Fly's presser (excluding Nick Daicos)
Great win, where does that rank in the victories you've had at the club?
"Oh, it's up there. I don't know where but it's up there. I said to the boys after the game our ability to want to win, there's a real hunger to say 'hey let's go' and I thought we had a really good method on the connection in terms of the method to get the job done and then it's up to individuals to execute and the guy [N Daicos] next to me was a big part of that".
Have you noticed as the game goes on, there's an increased confidence in the team that you can do this and win the game? Steele Sidebottom made reference to this before.
"Yeah, no doubt. There's a matter of doing it. It's a long time ago last year. We haven't done it this year so to remind ourselves what to do. We train it consistently. I think the method was really strong and it's hard to stop and the energy I've got to say from the record crowd and to the Collingwood supporters; thank you for your energy because I'm not out there but you can just see the players growing in confidence from the energy in the crowd so thank you".
It seemed like in the first three quarters you're obviously winning enough of the ball forward of centre, but you were playing into the Essendon defenders hands a bit. What did you change up in the final quarter?
"We felt going into the game that we were defending the ground really well, but the numbers don't lie. Similar to last week against St Kilda, you have to move the ball a certain way and for some reason we just weren't quite executing a couple of things. I thought that early in the game we didn't get deep enough entries and then we try to address that and there's few personnel type things that we want to work through. We're not finished, it's a difficult part of the game right now. Teams defending with the high numbers back. We understand that it makes it hard to score and major parts of last week and this week we defended the ground well behind it which keeps the ball in our forward half".
Billy Frampton battled manfully against a ruck duo that was dominant last week. How did you see his performance?
"We thought he was enormous for us. It's a part of our game that we unfortunately don't have enough troops at the moment, but they'll be coming back shortly. Billy's just stepped into it and he's enjoyed it and I think he's getting better. He's marking the ball and he's kicked a goal today. He's been super important for us in the last couple of games in particular".
What did you see in the last quarter that made you think you could win the game?
"I think there's a belief in the group. The guys who were here last year just come to the bench with great energy and again we have this thing that we want to play the minutes. You've got to play the minutes to beat us and we start the game with that as a headline and then you get to three quarter time [and say] 'boys you've got to play the minutes to beat us'. We've created that over time and today we made it come to life again".
You guys look super fit the way you overran Essendon. Is that one of your biggest weapons?
"Yeah, no doubt. Jarrod Wade *[humourously interrupted by Nick]*. He's [Wade] done an enormous job. These guys have done the work. At half time, you write 'trust' on the board that we've done the work. It was a hot day and the game itself was a hot game. The GPS was really hot early. To get to three quarter time you just have to remind them that they've done the work and the legs will be there for us when we need it".
There's no time to relax with Adelaide to come in 5 days time. How will you prepare for that with the Crows having a 2-day extra break?
"We set this up at the start of the year. This isn't a surprise for us. We've trained to a level where we even talked about this a couple of months ago when we get to this period of a 5-day break and we'll be well prepared for it. We've also promised ourselves that we'll have deep wins so we'll stay in the moment for now and we'll work to Adelaide when we need to".
Your thoughts on Nick Daicos' performance, especially in the final quarter?
"I've always been a Nick fan. He's been enormous for us. He works so hard and behind the scenes he just gets back to work. He's the first in to watch tapes with his coaches. He's the first to get on the sprung floor and do hands and still doing extras on his game. He's always looking to be better and he's getting rewarded now and I'm sure it's not going to be the only time".
What happened to Scott Pendlebury?
"He got a poke in the eye. He's going to see a specialist right now. We're hoping it's going to be okay; we're anticipating it is but just precautionary we've sent him off to the specialist".
Is it concerning that blood was streaming out of a sensitive part of the body?
"I'm not sure. We've got a specialist to check it out and we'll know shortly".
Pre-game on the Fox Footy coverage, you showed the medals that you had in your pocket. Do you mind elaborating on the significance of them?
"I'd prefer I didn't because I'll get too emotional. It's a part of my life that I think I'll leave in my pocket, but we honoured him today".
With the lack of talls, do you put it on your midfield and say 'this is what we don't have so you have to lift' or is it a 'structural plug in' and role play?
"Yeah, that's actually the same language you used; 'plug and play'. Trey Ruscoe got an opportunity today. He's been playing terrific at VFL level. We talk about selection integrity. We want to reward players that are playing above the level down there. Josh Fraser is doing an enormous job for us. Lots of injuries like you said, but Trey comes in and he just looks like us. We're defending well as a team and he knows how to defend. He knows how to win one on ones, that's his great strength and we got to see that in the second half of the game. I thought that was really important for us so it's a 'plug and play' mentality. We'll get some troops back at some stage, but right now we trust the guys that are playing".
What did you make of Darcy Moore's speech after the game in his first year as skipper?
"I honestly couldn't hear a word he was saying [with the speakers]. He's a super impressive man and we're lucky to have him lead our football club".
Nathan Kreuger was substituted. Was that an injury or just being mindful of his game time after a long stint on the sidelines?
"No, we chose to do something different and we had a fresh guy on the bench. We're conscious that Kreugs hasn't played much footy for a long time and we've got a fresh guy with fresh legs to come on and do something and Will [Kelly] I thought again was another one that 'plug and play' and did his job".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzZxnCFAfM4