you the soccer girls on the next field have been complaining about! It seems they would rather have their bushes remain unwatered by the likes of you and your fellow students, John. Anyway, enough about idiosyncratic warmup practices. Just when it looked like Dojo might be gaining the early upper hand, Big Jules finally managed to get his cleats on and the Passion game immediately seemed to open up downfield and clamp down on D. Surely this wasn't just a coincidence?
JM: Nothing about Jules is a coincidence. Especially in Buzz's absence, Jules added an extra thrower with the ability to break and huck, and obviously an intimidating cutting & defending presence. One of the 2007 BPL Rookies of the Season has really come along nicely, and with some extra high-level experience under the belt this year, he's been great for us.
Of course, he's only been great from about the 6th point each week - he seems to be making it a habit to avoid all the fanfare and excitement at the start of a game, preferring to subtly slide into the action. Modest to a fault, our Jules.
DMB: You'll have to start calling him "The Faulty Tower", eh? No? Okay then, we'll stick to asking questions. The lead changed many times on the night, and neither team was ever more than a couple of points ahead. I remember the first point after halftime being very lengthy, and finally (after 3 turnovers?) resulting in a crucial score for Passion to level it 8-8. Any special McNaughton magic in the halftime huddle which helped the men in pink lift a notch?
JM: Mate, I don't know if I've had too many cups of this fine extra-dry sake, but I'm struggling to recall. I might be able to remember some parts of the game itself, but the half time speech is a hazy time. I imagine I probably talked up the fact that we'd got 3 in a row just before half, and seem to recall making a bit of a tactical adjustment. Don't remember any real magic - I prefer to inspire with action than with word. Sometimes I even manage to do it.
DMB: Yes, few would argue with you there. It seems that all you McNaughtons are men of action rather than words. Now - you've mentioned that you found it easier to contain the Dojo offence using a zone rather than man D. Why do you reckon this was the case?
JM: Dojo have really done well in the last season or two of improving efficiency with the disc. You're less huck-happy and more focussed on disc retention. It's a pretty simple style - resets to handlers interspersed with (mainly) open-side shots to hard-working cutters. Your cutters work hard though, and your handlers are quite good at maintaining possession, so unless we manage to make a play and force something, you seem to be getting good at working it down the field to score.
In contrast, the Dojo are somewhat lacking in throwing strike power. It is a deep team - everyone is able to throw solidly, but there is an absence of truly deadly throwers who can carve up the zone. That helps its effectiveness, I think.
DMB: Spot on, John. We've found through bitter experience that our long throws are often more deadly to us than our opponents, so it's definitely something we're working on. Okay - lastly, can we expect to see the Passion team get proper shirts sometime soon? Rumour has it that you instruct all new recruits to take a normal white T-shirt and stick it in the wash with some red undies (or at least ask your Mums to do it for you)...
JM: Sounds like a Bugger-prompted question, my friend. Bring in new red shirts and then try to make the established teams with similar colours change... All part of a mental disintegration campaign, perhaps? I'm not at liberty to disclose anything on this front - it's in the capable hands of the UQ club exec. We'll have to wait and see what happens.
DMB: Yes, it hasn't gone unnoticed that BPL now features teams wearing red, pink and maroon. Matt Eastburn has been wanting Dojo to go red for years as well, but thankfully everyone ignores him...
Anyway, thanks again John for sparing us a few moments. Your comments have as usual been informative, entertaining and inspiring...
speaking of uniforms I çan't recall seeing those awsome dojo headbands recently. I thought they were oozing with pure awsome.
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