Justin what pleased you most out of that?
I think all phases of our game were in pretty good order, there were moments where our centre bounce and stoppage didn’t allow us to play the game in our front half. I think our ability to win contests and set the play up from there was pretty strong. We know the Eagles are going through their issues at the moment with injuries and they are not playing as strong a team as they would like, so we really just tried to focus on our footy and on what we could control. I was pretty happy with the evenness of our performance.
 
What did you make of the speed that you seemed to have all over the ground?
I thought our forwards set the ground up really well with their intent to break and open the ground up. The ability to win contests and then use our numbers was something that we practiced a fair bit over the pre-season. It was a good first hitout.

Some of your new recruits, Will Brodie and Jordan Clark in particular, were impressive. Did you learn a bit more about them tonight?
Not really, because they have been doing a lot of that over the pre-season. It was good to see them do that against another team, and I thought Jordan fitted into our back six really well. Will has really impressed us with his hunt and competitiveness inside. They have been doing it all pre-season, so it didn’t really surprise me.

Did it confirm that they are both part of your best team?
We had a fair few players out today, I think we’ll get up to five players back next week. I’ve been saying it for a while, but there’s a good competition for spots at the moment and there’s going to be some guys playing at Peel tomorrow that could’ve easily played today. It’s a good position to be in.

What did the speed look like for you, was it exciting and was it a decisive weapon for you tonight?
Yes and no. We want to see it consistently and I think there has been times where we have played like that over my first two years. It’s our ability to do it consistently and keep rocking up and keep repeating time and time again that is something that we have probably lacked in. We did it well tonight and we aren’t always going to get that much speed on the ball, but I feel our forwards got rewarded for playing their roles and got on the end of it.

A nice reward for Michael Frederick after a long injury rehab?
He’s been back into full training since Christmas, and I don’t think he has missed too much of our match sim. All our forwards would have put the same effort in, and ‘Freddy’ was probably the one who got the reward tonight. That’s how it is as a small forward, you need to keep rocking up and keep repeating your effort over and over again and you will get rewarded. It was ‘Freddy’s’ turn tonight, and it won’t be his turn every time. If we keep working like that as a collective in the forward line, one of the small forwards will bob up because they have all been dangerous and had their moments this pre-season.

 Liam Henry’s game on the wing, was it one of his better games?
I thought he was solid. He’s got some things to keep working on, but he’s been consistent over the whole pre-season so today wasn’t a shock by any stretch of the imagination, he’s been in good form and continues to be a sponge. He just wants to learn and get better, so it was a good step forward today.
 
Do you see him taking one of those wing spots?
We’ve still got next week to get through but he’s doing a good job on there. We’ve still got plenty of players chomping at his heels wanting to compete for those spots. Like a lot of our roles, it’s a good position to be in. It keeps a lot of those guys in those roles hungry and on their toes, and it keeps the guys out of there wanting to keep improving and keep their spots.
 
David Mundy a late out, was there much in that?
There’s nothing in it, he’ll play next week.
 
Neil Erasmus, was he close to playing?
Yes, he was close, but we’ve got some good depth through our midfield and he’s a young player in his first year who hasn’t played against men really apart from this pre-season. I thought it was best for his development and his progression to play at Peel tomorrow.
 
With all your big names out tonight, do you bring them all in next week?
We’d like to, that’s the plan. We think Darcy, Ryan, Mundy, Walters, and Fyfe should play some footy next week.

The train-ons only started last week but is there any chance they’ll play?
I think we’ll struggle to fit those five in next week. We’ll just weigh it up and see how we get them match time and see their progression over the next few weeks. It’s a bit hard for me to say at the moment, a couple of them aren’t Peel players so we don’t really want to send them to Peel to play.
 
Treacy and Hamling, where are they at?
Josh only returned to match-sim last week, so he’s only got a half under his belt. He’ll continue his progression at Peel tomorrow, we’ll try and get him three quarters, we’ll try and get him a bit more. Joel, he’s competing for a spot in our side at the moment, he’s a little bit behind our other key backs. I think that’s understandable, and we all understand that Joel has missed a couple years of footy and is still returning from that ankle injury. He’ll go back and keep working on his footy and keep putting pressure on the others in the side.
 
Is the plan to play your best side next week?
Yes, I think it’s natural progression, play your best side for the last game before round one.
 
If Hamling stays fit, will he start his season in the WAFL?
It’s a week-by-week thing. He’s not far behind the others and if you watched us over the pre-season he’s still in good form. It’s probably the fact that the others have played a lot more footy over the last couple of years and have had a lot more pre-season. He’s not that far behind and things can change pretty quickly. He’s clean injury-wise
 
What would you say to fans who might be excited by a massive margin?
It’s a pre-season game, we’ve got a lot of work to do.