"When you're winning, there is no better feeling than running down the race with 22 blokes you care about and trust and respect, and I would hate for a teammate to run down the race and look over at me and ask himself, 'Is he going to give us an A-grade effort today, or his C-grade effort'?"

"We would prefer to play him as a key defender but we have thrown him in the ruck a number of times in the past and he has done extremely well, so we are lucky."

"They've got a lot of power forwards, Gehrig and Nick Riewoldt, but I think generally the delivery to them determines how we go, so it's crucial through the midfield and whoever wins that battle will determine the victory."

"He was a great player for us and he's moved on to another club and hopefully he gets his opportunity there. There's definitely no love lost, we'll be out to make sure he doesn't have a good game."

"I just hope they have really good years because they're really good guys. If we don't win the premiership, I hope Rossy wins it because he's a great mate and I'd love him to be successful."

"I won't be coaching against Ross Lyon, I'll be coaching against St Kilda. I'm coaching against Nick Riewoldt, I'm coaching against Justin Koschitzke, Robert Harvey and those sorts of guys. They're the ones I'm trying to stop."

"They probably have a bit more depth with Gardiner and King and Schneids, so they are probably a little bit deeper than they were last year, and we know they have some quality players, so they are really well placed for a good year."

"We've got to make sure we do pick the guys who are fit and healthy and ready to go on Saturday night."