In preparation for Saturday's Grand Final against Brisbane senior coach John Longmire appeared in a press conference on Tuesday, September 24. He answered questions on learnings from previous grand final matches, Callum Mills and the hype building in Sydney. 

See what he had to say below. 

On the 2024 Brownlow Medal

“I was glad to see a number of players up the top for quite a while. I think that’s a good sign. Chad got a bit of a run early on and did well, but it was good to see Patrick Cripps win it. He's a fantastic player and a terrific bloke, so thoroughly deserved.”

On learnings from previous grand finals

“There's a lot that goes on this week. It's great to be a part of, I think it's a great experience. But then it's a matter of narrowing your focus onto what really matters and having to do your job.

“That's probably as simple as what it gets down to… But for us internally now, it's about making sure we narrow our focus down to just doing our jobs. That's worked well for us previously and certainly worked well for us last week. Over the last couple of weeks leading up to the Port Adelaide game, we just narrowed our focus down to really doing our job, being hard and working for and with each other.”

On the 2022 Grand Final

 “The players were there. They understood it. We learned a lot out of that game. In that particular game, Geelong were the most experienced team that's ever played in a grand final. They had an enormous amount of experience. We're gaining experience in that. You learn a bit out of that.

“We'll learn more about ourselves this week. You're just always learning. Whether you're a coach or a player, regardless of what game it is, you always go in with an open mind and understand that you're always going to learn a little bit about yourselves. You take a little bit out of that into the future. That's always been the case and that's always what we'll do.”

On if it’s easier with experience

“I think you understand that it is a different week and you have to lean into that and enjoy that part of it. But it's really about enjoying the process. It's enjoying the fact that after the game you come here with the family and you know what the next few days are looking like…

“You understand what's in front of you. Then it's just about making sure that when the time is right, which is more about tomorrow in particular, we narrow our focus down to what we need to do to get our jobs done.”

On Logan McDonald and Callum Mills 

“Logan was really good today. We expect him to be able to get through training tomorrow and be right to play. Callum will train flat out tomorrow. That's the plan. He'll turn up tomorrow and train at absolute 100 per cent intensity and we'll see how we go.

On playing Sam Reid in the 2022 Grand Final

“You always learn. I guess one of those things is to make sure you train 100 per cent. Get through training and train flat out. In 2012, we played Teddy Richards and he didn't really walk all week. He had a crook ankle. We thought, how about playing you on Lance Franklin in the grand final? He got through OK.

“Those are the stories that don't get talked about. I'm sure in Brisbane this week, there'll be different discussions. There'll be similar discussions as what we're having. Those discussions happen every week. Obviously, there's a bit more outside attention to it. In the end, you've just got to make the right decision for what you think is required at the time. When we get all the facts in front of us, we'll make that call.”

On the experience Luke Parker brings

“In the end, he's just an experienced player. He knows what it's about. He knows how to compete, but he also knows how to do his job… That's an important part of it too.”

On what Longmire has learned about Parker this season 

“Probably nothing I didn't know already, which is he's pretty resilient and he's hard. He turns up and trains hard and prepares himself really well and competes hard on match days. He's really only had a couple of little injuries over the journey up until this year.” 

On the backline 

“It's not unusual to see forwards go back and do pretty well. That's been the case for a number of teams over the years and we've been able to do that. Importantly, you've got to be able to be competitive and you've got to be athletic.

“Those guys have got those attributes and they've played a bit of footy together now, which is really important… It's about our back six, our back seven, but also it's about our midfield group helping put the pressure on further up the ground.”

On the hype building in Sydney

“I think it's extraordinary this year… I've certainly noticed it at another level. One of the things that really fulfils you as a coach is to see the buy-in from our supporters and how connected they are to this football club. That's been amazing. I've been through it a long time, and you see what's happening this year. It's gone to another level… Whether it's at the SCG, roaring with red and white, or anywhere else in Australia at any of the grounds, it's so great to turn up and hear them in full voice. It's one of the great joys of seeing our supporters and seeing their smiles on their faces.”

On Taylor Adams missing selection last week

“He handled it really well last week. We understand that those things are tough. Once again, every year there's different storylines and there's certainly some with Brisbane that are very similar, but he's giving himself every chance and that's all he can do. We know if needed that he can help us and that's all he needs to focus on is what he can do and his preparation has been outstanding.”