On Jack Redden’s request:
Senior Coach Justin Leppitsch said that Jack Redden’s request did creep up on a few people in the Club yet he wasn’t completely surprised with the decision.
“Jack feels like his footy has gone stale and he thinks there’s more improvement in him. We agree with him but we still think it can happen here,” said Leppitsch.
“We think we can get the best out of him here so now it’s a matter of proving that to Jack.
“I’m glad it has been raised; I want things to be fleshed out so we find a solution. That’s what its about.”
On his relationship with Jack:
“It’s good. I keep every text message I’ve got and I’ve looked back at them all and they’re all okay to me.”
On his relationship with the players:
“I wouldn’t think any of my relationships with the players are poor. You have varying degrees of relationships with people throughout your life so I wouldn’t say it’s a bad relationship at all.
“You’ve got 47 players and 10 staff - that’s a lot of people there to manage and you try to keep everyone happy. At times things will slip through the cracks.
“I need assistance more than anyone to build those relationships and that’s why all the external people are important – the parents, the managers, all those people help. It’s certainly not a job we can do on our own.”
“I’m sure every player would be different. One might say ‘Yeah, I love him’ and one might struggle and that’s what’s its like with every coach.
On the Club right now:
“There are still a lot of things as a footy club we need to improve on.
“We’ve made a lot of changes, particularly off the field, and that can make players nervous about what’s going to happen in the future.”
“Sometimes you can get caught up in the hysteria but we just want to fix the problems and keep the people we want to keep - and Jack’s one of those.”
“And I’d like to think we have a problem-solving environment so that if there is an issue, we can fix it. If I can’t fix it or I don’t understand, then it’s important I have good problem-solving people around me and around the footy club.”
“One thing I’m not forgetting is that what we’re talking about now is a very emotional part of the footy club.”
“Our reserves have finished on the bottom, and we’re on the bottom.”
“We’ve had a ridiculously high injury rate, we haven’t had our best players out there and our Captain has been interrupted all year.
“It’s been a tough year for all our boys.
“For me it’s a simple message to stay the course and everything will be okay.”
On his coaching style:
“Senior coaching is a job of criticism.”
“I always question everything we do daily - what we do at training, what I’ve said to a player, what I haven’t said, what to say to them and when to say it. That’s the part of the job I think about the most.”
“Do you get it right every time, probably not? But that’s why you need good support to follow-up to make sure if anything’s gone wrong, that we all look after each other. That’s the important part.”
On the future:
“We’re going to have some good footy players coming into our organisation.
“Having a fit list and then adding another 2 or 3 good mature players and some good young kids through the draft, we’ll get better again. And that’s all part of the long-term planning.”
“We’ve done a lot of really good work in the background.”
On a potential mass exodus:
Although there are changes happening around the Club, Lepptisch is confident that there will be no mass exodus similar to 2013 and said, “it’s going to be a better place.”
“The players are contracted. We feel the changes that have been made, including the new fitness staff, will make everything better - on the field and off the field.
“We’re just going to be in a better place, like Leigh Matthews said, there’s a bit of change going on and the players just have to keep the faith in what’s going on.”
“I can only talk about what’s at hand. I only hope that if there are issues that they come to me directly or someone who can help them.”
“At times Club’s makes decisions on players and players make decisions on Club’s but we’re very confident we’ve got all the players we want, they’re contracted, they’re here and we think we’re going to get better as a footy club.”
Watch the full press conference
On Leigh Matthews’ address to the Club:
“Leigh’s a strong leader for a football club and Greg Swann is a great CEO as well.
“We’re very confident we have the right people to lead the club to great success.”
On the Bulldog’s performance:
“I think what the Bulldogs have done is a really good show for us as a footy club with what you can do.
