When does the margin feel like it's too much, or is that easy to handle, 24 points?

Yeah, I think these days, to be honest, a lot of teams can actually make that ground up pretty quick, which, um, and especially us.

And yeah, it was pretty funny.

We were talking about it today, and when we kind of go through the game and where everyone's heads are at.

I reckon it was, for myself included, but the whole team, it was some of the most confident we've ever felt, and they'd kind of kick another one, like you said, and go up by 24 points, and we just kind of looked around like, "Oh, um, that's just another one we just have to peg back." And I feel like the kind of the whole time, I genuinely felt like we're on top, and the boys' belief was amazing.

So I think that's the other thing you start to build is, um, the fact that you can always be in it no matter where you are.

... you might play in a final?

Yeah, I reckon probably not, uh, so specific to, I guess, Hawthorn or a specific team.

How do you sort of get your way through that little break?

Yeah, I think at the start you kinda just, uh, down tools, um, take a bit of time to yourself and then Brody, um, Earl, a couple of the boys got us in and made sure we started to do a few run-throughs so we didn't cramp up.

Um, but I think the mental side's just as hard when you have a break like that.

And yeah, to be able to come out and do what we did after, it's, uh, amazing for the boys.

Like, the, the performance last week against the Giants was exceptional and then tonight finding some true character despite all the injuries.

Yeah, definitely.

Um, obviously Rowey, Will Edwards, um, and then Wickie out, Juzzy out too, so um, yeah, I think we just, um, really stuck together, um, really well today and the leaders took charge.

Um, but yeah, I, we don't really look at the...

H- how do you see, you know, inside the, your four walls, this handball game evolving?

Yeah.

Yeah.

It's an interesting one.

Obviously everyone likes to have a lot to say about it.

I think mainly probably because it's a little bit different.

Um, not everyone likes stuff that's different these days.

H- how difficult for RUM with players now, given the stand rule and everything, to actually put the clamps on you guys?

H- how do you see, you know, inside the, your four walls, this handball game evolving?

Yeah.

Yeah.

It's an interesting one.

Obviously everyone likes to have a lot to say about it.

I think mainly probably because it's a little bit different.

Um, not everyone likes stuff that's different these days.

How, how difficult for Rumm with players now, given the stand rule and everything, to actually put the clamps on you guys?

What was it like out on the ground?

Yeah, I think it is pretty funny because when we were doing the review, I actually didn't realize as well that I think it was only still seven points in the margin with 10 minutes to go in the last quarter.

So I think the end result actually looks so much different to what it actually felt like out there.

I think in that third quarter, I thought we did really well on kind of trading blows.

We'd be able to kind of cop a score from them and score straight away, probably three times in a row, I reckon, which that's a really good sign to, I guess, be able to halt momentum.

But yeah, in the...

In the last week, we just really went away from what was working for whatever reason.

What's the vibe been like at training this week? Has it been a bring the mouthguards to training week? Has it been a positive and remembering what the Swans are great at? Or has it been a flat, angry vibe sort of thing?

But what did the team take out of the loss last week to the Freo Dockers?

Yeah, I think, uh, we did a lot right in the first half, which I think we kind of probably after the game didn't give ourselves enough credit for.

I know you do lose, and it's pretty tough to see it.

But yeah, I think the way we started and, um, our pressure and what we got back to, our roles, um, I think that was the main thing that we wanted to continue on.

Obviously, in the second half, we really went away from it, which for what reason, I don't know.

But that's kinda what we worked on, just how do we keep the fire going, um, on what we're doing the right.

[laughing]

I'm not, not gonna, not gonna let that slide, but, um, I think the... every time I go home, whether it's off-season, during, uh, middle of season, play games, whatever, um, we got a gym at the back of the house, and every single time I go there, he's in there, like just working.

But what did the team take out of the loss last week to the Freo Dockers?

Yeah, I think, uh, we did a lot right in the first half, which I think we kind of probably after the game didn't give ourselves enough credit for.

I know you do lose, and it's pretty tough to see it.

But yeah, I think the way we started and, um, our pressure and what we got back to, our roles, um, I think that was the main thing that we wanted to continue on.

Obviously, in the second half, we really went away from it, which for what reason, I don't know.

But that's kind of what we worked on, just how do we keep the fire going, um, on what we're doing the right.

Is he like a, you know, a Warner and stays very modest and humble, or how's he, how's his head going?

Um, yeah, I thought I was gonna get a question about that actually.

Is he like a Warner and stays very modest and humble, or how's his head going?

I thought I was going to get a question about that, actually.

In all honesty, very, very modest.

He knows he's good.

I'm not going to let that slide, but I think every time I go home, whether it's off-season, during the middle of the season, play games, whatever, we've got a gym at the back of the house, and every single time I go there, he's in there just working.

He probably works harder than myself.

and corey um combined but i think he's going well he's loving it um which is the most important thing having fun and yeah i think his athleticism has really taken a long way

And how much of the nuances of the opposition midfielders are you looking at? Like, are you looking at Jordan Dawson and going, this is what he does at stoppages or Peatling or whoever you're going to be up against? Is that a part of your week?

But what did the team take out of the loss last week to the Freo Dockers?

Yeah, I think, uh, we did a lot right in the first half, which I think we kind of probably after the game didn't give ourselves enough credit for.

I know you do lose, and it's pretty tough to see it.

But yeah, I think the way we started and, um, our pressure and what we got back to, our roles, um, I think that was the main thing that we wanted to continue on.

Obviously, in the second half, we really went away from it, which for what reason, I don't know.

But that's kind of what we worked on, just how do we keep the fire going, um, on what we're doing the right.

[laughing]

I don't...

But more importantly, he started to look like the fucking man.

Yeah.

I mean, I was talking about it pre-game.

I think Channel 7 were doing an interview and they asked about him and they said, I think with all the media and hype around it, people are saying he's had a bad year or not a bad year, whatever it was.

And they said, I think, and then they were saying, I think, We're starting to realize that it's a very false narrative.

And they asked me about it and I said, yeah, I think like we've spoken about on this podcast before, the way the trade happened, I guess the situation coming from a big club, he's such a big key forward.

Moving up to Sydney, you could literally cherry pick and look for any stat that you want to make him look bad.

What is it about Optus you love?

Did the faith drop off at all last year when you missed the top eight? Or did you sort of just put that down to a bit of a hangover from the year before?

Yeah, no, I don't think the faith dropped off at all.

I think that's the great thing about our coaching staff and our players, how much belief they have, even in a down year like that last year, I think.

Myself included, obviously the reason why I wanted to stay at the club was you could see I guess what we were doing in the future we had and obviously last year we probably got hurt by a lot of injuries too which maybe softened that blow a little bit but yeah I think the belief's always been there for us.

How have you sort of seen the evolution of the Swans' support over the last sort of five or six years? Because I feel like it's just, it's come so far since you guys have sort of, the latter years of John Longmire's tenure are now under Dean Cox as well.

Oh, mate, it's grown exponentially, I think, since I first came here, especially.

And it's so good to see, obviously, competing with rugby over here for ages.

And it still is such a great, I guess, competition and rivalry between the two codes.

Did you guys have a meeting about what the next week or month or block of games are going to look like?

Yeah, I think it was on the Friday a few days ago.

It was kind of not really this next block, but I guess more the next couple of months before finals.

And we just spoke about, I guess, the opportunity.

I know a lot of teams probably would speak about the same thing.

But, yes, the opportunity that we have and how rare it is to, I guess, be 12-2-1.

So really enjoy that and then, I guess, celebrate what it is because... celebrating is probably something that goes, I guess, a little bit under the radar of how beneficial it is.

yeah love it and then on a buy do you double down on what you were doing well or do you work on what might not be working

Yeah

... and instantly he was like, "Um, is, is that a, is that a problem? Is that like a competing brand?" He's like, "Is it interfering with our partnership?" And I'm like, "No, dude." I'm like, "It's awesome.

I'm trying...

I was planning to do something like that with Yum, but I see you posting this stuff.

I want to know about the brand." So we sat down at the table at ICAST.

He tells me about the brand, and Andrew, like, I knew where it was gonna go.

I just straight up looked at him right there, I'm like, "You wanna sell it?" And again, he was like...

Is that the norm? Is it the norm to have a company join, you know, you, like Pradco, and then the face of that company stays with it? Or a lot of times is it the opposite where they say, "Hey, I'm getting out, I'm retiring, I'm done and ready to move on with another phase of life, and I'm actually not going to be a part of this moving forward"?

What else is in there?

Yeah, so McMahon Holdings, they are pretty much a mining contractor.

I wanted to kind of get a bit more mining/resource exposure.

Whilst they do have obviously a bit of risk, I feel like they're a fair bit, uh, less risky than a actual mining company itself.

Mm-hmm.

And I know you probably know that, but yeah, that's, I reckon that's the biggest thing for me.

It's gonna be hard to beat what that does.

Maybe some advice, just seeing stock picking as something that you can get returns on, yes, but something that is also out of interest and a hobby as well.

Have you noticed teams are starting to figure out or try their hardest to slow down the handball game like lately? Like they're really selling out on stopping you guys?

Yeah, I think the teams are obviously doing a lot of stuff offensively, defensively.

They're going to change a lot of stuff against us.

And the reality is we've got to do the same with other teams.

We look at obviously how they move the ball.

I think recently North Melbourne and Melbourne did really well at stopping us going through the middle, I think.

Our handball game, we do go through the middle a lot as well as kicking.

So when the pies are in town, it's just more tickets, more people want in.