A nice relaxing day for you in the box Ross?
That’s AFL footy isn’t it. It was a pretty tough night really. I compliment our players on their effort but not their method. I think that sums it up pretty well.
 
We stole the game, but in saying that the reason we were under pressure was some horrendous ball use. I thought our method was really poor, (we) just turned it over consistently, sent it back and gave them just really easy opportunities. There was times it was a bit of their pressure, to be truthful our ball use was just bottom-end, really poor… footy suicide.
 
But in the end at least the last play, Sheridan ran to the other side and we had a look and we found him. Up until then it was just kamikaze, straight-line footy, turn it over.
 
So you felt Richmond deserved to win it?
Yeah I would have thought so, but in saying that our boys found a way to win which is a great attribute to have. When you are playing that badly we probably should have lost. I’m talking about with ball in hand, not effort to tackle and pressure, but to use the ball at a level that’s required to be good in the competition. We didn’t do that.
 
What about Mundy’s goal, considering what happened in Geelong last year when he missed a set shot on goal after the siren?
I don’t want to be too cute, but it’s probably interpretation of events. At Geelong he kicked outside the 50m arc on an angle, where’s this one was dead in front, inside the arc. So they are two different kicks.

The thrilling final moments
 
You were confident it was in good hands?
That’s what they are paid to do. He’s a leader, he goes back, he’s a long accurate kick, sound technique, under pressure, it should stand up and it did. And our young player Tommy (Sheridan) who’s a long accurate kick, he just gets some feedback that under pressure he needs to keep his mind strong.
 
How close was Nat Fyfe to not playing?
He was never not going to play. Just because it’s written doesn’t make it accurate.
 
Is he not 100 per cent?
I don’t think any player out there is 100 per cent. The pristine body disappears by about this round. We acknowledge he has been a bit sore. But we’ve seen the great, big, inside-mids be sore and play – (Joel) Selwood, (Chris) Judd – that’s what they do. Jobe Watson. That’s their job, that’s the expectation and that was the expectation on Nathan tonight. Then he went forward and I thought he was ok.
 
Is it just execution of the basics that frustrated you the most?
I think it’s really good, we’ve got so much upside. They are a pretty good team Richmond, I think we’ve got to acknowledge that. They did lose their tall, which probably hurt their structure, there was challenges. Ibbotson’s been good all year, we knew they would try and bring McPharlin up. We probably let it happen a bit too much and we fixed that up at half time. But Ibbotson has typically been able to handle it. But again, off some shocking turnovers – although some of it was slow-play entry where they isolated the tall, which they shouldn’t be able to do, which they did. So we’re really pleased that our effort was at that level – we’re not really confused about why we were under pressure or what we need to do.
 
It’s really clear. It’s really really clear. So I have spoken to the players, our effort was supreme, we found a way to win, our stoppage work – we had lots of stoppage goals. But our ball use was football suicide so we showed a couple of clips and they walk out with great clarity what we need to improve.

Your three quarter-time address looked pretty passionate – what was the message?
I was pretty calm. It was just all about mechanics and a couple of other things, but I suppose there are some things between coaches and players that we probably keep between players and coaches and that address is probably one of them.

The forwards and midfielders seemed to be disconnected early and you had nowhere to kick?
It was backs to mids to forwards all day.

Does a game like this perhaps signal an upward turn?
No, not unless we fix what we need to. This isn’t an off patch. We came with great effort, we ran on top of the ground, we competed fiercely, our stoppage work was elite, but unless we fix that part of the ball use, we’re going to be under pressure all year. So it’s not an off patch. Everything can be explained on the football field. I don’t work in abstract terms, do you know what I mean? I see clearly what needs to be fixed.

If you look at the ladder and the percentages, Hawthorn and West Coast would seem to be a cut above you.
Percentages don’t lie. I couldn’t agree more. But I’m sure we’ve played West Coast and won quite convincingly. So you’re only as good as your next moment. But percentages don’t lie. I think clearly Hawthorn and West Coast, I think it’s about right from there. The percentage is a really good indicator and we’re not shying away from that. But we know what we need to improve. Normally it’s been a quicker fix and it’s possibly fixed really quickly, but we need to hear the message, we need to execute and we need to train it.

Did you think during the course of the game you were very unlikely to win it?
No, not if we fixed what we needed to fix. I don’t think we were getting out-contested, were we, or out-clearanced? 9.4 from stoppages is a pretty good go, but it was turnover score. But I thought our will-power was really strong. I think I’ve summed it up, I haven’t got much more to add.

How’s Clancee Pearce’s shoulder?
It looked like he tweaked his shoulder. I wish he hadn’t have crept over the mark and given 50m, but maybe that’s just the hard-arse footy side of it.

Pearce pops his shoulder and gives away 50

Is that it for injury worries?
Yes, as far as I know.

What did you make of the 50m penalty for Dustin Martin squirting water at Lee Spurr?
Would you like me to get up and just squirt you? What would you do? It’s probably not appropriate, is it?

Mayne converts after Martin's costly spray