Senior coach John Longmire appeared alongside Sam Reid to announce his retirement on Tuesday morning, July 23. To conclude the press conference Longmire also answered questions from the media on Callum Mills, the team's injury list and Dean Cox's decision to remain in Sydney.
See what he had to say below.
On Sam Reid’s retirement
“His contribution to this footy club has been immense… . His versatility was immense. He was really agile. He was quick. He could take a mark. He could play at either end. And he fast established himself as a key member of our team. In 2012, he was one of the youngest in our forwards going around. He played a key role in that team and has done so over the whole journey. He's always played a selfless role and would always do whatever's best for the team… I want to thank Sam, and thank Kim, who has been a remarkable help and assistance for Sam to be able to play for so long.”
On the injury list
“Unfortunately for [Tom] Papley it’ll probably be four to six weeks. The good thing is that it could have been worse. So we were very relieved to get the results back from the scan.
“[Dane] Rampe is probably only one or two. On Sunday night we got on the plane and thinking that a couple of key players might have been missing for a significant amount of time, if not the rest of the season. But the good news is that they're not too bad. We’ll take that result every day of the week.”
On availability and Isaac Heeney moving forward
“It does give you that opportunity, but we have to be mindful Parker can play forward as well. We're also mindful that Isaac's been really good for us in the midfield. Without McInerney, Mills just coming back in form and fitness, his ability to do what he does in the midfield is also strong.”
On the midfield scoring goals
“It's been a real strength over the season. But we'll just have to adapt. Every team goes through some challenges at different times with key personnel missing. It's our opportunity to make the most of that challenge now, so that's just part of football.”
On Callum Mills
“We expect Millsy to come back in the team. We were mindful of him last week. He did a drill on the Thursday. He pulled up really well from that, but we didn't want to push him too hard. It gives him another week of training, which he's been able to do. We expect him to get through training this week, hopefully all good, and be able to play on the weekend.
On losing close games
“It's never okay. You always want to win every game. Three out of our four games, we've had opportunities in the last two minutes to win the game. If you get three of those right, all of a sudden, it's a completely different narrative. We'd fought back a couple of times in the last quarter, despite being under-manned. Came back and came back, hit the front when [Jake] Lloyd kicked that goal with five minutes to go. We stayed in front until that spillage goal that Ah Chee was able to kick. Even in the last 30 seconds, we got the ball back in our forward half and gave ourselves an opportunity. We just couldn't kick a goal from the stoppage. There's something to come out of every game, whether you win, lose or draw.”
On Dean Cox
“During my time at the footy club I’ve been fortunate to have really open conversations with the staff. All that comes down to how Cox was feeling about staying in Sydney and he’s really settled here. It’s been a great thing for our footy club to have him fully invested in what we do this year and in the future."
