How pleasing of a performance was that after a disappointing three weeks?
It was great. I loved the way the players approached the week, they came to work knowing we hadn’t put in a great performance last Friday night and got to work. We set the week up really well. They prepared themselves really well and I thought it was back to one of our more consistent performances of the year. I was really proud of the players.

You’re almost guaranteed to play finals, that must be big with only two weeks to go.
It’s a credit to the work we’ve put in. The players should be proud of themselves, but not satisfied.

What was the most pleasing aspect of tonight?
I just think we competed really well around the ball, our contested ball numbers got a bit out of control in the second half but I thought we got back to our hunt and pressure and forward half game in the first half. In the second half when we were challenged we kept showing a bit of dare with the ball. Our players never rolled over or gave up, they just kept at it. There is still a lot to improve on out of that performance but I thought we took the ball forward a little bit more and showed a bit more dare with ball in hand and it paid off on the scoreboard. 

You’ve won six games on the road, and you’ve done really well at Marvel Stadium, what’s the secret?
I don’t know. There is a lot of things that go into it. We’ve worked really hard on our ability to prepare and we’ve kept our weeks really consistent and we’ve been able to focus on what’s important when we travel. I think we’ve had some good continuity in the back half of the year playing here a lot and that consistency is really helpful, we come back to a familiar stadium each week and that’s been helpful I feel. 

How impressed were you with Rory Lobb’s game?
It was great. He was great and I thought our method going inside 50 was as good as it’s been in a few weeks. Our forwards got on their bikes and started leading a little bit more and we started rewarding them a little bit more on the lead. I don’t know how many marks we ended up with inside 50, it was probably our highest for the year so Lobby played a big part in that. 

You were probably holding the ball in there a little bit more weren’t you?
In the first half we were, it bounced out of there once they went into turbo mode in the second half and we didn’t quite get it right but I was happy with our first half in that aspect. 

What happened with Matt Taberner?
It looks like he’s done a calf, the severity we’re unsure but it’s unfortunate. We backed him in this week and he deserved to be backed in with his body of work over a long period of time, but I was disappointed because he started looking like the Tabs of old. He started marking the ball inside 50, his set shots were really strong and he was looking dangerous again. It’s disappointing for him and us but we’ll rehab it and see what the rest of the season looks like. 

Do you expect to see him again this home and away season and will you be more cautious this time around?
We’ll see what the scan says and see what the doctors recommend for his time out. There’s not much of the season left to be too cautious so we’ll see how it pans out in the next couple of days.

Nathan O’Driscoll returned really strongly, is he going to be an important part of your plans?
He gives us something different 'Driz'. He’s a young player trying to find his way but he just plays like he’s a kid still out there and takes the game on. That goal he kicked in the third quarter on the run, he didn’t take a backwards step, he took the game on and kicked a really important goal for us but I don’t think that was going through his head, it was like he was playing backyard footy. I love that about him and he had some really important contests, he’s making his way in AFL but he’s jumped in pretty quick. 

Did he add that pace and spark that you were probably missing a bit in the last couple of weeks?
Yes, he added a bit of that but I think that came from us as a team. We showed we trusted ourselves with the ball, took the game forward a little bit more. I think that was more of a team mentality but 'Driz' played a part in that.

You had nearly 50 more uncontested possessions, was that the plan heading in?
A bit of a plan, but sometimes those things happen and they don’t really pan out. We talked to our players about taking what the opposition gives us, I didn’t think our marks were 'chip it around and go nowhere', we wanted to change angles and shift their defence but we didn’t come in with a plan of taking 70 uncontested marks in a half, that just happened.

Jordan Clark had a great game overall, but what did you make of the moment he went back with the flight of the ball in the third quarter?
Inspirational. I think our backs have been really good in those situations most of the year where they just have to get it done. They’ve been pretty desperate, and I think that shows in our scores against for the year. I think that was just a great act of courage and one that we desperately need in that situation.

Is that moment something you will highlight to the players?
I dare to say our leaders will highlight that. 

Did you use David Mundy’s retirement as motivation pre-game?
No, not really. Our players know the significance of Dave’s retirement and they know what he means to us as a football club. All of our players would have reflected on that but it’s probably more important that we got the fundamentals of our footy right, so we focused pretty heavily on that. We know the significance of Dave retiring.