What else is he supposed to say publicly? Really, if he says "oh yeah the heat and the long travel with a short break to play will take it out of us," he would look like he pulled a Sando. Not to mention that everyone and anyone is looking to find a chink in our running game, and if we mention general fatigue just 1 game into the season, that whole aura so to speak about our fitness suddenly goes out the window. Yes, I know it sounds farfetched to an extent, but you can bet the house on it that everyone knows Port Adelaide are going to run and run hard for an entire game, no matter what the scoreline is. One or two games in a season (of comebacks), meh, you get lucky. Multiple times running over teams in the final quarter to win games over the course of 2 seasons? Not a coincidence.
We also needed to get the legs into Ryder, Monfries, Hartlett etc. Making changes and not playing a few of them only sets you back further in the long run.