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Q. What do you take out of the win against Carlton?
A. It is always good to beat Carlton, it doesn't matter who they have playing or who they don't have playing. I think we got a great deal of confidence out of it and we really abided by our team rules. West Coast had a big task to go to Canberra and beat the Kangaroos - so they are going to be hard to beat come Saturday. The boys are as keen as mustard to get out there and play finals footy again. We are just keen to get out there and try and go as far as we can.
Q. West Coast are big improvers this season....
A. They are huge improvers from last year. John Worsfold has got them up and running. They have a great ruckman in Gardiner and their on-ball brigade was red hot on the weekend by all reports. It is going to be a big challenge for us, so no doubt it is going to be a great game on the weekend.
Q. The players must be excited with the finals draw?
A. There is no doubt about that. If we finished sixth or seventh we had to play two finals interstate to get to a Preliminary or Grand Final. To finish fifth, the Eagles did us a favour - but we won't be returning that favour this week. We have finished fifth and I don't think a lot of people thought we were going to get there earlier in the season. I can't say it is going to come easy, because finals football is different, it doesn’t matter who or where you play, so it is going to be interesting.
Q. This year heading into the finals, everyone seems to be fresh fitness wise...
A. The good thing about the long-term injuries we had this year is that they were all upper limb, so we could do a whole heap of running. I think I did another eight weeks of another pre-season, so I was really fit when I came back, so was Hirdy and Lloydy. Last year all of our injuries were lower body, I think we had half a dozen knee injuries. You just can't run and you can do all the cross training in the world, but it just doesn't make up for proper match fitness and running.
Q. Was the Champions of Essendon Gala Dinner on Friday night, good timing with you heading into the finals. Did you come away from being in a room with legends of the club, inspired and pumped to win another premiership?
A. To be in a room full of such champion players like Terry Daniher, Timmy Watson and Dick Reynolds, so it was an unbelievable feeling. The boys that did go were in awe because there was some stars there. I was driving home and I was thinking I would love to be as good as some of those players. If I can't be at least I can hopefully get another one or two flags. It was a great night.
Q. There is a little bit of rivalry between the Bombers and West Coast?
A. There is a little bit with the jacket waving. I think Sheeds already stated yesterday, lets get all of our supporters out there and really pack Colonial Stadium full of red and black.
Assistant coach Terry Daniher interview:
Q. James Hird came off in the second quarter - did he get a knock?
A. As far as I know, he pulled up alright. We expect him to be right this weekend.
Q. Where is Mercuri at?
A. He didn't quite come up. He trained last week, but just feel short along with Mercs. We expect them both to be right this weekend. They had a solid session on Saturday morning - match simulation.
Q. What about Justin Blumfield?
A. He is another one who did match simulation and by all reports got through fine. He is like Mercs - he just feel short of being available for the Carlton match.
Q. Are you going to try and line up another VFL practice match for this weekend?
A. Definitely - if we can. I think the guys enjoy playing footy, rather than just doing the training. I haven't organised anything yet, but I plan to later today and see if I can organise another game.
Q. There is going to be disappointed players left out of this side - what do you do with those guys to re-assure them?
A. All the players are pretty excited, particularly the players just hanging on the edge. It was great to see Sam Hunt get a bit of the football yesterday and we were able to give Shane Harvey and Marc Bullen a run. They are just rapt to know that they are in there with some chance. It doesn't take too much to keep them up and it is a learning process for the other players that might miss out. As Kevin (Sheedy) has said to them - it is very important that they stay positive and get out there and really support the senior players. Their chance will come, but their role is to keep training at top level and keep the tempo up there.
Q. Why has Gary Moorcroft been able to turn his form around?
A. I think it gets down to opportunity. He struggled for a little while during the year like all players do at stages of the year, but I think it has been a credit to him that he has been able to turn things around. It is good to see him firing and we need him and all our players doing well - there is no excuses now. We can't afford any passengers - everyone has to contribute from here on in.
Q. How much of a risk will it be to play Mercuri?
A. Mercs has missed a fair bit of footy, but he is a very experienced player and with the bench the way it is you can use him sparingly on and off the ground. The number one thing is to make sure he is right and ready to go. If he doesn't come up to scratch, he will miss another week.
Q. If he does come up, he could be dangerous for you off the bench?
A. He is a super players Mercs on his day. He would be of tremendous value to us come finals time.
