You must be happy with that one Trent?
We’re very happy, we sort of had a tough run for a few weeks, but we felt like we were really building. Training has been really good this week and to come back to Victoria has actually been great. We are five from five in Melbourne this year. We trained at Victoria Park again to keep things familiar, and the players were really relaxed last night and this morning, so I was confident the girls would perform. Whether that was going to be good enough we weren’t sure until we got here. We are really happy with the way we played.

Do you think that period in Victoria earlier this season helped you today?
We talked about last night how everything has helped us. That period in Victoria definitely helped, and it was a time that the team really bonded. We got a lot of games into our youngsters, they got to hang around the Kiara Bowers and Hayley Miller types and see how they behave and act and prepare. For Dana East and Makaela Tuhakaraina and those types, it was really valuable for them. We even talked about how the Melbourne game was good for us, as bad a result as it was, but just going through adversity and working out how to fight through things better. It has been a year of lots of ups and downs, but with finals everyone is 0-0, every game is a knock out final - so you have got to play with a bit of resilience and we think we can do that.

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How happy were you with your resilience today particularly when North Melbourne kicked a couple goals to get back into it?
We spoke about the fact that North Melbourne have just got too good a midfield for them to not get momentum in stages. In Tasmania last time, we lost all our structure when things were going against us, and when our midfield did get on top we didn’t have anything to kick to. We made sure we kept our structure today and I was really proud of our forwards and the way they managed to do that. When the ball did come down for our forwards to fight really hard, they managed to keep the ball in their area too.

It was a bit of a dream scenario to have such an even spread of goal-kickers?
It was great to get our midfielders down there and our forwards sharing the load. I was rapt with the way everyone put in a contest and helped each other out, and they all probably got a turn at the end of it as well because of that. We are not one-dimensional down there at all.

How did you see Kiara Bowers’ game?
She was a bit stiff and sore, and she wasn’t really comfortable early. She worked into the game well. She freed her up beautifully in that second half and had 16 disposals. We were a bit worried this morning, she had a bit of a tight back which she has had before. She came through that really well, and the way she finished the game she will be all the better for it.

And was it an ankle for Sarah Wielstra?
That didn’t look great, I haven’t had the full report from the doctor yet but I was told pretty early on that she wouldn’t come back on and be available as a rotation. I’d say she would be in doubt unfortunately.

Has there been much communication from the AFL about what is next for the Preliminary Final?
There has been communication that there is no official plan yet. It’s a really difficult situation for the AFL because whatever they do, someone is going to be disadvantaged. It’s not an easy task. That has been 2022, things have happened to different sides. They sort of have to look after Adelaide and Melbourne who have earnt those rights and make sure they aren’t playing off too long a break. I’m not exactly sure what they are going to do, I said to our girls that we will prepare to play next Saturday at this stage, but if that doesn’t happen then we will need to adjust as everyone needs to do this year.

Was that performance today good enough to win a premiership?
It gives us a chance. I thought the top four sides, we probably deserve to be thought of as a top four team but things went against us a bit. There is not a lot between us at all, but you have to be playing well. It’s going to come down to playing well when you have got momentum and then trying to arrest momentum back the other way. There is not a lot between the top four so we had to play at that level today, and then maybe to another notch when we play Adelaide.

You played Adelaide earlier this season, what do you take from that game?
It was a funny game and it is going to be a completely different game this time because we didn’t have Bowers and Janelle Cuthbertson and they didn’t have Erin Philips and Chelsea Randall. It’s going to be very different. I remember watching back the first half and everyone was saying what a great game it was, even though it was low scoring. The pressure was really good, but they were a bit too smart. We have changed the way we defend a bit now and, hopefully, that can help us when we do play Adelaide. We need to defend better against them, and we also need our forward line to come to the party like they did today. It's not just in front of goals, but it’s also about the pressure and keeping it in the area. We are a chance if we do that, but obviously Adelaide are the benchmark of the competition.

Janelle Cuthbertson came straight in under finals pressure and performed well?
I thought her main asset today would just be the fact that she was back in defence which would free Aine Tighe up forward - but to have 12 intercept possessions and to do as well as she did was phenomenal. She will be better for that run. She has done a lot of fitness and footy work without contact. People also forget how new to footy she is as well, so it’s been an education for her all the way through the rehab. She is probably in better shape because she hasn’t had the bang and crash for six weeks, so we are really happy to have her back in the side that’s for sure. Lisa Webb, our backline coach, missed breakfast this morning because she slept in and I said it makes a big difference when you have Cuthbertson in your team! 

Kiara Bowers – you mentioned she had a stiff back is that just something that she deals with?
It’s something that has happened before, it happened in the pre-season where she had woken up stiff and she pulled out of that game. She woke up the same today. It won’t be something that will affect her at all, so she will be right to go.