What were you most pleased with out of today’s performance?
The way we stood up under pressure in that last quarter. We knew they’d come and when they hit the front, we didn’t seem flustered. The players spoke about the conversations that were happening around that time (of the game). I just thought we were able to stay on task, execute our roles and it’s a sign of a bit of maturity.
Did you move the ball quicker coming out of defence into attack, more than you might have, given your knowledge of Collingwood?
We thought there would have been some opportunities there for us if we could handle the contest. They’re such a good, contested side. They bring really good pressure and I think you would have seen that in the first parts of quarters. They really got on top of the contest and got on top with their pressure. We probably overused the ball at times. When we showed a bit of composure to break that first layer of pressure the game opened up for us and that was the plan going into the game. We thought we executed it well as the quarters went on but at the start of the quarters, we probably fuelled their pressure a bit too much and allowed them to them to get us off turnover a few times. But overall, we stuck to our task really well. I thought we had some big performers late in the game which was pleasing to see.
Do you feel more confident that the group can handle those tight situations without you having to have input from the box or the boundary?
I think it shows a bit of confidence in them being able to execute what we train. A large part of that is the mental game. Sometimes you can, especially away from home (with) an away crowd, the opposition is on a roll, sometimes you can go internal and overthink the situation, but we were able to help each other through it on the field. Our leaders stood up, some players had a big impact in that last ten minutes. It was very pleasing.
Brett Bewley wasn’t even meant to play and he kicked two goals to get you over the line. What does that say about him and what he has been through with injury to get into that position?
To be honest he would have been stiff to miss out and it was a tough call because we expected Fyfe to play and he (Bewley) was going to be our medical sub. So for him to come in last minute, execute his role, I think it shows he is a real pro as much as anything. He’s a good person to have around the footy club. He ticks every box in terms of his preparation. He’s a pro and that showed today, he was able to execute his role in the last bit. He got a couple of opportunities and nailed them. That’s a big part of finishing off games like that as well is taking ownership in those moments. It wasn’t a hard set shot that he kicked, in normal circumstances, but when the game is on the lines like that, he just went back and took the responsibility and finished it off. He was terrific in those last 15 minutes.
Give the run with injury he has had, was it nice for you to see him get that reward?
Absolutely. He’s worked tirelessly. We went through a period last year when we played four games in 20 days or something silly like that and I actually rested him because we had a few outside players that we thought were going to be important in that time and I said rest him to get him right for the next three games and he didn’t play for a year after that. He had a horrid run with injury and worked his backside off to fix the problem and it’s great to see him get some reward for that effort.
Speaking of injury, any update on Matt Taberner? And how impressed were with Rory Lobb standing up in his absence?
‘Lobby’ was great. We had to go back to the old strategy of playing Blake Acres in the ruck just so we had a bit of height down forward. They’re such a good intercepting team that just for ‘Lobby’ and ‘JT’ (Josh Treacy) to give us a contest, and some of our smalls even at times were just really courageous to give us contest in our forward half. It doesn’t look like ‘Tabs’ (Taberner) is a serious injury. It‘s not a reoccurrence of an ankle injury, it looks like a high calf strain so fingers crossed it’s only a short term injury.
How close was Fyfe to playing and what’s the situation next week?
Real close. Close enough for him to travel and for us to give him every, last minute. So having said that he should be right for next week and we expect him to play.
What’s the plan now – do you go back into quarantine in Perth?
Yes, our understanding is that we go back into quarantine. We will get exemptions to train as normal but outside of training we will be at home.
What sort of imposition is that on you or is it pretty normal from a footy aspect?
Pretty normal with my life. I don’t do much outside of that anyway, so pretty normal for me. It is an imposition but really, every team has had to go through something like this throughout the season. We’re not immune to that. It’s our turn now to cop a bit of it and we will just deal with it the best we can and there’s not much more to be said to be honest.
Do you feel like you’ve taken some learnings from prior lockdowns to be able to handle this scenario better?
Not really. I think the last time we were away we played Brisbane in Brisbane and lost by four goals. I think that form holds up in some respect and then there was a game against Essendon here that we probably should have won. There’s always learnings though when you do things. It’s probably more we have to reflect on last year when we came back from the hub and we were at home and the temptation to go the shops or just do little things that you would normally do is there, so we just need to make sure we are really disciplined on this one.
Does last night’s Richmond loss give you a kick along now you’re knocking on the door of the eight?
It clearly helps. We don’t use it as motivation. Our motivation is getting the process right. Like we’ve said all along, if we get the process right the result at the end of the day will look after itself and I still strongly believe that. We’ve got Carlton at home next week and we need to take care of business on our end.
How did you see Sean Darcy’s game up against Brodie Grundy?
I thought it was a real arm wrestle. I thought Brodie had some moments, especially when he drifted forward. I thought Sean’s centre bounce work in particular was really strong and I thought Sean was one of the players that stood up for us at the end. He took some really strong contested marks and won some really important centre clearances in the last quarter. He’s just evolving as a player and I thought he took another step forward against one of the best rucks in the comp.
David Mundy, could be an All Australian, he just keeps going doesn’t he?
I’d be surprised if he wasn’t. He’s a super player, he’s been our captain the last two weeks. He leads us really well whether he’s got a title or not. He understands the position we’re in as well. He doesn’t start every quarter. We started the game with Darcy, Brayshaw, Cerra and Serong in at centre bounce and he understands his role in that. I thought the midfield battle was a real honest battle day and he was a big part of it.
Do you feel like the opportunity to play finals is there for the players to take hold of?
We just need to improve our footy and if we can become more consistent and get some continuity with our team, the result will look after itself. I’m a process-oriented coach, I’m not going to give you a headline, that will look after itself at the end of the day.
You haven’t won at Marvel Stadium in seven starts. Is that a hurdle that you’ve jumped?
Yes. To be a good team you need to be able to win away from home, it’s as simple as that. So we need to become better with our routines when we go on the road. I actually showed our players some vision of when we last played here against Essendon and we actually defended the ground really well and played some really good footy so it’s good to get one under the belt. It’s a good hoodoo to break and we need to keep performing like that away from home.
