Despite not getting the job done against GWS on Saturday afternoon, Senior Coach Brad Scott says the side’s performance showed clear signs of growth and highlighted what the young group is capable of producing.

Scott also spoke about the belief building within the squad, the challenge awaiting against Walyalup on Sunday and provided updates on Jye Caldwell, Ben McKay and Zach Merrett.

All the key takeaways from Thursday morning’s press conference below.

Brad on… GWS review

It was a very solid performance in terms of the numbers.

We were really pleased with the opportunities we created, 61 entries to 46.

A lot of metrics were in our favour, but we didn’t get the job done.

In terms of the foundation of the way that we want to play, it was a very solid performance, but very quickly it’s disappointing too, because we did enough to get the job done but didn’t.

Brad on… belief within the group

If you look at probably the last five weeks or so, there’ve been some really good performances and some poor performances.

The frustration of being a team at the stage we’re at is that you get fluctuation in performance, but the positive from a coaching perspective is the players are really clear on the difference between those two things.

So, we’re looking for consistency of execution and effort.

And when that’s a little bit off against good teams, you can get pretty badly exposed, but when it’s been there, the players can see clear evidence that we can compete against really good teams.

Brad on… Sunday’s clash with Walyalup

It’s a test against one of the best. Fremantle are a really good team and their performances this year are showing that.

They’ve got quality across all three lines, so it’s a great test for our guys and we’re looking forward to it.

If you want to take steps towards being one of the better teams in the competition, you want to play the best and test yourself as players against their good players, but also as a team in how they play.

We’ll still be focusing on the key things that we want to focus on as a team.

We’ve got to look at their strengths and try to mitigate those, while also trying to get the game on our terms. That’s easy to say but difficult to do when you’re coming up against very good opposition.

Brad on… Jye Caldwell injury progress

Jye's going really well, he should train fully today and I would expect him to be available, but we don’t make that call until post-training.

But the way it’s tracking it's looking pretty good.

Brad on… Ben McKay’s VFL response

Ben played very well. He played with a bit of freedom, and this is the balance that you work through in terms of trying to improve players.

We got Nick Bryan and Mason Redman back, so it gave us a bit more flexibility with the way we could select the team. We felt it was best for Ben to go back and regain some form and belief in the VFL, and he played very well.

He performed well, but he also set up the young players around him really well. It was a good step forward for him.

He wants to build his form back in the AFL team, but I felt we were doing a disservice to him and the team by continuing to play him in the senior side.

So this just released the shackles for him and freed him up to go and do what he does best, focus on his strengths, and he’s handled that very well.

He wants to get back into the senior team as soon as possible and, as we always do, and as every team does, we’ll do what’s best for him and the team.

Brad on… Zach Merrett

I’m focused on action, and he’s delivered in spades in terms of what I knew he would this year, right from the start of pre-season.

He’s fully invested in trying to make this team as good as it can possibly be.

We’re focused on right now and what we need him to do for the team.