SENIOR Coach David Teague hailed his players' ability to change the momentum of yesterday's clash with Collingwood, ending in a 29-point win. 

Here's what he had to say following the Round 18 win.

On the second-half turnaround:

I thought we changed the game at half time. In the third quarter, we just didn’t get the most from our opportunities. We got the ball down there but probably gave up a couple of easy scores. They stuck at it and I thought in the last, we got the reward on the scoreboard.

The good teams consistently turn up and that’s where we’ve got to continue to grow. I thought even today, our first-half effort was there - we were cracking in - but our ball use and composure at times and even our defence sat back a little bit. It’s consistently sticking to the game plan and working together as a group.

Over the last four or five weeks, the group is really starting to have confidence not only in themselves but also in each other. We’ve got to grow that to keep getting those results going forward.

On playing in front of an empty MCG:

It was a weird day again with no crowds: we were really looking forward to the game with the Peter Mac Cup. Michael and David who came down to the Club this week were going to be here with us: we would’ve loved to have been able to have shared that game with all of our fans. You can only visualise and imagine how happy our fans would’ve been at the end of the day.

On another best-on-ground performance for Sam Walsh:

His work rate is never questioned, he works as hard as any player I’ve been involved with: that’s not just on game day, that’s throughout the week preparing himself from a recovery point of view and in training. He just wills his way and it’s his turn to own this football club along with his teammates and create what they want to create.

Once we connected as a group and we used the ball together as a team and defended as a team, I thought it was one of our better performances. Sam led that, but there were others: Paddy Dow and Matty Kennedy through the midfield were particularly strong and ‘Fish’ and Samo went through there as well.

It’s a bit of a different midfield look than we’ve had over the past few years, so to see those guys step up against quality opposition was really pleasing.

On Harry McKay’s final quarter:

He got caught a bit under it at times and was getting a bit short on the ball. Once he got that right and got a good look, he’s been marking the ball well when he gets it in front of his eyes and we saw that late.

You’ve got to be able to get it to ground at worst and he was doing that early, but he wasn’t able to turn them into marks. As the game went on, we got a bit more speed in the ball and used it better and got more one-on-one looks. He got more contested marks and kicked beautifully in front of goal.

He was one of our forwards where it wasn’t going his way but they stayed involved. Some of the pressure from our smalls to keep it in our front half and our defenders to come up and pin the ball in our half in the second half was probably as pleasing as we’ve done it for a while.

On seizing the opportunity:

The message is about being the best player they can be and the best teammate they can be. Whether that’s at training, playing VFL or playing AFL, it’s about getting better, growing and learning.

I feel we’ve created a strong environment for that and sometimes you don’t get your opportunity which can be really frustrating. If you can keep working on your game when you do get the opportunity, you’re more likely going to grab it.

We’ve seen those two guys [Kennedy and Dow], as well as Liam Stocker work really hard, Tom Williamson has come into the team, Matthew Cottrell went back and played really well to earn his right to come back in the side.

It’s a mindset of getting better and keep growing and becoming the best player and person you can be. I think those two guys have worked really hard and they’re starting to show some real belief in themselves, and I know their teammates really believe in them.

On Patrick Cripps’ availability:

I presume so. It was touch and go: on Thursday he was going to play but on Friday, he felt he couldn’t get the job done to the level he wanted to and he knew there were guys to come in and do that. We saw that with Kennedy stepping up and Dow and Fisher getting a bit more on-ball time. He should be right for next week.

On an emotional week for Jack Silvagni:

He’s handled it well. It’s never easy. I know from the whole Carlton Football Club point of view, our thoughts and best wishes go out to the Silvagni family. Obviously Serge had a great career, Stephen too and now Jack is forging his.

I felt for Jack because he got his hands to a few balls early and they didn’t stick and I was thinking it could get frustrating, I didn’t know how much energy he burnt throughout the week. As the game went on, the way he continued to bring effort had a greater impact. He looked like he took a bit of a hanger there at one stage and I haven’t seen him get that high in a while.

Jack’s handled it really well: his teammates and Jacob Weitering got him to lead the team off the field. He’s as passionate as anyone around the Carlton Football Club. He’s been connected with this football club for a lot longer than most and to see him get the result today, not only for Jack but also his family, I think it’s a really nice touch.