Trent you are obviously really pleased with that result?
Yes, it was really positive, we wanted to be building up to our best form at this time of the year regardless of how the fixtures have changed. We aimed to be peaking around now and our running showed that in the last couple of weeks. It was really good that we clicked against a side today whose schedule made it really tough for them.

Do you think you broke them in the second quarter?
I don’t know if we broke them in the second quarter, the scoreboard might have suggested that but I thought we actually broke them in the third. In the first quarter we were down on clearances 9-2, in the second quarter we won them 10-2 which made a big difference on the scoreboard. I thought our pressure in the third quarter was great, we won the tackles count and that’s when we put the game to bed. 

How did you turn around the clearances?
Lauren Bella is a really good ruck and it just took a little bit of time for our mids to adjust to where she was going. I thought Mim Strom worked her way into the game. We talked to the inside mids at quarter time about what they could have done different, but there was no structural changes, the players did it themselves.

Hayley Miller looked like she really stepped up in the second quarter?
She is the only player in the game that can get 15m gained from a smother. She really attacks them and gets the ball going. She is so quick, I think she had something like 600 metres gained today, which is phenomenal in a game as short as ours. She was clearly our best player today and she’s been building up to that form. It was really pleasing to see she could produce that in a final.

Were you happy with how the girls handled the pressure and their clean ground balls?
The players give a report back every week and one of the things they said last week individually was how many of them weren’t clean at ground level. Lisa Webb who is our opposition coach is also in charge of ground balls, so we did extra ground balls this week at training. It was good the girls wanted to do that, it’s not the most exciting thing to be doing at this time of year, but they wanted to do it. It really paid off today.

When we spoke to you earlier this year, you said you were happy to fly under the radar, there is no way that’s going to happen now?
It depends who you talk to. I’ve heard a lot of talk still that we’re not up there. We’ve played a side today who has travelled a lot in the last three weeks and they are a young side. I thought if we could get on top early that would be the best for us and I knew we were capable of doing it. They will be a really good side in the future. I don’t know if we have really proven anything yet, against the top side is where that’s going to be. Melbourne are a really good side, they’ve had a lot of injuries but their top end talent is all still there, they will be a really good challenge next week.

How do you think the girls will manage the expectations next week?
I get asked that a lot but the girls expectations has always been to be one of the best teams. There is no expectation externally, but internally they have been there and that doesn’t change. I don’t think the group are too worried about what’s said externally, they just focus on what’s going on inside.

Are there any injury concerns?
No, we just managed a few of the girls at the end of the game. We didn’t want any injuries in the last couple of minutes.

There will be some tough decisions for you to make in match committee against Melbourne next week with Janelle Cuthbertson coming in?
Tegan Cunningham is an obvious matchup for Janelle Cuthbertson. Laura Pugh has played really well for us the last couple of games and she was really good for us again today. Emma O’Driscoll was fantastic down back with her contested marking so there will be a few tough decisions with match committee this week. It’s a good place to be in.

You were meant to be playing Melbourne this weekend, now it’s going to be next weekend. What are you expecting from them?
I prepared for three teams this week, Gold Coast ended up being the fourth one I had to prepare for. Melbourne obviously have a lot of injuries, but their top end talent is all still there. Their top end talent is as good as any in the whole competition. We have to be at our absolute best . Their backline has been really hard to penetrate, they probably haven’t scored as many goals as they would have liked. It will be interesting to see what type of game is played next week.