Q: Do you feel like that is your best win for the season given that you have a top-eight scalp?
A: Probably. As a coach, you don’t rank your wins. You just look to improve. I thought we improved our footy. The last couple of weeks. I think that we had a bit of a disjointed week with some COVID issues. Players training separately. I thought we handled that really maturely. And they think that we did the Fremantle family proud. We also did the occasion proud. This is a proud day in our club’s year. On the calendar. I thought our players played accordingly.
Q: You have spoken about wanting to get the defence together playing regularly. To have a couple of changes forced on you, how did you feel you went at short notice having to replace those guys?
A: Good. Griffin obviously in good form. I thought he played his role. And Aish, he is a bit of a Mr Fix It. He can play anywhere on the ground. He missed a lot of the pre-season. Getting as much fitness up before we brought him into the side. He has played inside mid, wing, and now back. 4-5 games back. He is a bit of Mr Fix It and he is reliable. We put him anywhere. Pretty seamless. He was pretty seamless. A number of players in good form. We feel they can step up to the AFL level. It was pleasing.
Q: At what point in the week this week does Chapman come out of isolation? Do you expect to take him to Geelong?
A: We will wait and see. It is a case- by-case. As they come out of the health and safety protocols. I think they will come out Wednesday or Thursday. Perhaps Thursday. We will have to wait and see. When we travel. How they pull up. We will get to you later in the week with that.
Q: Do you know when you’re flying at this stage?
A: Thursday. We always fly three days before. Thursday.
Q: It might be cutting it a bit fine.
A: We will see, mate. Catch you later in the week with that one.
Q: No worries. In terms of COVID in general do you feel like you have dodged that? Are you still on red alert there could be more spread this week? How are you feeling about that?
A: We are always on red alert. Always taking the maximum precautions we can. That means continue to separate the groups. We have to do what we have to do. We just think that our players and the coaches and the staff are handling it really maturely. The last thing we want to do is lose multiple players in the one week. It is too disruptive. We will keep managing
it the way we have been managing and crossing your fingers. And hoping it goes away.
Q: No worries. Can you elaborate on what keeping the group separated means? How that looks as far as training and things like that.
A: It is pretty wide knowledge that there is a lot of COVID moving in the WAFL teams at the moment. The first step is to keep the Peel and the AFL squad separate at the start of the week. And then doing as much as we can in the smaller groups. And avoid having the whole team at large meetings. Indoors. Pretty simple straightforward stuff. But it takes real application and maturity from the playing group to be able to handle those situations. We have to work really hard to make sure we do not become too disjointed and everyone feels like they are contributing. Just the measures you need to take. In the modern day AFL.
Q: Just back on your small forwards, Taberner seven goals last week and then one today, the small forwards kind of take the lead so you must be so delighted with the spread you’ve got at the moment with those attacking weapons.
A: Yes. Absolutely. We said to all the forwards, with Jaymie Graham, be dangerous and be a threat in the forward line. And they are buying into both sides of the ball. What happens as a forward if you buy into the defensive action of the game, the pressure, and the overall team defence, quite often it creates opportunities for you in the offence. That keeps you involved in the game. All of our small forwards and forwards in general are keeping involved in the game. That is creating offensive opportunities for them. They are a group, an eclectic group. They want to do it together. They understand who gets the lick of the ice cream from an offensive point of view which can change week in and week out. All six of them need to buy into what we do defensively. They are going really well.
Q: Michael Walters, we know that he has not been down on form but has not been able to finish so it was nice to see getting a few today and that second goal was vintage Walters.
A: It was. I have been saying every time I get asked, I firmly believe he is in good form. He just has not finished his work. Put the icing on the cake so to speak. Really proud of our playing group. When they got around him after that set shot. They know what he is going through. And the intense pressure he gets put under externally. I thought that was a really significant moment in the year. I thought that showed a really good connection within the playing group. A real understanding of what individuals are going through. It is great to see Sonny Walters get reward for effort tonight.
Q: A word on Alex Pearce. He kept McKay to one goal and a few touches and it seemed like a great job tonight.
A: Yes. He is doing a great job every week. He has missed so much footy over the last few years so it is good to see and get continuity in his games. And he is thriving off that, getting better and better each week. Some of the key forwards are massive units these days - well over 200cm. His size allows them to be competitive and compete with those guys. Super
proud of not only his performance, on the field, but also his leadership and he has been captaining us while he has been playing this year. Doing a really good job of bringing the group together. And leading the group. He is going well.