A. We have our problems there is no doubt about that. When you read about some of the situations that a few of the clubs are in we just have to make sure that they are helped as much as possible. But I have always said in the last five to ten years that the smartest club in Victoria is the one that moves to NSW the earliest. There are one, two, three or four clubs that will really struggle to stay in Victoria and the smartest team will be the one that goes to Sydney or Canberra - it is as simple as that.
Q. Are you still thinking about your 500th or is that out of your mind?
A. No - we are thinking about picking a side capable of winning Friday night against Adelaide at Colonial. They are ahead of us on the ladder.
Q. Do you get excited about achieving milestones?
A. I don't worry about it - I was just rapt to get my 300 games and get life membership to the AFL. I just have fun out of it all and the best part of it is meeting some great people again and seeing a lot of people I haven't seen for years. You meet a lot of fans that want to talk about football and you can reminisce over the funny things that have happened. I was driving in here and thinking about some of the funny things that have happened over my life and then you think - that was 15 years ago. It goes so quickly. Tom Hafey just walked past and I remember distinctly in 1986 when Sydney kicked 30 odd goals against us. I didn't come home from Sydney for two days - I just sat in Sydney brooding, annoyed, frustrated and thought how am I ever going to get the team back up again. It was just one of those situations that has never left my mind. Tom Hafey walked past before and I thought - he probably gave me one of the biggest thrashings I had in my whole life and he was my old coach.
Q. Was that one of the biggest thrashing you have had last weekend against Brisbane?
A. They never kicked 30 goals last week thank goodness. They are a great side Brisbane but they have to win the premiership yet - we won one premiership and everyone feels that we are not a top side so if you win more than one or two you start to move into that category of being a top side. Brisbane have that capacity but it is only round three.
Q. Were you surprised to lose by that much?
A. At one stage we could have been closer - some of the things that happened in the game didn't go our way. Losing Sean Wellman on Bradshaw was one player we didn't want to lose after losing Solomon. Danny Jacobs is coming along quite well. We thought in the end it might have been a four goal loss but it went to a nine goal loss. We have 19 weeks to try and make the finals.
Q. Have you thought about how long you will continue to coach Essendon?
A. Somewhere between now and five years - it just depends on how things pan out in the end. There are a lot of areas of coaching that people haven't touched on yet. Maybe I will move into those areas in the next decade. I hope to coach coaches one day. There are a lot of young coaches coaching and we have to make sure we support them. Not only in the AFL but other football leagues as well.
