Ken Hinkley on the tough selection decisions this week:
“It was an incredibly tough selection week, there’s no doubt about that.
“You don’t make decisions on players who have been so important to you, like both Westy (Westhoff) and Paddy (Ryder) have been.
“Sam (Powell-Pepper) has been a big part of our stuff and Jarrod (Lienert) is just getting going.
“They are always tough decisions, but they are based around performance and based around output.
“When you get to that point and you have good strong performances coming through, and we had good players coming back into the team, we have to make some decisions.
“I am really, really confident sitting here that both Westy and Paddy will fight their way through this and they will come back and play some great footy for us still.
Hinkley on the impact of selection:
“You don’t take decisions like we made this week very lightly - those two people have been so important to us as a football club.
“I’ve been here seven years and Westy has been there the whole journey - he’s played 135 games in a row - it’s been a long time since we’ve dealt without Justin in the side.
“You care about them - people forget that - I genuinely care about them, and to make decisions like that, I know what that does and how much it affects them and their families and us as a football club.
“It’s genuine care that all of these decisions are based around, but in the end, you have to pick the best players that gives you the best chance to win.
Hinkley on the quest to play more consistent football:
“Every one of us would like to play more consistent football all the time.
“We expect a performance of a level that lasts for four quarters, not for three quarters - we played a really strong three quarters last week, but that’s not good enough.
“We are in a really, really tough competition where we are one of the teams fighting and hanging on to the part of what we set out to do at the start of the year, and that is to play finals.
Hinkley on the second ruck option against the Cats:
“We’ve got Dougal (Howard).
“Dougal has played a lot of ruck for us, and our plan is to work and operate with Dougal.
“Geelong have their couple of rucks with Stanley and Fort that they’ve got in the side, so I think we are pretty evenly matched in the size of both teams to take the field tomorrow
Hinkley on Dixon’s return:
“He will play a normal game.
“He won’t be expected to do any more or any less than he’s done in the past. We expect that maybe - it’s his first game back of AFL football - he might be tounging it by the end of it.
“No matter whenever you play your first game, it’s going to happen, so we will manage him the best we possibly can, but there is no borderline on what he can and can’t do.
“He will be rotated. He may be rotated once or twice more than he would in a game, but that would be good management when someone comes back for their first game - out for nearly 12 months.
Ken Hinkley on Geelong:
“They are just a great club.
“They are in good form. They’ve got great players. They are well coached. They do all the things you expect a football club to do. They are really consistent in performance, and we strive - as every club is- to try and catch them.
“We will go out there tomorrow night and give them one hell of a fight, and we look forward to it.”
Hinkley on his side’s preparation for the clash with the Cats:
“Our challenge is to perform at our best.
“We aren’t worried about whether they’re coming off the bye or not coming off the bye.
“Our attitude towards Geelong - we will be going at them as hard as we possibly can.
“We understand that they are a super talented side, and it is going to take our absolute best.
