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Ben Hudson on Playing against his ex-teammates:
"It's a bit ironic, I suppose. You've got to play them sometime, your ex-teammates. It's good to get it over and done with straight away. You look forward to playing anyone, but you may have an extra point to prove to your ex-team."
Scott Welsh on on his ex-team being hostile towards him:
"They're a pretty professional lot. Their focus will be winning the game and getting the ball. They're not a team that plays that style. I'd be a bit more worried about the Crows' supporters than the players, I think."
Ryan Griffen on maintaining his fitness while out with injury:
"I don't think I lost a lot of fitness. I've done a lot of boxing and a lot of swimming, and with the bike you can always keep your fitness up. Running is totally different, but I think after a few sessions you get it back really quickly."
Rodney Eade on expectations for 2008:
"Last year we dropped off, so people say it's a year of atonement, but I don't think our focus has been to make up for last year. It's about getting us back to where we think we should be, which is playing finals football."
Rodney Eade on Brad Johnson:
"He's as good as anyone going around. I think the credit to Brad is to be able to play equally high quality football in a number of positions. He's in the top three players I've coached."
Daniel Giansiracusa on his knee being fit to play:
"I'm available. Obviously it's up to the coaches. I've sort of dodged a bullet with the knee, if it takes a couple of rounds to get in, then so be it."
Brad Johnson on some of the low points of his career being against the Crows:
"Without a doubt, I've had a couple of not so positive experiences against them in those prelims especially, so it would be nice to turn it around and have a good win."
Brad Johnson on playing his 300th game:
"It's pretty exciting to play that many games for this great club and to join the other guys that have achieved it over their careers here, especially my close mates in Granty, Westy and Smithy as well. It's a good feeling at the moment, hopefully the most important thing is we get a win on the day so it can be a good positive experience."
Neil Craig on Ben Hudson and Scott Welsh having inside information on the Crows:
"Most of what the players tell you is confirmation on what you already know. We've got people watching sides three or four weeks in a row, so maybe Ben and Scott could tell them a bit, but I wouldn't say anything significant."
Neil Craig on rotating players throug the forward line:
"It will take a while to get that feeling of what the best combination is in attack and how does it work with guys going into the forward line from the midfield. I think you'll probably see some different positions in terms of personnel this week."
Nathan Van Berlo on the Crows' younger players:
"Our chemistry still is building, but as a young group, we're really enjoying being given responsibility. It's been a real big challenge for us and we've dealt with it pretty well so far."
Neil Craig on where Kurt Tippett will play:
"Kurt could play as a permanent forward, but I also like what I see from him in the ruck and that's where we've got to be mindful of what the Western Bulldogs' line-up will be. We certainly don't want to get too big against the Bulldogs."
Neil Craig on the Crows game plan in 2008:
"There are some elements that we will keep that have been there for three years going into a fourth year and there's some stuff that we want to chuck out pretty quickly because it's not what we want."
Neil Craig on on expectations of his side:
"Our guys have got really high expectations for themselves and it's about winning and I think it's a really healthy attitude."
Ken McGregor on taking advantage of the Bulldogs' lack of height in defence:
"I'm sure the coaches will really analyse that and find any way they can to give us an advantage but the Bulldogs generally play short back there anyway, so I think it will still be a tough contest."
Ken McGregor on getting off to a good start in 2008:
"It's important to start well and if we can play some good footy over that period we can start staking our claim as being a really good side."
Ken McGregor on the difference between the pre-season and the regular season:
"In pre-season games you never really know whether the opposition has put their best side against you or not but when it comes down to round one and the premiership points you know everything is on the line."
Brad Symes on fitting in at the Crows:
"I probably sit amongst the playing group in a better position than I did this time last year at Port, but I've still got a lot of work to do and points to prove both to the coaching staff and to my teammates. It's not like there was anything wrong at Port, but I think with Adelaide's game plan and the way I play, I'm probably, maybe, slightly better suited here."
Brad Symes on playing in Round 1:
"I haven't played a round one game in the four years I've been in the system and it was a goal of mine at the start of the pre-season."
Assistant coach David Noble on Griffin and Maric playing against former Crow Ben Hudson:
"They want to pit themselves against the best in the competition so what better way to start than against an ex-teammate who will want to play well and you see if you can beat him? As far as Huddo's hit-to or target areas, you'd like to think we'll have a reasonable understanding of what he is capable of and a suspicion of where he's going to hit the ball. So we can set up a little bit around what we're likely to encounter."
Assistant coach David Noble on the midfield rotations:
"The final decision of who starts in the midfield will rest with Craigy and will come down to match-ups and who takes specific roles but we've got confidence that whoever we play in there will do the job for us."
Assistant coach David Noble on Chris Knights' injury :
"It allows the next person to come in, whether that's a Mackay or a Vince and I think it shows the benefit of having moved a few players around during the pre-season. We still think we've got our bases pretty well covered."
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