Q. Matthew, I am sure you would like to be out there tonight and kicking goals for Essendon and for the Starlight Foundation. Will you be out there next week?
A. I hope so - the surgeon has given me the okay to play so now it is just up to myself. If I can have a good week on the track, the physios and doctors have said if I feel comfortable I am right to play. If they give me that sort of message, I am sure I will be out there next week. The eight week mark is when I am actually allowed to grip the footy and that is Monday. I am confident I could do it now but just to make sure the finger is strong enough, I will be waiting until Monday. I will be definitely right for next week.
Q. It seems like a pretty short turn-around to play - only a week of ball work?
A. That is the way things happen with fingers and it doesn't take long for us to find touch, we have been training since November. If it isn't next week, it will be the week after.
Q. How have you gone with the taping - have you adjusted to that?
A. I had a try on Wednesday night at training and was quite happy with it. Being a left footer, it isn't a problem guiding the ball down. I will do anything to get out there and I am sure I will get used to it after a few training sessions.
Q. How is the team feeling about tonight's match?
A. Pretty confident. It was great to get over the line against Hawthorn - it just sets us up going into the break. We are really desperate to win tonight. We are level on games with Melbourne, so we would really like to go four points clear of them.
Joe Misiti:
Q. The results of your last game at Colonial against Port Adelaide was not ideal – has the team lost any confidence from that match?
A. It is a big chance for us to redeem ourselves after our disappointing showing against Port Adelaide. It is only our second game we have lost at Colonial, so our record is still pretty good. We would like to think that we have got a fairly good side in tonight and we should overcome the Melbourne Football Club.
Q. Dean Rioli is back in the side tonight - what do you expect from him?
A. Dean Rioli and Gary Moorcroft come into the side, so we have two goal-kicking avenues there - which is a big bonus. Rioli has put in the biggest three weeks of training that I have ever seen and he looks pretty good, so hopefully he can show us some of his Rioli magic tonight.
Q. How far away are you from returning?
A. I still have three weeks to go and as Lloydy said we have been training pretty hard. I will hopefully be back for the Round 16 match against Geelong.
Q. You both look very fit and Joe, you look a lot leaner than when you were playing - when you get back out there, you will be raring to go.
A. We had one week off post-operation and since then all we have been doing is training. For the last four weeks I have been running and I still have another two weeks to go.
