What did you see as the main reasons that got away from you in the second half?

Still analysing it a little bit. I think they lifted their intensity. I thought they stopped our transition out of defence - where they got plenty of scoring opportunities and entries. Their centre-bounce ascendency gave them some good momentum within the quarter, early in the third.

I thought we fought on in the last, obviously trying conditions. Our ball-use was pretty good in the first half. Our stoppages were a bit of a worry and that trend continued in the third quarter, centre-square bounce. Our transition out of defence sort of dropped away and their pressure lifted. That was about the size of it. Their talls obviously – not a lot of pressure and some terrible turnovers – when the ball is coming back off turnover they’re out of position a bit.

How testing were the hot conditions?

Certainly no excuse, there were some challenges within that but we don’t give the mental out. Both teams play in it. I think there’s bigger issues than the weather. But our young players get exposed to that again. I was pleased we didn’t give up and we fought on, and it didn’t  blow out. But the third quarter was obviously really quite poor.

How did you assess Shane Yarran’s debut?

A bit of life, some opportunities – he certainly moves like an AFL player. He dropped a couple he should have held but that’s the extra pressure, I thought he was a bit overplaying things. Once he settled he looked ok, I thought.

Talking points from Gold Coast loss

Ed Langdon put up career best numbers. Is that his best game?

I’d have to go away and analyse it. As a coach you walk out and there’s bits and pieces around – Walters and Hill in particular, when they were humming we were humming. As they slowed, we slowed a bit. Really simply we are leaving too much to too few and we need a few to buy in. I thought some of our senior players were a bit quieter than we would have liked them. Without naming them.

You’re right, I think Langdon is really running and working hard. He’s really starting to understand what it’s about. There’s nothing but upside for him.

Were you always concerned with their tall forwards, or were your defenders ‘left out to dry’ by the turnovers?

They were probably left out to dry. They (the tall forwards) didn’t worry us too much in the first half – they had bits and pieces but you would like to think you can run and bounce off them but we didn’t do that very well.

Lachie Neale had a good game for you?

I thought it was ok. I think you can get caught up in the numbers a bit. I think if I went in there (the changerooms) he would look pretty flat, probably could have pressured around the ball and tackled a little bit more. He told me that.  When you’re losing and you’re having a quarter like the third and you’re in the engine room – it was Lachie Neale, Stephen Hill, Connor Blakely – I don’t think you walk away and go ‘we’ve had a ripping game’.

Were you were surprised you couldn’t get on top in the midfield?
 
Yes, it was a good discussion.  We moved Mundy, he was at halfback for three quarters, so he has been playing midfield. I think Lachie Neale is a good player. Tendai (Mzungu) isn’t typically in there for us and Connor (Blakely) is a young player. We are trying some things. I think Sexton went to Hill, and he was there at half time and Sexton worked on top in the third. Jack Martin was around the edges and he is a pretty handy talent I think…I could be wrong. I don’t get caught in that. I don’t walk in with the injury calculus out. That isn’t the world I live in. I live in 22 Freo Dockers players down and they (Suns) are putting 22 down. I thought we had our moments in there but overall they probably edged us out, in centre bounces more than anything and in the spread.

Match Report: Suns shine in final term
 
How’d you go injury wise upfront?
 
Nothing upfront. Spurr had a little bit of a head knock and laceration but he was pretty brave. We have had a bit of a rough run, but that happens. There are certainly no excuses here, we were beaten by a better team. I thought we fought on and had one really bad quarter and the start of the last we could have been a bit better. But in the first half there was a bit to like, when the game was up for grabs… that is why the third was probably a bit surprising. When the heat was on, we stood up and we worked and we pressured. We moved the ball well. It was surprising to see it when it should have opened up and been a bit easier we weren’t about to continue on with that. That’s the disappointment.
 
Still early, but are you expecting anyone back next week?
 
It is very early. It would be remiss of me to speculate because I am not in that position.
 
Does the Pavlich 350-game milestone next week carry anymore significance?
 
They are just numbers to be honest. We’d like to win every week and that has been the aim since I walked through the door and that hasn’t changed. What we would like to do is respect the occasion with top-level efforts. Other than that, if I thought our players would produce more next week than they did today or previous weeks I’d be disappointed because that means we are leaving a bit in the tank that we could tap into. But emotions do funny things don’t they. We know we are playing a quality opponent. It is a big number. What it all means I am not exactly sure but it’s a pretty significant games milestone.
 
Are you confident you can get a deal done with Bradley Hill from Hawthorn?
 
There are two things here. We don’t conduct our negotiations and business in the media. But what I will say is there are two clubs that have gone about this situation the right way and are both comfortable where it sits at the minute. We are talking about a Hawthorn player and we’d like to respect that and leave it at that. I will be making no further comment, except to say both parties had an understanding of an initial meeting.