What did you think of the game?

It was a tough battle. I’m always concerned coming off 14 days without playing a competitive game. So we worked really hard on the track because we knew we were playing a real inside, competitive team. I’ll take two quarters that we were really good with the ball and on the outside. I thought our ball movement was slick, but I thought we got stripped a fair bit around the stoppages, even though we won the ball. They took control in two quarters but I thought our ability to work without the ball, everyone talks about our defence, sometimes you’re not going to win the ball and you’re not going to have great days, so I thought we worked harder without the ball when they had it, and then we had it, we were really efficient with the ball and had some really good ball movement. I think we kicked four goals bouncing g out of their forward 50, and if you got one for the day you’d be happy. We were pretty slick.

Did you prepare for a drier track?

I was asked pre-game, I was going to say I was surprised, but not really, because it’s so inconsistent. I knew it was raining overnight because it was dripping on my balcony. Then I was told it (the roof) was shut at 10.30. Look it’s a wet weather game that we play, but it’s hard to walk in surprised. It just made it a difficult day because it gets really greasy, but at the end of the day we still used the ball pretty well. There was a bit more scrimmage than there probably needed to be. I thin the policy is so fluid, it gets shut three hours prior to the game.

What policy?

There is a policy on it, I think it gets shut three hours before the game. I think it’s tightened up, because I’ve experienced where it’s been shut at half time. I think because of safety we don’t do that. I would have thought it was shut overnight, but we’ll play in anything.

How good did you think your defence was?

It was very good. Look, I think there’s entries and there’s entries. There’s wide entries, there’s slow entries, there’s ones that just cross the line. At the end of the day we defended really well and we bounced out really well. It was a unique game of footy, but we’ll certainly take it. I thought when the game was up for grabs in the last quarter, we did what we needed to do. I thought we were quite dominant. We took control of the game.

They had around 20 more entries than you, did you feel like that was a true reflection of the game?

Did it feel like that to you watching? First quarter, fair call. And probably the third really. I thought the first quarter we wrestled it back a little late. We were really good without and with the ball. They were better at the contest and in the midfield, but I thought at the extremities, first kick out and first kick in, we were pretty good.

Do you think today was a step forward in regards to your consistency?

It’s a really good point. Probably within the game, inconsistent. We played the Bulldogs last year off the bye, I think we played round 1 and had a bye. There’s no right or wrong in it and there’s no excuse. We do get conditioned as humans to routine. So the intensity of AFL footy, I think you’ve seen a few struggle. You try to rely on the experience in your group to stay mentally and physically attuned to the game. But it’s an ask. You’re better off playing both of you coming off the bye, you feel a bit better about it.

What did you make of Stephen Hill’s game especially given it was Indigenous round?

We speak about purpose, we did mention and I spoke to those (Indigenous) guys individually, to honour the day with great effort. It’s a special round, they have a disproportionate representation within the AFL in a positive sense. It means the environment within the AFL is fantastic to grow people. They had the opportunity to express themselves, and it was no coincidence at three quarter time it was Stephen Hill, Michael Johnson and Danyle Pearce that really got us going, and we acknowledged that after the game. Sometimes there’s a greater purpose than the team or the club, or your own family. They represented their people today and I thought it was absolutely super. I saw Patty Ryder last night, his chase down. You can tap into some reserves sometimes that you don’t tap into. Our guys did that and they honoured the day with what needed to be done.

Do you think Hill’s game is benefiting with him not having a tag?

Everyone picks their poison, it’s difficult to tag two. That’s why you need a spread and we got a spread. It was Fyfe’s turn today with Wallis. But I thought Fyfe went forward and I thought he had a real impact in the last quarter forward. Stephen’s been tagged this year but he works through a tag pretty well now.

What about Zac Clarke’s game?
Good point. He’s growing. He had a bit of a virus, so he’s pretty mentally tough. It was a step forward for Zac.

How impressive do you think Ryan Crowley’s game was?
Very strong. He’s renowned as the best run-with player in the competition I would think. He did that no harm today, and as always he got plenty of team help. Offensively he’s worked on that all year. He’s been more of a threat. He kicked 17 goals last year, but no one wants to talk about that. If he was a small forward you’d probably say he’s had a good year.

Do you have any concerns about Hayden Ballantyne’s hand trip?

I did see that. I don’t think it’s a reportable offence anymore. I thought the intent, there was a slip, fatigue, it is what it is and I thought Hayden competed really well again today.

There has been some talk about Colin Sylvia coming into the team and playing a small forward role, similar to Michael Walters. Can you elaborate on that?

We’ve moved him forward at Peel. He’s really starting to deliver on that. If he can keep delivering and an opportunity opens, we’ll give it to him. There’s some hard decisions made. Alex Silvagni to go out today was a really tough call for us because we thought it was going to be dry. We were going to go the extra tall forward. But we stuck to what we do and made a hard call on Luke McPharlin for Silvagni, and he took it really well. There’s hard decisions to be made, and it’s hard to get a spot.

Was the late change made due to the surface condition?

No, not really.

What was the reason behind bringing Garrick Ibbotson in? Was it about balance?

Reward effort and form. He’s very versatile. Look, it’s a tough day, sometimes things go your way; free kicks today – four to us, 18 to them, seven forward 50 to one. Sometimes you make selection decisions, sometimes umpiring decisions go for and against you. At the end of the day you get the four points and go home. We’ll prepare for next week.