Dean Cox
On day one as senior coach
“It felt a little bit different. We had a meeting this morning about new staff and the new schedule and some brief changes. It was just good to get all the boys back. We've had the one to four years for a week now, but to get the whole squad was really exciting.
On the Grand Final review
“It’s something we had to do, and we spent all day doing it. I think the way to go forward is to certainly look at it. The players were fantastic through that part. To be open, honest and to review it like we would was important for this football club going forward.
“Hopefully we can learn from that. It's behind us now, but you've got to take plenty of lessons from it.”
On the biggest lesson from the review
“I think probably two things that we value. The way that we defended in our contest was really poor, which has been really consistent for most of the year. We want to be a team that when the stakes get higher, that's what we turn to, that's what we go to, and we deliver on that.
“We weren't able to do that. Brisbane was phenomenal. They played a good brand of football and extremely well, but we let ourselves down in those areas.”
On how the game plan changes
“We'll change a fair bit of it. I think that's what all clubs do now and being a new coach, you'll always have a flavour on the way that you want to play, and we'll do that as a team. In the next few days, we'll deliver that to the playing group.
“Yesterday was about the Grand Final. Now going forward is what changes we're going to make to obviously stimulate, but also to play a little bit of a different brand. We'll build that over the pre-Christmas. Certainly January and February will start to really ramp it up.”
On the new style of coaching and play
“I think the best sides in the world defend really well first. That's one thing that this club has always done and one thing whilst I'm here we'll continue to do. We'll have a really strong focus on where we can turn the ball over, how we can control what the oppo do and that's the first part of our game plan. Our contest method needs a little bit of work.
“Some consistency throughout the year dropped away, but we need to make sure that we're really strong in that area of the ground as well. Our attack took care of itself and that'll continue to evolve, but from the review and then going forward we need to tweak a couple of things in that other area.”
On Tom McCartin’s position
“Tommy's been phenomenal for us down back for periods of his career so far, but he started as a forward as well. One thing we want to try and do is build flexibility in our team.
“We want to also make sure that he gets a look ahead of the ball at times. When he does that, he creates something completely different for a dynamic of our forward line. We'll do that with midfielders, we'll do that with forwards and some defenders will change places.
“That'll eventuate over the whole summer. There's nothing straight that we're going to do right today, but they'll get a look at multiple positions.”
On Chad Warner
“Chad is a really high priority of this football club. Not only the way he plays, but obviously his contract status and where it sits. For us, it's about trying to retain our best talent for as long as we possibly can and Chad's one of those.
“Now is a chance to sit down with him over the coming period and see where his head is at. We want to make sure that he's a part of this football club, that he performs for this football club. No doubt he will and then what the future holds, that's what we've got to try and sort out in the short term.”
Callum Mills
On having Cox as the new senior coach
“Coxy’s brought in a lot of energy. Whilst we know him, we sort of don't know him as a head coach and he did an amazing job setting the tone yesterday and throughout the review.”
On the Grand Final review
“It was really tough, and everyone has different emotions towards it, but it's something we obviously weren't proud of. But as Coxy said, we have to stare it in the face and to be able to move forward. You have to look at it, stare at it, learn at it and then hopefully when we get back or for any big games, we're able to produce what we learnt.”
On Grand Final week from Mills’ perspective
“It was a tough week, but I think that's kind of what makes you as a person… Everyone has hard times in their careers, but it's being able to reflect, learn from it, be in the moment and then be a different player or a better player or a person because of it.”
On what motivation it brings to 2025
“I think you've got to be careful holding onto that for too long. You've got to be able to separate yourself from it and move forward. Not based upon a certain amount of fuel for long because I don't think that lasts. But everyone takes it differently.”
On keeping Chad at the club
“The environment you create is really important, but it's not only for Chad, it's for everyone else in the building. And we want to create the best high-performance environment we possibly can. He's obviously a really vital part of our team, but we do this for everyone.”
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