What did you make of that?
Really pleased. Psychologically, it’s a very difficult round when you look around the league, when you’re not playing finals against a team that is surging for a finals appearance. I thought we were competitive early but we made some fundamental errors where they kicked a couple of easy ones. I thought our fight and our willpower from there was really strong and we were right in the game. We ran it out strong and we attacked the game. There are some really good lessons for us going forward. Our backs ran, our forwards presented, some of young players grew and our leaders stood up. So that was today, so it was really pleasing. It gives us a measure about where you have to be for the edge of the eight. I think that’s where it’s at, so that’s pleasing. On the course of the year, failure is feedback and everyone in the club needs to leave no stone unturned. We need to continue to improve and grow, learn from this hard period, which I feel I am doing, our group is doing, and our leaders are doing. We will continue to surge ahead and grow.

Did you need a performance like that after the last fortnight?
I was clear that as disappointing as they (the last two weeks) were, there were some mitigating circumstances. I knew we had picked a stronger team today and we applied rigour at selection. Every time time you pick a team, you send a message. We brought in Lachie Neale, last year’s best and fairest winner, Harley Bennell, gee whiz he was exciting at the end. I thought he had them on toast, but we had to tap him out because of his physical parameters. As he said it’s going to be a big summer, so if you can do the work, we know we have a top-flight player there. We added to our group and we knew we would be more competitive. There’s a message there for guys who go out of the team, that that’s the level. I was always on record as saying I thought we’d been very competitive bar a few games all year and there’s always circumstances. So from where we are, we cut our list hard. The only constant in AFL football, someone told me, is change. There will be more change and we’re working really hard to try and bridge the gap. It was important for our supporters and ourselves that we displayed our character because fundamentally that’s what football is about. I thought we displayed great character today. I’m not really interested in anyone else’s opinion.


What was the message at the end of the game, when you brought everyone in for the team huddle?
I was just thanking them for their efforts. I thought they displayed great character and today counted. You can’t just say that today doesn’t count. Today counted so it was pleasing.

Any update on your plan for Harley Bennell in Peel Thunder’s finals campaign?
We’re still working through that.

You mentioned change, are you happy with the base of the squad?
That’s the aim. We need to improve. We need to get men of character through the door, with talent and work hard to improve our systems. It can be done. We’ll do the work and we’ll come again, we know that.

Do you have a message to the fans at the end of the season as to where the rebuild sits?
There’s no metric on it. There’s no ‘we’re on track for week six or for week 16’. It doesn’t work like that. We’re really a year in, maybe a year-and-a-half of a four-year plan. I think Ron Barassi had a five-year plan at Melbourne that didn’t go to according to plan. You’ve got to stay the course, bring your members and fans along for the ride. I think our executive from Dale Alcock, to Steve Rosich, Chris Bond, myself and Nathan Fyfe have been strong at doing that. There is going to be some frustration but there was a lot of passion last week at the ground when they were chanting the Freo song. You can’t just be defined by wins and losses, it’s about doing the work and building and enjoying the journey and taking the emotional risk to do the work. There is no guarantee. If you can produce one for me, I am happy to have it.

Cam McCarthy went out of the side today, what was the theory behind that?
The theory was we thought he needed to improve in some areas and we brought someone else in. So Shane Kersten came in. Match committee is done and we’ve done the game. We have spoken about the big picture, we know there are a lot of good teams in the competition that we are chasing. We feel we will grow, at what rate we’re not too sure. But if everyone in the club tries to outperform in their roles and grows, we improve. I am sure it can be done.

Have you liked what you’ve seen from Matt Taberner over the last three weeks?
I have to go and away and assess. It’s hard to individualise in press conferences, it has been a long, hard year. I’d really just acknowledge the whole group's form today. We all go away and the big picture is we continue to build. We have had a lot of tight games, we had a couple of blow-outs and we understand the reasons for that and we need to continue to improve. I’m not here to dissect the list with respect.

Tip to take out the premiership?
I’m not too sure.