What did you make of that?

We’re disappointed we didn’t win, but I thought effort and intent was there. We had to adjust a few things to the conditions and we were right in it there for long periods of the game, but we got overawed in the midfield, beaten in the contest and the game got away from us halfway through the third. We hung in there and battle, but we’re just not good enough at the moment. It was a grind game and we didn’t do it for long enough.

You know you’ve got the players, you’ve got the infrastructure and everything has worked in the past. What is going on here? What is different or why is it not working?

There’s a bit different at the moment, isn’t there? It’s pretty obvious that there are some differences that we’re working through. On field we haven’t adapted well enough up here at the moment and that’s what we’ve got to work through. We’ve got Port this week and we need to keep training our way through it, coaching our way through it and playing our way through it. We’re all in this together and we’ll keep fighting.

Is morale and the emotional toll on the players the biggest issue you’re dealing with at the moment?

It’s hard to measure that. I don’t really know. We’re together a lot and trying to find the balance with space and how to handle a loss when you’re away for an extended period of time is probably a bit different to how you would handle it at home. We’re trying to be pretty pragmatic with it. We’re not feeling sorry for ourselves.

You sat the players down straight afterwards. You brought them straight in. What was the message there?

I do that a lot. I just wanted to know how they were feeling. We’ve got to work through some things. I do that all the time.

Yesterday you were frustrated with the situation. You just wanted some clarity and concrete. You still don’t have that. It might come in the next few days, but where is your head at with all of this. I know you’re just trying to digest that loss, but where are you at?

I’m in digest the loss mode. We’re in a leadership position, so we need to think and project a little but further ahead and sometimes we need to represent the club in the right way. We’ve got to do both and what was mentioned yesterday, that’s just the way it is. What we address today is the way we played. It feels like it’s been such a long season but technically it’s round three. We’re similar to some clubs in the competition that haven’t come back from the 10 weeks off as well as we would have liked, so that’s just the way it is. We’ve got to keep working our way through it.

Do you think your players are exhausted with the whole thing?

Exhausted? I don’t know. I don’t think so. Like I said, it’s hard to measure how the different environment affects players, individuals and staff. But I really don’t want to use it as an excuse. We came up here to win, otherwise what’s the point of coming here? That’s been our attitude and we just haven’t delivered. Effort was better this week. Our system was a little bit more conducive to the conditions, but we couldn’t sustain it and Brisbane are a good side. Playing Brisbane at the Gabba has always been hard and we got beaten by a better side.

You agreed to come up here as a sacrifice to get the season started. If they told you how it would be after the first couple of games you would say this is a worst case scenario? In that case do you regret coming here in the first place?

No. We’ve got to do the right thing for the competition and we’re here to help out as best as we can. The stuff about trying to get home at the right time, that’s just common sense. You want a return date. You don’t want to spend eight weeks away if you can help it. The AFL are working with the government, we need some clarity as quick as we can so we can supply some information back to our families back home. Once that is done we’ll move on. It’s part of the journey and part of the experience. Sometimes you have good experiences, sometimes you have bad. At the moment we’ve got to find a way to make it good.

Is it a distraction at the moment for the players? All the other peripheral issues?

I don’t know. It’s not normal, but what is normal at the moment. You’ve got to be professional enough to turn up and turn on. We were at front at half time, so I don’t think they were thinking about it at half time. We need to park the fact that it’s a different environment and have a look at the actual game. Some of our players are down on form and some of our players played really well. Brad Sheppard tonight, I thought he was exceptional. Andrew Gaff in his 200^th (game) really flew the flag, but we didn’t have as many winners as we would have liked and that’s disappointing.

Your midfield ws the issue last week. Nic was good, but then the numbers drop off. Is it matchups, is it rotations?

We’ll work through it. It’s not connecting at the moment. We got beaten by a better midfield tonight. It’s not necessarily about the numbers. I think the shortened game and the conditions we’re working in in terms of the environment, the humidity and night games, it’s going to look a bit different. But we lowered our colours across the board in the midfield and we’re not winning contests in front of the ball and we’re not winning contests behind the ball. That’s where we’ll start our work. We’ve got to get our hands dirty with contested possessions. They don’t always paint the exact picture, but at the moment it’s clear they are.

It doesn’t help when you’re chasing tail, but do you feel like you’re running out games? You mentioned you dropped off in the second half.

Last week we didn’t run, full stop. I thought they turned up with the right attitude. They trained well this week and there was full commitment, not to say there wasn’t full commitment last week. They turned up tonight and we couldn’t sustain it.

Luke Shuey was sore all week. Obviously he was carrying some soreness. He came here ready to go, but he was a bit below his best tonight. Where is he at? Where is his body at?

People play sore all the time, so when he puts his hand up to play he plays because he’s a brave bugger. He’s our captain. There is probably four or five players on both sides who carried injuries. I’d hate to make that an excuse, but he’s working through some stuff, but he’ll be alright.

What’s the latest on Jeremy McGovern and his ankle?

He rolled his ankle today in the scrimmage. The scrimmage boys had a win, which was good, albeit we borrowed a couple of Brisbane’s players. They’re actually bringing a lot of spirit the young fellas. I’m really proud of them as well. A lot of those guys are up here and they’re playing to get better. They want to get selected, but if you don’t get a game the scrimmage game is the only thing you can do. Gov rolled his ankle. I think it’s garden variety and we hope he he’s going to be fine this week. We’ll see how he pulls up the next couple of days.

What about (Liam) Ryan and (Elliot) Yeo?

I was on the bench tonight and there were a few wounded soldiers in the last quarter. Liam had a cork in his calf and something was going on with Yeoy with his back, but I don’t think you use that as an excuse.

Just on the second ruck, McInerny probably got the better of (Oscar) Allen when he pushed forward. Is that another thing that you look at with a couple of different taller options?

Oscar is probably not tall enough to be a second ruck, but I think he’s pretty serviceable when he’s in the ruck. He’s a 20-game player. At stages he’ll get exposed and at stages he’ll expose the other way. It’s his second week of doing it. He did a bit last year, but I think he’s going to be a good player in time. At stages he got beaten tonight.

You said Jeremy McGovern’s (ankle injury) was garden variety. Did he get scans?

Yeah, he got scans. Our ability to get scans and that was really good, so we got that right away.

And will Liam Ryan need scans?

We’ll see how he pulls up tomorrow. He went back on, didn’t do much, but he went back on.

Chris Fagan sort of mentioned it’s one of those years where everyone is going to have to be a bit agile and adaptable. Is that the approach you’re going to have to take to it?

It is. Like I said earlier, it feels like it’s round 10 but we’ve played three games. We’ve definitely got some improvement in us and we need to get going pretty quick. But it’s round three. I’d like to say we’ve got time, but we’ve got to get going.