Trent, a tough day out?
Yes very tough. We started quite well but the group is lacking a bit of confidence and when we couldn’t connect up forward and when Geelong got on top, our confidence waned. They got a run on and we kept chasing and trying and tackling but we were too reactive - full credit to Geelong.

Talk us through how you handled Amy McDonald today. She had 29 disposals and had a big impact. Was she tough to have someone run with her or was that the way you wanted to play?
It’s not really the way we want to play…she’s not a high metres gained player. We had a look at it at one stage, when she had 19 touches but only 80 metres gained. By then, we needed to get going so we tried different players through the middle to try and be offensive and win the game. We weren’t going to try and shut it down to lose by less. We were trying to attack at that point.

Last week you had 17 inside 50s and kicked four goals. Today 20 inside 50s but not enough to be where you need to be?
Absolutely. We had eight inside 50s to one in the first quarter and if we get a couple of goals then things can change and we get a bit of confidence going forward, but it didn’t happen. We definitely needed a lot more supply to our forwards and then to keep it in there for longer to give our backs a break. At the moment, they’re just under siege and in the end they did a good job to keep Geelong to three goals considering the supply. We definitely need more ball inside 50.

Kiara Bowers seems to be catching up from her interrupted pre-season. She had seven tackles in the first quarter today. She’s getting there but did she run out of legs and was moved forward late?
That was us just sending her forward instead of sending her to the bench to rest. Kiara had Covid just before the pre-season started and, as you’ve seen, it affects different people differently. Kiara says it hasn’t affected her, but I think it may have a little bit. She hasn’t played with that same spark but she’s still doing a good job for us. We can’t rely on her to be everything - this year, or going forward. We need to share the load a bit more and we’ve shown over the past couple of years, when Kiara has a quiet game we can still do well, but we need a more even spread.

And Hayley Miller, is it similar with her calf injury in the pre-season?
She had a really interrupted pre-season. I think she had one full session before round one. She has come from a fair way back, not so much in her tank but her footy touch. You can run as many laps as you like but when someone hits you it’s a different type of fitness. She’s building back into that. She showed some good signs and I think she’ll have a really solid season for us. She’s done some good things already in the first two weeks but she’s not quite at her peak yet and we look forward to that in the coming weeks.

You’ve had a bit of a change in personnel since last season. Did you see some steps forward today from last week against Brisbane?
To be honest, not really. I think last week against a really good side, we showed some patches where we linked up well and covered the ground well. Today, the first quarter we were good in the contest but after that, not a lot. To be honest, there wasn’t a step forward in any way and the group’s really aware of that and they’re keen to address it and turn it around as quickly as possible.

How is Gabby O’Sullivan?
It was hamstring awareness. Obviously she was an important player for us to lose when we were only one goal down. We’ll assess that during the week and see where she’s at.

Are you copping the effects of losing players and having such a short turnaround between seasons? You haven’t had that time to get the new group to gel?
I think that’s a part of it. The short time between seasons, probably not so much, but we’ve had a lot of injuries and illness and players not being able to train because of Covid. We’ve hardly had a session where we’ve had even 80 per cent availability, which makes it hard to work on things. I think that’s been a part of it. I don’t think the two seasons in one has affected us more than anybody else at all. It’s just that availability during the pre-season and on the ground at the moment.