Q. Are you concerned about how the players will pull up, after the physical match against Brisbane?
A. The one thing that we found is form from that match, which is excellent. We won by a kick against Richmond, which wasn't exciting but it is quite amazing what happens when you come up against Brisbane. No rules and all of a sudden you play your best football. I know I have been criticised for it, but somewhere in the madness of the comment might be the right answer - we got a better performance and I don't think it was the training we did during the week. I think it was between the way I know the team can play and our fans know we can play - we haven't been clapped off the ground at half time, for quite sometime. But, the deal in the end is that we are heading to Adelaide - a crucial game, four games to go and we are hanging in there in the eight and we have a good opportunity to still win. The players are looking forward to going to Adelaide and getting four points on the board - which is what it is all about.
Q. You have played so many night games this year and this is your second day match for the year - how do you think the players will cope with the conditions?A. It will be a bit different but I think it will be good - we train during the day. It is great to have the 14 night games over with.
Q. Andrew Demetriou was on the radio this morning saying that Saturday night's match was a great advertisement for the game, and the AFL has to be careful not to take the physicality out of the game. Do you think the AFL is finally coming around to your way of thinking?
A. The rules are there naturally, so you can't go over the top, but it was a good game from that point of view. If you want to go and play non-contact sport every week, it is not what AFL footy is about. AFL footy is a little bit of rugby and a little bit of soccer - we are in the middle of it all. We just don't want to get too far down the track of being spot on in everything. I am glad to hear Andrew (Demetriou) has made that comment because he is the one who has to go and sell the game to prospective markets. If you ever want to get looked at overseas, you don't want to be playing anything else than the way AFL should be played. I got criticised during the week about my ""no rules"" comment - but with the 14 night games we have had, our crowds have been down a little bit at Essendon, I think 80,000. A coaches job is to assist the marketing, the membership, the CEO - so if you make a comment like that you let Brisbane know - it is no different from Leigh (Matthews) saying - ""if it bleeds you can kill it.""
Q. Adelaide have really hit back this year....
A. I think Ayres has done a really good job and it is full credit to him. I think Victorians are sitting there saying - you have Brisbane, Port Adelaide and Adelaide in the top four. I think Victoria is reeling from that a little bit and I think in many ways it will shake the state up. But, Adelaide has been very, very good and the last two games they have won on the road.
Q. How will you match up?
A. We will match up okay. We will lose Rioli and probably make one more change.
