That must feel pretty good today, the overall performance of the side, especially the second quarter?
Yeah, the club had a good day, our WAFL Eagles had their first win for a while, Kyal Horsley’s first win, and they played with heaps of spirit. And then the 1987 boys came into the rooms before the game and that was really special to see those guys. 47,000 fans turned up to see us play, we cant take that for granted, especially with where we are at at the moment. The support was strong, and the players played the game the right way, albeit, I think Richmond are pretty banged up as well. We’ve been in that position before, where it’s just been hard going trying to expose some younger players who perhaps aren’t quite ready because of the injury toll, so we’ve sort of got a bit of perspective as well.
Elliot Yeo, just outstanding today?
He got jumped in the first 10 or 15 minutes, but I thought our mids really stood up, and ‘Yeoy’ just had that look in his eyes, which I see a lot, but it was extra today. He looked pretty switched on and really started the return with the work around the ball, and then our forwards competed really well in the front half as well.
Young Harley Reid doesn’t mind taking it upon himself to get a clearance and get it forward, does he?
I think the mids in general really stood up, but Harley had a good day. Hopefully he gets that Rising Star nomination, but we’ll just keep trying to manage him as best we can. He’s a great kid, he works really hard, and he wants to get better, and dealing with the attention is just something we’re trying to help him with at the moment too. He’s so humble with how he goes about things.
How pleased were you for Jake Waterman, after everything he went through last year, he looks like he’s got a career-best year ahead?
Yeah, he got rewarded today, I think we had 61 inside 50s, we had a really good supply and he took some really good marks for us. He got on the end of it, I’m really proud of what he’s come back from. It’s hard to isolate one or two individuals when what we’re trying to do is do it as one and do it together, which we did today.
Does today feel like a positive about what you’re trying to do and reinforcing that you’re on that right track?
We haven’t deviated too much about what we’re trying to chase. We want to be better in the contest, more supply, we want pressure to be at a good level, and the ball movement stuff we haven’t really touched on too much. Until we get these other things right, we cant really get to that. We got that right and thing things worked out offensively. There’s a lot of work to do, we’re not delusional, we’ve got Fremantle in six days. But. Today was a step forward for the club so that’s important as well.
To get that win, does it sort of get the monkey off the back?
It feels different this year, it feels like we’re chasing different things, we’ve got a different profile. But, we finished the year off ok last year. Whilst we haven’t won this year, we’re working on some small things to continue to grow on. So, it’s a good reward for a bit of work, but it’s just another step in hopefully the right direction. I thought Richmond were pretty brave, we know what it’s like to be like Adem (Yze) and what he’s dealing with at the moment, it’s difficult without seven or eight of your best players.
Does this give you momentum heading into a such a big derby week?
We’re excited, yeah, absolutely. We haven’t even come close to Fremantle in the last three or four years, and that’s practice matches, derbies, it doesn’t matter. We just want to compete.
