[laughs] Okay.

And it was a book about Charles Starkweather, the killing spree that he went on.

But it...

This is an interesting book because it, in a, in a way it's a perfect Peter book.

It's n- no surprise to me that Peter was taken by this particular book because it's poetic i- in that there are no words, there are just photographs, and there are no people in the photographs.

There's a picture of Charles Starkweather's car.

There's a picture of, uh, the garage, the abandoned garage where they were taken prisoner, uh, and taken back to Nebraska.

[laughs]

[laughs]

...

when you had this kind of weird chirping noise going back and forth.

And we always had designs on a second book, which turned out to be Black House, and it was published one day after 9/11.

It kind of got overshadowed by that event, as indeed it w- it should have been and, and would have been.

It was like publishing a book after Pearl Harbor.

So we had always thought that we would write a third volume of The Talisman.

Mm-hmm.

Is, is there any worry there at all with Tom Sparrow?

I, I, I'm still optimistic, and I, I'm optimistic because I know Tom as a person and a character, but also the way he's playing for us.

So, but I'm also realistic as well, knowing for each week it drags on, um, the potential or possibility of him exploring and, and seeing what's out there becomes more real.

So, um, I, I don't stay up at night stressing about it, but I, what I, what I wanna do is just keep doubling down on our environment and giving Tom the opportunity to be his best version of himself and play the best footy he can and I'm actually thrilled with the way he's handling it and how he's performing for us.

So, um, I mean, if I was...

For me, w-the way I watch games back and I see him live at training every day around the place and the way he plays, I, I'd say he's 100% committed to our footy club and-

Yeah

...

Is, is there any worry there at all with Tom Sparrow?

I, I, I'm still optimistic and I, I'm optimistic because I know Tom as a person and a character, but also the way he's playing for us.

So, but I'm also realistic as well knowing for each week it drags on, um, the potential or possibility of him exploring and, and seeing what's out there becomes more real.

So, um, I, I don't stay up at night stressing about it, but I, what I, what I wanna do is just keep doubling down on our environment and giving Tom the opportunity to be his best version of himself and play the best footy he can and I'm actually thrilled with the way he's handling it and how he's performing for us.

So, um, I mean, if I was...

For me, w- the way I watch games back and I see him live at training every day around the place and the way he plays, I, I'd say he's 100% committed to our footy club and-

Yeah

...

Have you got views on, on their progress? And, and do you feel just from what you've observed and what you've lived yourself, uh, do you know where they're placed, and do you think they're ready?

Oh, I think...

Uh, you'd have to...

I think they're ready in terms of their, I think where they've worked for how long they've, you know, in, played, um, played or obviously where they played at Geelong.

But I think the way they've gone about coaching, you know, under a couple of very good coaches as well.

So that, that obviously helps.

But I think the biggest thing for me is just knowing you know yourself when you're ready.

... to work through this week.

How do you lessen the load on him from a future-proofing point of view to work out who your next skipper is as well? And is it Daniel Turner? Because he is one of the most improved players in the competition.

No, he is.

Getting back to Max, himself and Jack Vining, I feel like those two have shouldered so much load for this footy club over the last four or five years.

So although they're our captain and vice-captain, they're not in our leadership group.

It's a bit unique.

I wanted seven or eight emerging leaders to go in there and really grab hold of the club like it was their own.

And I think in doing that, obviously lessens the load on Max and Jack, but also probably just establishes who really rises and stepped up.

How important is it for a whole-of-club attitude? And is this a relief for you now that there will be ramifications? I

At what point did he come to you and ask whether he could make regular trips home to be with his daughter? And take us through that thought process.

Oh, yeah, it was just something obviously that was happening in Cosi's personal life, which I won't get into.

But, um, yeah, he needed- He felt the need he had to go home occasionally, and it, it's only been three times throughout the year to date.

So he'll look at the schedule, what works for him, and to be honest, that flexibility and trust I'd love to give to every player.

And, and, and to be honest, every time Cosi's come back from, from Darwin, he's shot the lights out and probably filled his cup, what he needs to see his daughter and, a- and, and take care of that.

And I feel like if I can create that workplace for any of my staff or my players, that they need to take care of their families first, we'll get the best of them at the footy club.

You've certainly seemed to have reduced it.

Well, what you can do during the week is make your workplace as safe and as welcoming as possible, and that's the balance to find that with high performance.

Uh, when, you know, you were writing all those i- iconic works, how much inspiration did you take from other mediums and, and other genres for your own stories?

Well, I mean, I was a big fan of Western movies, period.

And, uh, I tried to get in a lot of the, uh, the things that, that, that, those books and movies were based on.

You know? That, that, that, the idea that the guy has to be alone, and he has to be a hero, and...

Although, in the early books, Roland isn't very much of a hero.

Uh, he's, he's actually kind of a bad guy.

So there's been a, there's been a 50-year collaboration of ideas there of, you know.

Yeah.

How, uh, uh, how is he feeling, um, emotionally?

Yeah.

Oh, he, he's, he's a, a bit up and down.

Like, I mean, what he's gone through, he's so lucky to...

He's up walking and post-operation, which is amazing because I think we all sort of know how dire that looked for a little bit and how lucky he is.

So first and foremost, it's amazing that he's, you know, up walking around.

He's got the neck brace on.

This is a chance to try and put one on the board away from the G.

Uh, what, what was the, what was the one thing you were trying to achieve by bringing the, the dual ruck in?

Oh, well, firstly, Max Heath was knocking the door down at VFL level, so there's an integrity piece where you wanna try and reward, you know, consistent performances.

So he was dominant at VFL level.

And then I just think we had Brisbane into a five-day break.

Uh, we had a couple of breaks where it was like, okay, we've mapped out, there's a Richmond game on five days, then we go up to Sydney.

And so it's almost, do we just ruck from the bench and just to relieve Max a bit, have that threat there.

And just the way it's sort of gone a little bit and evolved, Gawny's been able to spend a bit of time forward and with the May check injury last week, that was one we had to spend more time forward, Gawny did.

Mm.