It was a nailbiting finish to Footscray's Round 2 clash with Collingwood in front of a record-breaking crowd at the MCG.

Senior Coach Luke Beveridge spoke to the media following the game, the challenges faced and getting the right mix of players for the coming weeks.

Here's what he had to say. 

On the game:

“To give the boys credit, they hung in there.

“Even though the scoreboard was in our favour at quarter-time, I didn’t think we had a grip on the game.

“I thought Collingwood were in control of it. We only had 10 inside 50s. At one stage we had seven inside 50s and we’d kicked 3.4, but we just didn’t get the ball in our forward line enough.

“Sam was a threat, other guys were lurking, but we didn’t really press.

“Obviously, we were getting done around the stoppage here and there.

“I thought the boys made a really good adjustment in that second quarter, and we arrested the game and got it on our terms. Although it was pretty close at half-time, I thought the game was where we needed it.

“Collingwood would be sitting in there thinking that they deserved to win based on what the KPIs say, and that’s fair enough.

“Looking for the positives, I’m rapt in the boys’ perseverance more than anything.

“I feel like it’s one that got away.”

On ball movement and taking risks:

“I thought that they got us when we tried to over-shape the ball by hand.

“We overused the ball, particularly in the first half with handball chains. I thought the correction was better.

“You might have noticed the adjustment that Harvey Gallagher made. The request was there—you’ve got to understand when you’re in space and what we’re after—and I felt like he had a really positive change in his game like that.

“They pressured us into balls that spat forward, and then we were in trouble. They set the ground up like that; we knew that we had to mitigate that risk throughout the course of the night, and we probably just didn’t quite do it well enough.

“They capitalised on some of those opportunities, and in the end, it was telling.”

On Sam Darcy and the forward-line supply:

“He’s a threat. He’s a significant threat, Sam.

“Forwards in their position, it’s a bit temperamental because they do rely so heavily on their teammates.

“When you’re inside mid or ruck, you’re in charge and in control of your own destiny.

“There’s no doubt that you see his highest-point stuff and you think, ‘how are they going to stop that?’

“I suppose that’s the thing. He’ll get the rub of the green here and there with different things.

“Can we grow as a team to provide more and more opportunity for him? All of those factors are going to be the things that influence where he can get to in his career and where he can get to with his status in the competition.

“At the moment, everyone sees him as an enormous talent. Enormous, quite literally. A huge threat for their planning. Any team thinks, ‘what are we going to do?’

“We should benefit from that, and we probably didn’t tonight. Sam was a definite influence, but we didn’t have enough around there, and it was probably a lack of quantity of their opportunities.

“We gave away way too many free kicks in aerials. Way too many.”

On opportunities for players and getting the balance right with missing players:

“There are two things.

“You’ve got to make sure that the boys playing feel like they’re valued and they’re not just warming a seat for someone else to come in and take it.

“I know that everyone is processing the fact that we’ve got some experienced, influential players out. But that’s not really the way that we’re talking internally.

“I just said to the players there, and you look at Collingwood’s team and make comparisons: don’t make excuses. We’re in the game; credit to you, well done. But we didn’t win it, and we came here tonight to win the game.

“Our group know within it that they’re safe. All the coaches are measured, people who are supporting them are going to search for the positives and help them through the tough periods and aspects that they probably need to be better at.

“It’s pretty easy to balance. Don’t become too emotional about it; encouragement is the key, especially for the younger guys.

“They’re going to keep learning week to week and growing. We’ll come together again: another big challenge on Friday night against the Blues.”

“It depends on which way you look at it. If you’re an economist, you think about the opportunity cost either way. One of the difficult things is the ruck situation. Tim needs a break and someone has got to do it. How do you do it? How do you find the juice to do it? Early in the year as well, guys are out there for a while.

“That’s one of the considerations and how you pick your team.

“I thought Buku really held up well, definitely in the last quarter. I think him and Bailey Williams were just tremendous, and I thought they were great roadblocks.

“Lobby stayed out there all night again. Quite outstanding.

“With our keys, we’ve got young Jordan Croft who is looking promising. Maybe even a chance to play senior footy. He’ll play tomorrow against the Northern Bullants.

“With James O’Donnell going out this week, he’s a candidate to play at either end of the ground. Buku can do that too.

“We’re thinking about it from an opportunity point of view, and we’ll keep searching for whether or not we need that.”

On Rory Lobb’s hair:

“When I saw him the other day—I know it won’t stick—but I thought he was Dennis Rodman reincarnate, even though Dennis is still with us.

“He’s bold. He’s playing well, so you can have your hair whatever colour you want if you’re playing alright.”