Josh, how are you feeling?

JK: “I feel numb, it’s interesting finishing your last game for a while so I don’t know. I’ve never really experienced it. I’ve tried to draw off Simmo. He did his calf in his last game so the best thing he told me this week was to not get injured."

Simmo: “I didn’t kick eight either.”

When did you think this could be a day out?

JK: “I reckon it could be the first moment when someone handballed over to boots and he was shoulders out and we had JD inside the 50 and he looked inboard to try and handball it back to me and Liam ended up stuffing the kick. That was probably the moment I thought the boys need to chill, we need to win this game and stop focusing on me.”

It must have been nice knowing that everyone wanted you to have the ball?

JK: “Yeah the boys fed me a fair bit and there was probably a lot of ball that came my way that probably shouldn’t of. But me and boots have played so much together that we kind of know what each other is doing and there were a few times it paid off and a few times it didn’t.”

You had plenty of not easy shots down this end, what does that do for you on a day like this when you have a few nerves?

JK: “Yeah, I suppose a bit of luck on my side. The breeze was the normal Southwest that we always have so it kind of swings a bit up this end. It was lucky enough some of them swung back the right way."

How much did you get to savour the moment today and get to soak it up, was your mind in game mode?

JK: “It was hard to kind of savour it and soak it up sometimes because you get pretty switched on into your normal routine and habits on game day, its every event during the week from rolling through my was last training session yesterday trying to soak it up as much as I could but before I knew it I was in my car thinking I should have sat in the locker room a bit longer I should have done this but you just get into game mode and it was pretty like that out there today.”

A lot of emotion Josh in the build and the end of the game, did that get to you and how did you feel?

JK: “Yeah here and there throughout the whole game really. There were a few times pregame, halftime and at the end, so just all little moments you know are finishing. Just grateful that I could finish on my terms thanks to Simmo and the club and I was able to have a game like that. Even though we didn’t get the win it was still great to out there and a great contest game. I love being apart of those games whether you win or lose – to be apart of a good game.”

Adam, did you feel that you were going to get them?

Simmo: “Yeah, the game was up for grabs, it was probably the most satisfying game we’ve had being a loss. I thought at the start of the game we conceded the first three and probably tried to ‘squeeze the fish a little bit’ is the expression. Just tried a bit too hard giving away free kicks and once we settled and obviously JK kicked a couple, we may have overdone it a few times but not too many. Once the game settled, we had dominance for a half and just didn’t capitalise. Second quarter, field position was important. Third quarter was poor and then fourth was just a seesaw contest so that’s probably the story of our season a little bit – we’ve been competitive for patches but not for four quarters. The whole thing being JK’s last game and the emotion the boys must have gone through before the game, during the week and the game, I thought they gave everything to try and get over the line and we just couldn’t get it done in the end.”

The pressure was right up there, did your players find a little bit extra?

Simmo: “I think so, we haven’t handled the milestone game great the last few years, I think Shannon Hurn was probably the last one, the 300^th against Collingwood. Intent and effort, you can’t question it – we were beaten by a better side. I think the way the boys went about it we would have lost no fans tonight and having 50,000 here tonight as well, it was just such a privilege being here for JK and his last game.”

Did you get the opportunity to enjoy the moment that he was about to kick his eighth goal?

Simmo: “Can you imagine kicking eight goals in your last game? It’s probably never happened and never going to happen again, but he missed the most important one. To be honest, I was just so happy for him and what the boys were trying to do and to get rewarded and have a game like that it was just unfortunate we couldn’t get that last four point but outside of that we tried our hardest.”

JK, the run up today seemed a little more twinkle toes than it has in the season, was there a bit of a flashback there at all?

JK: “I think I just went back to old habits, a bit of mindset, a bit of nerves, everything kind of jumped into it. It’s always been about my last three steps so trying to get into the rhythm of those last three today.”

Why were you wearing the black arm band today?

JK: “My best mate’s nanna passed away, nanna Betsy. She grew us all up back in Northampton – she was a lovely lady and loved the eagles. She passed away last week so we had her funeral on Thursday. It was a special one for her because she was a massive eagle’s fan and a beautiful lady.”

How is the body feeling?

JK: “Knee is a little bit sore, I’m not sure if I will be in recovery tomorrow morning so… there might be a few beers tonight, but the knee was kind of the same it always has been. You feel good early then it starts to tick in after a few knocks. I won’t have to get up for any more games now, so I’ll be able to rest it and settle down and hopefully it all kind of gets mended over the next couple of months.”

Adam, this obviously feels like the last game of the season but for a lot of other players now you have a turnaround in six days, how hard is that going to be?

Simmo: “Yeah, it’s going to be a challenge, I’ve spoken about that with the leaders already. Six-day break, big game for us and the club. We can’t go anywhere on the ladder other than going down so we know that but trying to establish a brand we can take into next year, take into preseason and get some confidence out of some of the success we have had – that’s our goal and obviously Fremantle are a top six side. With respect to JK we will have a few quite ones then move onto next week. Then we have Geelong in Geelong… that’ll put some hairs on your chest as well so we will get onto that but tonight we’ll enjoy josh’s last game and appreciate what he has done for us, and we’ll get on with it tomorrow."

You’ve had a couple of your best performance of the last few weeks are there any lessons you will take and are picking up in this last stage of the season?

Simmo: “Yeah absolutely, since the bye we have been a lot more competitive, we’ve won a fair share of quarters and had moments where we have been dominant and them, we just haven’t sustained it so we’ve got a lot of work to do to get that. We probably have about 15 players out of action at the moment, so we are getting good exposure with different types of players and then we get into a good preseason, get fit and give it a good crack next year. There has been some growth but we haven’t had any wins and obviously its important. Winning is a habit. We got to a point today where the game was on the line, and we couldn’t get over the line we need to get that and we need to get that feeling back as well.”

Barrass, his leadership seems to have gone to another level, what do you make of that?

Simmo: “I think he’s relished the responsibility, he’s in our leadership group and he had another terrific day today and I’m not surprised – I think he’s been developing for a while under the guidance of some of our leaders and now he’s flourishing and delivering on field.”

JK, in the terms of the future of West Coast in the next few years, where do you see the club going and where do you see hope?

JK: “It’s not hope mate, it’s all positive. The football club has been through cycles of footy over the last 36 years and we’ve been able to pull ourselves out of being at the bottom and playing a lot of finals and grand finals and we’ve won four flags in the space of those 35 years, so a pretty successful club and the high standards have always been there. The energy from Simmo from day dot has sparked a lot of guys in their development over the course of the back end of the year and I have no doubt they will take a lot of positives into preseason. You talk about Tom Barrass, he’s starting to intrench himself in the walls of the football club and the bigger picture buy in and a lot of guys and doing that. Especially those mid-tier guys who have come through and hitting that sweet spot of being able to play good footy and then also spread the love and their experience and show the guys that is about the football club and the bigger picture side of it. It’s pretty exciting, I’m going to enjoy watching over the next couple of years sitting up in the stands, having a beer, and giving my two bobs and probably message Simmo here and there but I have no doubt the guys will be back playing finals in the next couple of years."