Fly's presser
Is that a mixture of pride and disappointment?
"Yeah, of course. You get to this close in a game where you have an opportunity, you're a kick away for getting yourself a week off and playing in a Prelim Final; they don't come along every day. Extremely proud of the effort, but we need to get ourselves sorted really quickly because we've got to get to work".
How do you sum it up? You've had a lot of practice of winning close games and now you've lost a close one, what's the emotion?
"We want to act like winners. I must admit, the siren goes and there's half a dozen of our guys laying on the ground. For me, that's not a winner. That's acting like a loser. We lost the game, we're not losers. So I just made that point. We're here to win this thing; we'll give it everything we've got. You get to this time of the year, you want to give it your best shot. I thought we threw a lot of punches at them. There was a moment in a game, might have been a minute to go and scores were level; and the emergency umpire said 'if it's a draw, you guys can go on the field'. I communicated to the box [and asked] 'what do you want to do' because we moved to play a forward to try and win the game. Darcy Moore was in the forward line, we're playing a guy short down back and they manned it up anywhere so 'what do you want to do? We're going for the win, we're going for it'. We're not here to draw the game and go for extra time. Put the head in the pillow tonight; I'm not sure if that's the right decision to make but that's how we want to live ourselves. This game in particular, we didn't get the job done".
Your comment that 'we're not losers, we're winners'. Is that the message you relayed to the players post match?
"Absolutely. We lost the game, but we're not losers. There is a difference. I said for the lifetime I'm sitting in this chair, maybe barring a Grand Final, if we don't win, don't lay on the ground".
Steele Sidebottom got around to the players at the end of the game. Is that an example of your message?
"Yeah, great leadership. Steele had an enormous game. That's great leadership. Again, it's all a part of learning lessons isn't it. We're here, we're still alive to fight another battle and again I'm not sure who the opposition is but we've been learning some good lessons along the whole way".
Taylor Adams was enormous today and then went down. What's the diagnosis?
"It looks like Tay's season is done. It looks like he might have torn the groin off the bone I think, that could be the early diagnosis. His season is over. I just grabbed him then, he had his moment of emotion and we'll just get around him and support the best we can".
What was the reason behind making Kreuger the medical sub?
"I like Kreugs. He gives us a bit of energy. I thought he could give us something. He could play down back if we lost a key back. I thought he could go in the ruck if we needed that and up forward he's an energetic guy. I didn't think he was quite ready to play a full game based on his time out of the game. He took a mark as soon as he came onto the ground. I like what Kreugs brings to the table".
To perform like this in a big final against the minor premier, does it give the club even more belief than before?
"We believe. I actually take satisfaction out of everyone doubting us. Everyone gave us massive odds again of winning the game tonight. Most people did [Geelong would win], but we didn't. We have great belief in what we're doing. Again, that's outcome stuff. The evidence that we present to our players, there's a lot of reasons as to why we're sitting here. There's a bounce of the ball this way, a set shot after the siren here and there; those things have got us to this path. There's a lot of stuff we've done behind the scenes that give us great belief that we belong in this position".
Is there anything you noticed in the dying moments that might have cost you the match?
"You look at Geelong, they do it so well. They go through the corridor and start to get really aggressive in the 3rd quarter. We were able to stabilise that. I thought this game was all about the little moments. We can go through and analyse every single one of them and there's so many of them. We get 12 points up and there's a centre bounce, you lose an aerial contest and Rohan kicks the goal. All of a sudden, the game is back on. Those little moments, that's what big games are about; seizing those opportunities. Minute to go and the scores are level, and again we want to go out and win the game. We live by that".
Jordan De Goey went down the race at QT, and had his shoulder strapped up. What was the issue?
"It looks like he has a bit of an AC issue. He played out the game. Doctors just said to me before that he looks like he's okay. It looks like one of those ones you assess during the week and look after these guys. Our pressure was enormous. Watching Sydney last night was a good role model for us about how to go about it in a big game. I thought we didn't get rewarded for our tackles; I don't know if it's something we'll look at and the AFL will look at that. I thought we had a lot of awesome tackles that didn't get rewarded. It's funny you run someone down from behind and you don't get rewarded, and then someone drags it in underneath you and it's holding the ball. That doesn't sit well with me".
Is it something that you will look at and talk to the AFL about?
"I'm not here to change rules. We've got to play within the rules. They get some right and wrong. I've said that many times. Anyone watching at home thought we tackled really well I would have thought. I don't know what the free kicks were at the end. Potentially [speak to the AFL], we'll see what happens".
Jordan De Goey showed he was a big game player today?
"Yeah, I said during the week that we're looking for 5% gains. He's that guy. There's not many guys in our team or many other teams that can turn it on when you need it and kick clutch goals and he did it again tonight. We continue to look for opportunities to put Jordy in positions where he can shine".
Is there a moment De Goey got frustrated with a few umpiring decisions, and you had to talk him through that?
"No, I don't recall that. I thought we were really calm and measured for this occasion. I thought the playing group to their credit, we've got a lot of youth and I know Geelong has a mountain of experience and we have a lot of guys playing their first final. I thought we looked like we managed most of those moments well. The hustle and bustle of the game; you take a mark and maybe it's play on a few times we can get better for. On a whole, I thought the bench was really composed, I thought the coaching box was composed and I thought the players looked composed in the chaos for the most part".
Did you consider changing the match up with Gary Rohan at all?
"He played well didn't he. I think that's a system thing for us. That centre bounce mark was a bit of brilliance. Sometimes you need a bit of brilliance and to go back and nail the shot. Credit to him, I think I remember him doing that down at GMHBA kicking a clutch goal. Cameron kicked some clutch goals. That's what people want to watch don't they".
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