Q. Where do you think you are in terms of previous years?
A. I think we are coming good at the right time of year.
Q. What about in comparison to the last couple of years when you have been at your best?
A. It is different this year because this time over the last two years, we have had the week off. Now we are on the road and playing every week. It is going to make it hard to keep it going but I think we are up to it.
Q. You have proven to be a goal kicker in past games. If Lloydy doesn't play, it will be a big job for you this week?
A. I played full forward when Lloydy was out earlier in the year, so I may get the job or we could rotate it. We actually did alright without Lloydy - he won't like me saying that - but we seemed to cover for him. I haven't him so I don't know what the go is but he will probably have some concussion tests during the week and if he passes those he will play.
Q. Did you watch the Collingwood v Port game?
A. Absolutely.
Q. It just showed that if you put Port under pressure, they are vulnerable...
A. I think that some of their players didn't have very good nights and Collingwood capitalised on that.
Q. A few weeks ago it was going to be tough for Essendon and then given the results of the final round, things seemed to work well. With Collingwood winning, it means you have to travel interstate at least once, do the players get caught up in that?
A. No - tunnel vision. We are still on an oval and the grass is green. The travelling isn't that far, it is not as if we are going to Perth. I can honestly tell you we haven't even discussed the travel issue and we don't care where we go. It is the finals and we will go anywhere. It doesn't concern the playing group.
Q. At three quarter time on Saturday the team looked to be struggling a little bit, but the team where able to turn things around. Has that sort of been a feature over the past few weeks?
A. I think that is where the improvement has come from. Our second halves, we have been toughing them out and guys have stepped up. Every week someone new has stepped up that has helped turn the game. Scott Lucas did it on the weekend. It helps your side so much when you get a guy to actually turn the game and I think Lucas turned the game for us in the third quarter.
Q. Has John Quinn and the fitness department backed off the work a little bit. Last year you seemed to peak in the middle of the year and fatigued at the end of the year?
A. I don't think the training has changed that much, especially the intensity of training. Nothing noticeable or drastic.
Q. About six weeks out from the finals, you had those games where the team just couldn't kick goals - did you feel any extra pressure?
A. The whole main aim of forward line is to share it around as much as we can - take that pressure off Matthew Lloyd. Matthew has had that pressure the last two years and the opposition knows where the ball is going. We have tried to share the workload and I think that is where the improvement has come from.
Q. In terms of marking forwards, Mark Bolton and Danny Jacobs have really stepped up this season?
A. Danny has had a great year, in my view he would be top five in our best and fairest. Bolts has come out of his shell. He has had his apprenticeship time where he has been in the twos and done it hard like we all did. He has been around for four or five years now and I think we are starting to see all the fruits of all the time he has spent in there and all the disappointment he has had. He is certainly making every post a winner and you can see that in his game. He is so hungry and for the older guys, we see that and it just makes us want to go. Bolts has had a tremendous last six weeks and I know he will keep going because he is a very professional footballer.
Q. The other revelation to the forward line has been Moorcroft....
A. When we weren't kicking those goals we were all under the pump. His form has been fantastic over the last month and hopefully he can keep it going.
Q. Has that invincible feel from 2000 and 2001 gone?
A. We are not playing with the same blokes and probably the belief in 2000 and 2001 was that we were bullet proof. We tried to play on that against sides but this year because of the turn over we have had in the side, at times it has been frustrating. You look down the field and there is no Long, Wallis, Hardwick, Barnes - there is now Welsh and Bolton and it takes a bit of time. Sides take their time in clicking with new blokes and I think that is what we have done over the last three or four months. Sheeds has tried to keep it the same, particularly in the back half of the year so guys get to know strengths and weaknesses of the player.
