On Adam Goodes and if there will be a ‘show of support’ at the game…
“It’s obviously disappointing what’s happened with Adam (Goodes), he’s a great of our game and we want to see the best players out there playing. But we’ve still got a job to get done this weekend, and it’s a great opportunity for our players. We’ve got to earn the right to play later in the year, so this is another step forward.
“I think ‘Fages’ (CEO Andrew Fagan) has spoken to Sydney and they’re going through the process as to if there is anything that we can do, so we’ll leave that to the powers that be.”
On Daniel Talia’s fitness after missing last round…
“He’s fine, he trained really well the other day. It’s one of those things at this time of the year with a lot of little bugs that are going around. He woke up and he wasn’t well enough to play and obviously it was an important game for us, and we can’t afford to be playing guys who are underdone.
“He’s cherry ripe and ready to go.”
“He’s an All Australian defender, so he shores up a fair bit. He’s an anchor of our team and he obviously gets the best opposition forward and almost always gets the job done.
“He’s critical, not only for his role on the opposition’s best forward, but also it’s a young backline, and his leadership has been outstanding really since ‘Truck’ left the footy club. It’s still a young backline, but to see Lever perform, Hartigan and Shaw, then you throw in Brown, Laird and Smith – it’s going to be a defence that holds up for the next 10 years I hope.”
On Luke Brown’s knock to the head at training on Wednesday…
“He just had some stitches. He’s fine.”
On the heath of Adelaide’s roster and the impact at the selection table…
“At the end of the day, we pick a team that we think can win on the weekend.
“What we have got now is competition for spots. All but three guys on our list are now playing. (It was) another great weekend for the Club with the SANFL team performing really well and a lot of guys putting their hand up for selection.”
“It’s (something) that this Club hasn’t had for a number of years really, to have as many as we have available for selection and pushing for spots. That’s a great sign going forward.”
On Matt Crouch…
“I’m not going to go into detail about what he needs to improve on or any other player at this footy club. He’s had a clear direction all year, it hasn’t just been last week, about what he needs to do to improve and be a 200-game player at this footy club.
“I have those conversations with 45 other players as well, so all players have got room for improvement and they’ve got to keep chipping away.”
On Kurt Tippett’s possible return to play against the Crows for the first time…
"He’s obviously missed every other time we’ve played. But I’m not sure the boys are actually too worried about whether ‘Tippo’ plays or not."
