Adam, what did you make of that game?

It was a grind. It ebbed and flowed. I think in the first quarter we started pretty well, but the scoreboard probably wasn’t a true reflection of the game. I think we kicked 5.1 and they kicked 1.5, so we sort of knew the contest was tighter than that. The game got away from us in the second and third quarters; the third quarter was pretty tight but the second quarter, in particular the second half of the second quarter we couldn’t stop the marking in their front half. We tweaked a couple of things at three quarter time. I think they might have lost a couple of soldiers as well, so we sensed the fact that we had a reasonably fresh group of players, albeit we had a couple of niggles ourselves. We found a way in the last quarter.

To find a way with your skills; when the opportunities arose you would kick a goal. How important is that when you look at the overall scheme of everything?

Conversion? Unfortunately it’s hard to strategically plan conversion, other than giving shots in really good spots. We’ve got some pros in the front half who handle pressure well, because half of it is mental. They kicked some important goals at some important moments. We’ve been working on that for a long, long time.

It was tough conditions with the way the wind was and no protection from grandstands. To win a game like that away from home and you’ve never been here before, how important is that for your overall season?

Every game now is getting really important. We loved coming here. There’s a great support network here for AFL but also for West Coast. We’ve had a really good time. It’s a shorter flight than Melbourne, so we’ll take that. But we understood Melbourne had played here a few times before, so we knew there was an advantage. The ground was fine. The win was a bit blustery but not ridiculous, so we’ve had a good experience.

You’re in touch now with that top spot after a tough contest, do you look at it from the perspective with what it can do for the rest of the year now?

We’re trying to qualify for finals; I’m not quite sure if we are there yet. That’s the objective. We’re not looking at top four yet. We’re looking to qualify first. If we had of gone down today we would have been back to the pack. We’re not really concentrating on that just yet. We’re just trying to get as many as we can and qualify. Once we qualify we will hopefully have a crack at top four and then if we get that top two, but that might not happen. We’ve got to get the next win, which is (against) North (Melbourne) in six days.

Is your experience showing now? You’ve (won) the close ones, apart from last week. Staying in the moment and not worrying about the future, is that all coming together?

We’re getting good practice at recognising opportunities to stand up. We didn’t do that last week; that was probably our first game we’ve lost that’s been a close one for a long time. It looked like we ran out of juice as well. I felt Melbourne, the injuries really hurt them today. It looked like with the conditions and the way the game was going, it looked like that had a part to play today. Their best was well and truly matching ours and they probably had their noses in front until they lost a couple.

How’s Hurn? How bad is that calf (injury)?

It’s a calf (he did) during the captains run out here yesterday. Can he get up in the next six days is the question. I’m really rapt for Frankie Watson to come in and play his first game. There were five indigenous players in the side, which is an equal club record. We broke the club record two weeks ago when (Brendon) Ah Chee played. I’m really proud of that, especially playing here as well, where there’s such a great representation of the indigenous community. Frankie played his part and looked pretty sharp out there. That’s been a really good experience (for him).

How do you think, Adam, you’re tracking from 12 months ago? I know you won the flag, but in the latter part of the home and away season, how do you feel like you’re going at the moment?

I’m not really comparing to last year. We are just looking at wins at the moment. Trying to get players on the track is important. I’m not quite sure if we’ve lost anyone today. We’ve had lots of injuries again at stages, which a lot of clubs have, so we’re just trying to chalk up the wins.

Gov looked like he hurt an ankle at one stage but went back on. How is he?

Hopefully at the moment it’s okay. We’ve had a lot of syndesmosis and lower leg injuries in the last 12 months. We’re hoping that we avoid another one.