Sydney Swans 132-69 Carlton Blues
Dean Cox (Sydney Swans):
"The first thing I want to acknowledge is the mass of support that came to the SCG on a Thursday night. It's the biggest ever first game at home, and to have over 40,000 shows that this works. We understood the responsibility that came with the opportunity the AFL gave us. The first half wasn't a great show, but when we played the way we wanted to in that third quarter, the crowd were as long as I've heard in a long time.
"There was probably a bit of (nerves) but I don't think you can take anything away from Carlton's intensity in the first half. They got their hands dirty and we didn't. The response after that was very pleasing, but it came from some of our good players standing up and taking it to some of their players. We spoke about (the player swaps) throughout the week but there was no particular plan to do anything about it. We knew it was going to boil over at some stage but credit to our guys for not overreacting.
Michael Voss (Carlton Blues):
"Our intensity dropped significantly. They absolutely dialled up their pressure around the ball. We lost some pretty important territory in our stoppages. Their centre bounces were too good, their best players got going, and had a significant influence on the second half. When we kicked the first two goals after half-time, we thought the game was in pretty good shape, and for the next 20-odd minutes it was watching the ball go through the opposition's goals. No matter what we did, we couldn't stop it.
"(Charlie Curnow) didn't even come up in our pre-game discussion. We were locked in the way we wanted to play and I think we saw that in the first half where we played some really strong football, and were able to transfer some of our pre-season strengths into our game. I really liked the way we were moving the football, making some good opportunities forward of centre. The challenge for us will be the consistency of being able to do that, and when you stray from it, you've seen what happens."
Gold Coast Suns 125-69 Geelong Cats
Damien Hardwick (Gold Coast Suns):
"It's never perfect - I'm a coach. There's always something to look at. I was pleased. We went in with a bit of a philosophy to establish how we wanted to play. Our contest and defensive stuff, especially at the back end of the third quarter, was as good as I've seen in my time here. I'm a little bit disappointed with the last quarter but I knew it was going to be one of those days. I was pleased with the game that we played against a really proud footy club that has put us to the sword a number of times.
"I think we sort of all know the player (Petracca) is. It was great for the fans to see evidence of why we went after him tonight. There are things that he brings from an on-field perspective but also off-field. His leadership and connection with our group has been second-to-none. It's the start of a long period for him and he's only going to get better once he establishes chemistry with our group."
Chris Scott (Geelong Cats):
"We're pretty calm, I think. It's obviously a really difficult night, but the most important thing for us is to take what we need to out of it and move forward. We won't be overreacting to one performance. We knew we had some problems going in and were really wary of what the opposition could do. We probably needed them to be off and they were the opposite. There's obviously some work to do, but we've got to be careful not to make it bigger than it is.
"It looked like (we were off), but sometimes it can be a little deceiving as well. Their execution going forward was elite across the whole game. Often when you get beaten by that margin, it can look like you're getting slaughtered for effort and losing contests where you're not strong enough. That happened a bit, but so often we were going okay. I thought it was a little bit more of that we'd be critical of than the thirst for the contest. Individually, a lot of our defenders were good, but collectively it's difficult to defend some of the turnovers we made out of our own back half."
GWS Giants 122-95 Hawthorn Hawks
Adam Kingsley (GWS Giants):
"I liked our ability to defend a really dangerous opposition. I thought our ability to protect the corridor and in the contest was really strong, to force them to quickly kick the ball forward. We didn't always get that right but I think for the most part we did. We had a better balance of attacking speed, which was good to see, and some really strong moments in stoppages. We didn't always get it right, so there's a bit to work on, but for the most part I was really pleased.
"I felt we were only just penetrating the arc too many times rather than getting deep entries, but we were accessing the back of their defence a lot. I was pleased with our guys ahead of the ball. We know Hawthorn's back seven is really strong defensively. Callum Brown neutralised a lot of contests that (James) Sicily usually wins and then became really dangerous himself."
Sam Mitchell (Hawthorn Hawks):
"We got what we deserved. I thought they outworked us from the very start of the game. I think we gave up 35 marks in the second quarter and we just weren't able to slow the game down and get things on our terms. They made the most of their chances and took things away from us pretty quickly.
I hope it was Round 1 rustiness. We have no excuses to put in that sort of work rate. We thought we were much more prepared and better equipped to handle what they produced than we were. Really disappointed with how easy they got their goals compared to how hard we had to work for ours. We were -19 for ground ball gets, so if the ball hits the ground and they get to it 19 more times, that's pretty significant. It just confirms they were working to get into in the contest better than we were. We've heard it since under-10s: get numbers to the contest. They were really good at that and we were really disappointing."
Brisbane Lions 106-111 Western Bulldogs
Chris Fagan (Brisbane Lions):
"It was the two goals (the Bulldogs) got just before three-quarter time that gave them hope. We played a great quarter and then let a couple through in red time and then they got their tails up and sniffed an opportunity, which in the end they were able to take. We had ten shots in the last quarter and they kicked up but they kicked 7.1 and we kicked 3.7.
"I look at the stats and there was so much green for us: we won territory, we won contested possession, clearances we won by five. Our pressure was pretty good. We had 13 more inside 50s, but they were able to take the ball forward and score 62% of the time. We were 49% by comparison. Their efficiency going inside 50 definitely helped them win the game and we weren't as efficient as we hoped to be. There were a lot of good things that we set out to do at the start of the game and ticked off, but they did it better than we did."
Luke Beveridge (Western Bulldogs):
"The mood is great. When you play last week's Premiers and set yourself a task, you've got to believe you're a chance to see the day. It seemed like history was repeating itself. We've had these games over the course of last year when we were in the game but just for a patch of the quarter we've been tested. That happened in the third quarter when we couldn't get it into our front half, but then we were able to get it into out front half and kick a couple of goals. It showed us that at the three-quarter time break that if we can get some supply, we can challenge them.
"I thought some of our players were really composed. This competition can really bite you at times, and you never think for a second you're coming over the top of the Premiers. There was persistence throughout our ranks and enough to make sure the margin was narrowed as we went into the final break. In the end it was really crucial that we did, because we hit the front reasonably early in that last quarter and then, as they do because they're such a good side, they gave themselves another chance. You never rest against anyone, but not particularly against the Lions."
St Kilda Saints 66-78 Collingwood Magpies
Ross Lyon (St Kilda Saints):
"Our centre square work and our stoppage work was great. Our front half game was great. But the real challenge is Collingwood can beat you off turnovers and you've got to be organised behind the attack. They beat us in the contest a bit more than we would have liked. We'll take the 61 entries and our stoppage work, but we struggled with connection, cleanliness and converting opportunities wasn't at the level to beat that team.
"We probably should have squeezed them more than we did, so that's a lesson for the group. The ability to get the ball to ground or make the right decision wasn't at the level and it was really costly. I think we had 16 entries to nine in the last quarter but we just couldn't capitalise. I thought they executed better on their opportunities."
Craig McRae (Collingwood Magpies):
"There was a deliberate plan to look after a couple of guys early in terms of game time - Pendles was one of those - but it was about reminding ourselves the muscle memory of our to play together. We deliberately didn't play our best 22 in practice games because we wanted to give exposure to our list. It was really nice to wake up that muscle memory and the system works.
"We didn't have Darcy Moore tonight and our backline conceded I think minus 23 inside 50s. All the other games we watched this weekend were high scoring and we kept them to 66 with a mass of inside 50s. Our backline stood up. We feel like we have good flexibility amongst our team."