General thoughts
It feels good, it's been a good two weeks of prep to get that performance with the little mishap in between.
What was the key to the improvement?
As a coach if you knew that you'd do it every week, but being connected and clear and what we set out to do, there was clear evidence of that in the first half and went along with it enough to secure a result.
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On the combinations
As a combination, there's plenty of work to be done there, as individuals they contributed really well. Where I'd like our spine to go there'd be a lot more combination together and passing the ball to each other but individually they all did well and contributed to the result of the game.
Special mentions
I really thought it was a team effort. I liked who some of the young kids went, that was my first look at Gannon in the flesh and Jarrod O'Connor did a great job in a tricky period of the game when it was in the balance, he added some energy. The high profile players did a good job too.
Main emotion after his first win
Excitement for the next opportunity to get win number two, that's pretty much how I'm wired. I feel happy and glad to be part of it, it's a massive privilege to be a part of this club.
On clear improvements to the speed around the ruck
We did parts of that last week where we carried and found our front effectively. We had more patience this week I'd say to capitalise on it and in the end we hit a few holes and fell over the line at the end of it. No coach wants errors but there are different ways to create opportunities and I thought we had a good blend of creating on the edge but creating a load down the middle too.
David Fusitu'a
He's put some hard work in his rehab. He came back and had a steady game last week but certainly took a big step forward today. He's a quality finisher and his yardage carries are impactful. It's good to see him improving but he's a bunch to go yet.
James Bentley
I thought he had an excellent game, a good balance of competing hard and being very effective with what he did. I haven't seen the up close version (of the sin bin) only a slightly wider angle, it didn't look like it had too much in it from that angle. It's a fine line, isn't it? It's a combat sport, it's a matter of managing your own thoughts and having that level of competitiveness that's appropriate for the moment. He's a young man with big aspirations and a drive to do well. He needs to keep working on when to do what.
Why Brad Dwyer only played ten minutes
Kruise had an outstanding game I thought at dummy half and I put Brad on there to speed the game up a little bit, which he did. He had four or five good carries that kept them honest and the plan was always to finish with Kruise.
Enjoying the moment
I enjoyed it a lot, I was pretty calm but tried to take a few moments to take in the atmosphere and the singing, particularly at the back end of the game to make sure it's etched in my memory. Before the game, you're focused on what's happening between the white lines, but yeah, it was nice.
