A recap from Ross Lyon’s media conference on Thursday morning.

Pav is definitely right to go?
Yes he is refreshed.

Tommy Sheridan is all ready to go Ross?
Yes, he was crook. He is fine, just one of those things.

Have you got a timeframe on Michael Johnson yet?
Yes a long one. He is tracking ok. When I say a long oneI mean long-term rehab, he’s progressing well. It’s not at the forefront of my mind. As Aaron, they are going to be out for long periods so nothing definitive. I don’t have it at my fingertips. They are long-term rehab and the least of my worries at the minute.

Ross, can you give us an update on Harley Bennell and how he is going?
We are going to do that, we have our update online. So, he has had a bit of a hiccup and we will explain that in foremast of time. Hopefully in the next 24 hours /48 hours.

Do you understand the mystery around Harley?
There is not mystery. Harley has had a calf injury, a significant one and he has had a relapse. There is no mystery unless you want to attack it from a mischievous point of view. No mystery. Harley has trained incredibly hard and been fantastic there is no mystery here. So we will give you the update at the right time.

Bennell out for the rest of the season

What do you do with the younger players this week?  Do you shuffle some in and out?
Look, it wasn’t perfect. They are learning all the time. So it’s a growth mindset from them and we talk about it, but at the end of the day they’ve got to do it. So Connor Blakely is learning, the conversation was, he said ‘its hard and you’ve got to think quick and they are so smart, but I love it’. We will persist. There are times when the performance and his work without the ball got exposed a little bit and that’s going to happen. He is really improving. That’s the obvious conversation, it’s tough, it’s hard but I am learning and I love it. But it’s trying to balance up those with performances underneath who deserve the opportunity as well. Weller is really growing, Connor’s got more time in the midfield and we sort of set that up. Ed is running but you know his ability to make early decisions and quick decisions is again growing.  At the minute they seem to be going ok.

What do you do with Zac Dawson?
He is one who was in really good defending form. We put Mundy back and we feel that really worked for us in the first half. Richmond, it’s going to be horses for courses. Zac is defending really well but Hawthorn were a bit shorter in a real sense but Richmond have legitimate three tall.

You must be pleased with Alex Pearce?
Yes, really pleased.  He is defending really well. He is the stand out defender at the minute if you think he has got the scalps of Cameron, Walker and on the weekend who he went to he was really good. He got beaten a couple of times so we are really pleased with him and Taberner is really growing as well. We have persisted and he has really started to come through a little bit. It just shows us we can develop them and our program works for them, we’d just like a few more of them.

How did you rate Taberner without Pavlich alongside him?
I thought he was ok. I think he has looked better the last few weeks. It’s just those ongoing conversations with the young players when they may be wobbling a little bit. Stick with them. It would have been easy to put them out.  Sometimes they fight invisible things. So if you bring them along with you and have those discussions and challenge them but they understand you, they tend to settle in ok and get going and that’s what’s going on with him.

Talking points: Rd 9 v Richmond

When Matthew is there he often draws the ball…
Too much?

Well yes…
He does, we understand that. I mean he is a great player, great forward and he has such a presence but most of the time he gets to the right spot.  But we want to be a best opportunity and equal opportunity forward line so its not mutually exclusive I don’t think. If anything Matthew will help him.  He is such a smart player. Pav’s legacy at the minute is what he has done for a long time here. How you carry yourself under adversity and perform and compete. I thought he has been super when he has been playing.

Ross you’ve mixed it up a bit with the ruck combinations, will you continue to do that depending on who you face?
It’s just that philosophy, do we need one or two. Because it’s a running game, we don’t have super tall forwards like Richmond they have got forwards that just go into the ruck and a few other teams have got that.  We have decided to go back with the two ruckman at the minute and we think we’ll go with that on the weekend.

But we would like to persist with it. We quite liked it. We think our ruck work was quite good last week, we’d like a little bit more output with them getting forward that’s probably the obvious thing.

With all the talk about tanking, I am not saying you are.
That’s good. You want to to be careful.

Do you have to be mindful when you make a selection and when you are at the selection table?  Do you have to be mindful of dropping players and bringing players in with all this talk about tanking?
That’s just talk. I just engage myself with the responsibility to the job. I sit here really comfortable. I don’t think we have to tank. We have been trying our hardest and we are 0-8. That puts a pretty fine point on it doesn’t it.

Losing can become a habit, how important is it to get some confidence up for some of these young boys and get a win?
Confidence comes from action. It would be nice, we would like to win and we would like to win this weekend. Wanting to and liking to doesn’t get it done. Relentless action gets it done, the correct action and a complementary team.  We have been playing, in hindsight, only a 15-minute patch and some critical moments not spoiling the ball, not putting it in. We are aiming to win. But in saying that, we’ve got to focus on what gets you to win which is hard work and discipline and concentration for long periods.

From a teaching perspective does a win help at times more than a loss? 
I think its easier to show more good stuff, more of what you did than you didn’t do if that makes sense.

Mundy went into the midfield in the second half and was pretty good.
It’s an ongoing balance. We liked what he gave us. As I said before, we are developing some real flexibility in our team, obviously there is a fair cost for all of us but we know with him going down back he will develop there and get going there and he helps us there. We know he can comes back in the midfield. And whilst he is out of there Blakely grows, Walters grows, Hill grows and then you are right. If you project forward that return of some high-end midfielders in Fyfe and Bennell and Sandilands, it is going to stand us in really good stead going forward.

Freo midfield invigorated by new faces

What happened with Shane Yarran on the weekend?
With Shane, it’s a calf strain at the minor end and (he) was planning to play this week. He had a slight hiccup, had a scan and its petty much the same but they will be cautious with him so it will probably be another week or so.

Ross, this may be a personal question but Jarryd Roughead, have you contacted him this week? You obviously went on the International Rules Tour with him?
Yes, it is personal. We are really respectful of the situation. I think it’s really tough. Our hearts go out to him. Cancer is everywhere and it is close to home. My sister just got diagnosed with breast cancer. You see Jarryd Roughead who is a beautiful person and on the International Rules I haven’t met a better person in footy, his humility and his engagement. If we could do anything, we would but we want to respect him and we know he is getting looked after.

You really enjoyed his company on that tour?
Yes, probably too much.