""One of the things the Western Bulldogs have been able to do is come back in second halves and they are a good running side. We had a couple of players that needed a game and a couple of players that got the cramp. It did get a bit awkward there for a while.""
Q: Why do you think things tightened up in the last quarter?
""We probably need to find one or two more midfielders and build up in there a bit. Brent Stanton is coming through quite well. Adam McPhee is playing off half back mainly but we think he can play in the midfield along with Mark Johnson. The Western Bulldogs are a very good running team but they would probably like a couple of what we have got and we would like a couple of what they have got.""
Q: Matthew Lloyd seemed to have a license to roam wherever he liked?
""He even went on to the ball for a little while and I haven’t got a problem with that – it breaks things up a little bit. He will learn to play in various positions and that is good – we had 12 goal-kickers today. It was good to see Kepler Bradley go forward and take some strong marks – he had limited time on the ground but he should have kicked three goals. To see him at full forward for a while was good and we need keep improving at both ends of the ground – even though we haven’t racked up a lot of wins, at least we are getting some development done.""
Q: Will you consider to play him further up the ground?
""He is a very good reader of the game and he is a very unselfish player – that is what I enjoy about him playing up the ground. When we had Paul Salmon at full forward, we didn’t get to see a lot of him in the ruck because we had Simon Madden – we don’t know what opportunities lay ahead for Lloyd further up the ground.
""He probably could have kicked four or five goals today. As a ruck rover / half forward you would not want to leave him alone because he is a pretty smart player. Knowing the delivery a full forward needs he can probably kick to advantage.""
""Courtney Johns got through Friday night’s VFL game and if you have a player of that type getting fitter over the next two or three weeks it can give you a pretty potent forward line.""
Q: Do you think Matthew enjoys playing up the ground?
""I think it takes a whole heap of pressure off Matthew Lloyd and the need for him to be a 100-goal full forward. He might become a great player and known for different things further up the ground – you might even see a little bit of James Hird. If Lloyd can go into the midfield for three or four bursts a game it just gives us a different look and some added ball-winning ability. Of course when and how often he does that depends on the opposition midfield.""
""I am not sure every team needs a great full forward and a lot of great full forwards never played in a Premiership – Tony Lockett and Gary Ablett to name a couple. We don’t want to be a one-dimensional club. This might just give him the chance to use his football brain and ability further up the ground rather than having to burst on leads, continually get his arms chopped or spend the day wrestling in the goal square. I don’t mind looking for that flexibility. It takes a lot of losses to get up to the top in footy – West Coast are on top and how many games have they lost over the past few years?
Q: It was nice to have the luxury of McPhee up forward?
""He is learning to play footy. Most people like him at half back but when you want to make some adjustments and diversions to throw the opposition out a bit – McPhee is a classic case of someone who can do that for you. I think that when we get a couple of others back we will be able to do a bit more of that.""
