Is relief the main sensation after getting your first win of the year?
No I wouldn't say that. We came out to compete. That was the fundamental aim. From quarter time last week that's been our focus. And I was really pleased we did that. There's no relief. It was pleasing to get the result. And we just need to keep improving our footy. Our young players got more exposure. Some senior players worked into some form. Unfortunately Michael Apeness has fractured his collarbone. He's a very aggressive player and plays with real intent, but sometimes it comes at a cost. So we're really disappointed with that outcome.

Michael Apeness has been a bit unlucky with injury so far in his career?
You've got to find a balance. He hits a body so hard. We brought him back relatively early. He played four games. He just showed true grit with the obstacles he has faced, his work ethic, his ability to sort of handle that disappointment and just focus and come through the other side was really impressive. We haven't got much key position depth on our list. So as soon as he was ready, we played him. And he hit the packs, he brought the ball to ground. And there's no coincidence our smalls played a bit better because of that.  We'll sorely miss him. It's frustrating, disappointing for him I would imagine.

How important to validate what you'd been working on to get the result tonight, especially for young players?
Yeah, I think for all of us. There's bigger challenges out there, I think we all acknowledge that.But at the end of the day, if we walked in losing, this would be a different press conference. We're pleased to put some method around our effort. You just need to produce what we produced against quality teams consistently. That's the aim. Over a long period of time, we've been able to do that. This year we haven't. Every week and every training session is an opportunity for individuals and the team to improve. A lot was made of this. And people start running the tanking agenda. I hope it puts it to bed once and for all, particularly from our club's point of view. Because culturally, we want to build the habits now while we're going through adversity for the future, because they don't magically appear. There's a theoretical model - get all these draft picks. There's a few clubs - that doesn't work for. Because you've got to establish a culture of hard work, and discipline, and teamsmanship. You can't play around with that. One pick isn't worth destroying your club culture for.

Were you offended by tanking talk?
I'm ambivalent. I'm just telling you the facts.

Important step for us: Neale

Did it motivate the players, they mentioned they were hurt?
I think one did. They only answered the questions they were posed.  But if they're hurt, that's what they feel. They're proud. AFL is about competition. Like at the end, we would have liked to have used the ball a bit better. There's some disappointment coming out of the last quarter, but overall it was fine. It's not about what you feel, it's about what you do with those emotions. We got into action tonight, but we'll move on pretty quickly from here. We've got a big trip up north, so another challenge.

Tucker and Blakely are coming along very quickly, are you pleased with their form?
We are pleased. With another summer, they'll be better. Connor will go into his third summer. He had a super summer this year, and he's a real competitor. He's learning the tricks of the trade. Lachie Weller - we put him to the wing in the last quarter, he had a fair bit of the ball. And Tucker we've been incredibly pleased with as a first-year player. He's dog hungry to play, he's committed. You're walking around on Friday afternoon when everyone else has gone, and he's in there doing extras. That's going to stand him in really good stead to have an AFL career.

Ross how pleased were you with Michael Barlow’s performance on David Zaharakis tonight?
Michael’s one of our senior players, we thought we’d just give him a role.  We haven’t gone with anyone all year. We just wanted to exert a bit of influence on the game and we might do that a little bit more. That threw some challenges and some tactical challenges to some of our younger players to stay organised with Michael. I thought he did it quite well, again there will be bigger challenges, but it was a step in the right direction for Michael.

Pav set the tone early, what did you make of his performance tonight?
I’ve been happy with Matthew all year. It’s very difficult to be a key forward in a team that’s struggling. I’ve been really pleased. I couldn’t be more thrilled since I walked through the door here with what Matthew has been able to deliver and how he leads. I thought he had some opportunities tonight where he did some nice things. We just want to continue to wrap our support around him and he’ll continue to leave a legacy, like he has, which is hard work, discipline, and under adversity, keep trying your hardest. They’re pretty good attributes.

Did you enjoy the send-off the fans gave Ryan Crowley and his contribution to the club?
I missed that, I walked off, I didn’t see that. I know he got cheered when he came on, which is fantastic. It’s the understanding of our supporters....he’s a best and fairest winner and been a great finals player, as in doing the jobs and a great competitor. He had his ups and downs here, but gee whiz, he was a loyal servant. We just want men of character that play with character and he’s clearly been one of them, so, yeah they should embrace him. I like that.

Talking points from Bombers win

It’s been a tough year for your skipper, but he put in a cracking performance tonight. How do you think he is handling the captaincy in this difficult season?
I think he’s handling it quite well. He’s had some injury interruption and a lack of consistency. It’s very difficult, we want a big platform of leaders but a lot of our injuries are to leadership. Fyfe, Sandilands, Johnson, you know. It’s a harder role to do when you haven’t got that level of support around you, so I think he’s been terrific.

Do you feel like you have found the best fit for Hayden Crozier in the backline?
That’s a really interesting question, and it’s a good observation. It's been a change of position and I think, he’s flourished over the games with bigger challenges. It’s very difficult to play as a small forward in AFL football and we’ve got a couple of beauties, in particular Walters, Ballantyne and Weller’s coming through there and Mayne’s a medium. While Hayden’s got some real inconsistency, by his own admission he was one of the more inconsistent preparers. His training intensity went up and down, but he’s been consistent for a fair period of time now. Websaw really good signs at half forward with his attack on the ball and intensity. We just thought his run and speed and we know he’s a strong aerialist, he’s been fantastic down back, I really concur with that and it’s been a pleasure to see him enjoy his football and play well down back.

How important is it now to string two wins together, after what you did today?
The win’s take care of themselves as you play good footy. How do you play good footy? You train well and employ your method. At the end of the day it’s a losing season. Zero-22, one-21, two-20, six-16, does it really matter? I’m not sure it does. What’s important is accepting the challenge, keeping perspective and working hard and understanding there’s a bigger picture here about our football and we need to keep improving. I don’t think it’s about numbers and wins and losses. Our aim is to win, and that was evidence tonight.

So it wouldn’t bother you if you beat the clubs worst of four wins this season?
It’s not something that’s on my mantelpiece at home. No.