From a territorial point of view, how did you see the game?

A bit like all the games at the moment, pretty scrappy. I thought we defended pretty well after the first 15 minutes and we got good field position from our mids and clearances. Tim Kelly is building into his season and I thought he was one of our best. We probably just missed opportunities to score when we had that much supply, so we need to work on our entries. But that’s a great problem; I’ll take that any day of the week.

You mentioned Kelly. He’s had some big quarters and then he’s had some quiet ones. How do you see him adapting to life (at the Eagles), especially in this environment?

I think anyone in this environment at the moment would find it hard to get any routine or adapt. He’s flown his family over and he’s been living in a hotel with three kids. I don’t know how he’s done it, but he’s done a good job. He’s trying to play our brand and we’re different to Geelong. I thought today he took a step forward.

Are you excited by what you’ve seen (from him), especially with the way he’s started to adapt to what you want him to do?

This is not a bang or bust situation. He’s 25, so this is a long-term investment with Tim. We think, touch wood, he'll play long into his thirties. Let’s judge him at the end of that time. 

How do you see your forward structure coming along. You’re throwing players all around trying to work out what’s your best mix and trying to work the connection out. How are you seeing it, as it’s probably the most destabilised part of your team at the moment?

We’ve had good supply the last two weeks. There are not many teams capitalising on their field position; it just seems to be quite dirty footy at the moment. Maybe we’re all victims of having so much time off and we lose that connection training in eights and those sorts of things. We’ve got to find a way to connect a bit better with our forwards. But like I said that’s a really good problem to have. Team defence is the one thing we focused on today and I thought that was okay for us.

Now that the game’s over, your thoughts on Nic Nat and Reilly O’Brien. It was nice at the end that they had a conversation and he gave him a phone.

It was good entertainment. I don’t think Nic was overly pleased with the tweet, but I don’t think he was losing much sleep about it. And in the end they had a pretty good battle. I thought they both played pretty well. Nic’s pulled a phone out of his top drawer and gave him one after the game.

Obviously it was a little bit of a sideshow, but there was a bit of an edge out there early.

Nic plays on the edge. I think we were all thinking you’ve poked the bear. I think he’s been in really good form. He’s held up his end for every game, so he’s having a good year and he’s connecting well with our mids and giving them good supply. Oscar (Allen) I thought held up his end as well.

If you look back on the five weeks (in the hub), if you had of had more certainty when you arrived would you have had a better five weeks, because once the certainty arrived your form improved?

I really don’t think it was connected. We need to bat for our club, as we should have, because there was a lot of uncertainty. The prospect of staying here for eight weeks or quarantining in hotels, that was really concerning for families back home, so we had to address that and we did. But it had nothing to do with our performance. We corrected some things on field that had nothing to do with the hub. In fact, it probably (allowed us to) address it quicker. I think we probably went in a different direction after the Port game in terms of how we play. We had to fix a couple of things on field, so I know people connect both of them and there’s an out for the players, but they weren’t looking for an out. I really don’t think that was the case. We will find out how clubs go now in their own hubs and they’ll have different issues as well.

What challenges do you face going home with quarantine now?

Getting back to routine or finding a new routine. Finding out what is life like in quarantine from home. Playing in front of a crowd next week, we can’t wait for that. That’s going to be exciting. And it’s an RAC Derby, so hopefully there’s a good build up and plenty of publicity back in Perth and we can put on a good show.

Have you had a look at Freo?

Yeah, we’ve been living with them the past six weeks. They’re a young side and Longy (Justin Longmuir) is a great coach. He was working at West Coast for a few years. He’s a good man and they’re playing with spirit, so it’s going to be game on.