Adam, always a pretty tough place to come down here, how do you sum up that one?

“We played the best team in the competition, so we came up with a plan to be as competitive as we could be and I thought at stages we were but we get overwhelmed with their talent and fitness and their system but strangely enough we will take some positives out of where we are heading. We had some horrendous turnovers with the ball so every time we tried to open the game up we turned the ball over. So, in the end it was difficult to get it out of our back half and in the second half in particular. We will lick our wounds; it has been a tough year. We’ve been playing better footy since the bye and today we just got overwhelmed."

They had 36 more inside 50s and in the second half, do you think you were able to push the numbers back?

“Well, no we didn’t push numbers back although it might have looked like it. We are trying to play a certain way that stands up long term and we just couldn’t do it today. Some of the turnovers we gave the opposition made it very hard for our backs, our contest numbers were down, and they were just cleaner than us. It’s disappointing and we are not happy but that’s the team we’ve got at the moment."

You left here last year with your tail between your legs, is it better this time?

"It sounds weird but it probably is, we are on our path, and I don’t know how long it’ll take to get to success. Today wasn’t a step forward but we know where we are at so there were no major surprises today. We know Geelong are a very good side and we know we have a heap of work to do. We need to have a really good summer, get our personnel back and reflect on what’s been a really difficult year, take some positives out of it then hit the preseason as hard as we can."

What are your public reflections now that you have finished for the year?

"They’ve been the same, I haven’t held off on any commentary other than we’ve been hit with some hurdles this year and it’s been a challenge to keep the group together and stay connected as a footy club and a footy department, but I think internally we are on the right path. I’ve said this a number of times, we’ve had better season with a poorer environment so we can leverage off that. We’ve also got clarity about what we need to do and where we are at so I think having awareness before you can get into the action part has been important. We are fully aware of what’s needed."

Do you think the bounce is going to be quick?

"I’m not sure, it’s a really difficult one to say. Some people suggest it’s going to be a long time to get back to where we want to be and other people say we’ll get 10 to 12 players back from today’s game. We are going to hit the draft and transition our list over the next two or three years so if we get everything right and get fresh availability, our players continue to grow and get better then it’ll happen when it happens."

So, a strong draft focus rather than a trade?

"We went to the draft last year and we will do the same this year. We’ve got a pretty good draft hand but that doesn’t exclude us from looking around. That’s list management discussions and we will look into that."

You weren’t at the club at the time, but do you look to a season like 2010 when the club was pretty down, and everyone was thinking along similar lines to this year and the club was able to bounce back and get into finals?

"You could talk about history repeating itself, but we need to create our own destiny. We can’t just say West Coast has been good at bouncing back and we’re going to do it. The fact is the club has been through it before, they’ve worked their way through it pretty well and now it’s our turn to do it."

Another tough one for Tom Barrass today, but it looked like he held his own there on Tom Hawkins.

"Geelong had 64 inside 50s today so there was a fair bit of supply coming in. Once again I’m really proud and surprised that he played to be honest – he is very sore. He was sore two weeks ago and put his hand up and said I need to get through these two games for the club and he’s done that."

Junior (Rioli) went off in the fourth quarter?

"He had a groin complaint; he’s had a big couple of weeks coming back on Tuesday. I’m just so happy he came back to play the last game, he didn’t have to and it was totally up to him but he put the club first."

Jack Darling has a lower leg injury?

"I don’t know, I haven’t seen that. He was on his own a bit tonight as well. We were lacking a bit of height up front but I think our leaders are trying their hardest at the moment to try and make the best of a difficult situation and like I said, really disappointing but I can see where we are heading."

Can you find a positive there? For example Jamaine Jones.

"Well, he’s been playing half back in the back half of the year. He’s pretty raw but once again there was growth opportunities and they are a really fit, fast, high, hardworking forward line so at times we got exposed for that and at times we held our own for as long as we could have. He’s been pleasing this year, I don’t think we would have thought he would play down back at the start of the year but he’s held down that spot."

Anyone else fit into that category?

"Well I guess opportunities like Bazzo again today played his fifth or sixth game. Jai Culley played his fourth game for the club against A-grade midfielders so those type of players can only learn from these types of experiences. Harry Edwards, I thought was pretty good for what was going on down there so those guys will look back on the season and see it as a really good opportunity."

Do you feel like Junior is close to recommitting to the club?

"Yeah, now that the season is finished, he can sit down and work it out and hopefully we can get a decision soon."