On Simon Goodwin: 

“I haven’t given it a lot of thought just yet.

“Let me publicly congratulate Simon on everything he’s achieved at the Demons.

“They got us in 2021 after a long drought, and I was fortunate to spend some time with Simon in the off-season and get to know him a little better.

“We’re all feeling for him, but I’ve got no doubt his future in the game is secure.” 

On the Pink Lady Game:  

“I’m really looking forward to the Pink Lady Game.

“Survey a room full of players and two-thirds of them, in some way, have been affected by cancer – through family or friends.

“Oskar Baker, in particular, lost his mum Trudy in 2017 to bone cancer. She was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2013 and went through the traumatic experience before ultimately, bone cancer.

“My mum, Rosa, had breast cancer when I was in my early teens. We celebrated her 90th birthday in January this year, so we’re one of the fortunate families.

“So many people are affected by breast cancer, so I think it’s a great initiative. It’s an important game for the Melbourne Football Club, and there’s an emotional side to it for all of us.” 

On playing against a new coach:  

“Even teams that haven’t changed coaches continue to evolve. What you saw the previous week might look different when they come up against you.

“So we’ve got to stick to our platform and what we do best - that won’t change - but we’ll be ready for any variation from the opposition.

“We’ll be ready to adjust if we need to.” 

On James Harmes:  

“He’s had two pretty good (VFL games), but he’ll be unavailable again this week due to illness. He’s had some interruptions and is crook again.

“So we can’t consider him this week—he won’t play at either level.

“He hasn’t been diagnosed with anything serious, he’s just going through a bit of a period.”

 On Buku Khamis: 

“His manager, Ray Purcell, is a great guy, and he’s just looking after Buku.

“We meet a lot of beautiful people in life, but he is one of the great ones—Buku Khamis.

“We’d be saddened to lose him. He has become an influential player and can play at either end of the ground.

“He is contracted, so we’re not going to want to lose him.” 

On Aaron Naughton and All-Australian prospects: 

“I’m reluctant to get on the front foot recommending anyone because the selectors will convene and go through it. Just by the facts, he’s probably one of the most influential forwards in the game at the moment.

“He definitely creates a lot of opportunities for our team beyond just kicking goals himself.

“It’s a time when clubs nominate or recommend players from their own group, and Aaron’s definitely on that list.

“We hope he’s in consideration.” 

On motivation for upcoming games:

“There’s enough going on at the moment to draw inspiration from what the players are doing on field. There’s great unity and spirit amongst them.

“A challenge is to allow that to bubble away and somehow froth it up a little more, then remind them what’s working and how critical each one of them has been in the scheme of things.

“We certainly won’t be going down the track of everything’s do or die.

“Melbourne is a very good, contested side. They’re a very threatening stoppage team, and we rate them pretty highly.

“The expected versus actuals have them winning more games than us at the moment. They’ve left some scores out there with their opportunities up front.

“They’ve had a lot of inside 50s over the journey, so no one can take the Demons lightly, let alone us.” 

On the 10-day break:  

“We’re reasonably healthy.

“We’ve had some days off-site and will have another day off-site tomorrow—a bit of a freshener, which can go one of two ways.

“As long as we come to Jolimont on Sunday fully prepared and with our wits about us, that’s all that matters. That’s how we’re gearing up.”