Senior coach John Longmire appeared in front of the media on Tuesday, May 7 ahead of this week's clash with Fremantle. Longmire answered questions on replacing Tom McCartin this week, Dane Rampe's return and Justin McInerney's role within the team.
On Tom McCartin
“He’s feeling really good which is a real positive. He wasn't knocked out during the actual incident, so that's a relief for everyone, and he can recall everything that happened. So that's a positive, and he's pulled up well. So far, it's been positive news.”
On the AFL implementing a send-off rule
“I need to step back from it at the moment because it's clearly not just impacting us, it's impacted the game… I’m not jumping up and down about it at the moment because I know there's a fair bit of water to go under the bridge.
“It wouldn't be to punish the player, just to even it up. These types of incidents do happen in football, but is there a way they could be evened up on match day? Maybe that's a consideration for the experts down the track, but I've got other things to consider this week.
“Getting the players going to Perth against Freo is probably top of the agenda.”
On Dane Rampe’s importance to the team
“He's a very good player… He's an important member of our team. We've been able to win without him. And I think the evolution of the team means that at some stage down the track, he won't be playing every week.
“He was terrific on the weekend. He took an extra week probably… In hindsight, it was the right decision. He came in and played a really good game. He's a massive competitor, a strong leader for us on and off the field. We love the way he went about it on the weekend. We go to Fremantle this week and have another big job. Hopefully he gets that done as well.”
On replacing McCartin
“We're considering everything and that's part of the discussion. We haven't made that call just yet. We know that Nick can play tall. But we've also got a couple of key defenders in our VFL team that are ready to come into the team as well.
“They've got three good marking targets for Fremantle. They're very strong in front of the ball with their keys. And so that will come into their equation as well. They've been playing two rucks so they've got some height. We've got to weigh all that up. We haven't quite made the decision yet.”
On goal-scoring midfielders
“I mean it’s good they're sharing it around and they're helping each other be able to hit the scoreboard, which is terrific. I think what we've been really mindful of the last couple of weeks is how we are at the pressure in the contest and how we are defensively. And off the back of that, other things tend to happen.
“But we've got to get our foundation in our game right. And so, we've been focused on that, trying to get that part of our game right to be able to give us the right, I guess, to play the other side of the ball. And we feel like we've got some options there when we do get that part of the game right.”
On Justin McInerney
“He can play a number of roles. If you sort of see him over the last few weeks, he's been playing inside wing, half forward and half back. To have that flexibility in the team has been important and he gives us a great run. He sees things in the game really well too, sees our shape and he gets a lot of that stuff right. He's been a good form for us.”
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