Q: Is playing Hawthorn in Launceston one of the toughest tasks in the AFL?
History shows they’ve got a great home ground advantage.
We talk about the Perth teams with a great home advantage but certainly Launceston has become a fortress for the Hawks.
We’re obviously not underestimating the challenge we’ve got ahead of us, into the bye we got a bit of confidence, all be it that we lost the game but obviously a fair bit of improvement with the numbers we had back.
We head down there with a bit of confidence as well.
Q: It seems your expectations went up for the Richmond match, is that continuing now?
We were obviously heavily undermanned for four, five, six weeks and it was the same as the last eight or nine games last year- I was pleased with the effort in those games, the bulk of them, obviously two or three were disappointing
But I think we have to get past just effort. It has to be a benchmark that we’ve got to bring every week.
We had our chances last game (against Richmond), 15 points up twice during the last quarter, should have been able to win the game.
We’ve not been exposed to those situations many times but we have to learn form that.
Q: What did Aaron Hall do well in the NEAFL to earn a call-back to senior level?
Apart from playing well, which we said wasn’t the main criteria.
It was the areas that we’d spoken to him about… and the feedback from all the development coaches as well as looking at the tape was extremely pleasing.
Q: Has the Bye helped with injury concerns?
Kolodjashnij won’t be right with his concussion still. Jesse Lonergan has got mild glandular fever, played with that against Richmond, which we didn’t know about. Sean Lemmens hurt a hamstring last week so those three wont play.
Saad will be back, Hall will be back, Ah Chee is still another week.
We’re in a state of flux at the moment.
Q: Was it a surprise Kolodjashnij hadn’t recovered from the concussion he suffered in round 12?
He was still a bit woosey over the weekend. He trained for the first time on Tuesday.
The fact it’s taken that long to get back to equilibrium, it’s sort of best to err on the side of being cautious with it.
Q: How severe is Lonergan’s illness?
I don’t know how they grade them, but the medical staff believe it could be 2-3 weeks.
He was very sluggish against Richmond, he woke up the morning of and thought it was just a cold and said he’d be able to get through, which is a testament to his character. But he struggled a bit because of that. He hasn’t trained yet but we’re hopeful it will only be 2-3 weeks.
Q: Do you take on the game with Hawthorn similar to how North Melbourne did?
Obviously they were very physical North Melbourne ,but I thought they planned their game extremely well. I think in any game, with any opposition team you see play, even if they win by 100 points ,you can take something out of it so either in a positive or negative way.
We won’t do exactly the same as North because we haven’t got the same personnel, so we can play to our strengths on one hand and try to minimise the other.
Q: Do you think Hawthorn are struggling to put teams away more this year than in previous years?
They’ve had a few players out, people say it shouldn’t effect but you’ve got Roughhead, you’ve got Hodge, you’ve had some quality out. It makes an impact on any team.
I think a testament to their mental strength, they’ve won four of five really close games, which if they’d gone the other way they could be sitting close to outside the eight.
But obviously the character of the group meant they were able to carry it forward.
But just having a full squad can really help a side.
Q: Is Hawthorn’s culture of winning something the club is aspiring to?
I think every team does.
I think it shows too, if you play together for a long period of time, you learn those good habits. You learn the ability to win the tight games. And they’ve been able to do that.
The last couple of years we haven’t had many of our good players play together in a team, we’ve got to be able to get that first.
Q: How is Jaeger progressing?
He’s training well. He trained last week, he’ll train this week, he’ll train next week. Then he’ll make the decision wether he’s right to go.
Medically he looks like he’s fine, a couple of things he needs to check off. We’d expect him to be able to check that off in the next week or two.
We’re still reluctant [to put a time frame on his return]. There are still boxes to be ticked, but we’re certainly not going to rush him either. He’s got to be comfortable playing at the same time.
Even players coming back from ACL injuries that have had one, have got a bit of anxiousness about playing. And he’s had two fairly serious knee operations, three really. He’s just got to work his way through it.
Q: Do you weigh up the pros and cons with what to do with Sam Mitchell?
I’ve obviously seen Sam Mitchell play for 15 years. He’s a great player.
I think at times certainly as a team we’ve got to watch him, there is no doubt about that. If you let him off the chain he can be damaging.
