Sipping the Sake with Mat Ryan & Mike Neild

Some people eat lots of chocolate or ice cream when they're anxious or down about something. But here at the Dojo, on the rare occasions that misfortune strikes and gloom prevails we find instant comfort in the familiar flavours of a big bowl of tofu miso, served up just how we like it at our sushi bar.

And it seems we're not the only ones who enjoy pulling up a seat at the Dojo sushi bar and asking our ex-sumo sushi chef to serve it up "omakase onegaishimasu"... Stepping through the half-height curtains we immediately noticed Mat Ryan and Mike Neild busily knocking back the contents of a very large sake tokkuri while they tucked into a fabulous array of sashimi. And we thought Jon Good had a big appetite!

So we placed our order and joined them at the bar for a little recap of last week's game. The discussion went something like this:

DojoMojo Blog: Mike, Mat - it's great to see you chaps here. No doubt we've all spent a fair bit of time thinking back over our last game during the week, and it'd be good to hear things from your perspective. Firstly - how did it feel coming away from that game with a win when moments beforehand a loss looked inevitable?

Mike Neild: That was a famous victory and it felt great. It is the obvious closeness between towering success and crushing defeat that makes sport such an emotional experience. I think we were right up towards the top end of that continuum of emotion due to the narrowness of the win and the highly unlikely nature of the result. We've been talking about it all week.

Mat Ryan: Indeed we have. You know those rare and special moments when everything falls into place just perfectly? Like the time when Miss Alexander's blouse popped open in English class in Year 11? It was kinda like that. It was like we snuck in, pinched the crown jewels and got away with it. That said, a lot of the euphoria was due to the fact that the team played as well as it possibly could to steal the win. Everyone was totally focussed and played the perfect game at the perfect moment. You could just feel the focus and intensity. Magic.

DMB: That sounds very familiar - if only that focus & intensity was something that could be reproduced on demand... Now - coming into the game, all looked pretty normal with the Slippry warmup. No special strategies formulated to deal with trademark Dojo tendencies?

Mat: Mike's probably got more to say on that. I don't think we had any special strategies. We recognise Dojo as having a long roster with a lot of throwing strength. I think we spoke about keeping the pressure on and not making it easy... But not much more than that. It's not rocket science.

Mike: We probably talked more about what we wanted to improve in our game than we did about how to combat the Dojo game. We did consider avenues for dealing with a 'German' style set up from you lot, and about the forcing options we would take in our man on man defence. Things have changed in the Dojo with the addition of the height, throwing power and experience of David, Ryan and Daniel and so some defensive adjustments are required. But the reality was that the strategy that worked the best for us was something that we didn't plan to use at all.

DMB: It didn't seem planned from our end of the field either, but it was certainly effective! And what do you call that Zone D you played against us when you were down to six?

Mike: I've don't know what that zone is called. I was a bit dubious when James was explaining it at half time, but my goodness did it work.

Mat: That zone is called 'got no other options'. But somehow it seemed to work. It actually felt far better than many other 7man defences I've been involved with. To be honest, I think Dojo might have won it if they'd played a bit closer to their regular gameplan. It was almost like you expected to just walk it in, so you didn't take any chances, and we were able to build pressure and finally get a turn.

DMB: Yes - that much is also very clear on the video footage. And dare we suggest that dropping down to six players actually worked in your favour, as the six you ended up with had proven to be the most dangerous on the night?

Mat: As above. Part of the success was the focus that our 6 applied, but maybe part of it was due to the change in mindset that happened to the Dojo. As Phil Jauncey says "If you've only got plan A and plan B, don't try plan C". I dunno. A combination of total focus from our 6, a bit of luck and a seed of doubt in the minds of the opposition, all converging at the most propitious moment...

Mike: Look it was a turning point in the game however it is difficult to really believe that playing with one less person on the field could be an advantage. I'm inclined to agree with Mat on this one, and I always agree with anyone involved in the 3 time premiership winning phenomenon that was the Brisbane Lions of the early 2000s. Maybe the Dojo just got a bit too comfortable with the position they were in - it seems in line with what I understand of the vibe of the Frisbee Dojo.

DMB: Perhaps we did start to cruise a bit, but that mess-in-front, Mike-at-the-back zone is one you guys should really develop. And talking strategy, we noticed that you recently had a win over the UQ Lovers, next week's opposition for the Dojo. What sort of gameplan would you be taking into this match if you were calling the shots here at the Dojo?

Mike: Put your guns on Al, Buzz and Stu and make them get it going backwards rather than forwards towards their line. Be enthusiastic and energetic on both offence and defence. There is a bit of a weakness of connection that occurs when all the Lovers players are closely marked. They should be the best team in the comp based on their list however something just hasn't clicked yet. The rest of us have to keep up the pressure on them because if we let them and they do connect then it will be troubles for us.

Mat: I'd say just do what you do best. Play your own game. Perhaps send Ryan streaking long a bit more, because you're not getting the full value out of him in a dedicated handling role. That long cut from a handling position can be very effective. Particularly when you've got another tall threat to worry about in Dan Walls. It can split the defence. But hey .... Work it out yourself!!

DMB: Thanks chaps - we'll do our best. Now, would you mind passing the wasabi?

* 06.11.2008 postscript - Turns out we've been spelling Mike's surname incorrectly all these years. Sorry about that Mike - it's now been set right (at least in this post...).