What are your thoughts on the game?
I’m really pleased with the players’ efforts.
I thought from the first bounce to the last bounce we kept going. They were challenged but they responded with a really powerful response that counted at the right time.
I think there was great leadership, great weight of numbers and it was a really enjoyable victory for them.


Was there anything that changed in the fourth quarter that helped the game swing your way?
I thought the on-field leadership and organisation was outstanding.
I thought our pressure was good, we won the ground ball and the clearances.
The players have been working really hard on their ball use at training and it paid off with really smart ball use as the game opened up.


There was an even spread of guys who could have won the Ross Glendinning Medal, what did you think?
I think that’s a really good observation.
We spoke about it pre-game and we knew we were going to need everyone. I thought both teams had weight of numbers across the board.
I think at times like this it’s a players moment. All we did was put them in positions and then they got to work.
From my point of view I’m proud of their leadership and the players effort. In a Carlton Mid Derby it’s really critical that you play it out and we did that.The sobering thought is we get a Richmond that’s gunning for us on their home turf, we have to fly interstate so we need to recuperate and review and move on really quickly.


What was your take on Aaron Sandilands’ game?
I think he improved, I think he will be better conditioned. I think its more the chemistry, he hits the ball different to Clarke and we are just getting a feel for that.
I’m sure we will capitalise off that going forward.


How did Clancee Pearce pull up?
They told me he was out of the game, I don’t ask them too much, you don’t want to get too involved. They say yes, no, or we’re assessing. It was on the back of concussion from a solid collision. I spoke to him after the game, he seems well but from here there is a protocol to work through, we are hopeful but the protocol will tell us.


Were there any other injuries?
We had concerns going in, we’ve had a really heavy training loaded so we lightened things up. Ballantyne didn’t want to go back on because he was cramping everywhere so we didn’t want to take a risk with him, Matthew had a little bit of a back (complaint) but other than that, touch wood, we are really healthy which is fortunate because it’s a tough campaign.


Did you see Pavlich get reported?
It was late in the quarter and I was up out of my chair about to go down so I saw it out of the corner of my eye from a distance so I can’t comment.


Was Aaron going to play the whole game or were you looking to sub him out?
That’s a really good question, that opportunity disappeared after we activated Cam Sutcliffe. We didn’t plan going in because there are so many variables, but that took away the opportunity to consider that.


Tell us your decision behind sending Crowley to Masten
We broke it after half time, it was more of a go for Ryan.
He won a bit of the ball and young Masten got a fair bit off the ball. Obviously everyone has been going to Gaff so we tightened up on Gaff.