Ross was this another one where you thought you did everything right but it didn’t go well in the end?
Our previous three weeks leading into the bye weren't what we wanted. We had the debutants out of Geelong, two first-gamers, two second gamers. We played with real intent down there and competitive spirit. And then during the week we were challenged as a match committee with Sean Darcy. Ideally we'd play one tall, and we ended up with one in the end. So that challenged us. I thought with his effort and intensity he had to stay in regardless of team balance. There might be people in AFL football say we can be more ruthless than that. And probably at times our match committee in the past has been, or I have been. And then with Connor Blakely - that challenged us too. Because it's more than about your two hours game day. And there was some grey in there, there was some simple messaging for him. And to sum that up, it was counter intuitive when you've got some illness, and then you're surfing. So there was a bit of grey in all that. But it was still counter intuitive the behaviours of preparation. So as a club we were strong, and our player group in particular. When you have those stronger decisions, it's important in game day you come and back that up and compete. I thought we did that really well. And at times I thought we were in full control. Our clearance work was good. We were defending really well. But we invited them in. They kicked 3.5 from our turnovers in their forward 50 or our D 50. That's a huge number. Everything else was the benchmark really of defending. That was a real issue - 23 points was costly. And then around the ball in the last quarter -we'd been so good for three quarters. They got on top around the clearances. They got ground position off entries. When we needed to be better around the ball in the last quarter, we fell away a little bit. We worked hard to remedy that, but nothing quite worked. But overall I was pleased. To see Brennan Cox do what he did, he continues to show that if he applies himself can make it at this level. I thought Sean Darcy again dug in, I thought Griffin Logue really improved.  So our young players - as much as we lost, I thought we went forward. And clearly Michael Walters as a midfielder continues to grow. (Ethan) Hughes should get better. But again, we slaughtered the ball. We put our butcher's apron on, and away we went in the D50. That's pretty hard to eradicate on the spot.

And that kept St Kilda's mindset fuelled in the game, and they dug in and got it done.

They connected inside forward 50, and a couple of big contested marks and a little bit of luck at the end, and you get the points.

You were winning the close ones at the start of the year but the past few haven’t gone your way, do you think there are any common threads?
I wouldn't drill into it too much. You need a bit of luck in the close ones. At the end of the day in the close ones, you don't release that ball out to congestion. You don't get out-marked down the line. There are things. But if you look at the whole game, I think I summed it up previously. A bit of discipline here and there. A run down. A 50.

Another 50. But they were all in our control. Give the ball back properly to the right person, and don't give away an undisciplined 50m penalty when Hayden Ballantyne is going to have a shot from a metre out. You make your own luck in this business.

How much did Sandilands going down early disrupt the game?
Look there's no excuse. We could have got it done. It's a significant injury. It's season ending. That's the end of Aaron for the year. But there's no excuse. They lost Gilbert. Teams are losing two and three. You've got to have the fortitude and the desire and the mental toughness to get it done. 

Was it Aaron’s tendon that he injured?
You'd be better than me if you can discern what it was. It was clearly high. It doesn't look good. At this point, it would be remiss of me to take a guess.

Is that where he has been sore for the last few weeks though?
It’s been a hamstring, I can’t tell you until we get the scans and get more detail and let the cobblers do the cobbling.

But it was the same leg?
Yes, I can confirm it’s the same leg.

Do you run with Sean Darcy for the rest of the season then?
If you did the odds they would probably be in his favour.  

What were your thoughts on Michael Walters’ game?
He was pretty handy, wasn’t he? He’s a remarkable young man in the way he applies himself and he is making the most of his God-given talent. More of him would be nice.

Did you see Cam McCarthy’s tackle on Sam Gilbert?
No, I didn’t see it but even if I did I wouldn’t comment on it because it’s not my job.  

Sean Darcy has turned into a bit of a cult hero among fans, what you have made of his progress?
We love players that our fans love and members love more importantly. He clearly competes doesn’t he? He has some attributes that we like and he is working hard. He has plenty of growth in front of him and that’s the exciting bit. You can lose and go backwards or you can lose and go forwards, we all know that. We felt we took a step forward today even though we lost the points.

Can you talk us through what you meant in regards to the ‘grey’ in the Connor Blakley decision?
Just what I said, without going into the gory detail, because there’s not much gore in it. It’s just that you’re sick, you’re away from the club, could you have come back? But you make your way down south and surf the next day. It’s just counter-intuitive. That’s a simple as what it was.

Were you involved in the decision to suspend him this week?
Of course I was involved.

Will he be back next week? Was it just the one game?
That wasn’t in the press statement was it? There were plenty of good performances so if you give up your spot there’s not guarantee your coming back in.

But he will be available?
Yes, along as he prepares in the manner we prescribe.

Can you give us an update on Stephen Hill’s calf?
It was really minor so we are hopeful for next week. He would have been handy today. You don’t like to finish games, then they train the first session and lose them, so that was frustrating. He’s been in good form, so hopefully we’ll get him back, he’s really important but we’ll see.

How is Sandilands holding up with the disappointment of missing the rest of the season?
I haven’t checked in with him, I just gave him a tap on the bum. He is a pretty tough character, it’s a pretty tough environment we are in. Stuff happens.

Do you have to ask questions as to why he is injured again?
Not on this side of the fence. If you are cleared to play you play. We didn’t take a risk, he was out for five weeks. Why would we rush him back for this one?

You must have been happy with the intent from the first bounce and a 16-point lead at the first break?
It was a step forward, as it was last week, but that’s intent. You have to work hard to bring intent sometimes you just have to go and get it done.

Do you feel finals are slipping away?
You add up your wins and losses at the end of the year. So it was clearly more likely at 6-3, I think we are at 6-8, it’s more unlikely. The finals take care of themselves.

You cant hope your way into the finals and dream it. Where we are it is that over riding is that you compete and we improve and we expose our list and I think we are doing that on all fronts. No one can criticise us for not having a dip today, or last week. Ifs, buts, maybes, you can get those to and you’re looking at it. But you want to get there and participate and try and win it, we are trying to build something strong.

Tommy Sheridan and Brennan Cox looked like they had a couple of niggles are there any injury concerns with them?
I hope not, nothing dramatic, I think corks.