What is your initial take on that?
Strong first half, I thought, and then they were able to wear us right down and get on top in the end. Without being flippant, I thought Tommy Sheridan’s job on (Andrew) Gaff was outstanding I thought. He racked up a few cheapies late, but I thought he was really good. Great return from Aaron (Sandilands), he had real influence, that will only get more pronounced as he plays more. We went hard at the ball, I really thought Lachie Weller and (Darcy) Tucker really stood up in that area. We were really quite pleased in that. And Michael Apeness, we bought him in and he did what we wanted; he competed quite strongly. I thought we continued to see the growth of (Shane) Yarran. Those younger players, you know, a lot of players with not a lot of experience that we’re exposing.

And as we add some quality around them, next year, we’ll understand what is going to come back in, we’re really pleased with that. Obviously Sam Collins gets to understand what the level’s about – we stuck with it (his opponent) – we could have maybe changed it earlier, but we thought, no this is a really good experience.

We thought it was obviously time and Alex (Silvagni) did a pretty good job. They are the positive sides; we would have liked to have sustained it for longer. I thought our long, down-the-line contests in the second half were costly; we couldn’t halve them or win them, like we should have been able to or wanted to. But we never gave up.

Kennedy sparks Eagles win
 
Silvagni has shown a lot over the past two weeks. Where do you see his future and current form?
I want to answer this respectfully, because I think you were at the press conference where we were talking about players, coaches, administrators, next year's future. We get all that. But I said we'll talk about the current, because it will be remiss of me to discuss without a collective and collaborative approach to where we're going forward. So I'm not in a position to detail anyone's future, except to say Alex in particular was really pleasing today. I mean he made some errors with the ball, but gee whiz his competitive spirit - it really opened up late - I thought he was quite good.
 
Disappointed with that second quarter, an old problem came back to haunt you with missed opportunities?
To be a good team, you've got to take those opportunities. And you're right, just that bit of polish. But you know, that's about - we're seeing Shane Yarran grow. I think that's Pav's strength, has been his ability to be the executioner hasn't he, to snap the goal and put it through, and Michael Walters. Look, we understand we need to improve that. That takes time, but i'm sure we're going to get there.

What were your thoughts on Michael Apeness?
We know we played him early and he competed well. He plays tall and strong and second effort. I don’t know how many league games he has played, three or four? He had a recon,  an ACL before he got here and then a PCL. We see nothing but upside. With the opportunity we are prepared to give its pleasing because we know he is a really dedicated worker and focused on his footy. With a little bit of luck and  after he has worked as hard as he has, he should improve.

Talking points from West Coast loss 

What were your thoughts on the Josh Kennedy and Sam Collins match up?
We didn’t want to make it too harsh, there was a couple off turnovers and those sort of things. Josh Kennedy is an A-grade power forward. Dawson normally plays on him and has a fantastic record on him. There is a bit of about how the supply opened up and I think he had five in the first half when the pressure was on.  Kennedy has won the medal and Collins gets to go away and have a look at it and try to improve.  
 
Did you learn anything new about Tommy Sheridan?
We did. We were thrilled. We had Michael Barlow doing it and we had Lachie Weller inside last week. We just thought the hit and the wacks were draining him a bit too much. We would like to get him through how he is going and build a summer on him. Tommy did that role and took the honours. I think he snagged two. He had a couple of fumbles, and if he had been cleaner he would have made more impact. It’s the ability to back it up. We were pleased with that.

What are your thoughts on the Crows next week?
Every week is a new week, it’s a new dawn. I know my group will come and compete. We’ve got some young players, what a wonderful opportunity. They’re (Adelaide) a really good team but we are pretty prepared to roll up and have a go.