Assistant coach Adam Kingsley speaks to Richmond Media about the Round 18 win over Adelaide in this week’s edition of Coaches Corner, presented by Hostplus.

Good win against an improved team 

“It certainly was, and at Adelaide Oval where our recent history suggests we haven’t played all that well.

“Adelaide’s last month is quite interesting; we did a ladder comparison (for) the last month of the season and they were sitting fourth on the ladder in terms of three and zip and really good percentage.

“They had got their stoppage and contest game up and going, so we knew it was going to be a pretty tough battle at Adelaide, and we felt like we acquitted ourselves really well.” 

Centre bounce improvement

“Very happy (to win the centre clearance differential), we battled in there a little bit in recent times getting our hands on the ball and getting it moving forward. It is particularly important at Adelaide Oval, and certainly very important at the Gabba where we play our first final.

“Having Shane Edwards back certainly helped. He is a pretty good contest/centre bounce clearance player, and he certainly impacted in there. I thought Dustin and Trent were their usual selves, really good in there.

“It’s a tough challenge against Brisbane coming up, but we beat them in that aspect of the game last time, so hopefully we can do it again.”

Shane Edwards return

“He certainly is (an elite talent), we obviously know how good he is internally. Externally, he probably does not get the same credit as what he does internally, but he had a massive impact on the game. He just shores us up with his knowledge around each of the stoppages in general play. We look safe with him in the team and he certainly did not look like he missed a beat.”

Jack Ross’ distribution

“He is good in contests and his hands are improving all the time. He is that big-body-type of midfielder that we think can develop into a Trent Cotchin-type, and he is pretty good in transition, he keeps working around the ground.

“He is progressing well - he has probably played maybe 20-25 games now or thereabouts - so with a few more games comes more improvement, and he is starting to get comfortable at the level, which is nice.”

Toby Nankervis

“He is really important given Soldo’s absence with his knee and ‘CJ’ (Callum Coleman-Jones) is back home, so our ruck depth is not what it was. ‘Nank’ is playing an incredibly important role for us and the way he plays - he plays like an extra midfielder - so we really love that about him.”

Injury updates

“All three of those injured guys are progressing really well, Shai (Bolton) will be definite I would expect, although it’s hard to say because something can happen between now and then, but he trained fully yesterday.

“Dion (Prestia) will have a hit out during the week and we will see how he goes, Tommy (Lynch) is the same. ‘Cadds’ (Josh Caddy), I am not sure on the update with his knee, but he came back on and certainly played pretty well for us.

“Hopefully we have got all four available and it will make the selection pretty tough this week I think. There are going to be some pretty stiff players who miss out, but that is the nature of having a fit and healthy list and being a pretty good team.” 

Brisbane challenge

“They have been in good form; they are missing their key back (Harris Andrews) and who knows if he will be available. They have weathered a bit of a storm and a bit of commentary around their inaccuracy and all that sort of stuff. It is going to be a really tough game and we know that they finished second on the ladder for a reason.

“Playing up at the Gabba again, same as last year, hopefully the result is the same, but I agree they are better placed this year then they were last year."