WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: POOL C - KOREA VS AUSTRALIA

March 9, 2026

David Nilsson

Tokyo Dome

Team Australia

Pregame Press Conference

Q. After last night's game, late night, emotional night. What's the mood been like around the players today?

DAVID NILSSON: Yeah, last night was a tough night, obviously. A lot of emotions. Played really well. Just game got away from us in the end.

Before I left here, you know, it's a bitter disappointment, but I think the guys are in a really good place. I kind of sense before we left last night, they emotionally turned the page. I haven't noticed any lag or carryover today that concerns me.

Q. Lachlan Wells is starting today. He has KBO experience. How important is it for a pitcher on your pitching staff to have knowledge of the people you're going up against, and the types of hitters they might be?

DAVID NILSSON: Yeah, I think there's always a degree of comfort when you've faced somebody before. That can go both ways but it comes down to executing a pitch on the day is where it ends up. We have a lot of information on the hitters, and I'm really confident Lachlan going to have a good day.

Q. Team Australia has had a lot of home runs in this WBC; how much of a factor do you think is the Tokyo Dome?

DAVID NILSSON: Yeah, I think the guys have been swinging the bats well. I don't think we're hitting home runs because of the Tokyo Dome. I think we are hitting the ball pretty good and we've got some balls in the air. I don't know. I think credit has to go to the hitter.

Q. Did you have any special message to the team?

DAVID NILSSON: No meeting at the hotel. No meeting before the game. The guys know what they have to do. They are prepared and I trust them. So I just sit back and let the game play itself out.

Q. How do you judge if this tournament is a success? Last night you played Japan, head-to-head, you could say were successful. If you don't get out of the tournament, can you say you're successful? How do you judge whether it's been a successful tournament or not?

DAVID NILSSON: I think at some level, it's how you play, how you pitch, how you perform. But I think when it comes down to it, you want to do better than you did the previous time. You want to get through the second round.

So you know, for me, getting through that second round is probably the bar -- or getting to the second round, is probably the low bar for me.

Q. Do you have any special strategies or game plan to control the game?

DAVID NILSSON: It's kind of an unusual situation. Initially just going to play the game and try to win the game, and I think let the players perform the way they have been performing.

As the game goes on, if situations arise, I'll have to consider certain strategies, but I'm not going into the game looking to control the game. The players are the ones who play. I'll leave it up to them to get the game going and see what happens.