Is that your most emphatic performance of the year?

“The scoreboard probably says that. Against a quality side we were really efficient in the front half today. I think we had 35 inside 50s so maybe the scoreboard flattered us a little bit but overall our intensity and pressure was really good all day. Made the most of our opportunities. We’ve been building for a few weeks, but they were a few men short, too, the Pies. Losing Pendlebury before the game was a pretty big loss, albeit we lost (Jeremy) McGovern. We had a pretty fit midfield and I thought they really stood up today.

Jeremy McGovern’s thumb injury will keep him out for just one week?

“I hope so. It was just difficult (for McGovern) to play with that thumb, kick, mark, handball, spoiling. It was his right hand so we’ve just got to assess whether it’s healed enough for him to play next week.”

Did Luke Shuey hurt his hand late?

“He dislocated his finger, but it just popped straight back in. We’ve got a six-day break so we’ll see how we pull up but I think most of our guys got through the game.”

Tim Kelly and Nic Naitanui’s chemistry was as good as we’ve seen all year?

“There has been some people a little critical of Tim’s impact this year but he’s building into hopefully a seven or eight-year career with us. He had a good day today. He’s going to have bad days sometimes. We know what we’ve got from a long-term point-of-view and I’ve said this from the start it’s not a quick fix getting Tim in, it’s a long-term investment, but he paid us back tonight.”

What about Naitanui’s dominance against an A-grade ruckman (Brodie Grundy)?

“Seeing two A-grade ruckmen going against each other is great for everyone’s watching. I thought Nic had pretty good support from Oscar as well. But Nic’s overall ruck work and dominance was really good for our mids. I think Grundy might have gone forward in the last quarter, so that’s when maybe a couple of our mids might have cashed in a little. But overall I thought our midfield was pretty damaging today.”

What about Josh Kennedy?

“He kicked pretty straight today (7.0). He couldn’t kick a goal during the week. Once again, he’s not in the side to kick seven goals – we’ll take it – but he’s in the back end of his career and he’s going to have days where he has a really good look like he did today. I thought our ball movement was pretty good for the most part, and he finished off with some really accurate kicking, but that’s not going to happen every week. Give him the praise today, but don’t get into him when he doesn’t kick a goal.”

Does it reaffirm strong possibility he may be viable later this year and next year?

“He’s always been viable for us. We’ll let that take care of itself. A lot of that has got to do how he wants to continue or not, so that’s up to Josh at the moment. He’s been fantastic all year really, his running profile is as good as it has ever been. I haven’t seen a drop-off in anything his game. He got rewarded tonight.”

Have you seen things that suggested a performance like this was coming?

“We were really concerned after the three losses we had, not really with personnel but our system wasn’t (working) and the identity of our side was a little bit off. I thought our players really took ownership. The leadership from the older guys to the guys coming through all stepped up and they’re playing a pretty distinct brand so that’s been pleasing and today was another step forward. I don’t know where we’re at in terms of the competition but I feel like we’ve caught up a little bit, more than anything, and now we’re ready to compete with anyone.”

You’re flag favourites now …

“Are we? It goes from being crisis to flag favourites. That’s nothing to do with what we do.”

When did Liam Ryan decide to play and what did you make of his impact?

“Liam decided pretty late in the week, so it was a pretty emotional week for him. When he kicked that goal you saw the flood of support from his teammates. No one can understand what he’s going through this week to get out there and play. He’s a very humble, quiet type of guy, so for him to play then to execute and give us something all to enjoy … I think the crowd today was great. We’ve missed them. I’ve got no doubt our players elevate for any crowd. It’s an honour to play in front of a crowd like we did today and Liam was fantastic.”