Can you describe the emotions you felt at the final siren and what it means to the players and the club?

“It’s a bit of relief, I suppose. It’s been a long time between drinks. Really happy that we got a win. We’ve been working pretty hard for a few weeks now trying to get a little bit of our system and identity right. It would’ve been a pretty good game to watch. High scoring and some really good passages of play from both sides, and in the end it could have gone either way. I think from half-time of the Adelaide game we’ve seen slow improvement and we’ve got some players back as well. Talent helps everything. I think we’ve grown the last two or three weeks and to get a win at home with a crowd – I think 41,000 tonight – so they turned up and we put on a good show.”

The crowd was up and about, was that a help?

“They were up and about last week, too, so they’ve stuck fat with us. We’ve given them some good times over the years and it’s been tough this year, so we appreciate them turning up because I can’t remember the last time we won here at home. It’s been a long time.”

And ‘JK’ tonight … the importance of kicking straight?

“It probably kept us in the game, didn’t it? The first half in particular we kicked straight. But our ball movement is getting better, giving our forwards more opportunities. Our efficiency was up today. We still only had 41 or 42 inside 50s, so there’s still some work to do. Obviously we’re not the finished product, but supply was better today and delivery was better as well.”

Elliot Yeo looks so good across half-back, is it going to be hard to take him out of there?

“He’s a good player, ‘Yeoy’. Bringing him back through the backline – he was an All-Australian half-back in his second year with us I think, maybe third year, before we transitioned him to the midfield, so he knows how to play that position. Without ‘Gov’ (Jeremy McGovern) at the moment, he’s been pretty important for us because he can play tall and small. Ideally in the future he ends up back in the mid but while he’s playing the way he is, and there’s a fair bit of supply we’re dealing with as well … so he’s in the play.”

What about your small forwards, having them all out together?

“I can’t remember the last time we had everyone together in the front half. We’re missing Oscar Allen, but for the most part that was a pretty experienced forward line. We are going through a transition phase and a rebuild, but we’ve got some good senior players coming back into form and some availability, so we still think there’s a pretty good side there underneath what we need to do with the draft and playing the kids. Getting that balance is important. I thought the senior players played well tonight.”

Defence looked in trouble at quarter-time with Peter Wright and Jake Stringer getting the footy, what was the message and what changed after that?

“I thought our ball movement hurt us a little bit in the first quarter. We had some turnovers that to be honest have been costing us a lot this year off the half-back line. If you’re forever trying to build your game up from D50, that happens a little bit. You try and be brave and you miss a kick here or there and you go into your shell. I suppose what we’ve done a little bit differently is we’ve maintained enthusiasm for our ball movement and we’ve got a little bit better at the contest and started winning some centre bounces and got field position, then the game looks a bit different.”

Are you liking what you’re seeing from Rhett Bazzo?

“Bazzo, it was his second game, and (Brady) Hough as well. First-year players, they’ve got good game sense. We drafted them with that. To play in front of a crowd like that, have a win and be part of the success we had tonight was important for their growth, because losing becomes a habit sometimes.”

What do you hope a win can do for you for the rest of this season?

“Obviously we’re not going to play finals, so we just want to keep building what we want to stand for, our identity as a playing group and some of the things we’re trying to work on over the pre-season, it’s been a challenge to get that right. We’ll just keep working on trying to play a good brand of football that brings the fans to the game. Next week is a massive challenge, we’ve got the Tigers in Melbourne, and they beat us by 110 points last time we played. We’re under no illusions this is going to be a straight-line trajectory from here on, so it’s going to be a battle for us but we’re seeing better signs.”

First visit to the MCG next week, the boys looking forward to that?

“I haven’t thought about it but yeah it’s important to get as many games as we can there. We might have one or two games in the back half of the year. It will be great experience for some of those younger players and we’re playing a really good side.”