We were really pleased with the effort last week against Carlton. We were up against it with two of our players going down in Kurt Tippett and Tommy Mitchell, but it was a great effort from the other boys to stick it out. We were low on rotations but our guys are fit and handled it well.

Our third quarter was very impressive, and we probably needed to have a really good third term knowing that we were going to fall down a bit in the last. To have that nine-goal buffer at the last break was good, and then for the last part of the final quarter the guys were able to conserve themselves a little bit knowing that we were going through to the next week.

One player who clearly didn’t feel the effects was Jarrad McVeigh who came away with 42 touches and two goals. It was a very good game by Macca and a pretty complete performance. He hasn’t played midfield a lot this year, unfortunately, and we’ve missed him as a mid, but to be able to come back in and play midfield was great.

We headed over to Perth on Wednesday and I think it was a good chance to get over early and really focus on the job and get used to the time zone. The players are used to the Perth routine as they have been doing it for a few years now, so it wasn’t unusual in terms of preparation. We had a run on Patersons Stadium yesterday, which was a light run but it was very valuable ahead of Saturday night.

We know we have a huge challenge ahead tomorrow. We know Fremantle will be fresh after the week off, and some of their players had a rest even before that in their St Kilda game. They are a quality side and they deserve to be exactly where they are. Not many teams beat Geelong in Geelong, let alone in a final, so they are one of the in-form teams of the competition.

They’ve got so many players who have been playing good footy this season. It’s a massive plus for them to have Aaron Sandilands back in there and Zac Clarke, who would probably be the number one ruckman at a majority of the clubs as well. Then they’ve got Nat Fyfe, Stephen Hill, Danyle Pearce, Tendai Mzungu on the wing, so everywhere you look there is class and quality, but that’s what you expect when you get down to the last four sides.

The Dockers are also the best defensive team in the AFL and they really make you earn it, and when you try and move the footy, they are the best at defending it. Not only are they good at defence, they are also very good on the counter attack, so we look forward to that challenge.

There is no doubt we’re confident about this weekend’s final. Our form over the last month hasn’t been ideal, but I think once you get into a preliminary final, form becomes a little bit irrelevant because you’d hope we’ve got the experienced players who have played in this type of situation before and we think if we bring our best then we’ll be a chance, and that’s all we’re asking.