What are your thoughts on the game?
You can only play who’s put out there, clearly for whatever reason Richmond wanted to leave more at home than we did. We still had some good players out with Michael Johnson and Chris Mayne, David Mundy, Harley Bennell and Alex Pearce.

We would expect all those to be in our best 22. We came here to build on our patterns of play, with or without the ball and I think we did that and acknowledging it was against an inexperienced outfit. But that certainly didn’t interest us, NAB Challenge is always about building towards round one and we thought we did that.

It was really blustery and difficult conditions and it was the first hit-out for the year. There was a slight casualty in Hayden Ballantyne with a really minor hamstring but he’ll be available going into round one I would think. David Mundy just had a tight groin, Mayne failed a cognitive state test. We expect Bennell and Alex Pearce to be in full training on Monday, we are in pretty good shape. We are looking forward to a fiercer contest against a more experienced team down at Mount Barker next week.
 
What pleased you the most in terms of ball movement?
It was all bits and pieces, we ran some space creation and skill level and I thought our kicking for goal was really good early in difficult conditions. I thought we moved the ball. Richmond’s young team responded really well in the second quarter and made it a bit of a scrap and we stopped spreading the ball.

I thought we spread the ball well in general, we still missed some options when they opened up so that was a bit frustrating at times. There was some improvement, Connor Blakely and Lachie Weller started, they are both second year players. Darcy Tucker was impressive on debut, albeit he played in a team that had momentum and numbers but we thought he ran and worked really well. We exposed our youth and we were pretty pleased with that.
 
Will Ballantyne take part in any more NAB Challenge games?
He has a minor hamstring, we expect him to play round one (of the season proper). He’ll jump through all the hoops that they put in front of him. We handball him over (to medical staff) and they hand him back all packaged up and tell us he is ready to go. I don’t have exact time frames.

Ballantyne on track for round one
 
Did Chris Mayne have a headknock?
Yes, at training last week, but he’s feeling pretty good. He’s fine.
 
Did you like the patterns of the key forwards working together?
You don’t want it to be a false dawn, we are working pretty hard on it.  We will get bigger challenges than the one we faced today. You can only do what you do, I thought there was some improvements.
 
Goal kicking seemed to be a focus in pre-season training. Were you happy with it today?
Yes, I think everybody works on their goal kicking, I don't think we have done anymore. Our forward coach Mark Stone spoke during the week and said we weren’t kicking them that well, so it’s funny how it works. We worked it through the corridor and had unpressured shots and some sets shots.

The players are working hard but, again, there will be bigger moments, greater pressure and greater outcomes they will have to deal with to keep their technique in order.
 
Nat Fyfe came on in the second half and really had an impact straight away how do you assess his second half?
Yes, that’s correct. I thought he worked into the game pretty well. It was pleasing.
 
Will he gradually build towards round one?
I don’t think we will ease him back and do less than a half and I think logic dictates it will be more than a half, so it might be three quarters next week or a full game. He was really keen to get out there and play. We know there has been a lot of talk about where he’s at but quite often it was inaccurate.

He’s had a really good summer and he had 20 touches in a half, it was quiet significant.
 
How do you see the Mount Barker game working, is it a opportunity to leave some senior games at home?
I have to go to match committee, but you’re limited with games. We only have two games left. I think you guys want a strong performance from us. I know our members and fans do, I certainly do. One would suggest we need to play senior players, have some fierce competition and get them ready.
 
Did you restrict your interchange today?
It wasn’t a huge focus.  We had 127 rotations, it was reduced from last year. What does that mean? We have 37 to reduce, you just have four on the bench instead of eight. It gets a bit easier. But the first one back, it’s the first hitout. We’re not overly concerned.
 
Are you happy with Michael Walters’ performance?
He went through the midfield, I thought he played quite well. He has been building to that and he looks to be in really good shape. We aim to continue with that.

Dynamic duo combine

The AFL integrity unit may be looking into Hayden Ballantyne using his phone during the game, what are your thoughts on that?
Let’s hope he wasn’t Instagramming anyone. I’m sure the appropriate authorities at the AFL will be looking at that. I’m pretty sure it will be a short conversation. If I hypothesize, he has a wife and two young kids probably not at the game (he might have said) “I’m hurt, love I’m ok.”

If it’s that, he’ll just get a tap on the wrist and we all move on. Common sense prevails. The integrity unit, there's some pretty smart blokes in there, I'm sure we'll figure it out
 
Do you have to sit down and talk to the players about that now?
The senior coach doesn’t do everything anymore, you have a football operations manager and administrative managers that sit down and talk to the players. So I’ll just leave it with them. Let the cobblers do their cobbling.
 
What did you make of Pavlich’s game?
I didn’t tune into it too much, I think he was okay. He’s a pretty good player I don’t worry about him too much. He’s the better one to ask. I think he was okay, he got a bit of the ball, but I could have got a kick at times.
 
What is your take on Lachie Weller’s game?
He played well and if you play well that really helps you. We’re really pleased with his development and we are building him strong. He was strong over the ball and when the heat was on, early in particular, he was good. He has some work to do, he’s got some good players around but we started him and rewarded him for his summer and his application. We really rate him as we do Connor Blakely.

Ed Langdon got crook last week and lost four kilograms with gastro. They would squeeze Tendai Mzungu and Matt de Boer out of the starting line-up. They are making inroads and we want to continue to give them opportunities. I thought Tendai really contributed when he came on and we know what Matt de Boer can do. They are creating opportunities and we want to reward them, they have some real upside in them. There are some good players around like Chris Mayne and David Mundy coming back in, so it’s a bit of a dog-fight.

Weller's steal with classy finish
 
What did you make of the Sandilands hit on Griffiths?
I didn’t see it so I will leave it to the match review panel.