Great to break that losing streak?

"Yeah, it was good. Obviously we've been missing that (feeling) for three weeks. Good intensity, pressure on the game, field position through the contest, all the basic stuff that it's where the game is at the moment. We probably didn't adjust ... well, we didn't adjust. Effort overall was there. I thought our younger players who we brought in were really important for the spirit and passion for the game. Jakey Waterman, Oscar Allen, (Jamaine) Jones, (Liam) Duggan, (Jackson) Nelson, (Tom) Cole, that’s a glimpse of hopefully our future as we keep transitioning. Tim Kelly and the younger crew coming through I thought they all played their part today, which is really important for us.”

You lost the skipper early, the aggression that the midfield kept, Elliot Yeo was one who really stood out ... the intent to hunt, keep tackling and keep pressing through? 

“We don’t live in the rollercoaster that has been projected all the time. We lost three in a row, really disappointing, and would have been really difficult if we had of dropped one today, but not the end of the world. Our players I know have really good resilience, so to respond like they did I’m not surprised. I wasn’t losing it last week, I’m not going to go over the top this week. I’m happy we’ve performed at our level and I’m expecting to do it next week.”

What did you tell Nic (Naitanui), or what did Nic do after quarter-time, because Sydney were obviously roving to him?

"One thing you do when you've got a dominant ruck (against you) is you know you're going to lose the hit-out and you can plan around that. Sydney are pros and they did it really well, particularly (Josh) Kennedy. Eventually the boys worked it out and I thought we had some pretty good presence from centre bounce clearances. That's been the one positive for most of the year. I think we've been OK from centre bounce clearances, we just haven't had any result from them."

Did you always thing you had an opportunity in the centre square with Nic (Naitanui) versus Aliir Aliir and them being short on rucks?

"I know we lost Luke (Shuey) in the first quarter and that was difficult to manage throughout the day on a warmish type of day, but even Sydney’s travel, I think they had to sit up here two hours before they normally get up here at the airport. I thought they had their own adversity to work through. That’s probably the thing about the season, there are lots of teams in different types of states of dealing with bizarre situations."

Who was the one at half-time who seized control in the changerooms or you sensed was primed? 

"We're not that deep. There's no magical things we do. It's like how are we going with the way we want to play, how are we going with trying to deny the oppo their strengths and then just restart. We haven't been too good in our second halves for a while, so we put that challenge to them. Since we've been up here they've been exceptional our leaders. Just on-field it's been difficult to get that same presence with their performance and I thought they all did their bit today on-field. When you get that right it really clicks. Really pleased, but we're behind the eight-ball still and the season is still relatively young but we've got to continue this."

Was Shuey's injury something he came in with?

“No. We elevated our intensity at training and maybe that’s what happens. We had some sore boys towards the end of the game. We were pushing a couple of buttons throughout the week to try and work out what was going on and might have pushed them pretty hard on Wednesday training.”

How is Jamaine (Jones) as well?

"He’s the same."

You said it was time for Nic to play more game time because he is a lot fitter, that was a pretty good start for him? 

"I don't know what he had for minutes but Nic is an important player for us. It's always a balance between shorter minutes and intensity or longer minutes and perhaps a bit more consistent dominance. With Oscar second-rucking, Oscar kicking three (goals) was really important for us as well, so I thought he played his part. We've been searching a bit for that continuity (in the ruck), so hopefully Nic can keep holding up his end. He's been exceptional up here, every game he is trying his hardest."

On Oscar, he's been in and out of the side, but today up forward, not just the goals but marks and a target?

"The competition at the moment, tall forwards they're not struggling but they're not dominating. We've got a young kid who has got tremendous talent, he's part of our future. If we play him we're a bit taller, so it's whether he's a second ruck or third tall and this week he was a third tall. I thought Jake Waterman was the same. He's a genuine forward, he always has three or four shots at goal when he plays, and he brings passion and spirit, which we all love. That was a big reason why he came into the side."

It was a big goal he kicked after the quarter time siren.

"It was huge. It was really important. The way Sydney play, they really challenge you with owning the corridor and they had some really good overlap handball and I thought our guys handled that pretty well, but it always looked dangerous."