How did you analyse the game?

Obviously very disappointing, it’s a hard one to assess though, we’re pretty disjointed at the moment. We don’t want anyone feeling sorry for us or making any excuses, but we are battling to get that synergy, as I suspected today. There was moments where we look pretty connected but there was a lot of moments where Fremantle outworked us and beat us with fundamentals. We looked pretty poor at stages there, so it is a tough one to assess but we need to get on with it and move on to the next week, after a review process tomorrow and hopefully get a bit more synergy within the club.

How hard was it as a coach to get some synergy given the number of changes?

That’s a challenge, one that we’re up for. I said this a couple of times, they’re not excuses, they’re reasons, but I think we could’ve played better. You don’t have to win every week, but effort and intensity probably was a little bit inconsistent. I don’t want to just put it down to the fact we had 10 guys coming back from COVID, I think Fremantle were a bit tougher and harder at stages, went to ground too much and we didn’t work hard enough in and around the contest as well. So, there’s those things we definitely need to get better at, regardless of what’s happening, and then there’s the fact that we had a lot of guys who may have been blowing in stages and struggled to keep up with the game.

Jamaine Jones, what was his issue?

His hammy’s got quite tight, one of them in particular, so not quite sure what is going to end up with, but we’ll see what’s going on tomorrow.

What was your opinion on the two deliberates?

Evened itself up quite nicely, I thought. It’s the last thing I’m worrying about, to be honest, we’ve got a lot of other things we want to concentrate on rather than umpiring. Umpiring had no effect on tonight’s result.

How did you see Jeremy McGovern’s performance?

He’s one guy who has had a consistent look, him and Shannon Hurn tonight, great leaders. Stood up really well in adversity, so really proud of them. ‘Gov’ was our captain tonight, and he’s been carrying the load a fair bit for three weeks. Not just for three weeks, for the last five weeks with our injury concerns as well, so, proud of him.

Tim Kelly, how bad was his injury?

We didn’t think anything of it until Thursday, so he’s probably a week or two away. Might’ve been a tiny niggle on game day last week that he thought was a cramp, and because we didn’t train all week, we opened it up on Thursday a little bit and that’s when he noticed it was a bit tight, so he’ll be unavailable next week, definitely.

Do you feel like COVID affected players’ endurance in the second half?

I’d like to say that’s not the COVID situation, we just don’t know. I don’t think any club’s gone through what we have with 10 guys coming in, so maybe we could’ve managed that better. I don’t know how we could’ve because there’s no one else available. I thought in stages we were quite connected and worked out backsides off and then there were stages where we weren’t and Fremantle were just too good. So we’ve got to give credit to them, they were missing players as well, facing adversity themselves, so we can look at it, I think there were some of our players who are normally high-end work rate players, and were a little bit off. But, I’m sure there’s some connection there, it’s pretty obvious. I don’t want that to be the story behind tonight’s game, I think we weren’t good enough tonight, we need to get on with next week, we’ve got the Pies, they’re going really well and we’ll get some players back, and hopefully some synergy, albeit a six day break.

How do you handle the morale?

That’s up to all of us at the club, we’re pushing really hard. The spirit and belonging of the club, because we need to rely on that. So they’re the intangibles that make it special to be at a football club. Dealing with resilience, our club’s done it well over the last 35 years, and this is a moment in time. We keep learning, we get opportunity to see some players play, make some really good decisions on them going forward, some of the younger players are probably playing when, perhaps they’re not quite ready, which is fine, get to give them some exposure. So we’ll get some positives out of the next few weeks, but it would be nice to have some of the players we’re missing back, fit and healthy.

Have you calculated how long it will take for those players to return and make an impact?

That’s a really good question, that’s something we’re aware of. We went through this last year, we had some significant injuries that were long term, they came back – I think it was the Bulldogs game – and on paper we looked great, and then there was no go in them when they came back, so we’re going to work really hard, not only to get them back and available, but they’ve got to be fit and match hard, and it’s hard to do this time of year. But, we’ve got to find a way, this is the start of the season. I know there’s a lot of stats about your zero and three, whatever percentage you are of not making finals, but you never know and we’re up for the fight, and we’ve got some really good players on our list that will come back, and we’ll get them as fit as we can, and we’ll have a swing.

Why did you not continue to have Jackson Nelson playing on Angus Brayshaw after half time?

We’re really happy with what he did, the scoreboard dictates those things. I think we were down by 30-plus points, when we made the decision to drop it, I don’t think Brayshaw’s influence in the second half was the difference between what happened. But he (Nelson) did a tremendous job, I think that he probably had more possessions than Brayshaw, and he kicked a goal himself. I think he was doing exactly what we asked him to do, we just had to mix it up a little bit, try a few things, few guys in a few different positions. Nelson’s a half-back flanker, he’s been playing wing and attacking onball, so we’ve seen a bit, we know he can do the job if we need him.

What did you think of Hugh Dixon tonight?

He’s another one who’s never second rucked before at AFL level, and even the last five minutes, as much as that game was done and we were managing players on the bench, but Dixon in the ruck, (Jack) Petruccelle onball, just a little glimpse of what potentially may be with these guys and having that type of exposure. You just don’t know what that does for their confidence down the track and their ability to step up when we need them. But we’re using every player on our list at the moment, plus some top ups when needed, so this experience, whilst it’s painful and we don’t like it and we’re not used to it, we’ve got to be optimistic as well about what might be in the future, so he’s part of that story.

Do you expect anyone back next week?

I think (Tom) Barrass, I spoke to him this morning and he hopefully will be alright this week, (Luke) Shuey, (Liam) Duggan, (Willie) Rioli, Bailey Williams. Then you’ve got (Elliot) Yeo, (Jamie) Cripps, (Oscar) Allen, there’s a few more. I reckon the next three weeks, touch wood if we don’t get any injuries, we’ll look like a side that’s what we planned at the start of the year, there will be three, four, five injuries but we’ll have 18 of our potential best 22, so that’s what we’re aiming for, and we’ve got to get them fit, and then some of the guys that stood up in the last three weeks will stay in the side, definitely.

Can you give us an update on Elliot Yeo?

Couple of weeks – I don’t think he’ll be available this week – but I’d say two weeks away, hopefully.

You’re coaching in a really difficult environment, how are you?

All good, I’m fine, thanks for asking. I’m pragmatic, it’s just been a bit of a cluster to be honest, we’ve embarked on a new phase in the way we want to play, we haven’t been able to execute that very often, but I’m still optimistic. Still glass half full, still think the players’ sense of spirit and belonging is as strong as I’ve seen it for a number of years. I’d be worried if that wasn’t there, now we might not win, we might not look great on field at times, but I think within the four walls, we’re connected, and that’s my priority at the moment.