Is it good to be on the end of a close win?
I thought there was a really strong will to win, for both teams. I think there’s been some games when we’ve had 36 entries to 18 – (example) second half against Collingwood - and we just weren’t efficient but tonight both teams really just fought it out to the end. They’re a proud club, a good club, they’ve had sustained success. We had it 2012 to 2015 but we’re trying to build back to that. I thought we fought it out to the end but some of the basics we would like to be better in, but any win is hard fought in the AFL. We certainly picked a different team tonight. We identified over the last month we’d lost a little bit of game style with penetration and going into our forwards so we needed to pick a taller forward line, because we lost (Jesse) Hogan, (Matt) Taberner and (Brennan) Cox out of our front half. We just adapted too much and we felt we lost penetration but there was a challenge that came with that. As the game wore on we built the ball up a little bit more and set the field and we looked like we were going to score and we made them defend a bit more. Early we had that balance wrong and it was putting us under some pressure. They really attack well of half back, they’ve got some real speed out of there. (Jake) Lloyd was a real problem for us but I thought Brad Hill early really held us up. He was the stand out, but we adjusted and we thought we got it back on our terms with our ball use and our kicking of the ball. Our clearance work was pretty good, I still thought too many broken tackles and skill errors, but you know what – we can keep working on that. Over the last month three of the four games we’ve been in but our concentration levels and execution haven’t been to the level required to get across the line but we learned some lessons out of those games and they applied them tonight so it was pleasing.
Was it a bit of a gamble to go in with three ruckmen?
Yes it was because we identified we’d lost our longer kicking through centre-forward. West Coast monstered us in the air and I thought even at times we over-adapted against Hawthorn and we were trying to pass it in the whole time. Really, it’s a big ground, it’s really slippery and hard, it’s really difficult in these conditions. I thought we were dangerous at the top of the square. You’re paid to take some chances, it was a calculated risk. They had mobility and we had clearance dominance around hit-outs, but it still could have gone either way.
Was Sean Darcy nursing a bit of an elbow or arm injury?
Not that I am aware of. Rory Lobb tweaked his shoulder, he’s a bit sore.
What’s your plan with Aaron Sandilands, will you just keep him for home games?
I have experienced it before with Roger Merrett when I was at Brisbane, they just kept him for the home games and that worked well, he played until he was 36. We’re just assessing it, that was the plan last week, we will see how everyone pulls up and make an informed decision.
The win tonight puts you back within a win to get you back into eighth spot, how important is that?
It doesn’t hurt.
Does it ease the pressure?
I think that’s just what it is, outside talk. We have done so much right, our average losing margin was 12 points, we’ve had interstate wins against top four clubs in GWS and Collingwood, we have beaten top six teams at home. Then we ran into some problems, we are a young developing list, we aren’t a deep list and there are some challenges that come with that. If people want to pile on, that’s the business that’s what we sign up for, but it doesn’t wobble my intent, our coaches’ intent or our players’ intent. We are a pretty happy camp, we have been disappointed so let the criticism come, that’s the business we are in. If I was sitting here thinking we’re not really performing to our talent over the course of the year things would be different. I’ve experienced that before at St Kilda, in 2007 and early 2008. We had a very talented but underperforming team, it was really stressful. When you think the group is giving everything they’ve got and really improved there is no stress, bar the stress of losing.
You’ve matched the tally of wins from last season, what goals do you set yourself?
I have never set win and loss goals. It was an opportunity to improve tonight, we are still were far from what we want to be, but our will to win and compete was strong. It was more consistent, I thought our back seven stood up really early. Griffin Logue improved tonight, we really backed him in. We are working with him one-on-one, I thought he was significant. I thought Adam Cerra played well, I thought Andy Brayshaw stood up. They are only second year players, Griffin is on his third year but has only been available for 20 games. There is plenty of upside here and we are three and a half years in.
To be strong in clearances and contested possessions without Fyfe who sort of leads the way for you?
Yes, but earlier in the year against West Coast we did the same thing, it’s no surprise to me. I really believe in our group, I always affirm our group, it’s not always going to be perfect but, on Nathan, he’s been super for us. He was staying at home tonight, he is really quite an ill boy. I got a call Wednesday morning at 7.30 and he went south really quickly. Ken Withers our club doctor acted really quickly, Clay Golledge, infectious disease specialist, really got hold of Nathan and gave him great care. So, on the back of that, we think Nathan will more than likely get up but not a guarantee for next week. It would be great if we could add him back in.
On Lobb’s shoulder you mentioned, is there some doubt on him heading into next week?
Maybe a little bit, a little sublux is not too much so we’ll go away and lick our wounds and assess but it’s great for the group, and we just want to keep improving. You’ve got to write your own story, it’s a win loss business, I understand we’re a two-team town, I understand the scrutiny. We’ve got that many content providers and not many people to provide the content, so that’s just the way we roll here.
With Fyfe, is that elbow going to be sore for the rest of the season?
No, it was an inflamed bursa, the bursa was regrowing and for whatever reason it just became infected and inflamed. They’re not even sure why, it got serious quick but rest assured our members and partners we’ll take no risk with Nathan and if he’s not right he won’t play.
Very sad news about Jesse Hogan?
Sad? Well, we’re not saving babies lives here. It’s a navicular, we’ll put a pin in, and he’ll rehab and be there round one. We’ll support him and he’ll get going, let’s not dramaticise it too much here.
