Adam, you’ve spoken a lot this pre-season and earlier in the season about small wins, how much of a big win was that first half and second quarter especially for the team and for yourself?
“Small wins, it’s not that we’ve been underperforming, but some of our game over the last three rounds we could have done better. So we still chase the same things, but we got a bit more reward today. Our ball movement looked a little bit better, but our pressure, something we’ve tried really hard to do over the course of preseason, I thought that allowed us to bring a bit more heat in our team defence. It’s just where the comp is at at the moment, you’ve got to be good at the contest, pressure and all those sort of things. We didn’t really talk about our scoring, because that’s the biproduct of other parts of your game. Really pleased that we won the ground balls, inside 50s again, we had 53. What’s been strong has been our clearances, and we got beaten in that area. In the end, you’ve got to be good at everything to win. Up for the fight though, I don’t think the guys are high fiving in there, but I think we can start to see a tiny bit of our identity and get a little bit of reward for the work they’re putting in.”
Are you proud of the effort, especially in the first half, with some of the younger guys standing up as well, with the leaders being good all season?
“I’ve been proud of the players all year. So, I know that catastrophising things every second week is going to happen, it’s just our industry. We’re getting better at some of the things were trying to get better at. We’re not looking great sometimes on tv, but that’s ok, and the criticism is fine, but we’re on a journey and win, lose or draw, we keep trying to get better. I thought today, we got a little bit better.”
That goal that Harley Reid kicked seemed to lift the side at the right time, and then he had a really good quarter along side Elliot Yeo?
“I think we’re starting to see really good glimpses of Harley. He just wants to be part of the team. He wants to win. He wants to play with his mates. So, no extra stuff when he kicks a goal, it’s just good play. When Crippa (Jamie Cripps) kicked that goal in the last two minutes, the celebration was the same. The kids playing well is great for everyone to see, so when we see that I think we all celebrate that, and Harley is just part of that.”
What did you make of the experience at Mt Barker?
“Really enjoyed it, we haven’t been here before. We had a captain’s run here yesterday, and the infrastructure they’ve set up, you can sort of see why it’s a three-year contract with what they must have spent on this to get it to AFL level. The standard of the grass and the facilities around it, we couldn’t have been more impressed. And the support we got at captain’s run, and the turnout today, I thought it was a really good success for the area. We’ll walk away from her with some good memories, but also some work to do.”
Richmond next round, they’ve lost some players, home ground and some confidence from today, do you feel like it’s a good game to get at this time of year?
“We’ve had a tough draw, three away games out of four and some good sides. But, Richmond beat Sydney last week. As much as they’ll miss those talls, the way they play, their method, they’re quick and really dangerous. I don’t think we play any side thinking we’re just going to roll up, so we’ll get to work and we need to go as hard as we can.”
