• Freo surge comes too late
• End-to-end leads to Tucker goal

Ross where did you think it got away from you in the end?
Lots of areas I think. Our efficiency is a real concern. It’s becoming a pattern. I thought our effort for most of the night was there. We certainly had entries. But we’ve got to fine tune our method really. I can’t keep walking in and talking about we need to get better in that area. The starting point is we’re getting entries and we’re getting the ball back centre-forward. That’s three weeks in a row now and typically it’s the signature of a good AFL team. And we think it is still, but you’ve got to get efficient off those opportunities. It’s as simple as that. We need to improve that area of the game.

So you mean kicking for goal?
Not even so much for goal, I think they missed some as well. I don’t think either team walks away with many bouquets being thrown in the air about performance. But I am typically concerned about us. I think in the third quarter there were 18 entries for 1.4, which is a real concern. We need to execute a bit better, we need to have better patterns which is exactly what we spoke to the players about. We’re close, we have a good dynamic, the effort is strong, we’re creating opportunities and getting the ball back when we need to but we have to work on our execution and efficiency.

Bradley Hill had a miss in the third quarter from 20 metres, he was straight in front he didn’t want to take the drop punt, he ran around and snapped and miskicked it. Do you have a policy on that?
I asked him what (Alistair) Clarkson would say to him and he said ‘Clarko would be quite frustrated not as calm as you, and he would have said be composed, go back and take the shot and go through your routine.’ So it’s exactly what we ask of them. Brad’s a triple premiership player, he’s highly regarded and I think we had four players who didn’t take their shots tonight for whatever reason. It’s a principle, and principles are either right or wrong, so the right principle is go back be composed and go through your routine, give everyone a rest, take your full 30 seconds and give yourself the best opportunity and that’s the correct principle.

And kick a drop punt do you mean?
I think you don’t want to narrow it. I saw Kennedy kick a beautiful around the body hook, so if you execute, it’s part of the modern game as long as you practice it at training. Not everyone kicks a drop punt.

So you think the issue is the time not the choice of kick?
Yes, I’ll reiterate. If you get a mark inside 50 and you’re within distance go back, compose yourself, go through your routine and your process and commit to it and it gives you the best opportunity for a positive outcome.

When you talk about execution and efficiency, do you think you’re close?
We have the right bit, getting it back to the right end of the ground. You just can’t play long bomb straight football, because they get back on you and they counter punch you. We can spread the ball more out of defence, more composure on entry, shift the ball around and make teams defend.

The goal kicking from both sides was wayward tonight, under the roof, can you put a finger on why that might be?
No, I can’t. I think there’s a bit of physical exhaustion in that, it’s a very physical game, teams are running hard to spread and disrupt defences. I think when they get it sometimes, you’re exhausted, and that’s why we say take your full 30-seconds and go back. It’s really difficult, players need to work on their routine mid-week, it’s hard to get time and sometimes they have to find their own time to work on their craft. 

You spoke about how the inefficiencies have been a bit of a pattern this season, are you confident that the guys you’re playing have it in the to improve their efficiency.
Not so much this season, I’d specifically say the last three weeks. We’ve lost three and, in both games, we’ve had entries and attacking mids over the last two weeks. Even against Richmond we had lots of opportunities. We were scoring quite well up until round 6 I think, contested ball was strong but we’ve fallen away in those areas. We’ve got good availability and that’s what’s disappointing, we just need to take those opportunities, so as a senior coach I take responsibility, we win and lose together. We’re all sitting their frustrated think we’re a bit better than we are showing at the minute, but in saying that the results don’t lie. We’re not hitting the scoreboard like we used to, we’re certainly creating opportunities, but we need to get a better method than we’ve shown over the last three weeks. I think earlier in the year there was greater efficiency and composure.

You finished with a real flurry did you think you were actually going to get up?
I always think we are going to win.

How did you pull up injury wise?
No problems.

Did you see what happened to Hamling early, he seemed to be covered in a lot of blood.
No, I didn’t see that, he came off bleeding profusely, it was quite courageous of him to come back but other than that we came out unscathed.

When you review those final minutes, were you happy with how you setup?
For me, it’s not about those final minutes, it’s about the bulk of the game and the missed opportunities earlier. I think if you’re trying to scramble wins, everyone has too many drills, you don’t want to be involved in too many of them you want to be better than that.