On the current challenge…
“The competition will bite you if you haven’t got your wits about you. So week-to-week, especially when you’re winning, sometimes it’s more challenging than if you’ve been beaten.
“Some of the things that came out of the Giants game, particularly on offence at the start, I felt like we succumbed to their pressure a little bit.
“That (pressure) won’t go away at Adelaide Oval against the Crows…their physicality in their contest of last year. They did well to overwhelm the Pies last week, so we’ve got to be better at the start of this game.”
On adjusting from the practice matches…
“We weren’t happy at all with the way we got off on our footing against those clubs – that (Sydney) game was our great chance to test what we’ve been doing through the pre-season, and it didn’t look any good.
“Since that point, our player leaders in particular have really taken ownership and got on the front foot with picking up some of that responsibility of the messaging that is bestowed upon the coaches as much as anything.
“I love the way that that’s happening – even in their own domain, our player leaders, our formalised leaders, and then the underlings who are coming through who feel empowered, it is their challenge week-to-week to be boisterous around these things.”
On the Crows…
“I mean their talls had an impact last time, as did Rankine, Neal-Bullen, Ben Keays and their higher forwards who get up and back. They really affected the game.
“Their captain Jordan Dawson – I really admire him as a player. He’s become a great leader and is a match-winning type player.
“We’ve got to have a lot of respect for them.
“They’ve got three or four who played in that (last) game that aren’t playing this week, that have been mainstays. Even the ruck situation – we’re used to coming up against Reilly O’Brien, and young McAndrew seems to have won that spot for the moment with the centre-bounce side of things.
“We need to make sure our team is picked to help us win, but also under the considerations of who’s going to help others play well at times. We’ll work through that post-training.”
On Adam Treloar…
“He’s building up his game time. He got through about three quarters of game time last week, so hopefully we can continue to build that and we can consider him for selection at AFL level.
“When he’s at his best, and even the way he finished last year at state-league level, where he was definitely running on top of the ground and in good health – that’s such a huge thing for him to do what he did in that final series.
“I still think he’s one of the best dozen midfielders in the competition when he’s healthy, so whether we can get him there remains to be seen. If we do, he’ll be a huge inclusion.”
