Your defence worked really hard. How disappointing was that third quarter when Collingwood eventually opened the doors or was it inevitable?
I think you have to look at context. What we are doing, we played seven players under 10 games. Nine have played 21 and under, and 13 have played under 50. I couldn't tell you Collingwood’s profile, but it is clearly stronger. You compare when Taylin Duman was chasing Hoskin-Elliott. Hoskin-Elliott was an incredibly early pick for GWS and he is a super athlete. It has taken him seven years to come to grips with the physicality of the game and the work rate required to become a good player. He is clearly a good player, you would like to do it quicker than seven years, but it is a good example I use to my players that the game gives you the feedback in your career to build your profile, to compete against great players and great teams. Collingwood are a good team, they haven’t proven to be a great team. I just spoke to Bailey Banfield, he said Steele Sidebottom and Scott Pendlebury just react so quickly. One step and they are away. They are the lessons and the improvements that are needed from players to become elite players of the competition. They experienced some of the best through the midfield. We would have liked our tackles and our hit to have been better around the ball in the third quarter. Collingwood had nine clearancs that went for seven entries and they got ground position and put us under pressure. Whereas we had 10 around-the-ground clearances, a lot of them were centre-back but we only had one entry. It’s about quality. Brodie Grundy is an elite ruckman, and just his physical preparation, he competes. I thought Scott Jones and Michael Apeness handled him around the ground but his ruckwork was quite dominant. I don't know about inevitable, but AFL is a great reality check. You can come here with intentions to compete, which we did, and the enthusiasm and vibrancy, but the realities of the game are very sobering. To do what we did and continue to fight and kick seven goals in the last quarter is pleasing. If I am sitting back in Perth and I am a member, a partner of the club, a part of the Freo Dockers community, you saw Giro kick his first goal, you see Cox growing, Cerra went to a half back flank, Duman to the wing. There were some performances within that you think we are growing and improving. That's just our reality. I am all in and the players are all in. we just have to keep persisting and persevering.
Speaking of experiences, you put Ed Langdon to Tom Phillips at one stage. I know Phillips is pretty young but he had a fair influence on the game.
That was an opportunity. Ed in his own right is an elite runner, but with their weight of numbers in the midfield, he (Phillips) was getting off the chain so we just put Ed to him, because we know he can run and compete. Ed caused one of our goals in the last quarter, he stopped, picked it up and competed, lowered his eyes. Langdon didn't dull Phillips completely but I thought he curtailed him a little bit. You are looking for little wins. Bailey Banfield went to the midfield. We just kept exploring and probing with different opportunities for our players and we will continue to do that because that’s what is required. We put Cam McCarthy to centre half back a couple of weeks ago against Sydney. Mitch Crowden went to the back flank (against Sydney). At some point do you put Nat Fyfe to centre-half back and have a look at him there because he is carrying a big load forward and mid? They are the things we are in the position to be able to do.
You were negative 27 for inside 50’s, how were they able to get it inside 50 so easily?
I think I just went through that with due respect. The reality is, they cleared the ball from clearances then when they got ground position, their pressure was pretty good. When you saw Michael Walters, David Mundy and Nat Fyfe combined in the midfield, it was pretty slick at times, with Ed Langdon and Tommy Sheridan. AFL is a game of compete and transition, more transition than anything. If you are a second or two off transition, you get easy entries against, and you can lock it in. There is a lot about ground positions, it’s a game of transition. There are 65-70 general play turnovers for every team, that's 140 for the game. That’s almost two turnovers per minute. Young players aren’t drilled to continually find great players like Sidebottom and Pendlebury. That's the answer I have for you, the reality is that you have to train that up over time.
How did you see Shane Kersten’s transition into the back?
I thought there were some good signs. He had some good come forwards, assertive defence. There were some one-on-ones where he could probably find the body a bit more and bring it to ground a little bit more. There is nothing to hide there. I thought there were some good signs for us with that. We will continue to persist. I thought we were bold at selection and we will continue to be bold.
Any concerns over Fyfe’s hit on Greenwood?
I didn't see that, it’s not just a throwaway line. Even if I did, unless you are going to pay my fine for the comments on the MRP, I am probably not prepared to comment.
Harley Bennell, is there any update on him?
We got a text yesterday from our development coach that they had tapped Harley out. He had calf tightness, a bit of tone. Harley texted me and said it was a smart move, ‘I think I am fine’. It is still frustrating but it’s still the big picture for Harley. There is no saviour for us, or boom recruit. It is going to be a weight in numbers exercise, where everyone is all in and aims to improve their footy and commits to the harder choices every moment to take us forward. That's the only model I know, that's the only model that works. If Harley can do that, he is an important part at trying to build a good team.
How confident are you that he can get back to AFL level?
I think you are asking me to answer ‘am I confident in his attitude to do the work?’ That has been unfailing. I think it’s well documented that he works incredibly hard. All of us when we get devastated and challenged don't handle it how we should. He would acknowledge he hasn't been perfect, but he has also had a great capacity to get back on the horse, be supported by the club and commit and train to get back. We are more confident at this point of time than we ever have been. Even withstanding, him being tapped out on the weekend. I think we all know what we are dealing with here, his ability to play footy. Otherwise you wouldn't be talking about someone who hasn't played for two years. We all know the opportunity that presents for our club and we all know and would love to see Harley’s body stand up and play some great footy. Sir Doug Nicholls round this weekend, and Harley sits in the basket of a young Noongar player that can really express himself on the footy field and build his life. We would all like to see that happen.
You mentioned when you got a good combination in the midfield, it did look slick at times, and you were missing experienced players.
I thought they were fine. Lachie Neale got kicked in the calf after quarter time and could hardly move. We put Fyfe forward in the third quarter and in the last quarter he put himself back in. We withstood the temptation, when they had a run on, do you create a 7th defender, get Mundy in the midfield? But we have to get minutes into Brayshaw and Cerra. I don't know how you guys saw it but we didn't put a 7th there. We kept Cerra and Brayshaw in the midfield. We didn't put Mundy in until the last quarter, Fyfe actually put himself forward, and we put Lachie Neale forward. We put Duman to a wing, we put Giro inside, Banfield in particular. We have to hold our nerve. We can’t protect the scoreboard, although it was pretty uncomfortable at one point.
How is Alex Pearce?
Good question, I thought his first half and the way he is defending was exceptional. He was looking like a very good defender. Grundy tackled him and there was a leg collision. We think it is his ankle, even though it is on the same side. We are really optimistic that there is nothing dramatic there but we are always cautious until everyone cools down and gets their scans or gets checked out.
It looked like you tried to get him up and going to get him back on?
Not me, let the cobblers do the cobbling. We saw him on the bike, we said he looked like he was on the Tour de France, why cant get he back on? The doctor said that he couldn't twist and turn. We always ask, but the doctors make the call. Connor Blakely came off and had a jab in his shoulder. At one point we were two players down and while that was happening the degree of difficulty went up. To Collingwood’s credit, I think we need to talk about them. Where our strength has been, their strength is, which is their midfield. They have got good pace, they won the ball well and moved forward well and capitalise. I thought we challenged them a bit early but they overcame the challenges. We played a good team today.
Are you looking forward to going down the slide (big freeze for MND)?
I am. Everyone knows Neale’s (Daniher) story. He was the youngest captain of Essendon, or one of and he had those knees, he missed out on premierships and a great career. He went in and once you have been in the coaching chair, you understand how significant. He went and underperformed at Melbourne, turned the culture around, took them to finals, grew some good players and then went into the coach association and at the Eagles as a football manager. He is part of the Daniher clan which is significant. The way he has fought MND is incredible. I don't wear my heart on my sleeve, but my mum died of MND and it is a hideous disease. My father looked after my mum, but my wife (Kirsten) and I shifted back in and cared for her at the end and that was a really difficult time. Any I can do to help Neale and the cause. If we can find a cure through contributing and raising some funds, all the AFL coaches are happy to do that. It should be a fun day, we want to have some fun. We implore everyone to jump in behind it as the footy community does and raise some funds.
