On the past week...
“We went off-site on Tuesday which is a bit of a change up for us - we used to do that a lot actually but now because of the redeveloped premises and how good it is here, you sort of you hesitate to do it too often. It’s good to get off-site and spend a bit of time in the bay. As far as review and preparation goes, we’re doing most of that today.
“This afternoon we’ll really shift our focus heavily towards the Tigers, come in tomorrow for a captain's run...and then away we go to another game at the MCG which we're looking forward to.
“I'm probably blind or oblivious to (the external criticism) a little bit. What I do notice is how many supportive and great people come my way to express their care and their love sometimes. I think it's during times like these where you appreciate the goodness of people. I sort of get an inkling that I'm centre of attention through how many messages and phone calls I get, but part of my coping technique is to just keep my head in the game and what I can control, and focus on making sure everyone here knows that I'm in the right place.”
On lessons from the last game...
“We go into this game with some aspects that we know we can do well. Even last week, the huge surprise with our back half-turnover game and giving up 8.4 - as I said after the game, that was something that we hadn't been doing.
“To date, we’ve been able to score a bit this year, but to give up so much score from that device was concerning to all of us coming out of it. So that's one thing we can really tidy up going into this game.
“We don’t necessarily focus on winning games only through stoppage score, but it was encouraging to see that part of our game was in a better place. We're looking for a really healthy blend of the two against Richmond.”
On the outside noise...
“I think we’d be telling porky pies if we said that the players weren’t affected by the outside noise. It’s part and parcel of what we do and the sporting code at a national level.
“Sometimes that can be confronting, so the critical thing in in today's day and age is that the players aren't come into the club feeling like they're under the same kind of scrutiny as they are externally. This has got to be a safe place - somewhere that they can come and feel like they belong and work together, and that's really evident. The players are really close - as much as we haven’t won as many games as we would have liked to at this stage of the year, their approach and commitment hasn’t waivered. That’s encouraging.
“I know that they’ll set their minds for Saturday night, (wanting) to do their absolute best. Hopefully it’s enough.”
On Libba...
“Yeah he came in this morning. In regards to the concussion, I’m just totally leaving it up to our medical professionals. I can't really give an opinion on how he's going - I ask him and he says he's okay – but ultimately, clinically and from a diagnosis point of view, I can't (give an opinion).
“We just hope he's going to be fine. It’s great to see him here – he’ll do his best to convince everyone that he’s going to be okay, but there’s so much more at play obviously.”
On Richmond...
“I think that’s been a real challenge for them - their injury toll. Obviously Adam (Yze) as a new coach is not ideal for him at the start of his journey, but they still seem to play a pretty ballistic game and have still got a number of really influential players who are very experienced.
“They can put you on edge and sometimes put you to the sword, so we'll be extremely wary and pick a really well-balanced team.”
