AHEAD of the Round 1 clash with Richmond, Michael Voss is keen for his side to put into play what they've learnt over pre-season.
Keen on owning their own narrative rather than focusing on the past, here is what Voss had to say about the Round 1 game.
On potential nerves leading into the game:
"Today is probably the first day where there is some excitement: maybe something else will kick in tomorrow but today is getting prepared and putting the final touches on what needs to be done.
"I’m looking forward to the occasion no doubt, fortunately I’ve had some reasonable experience when it comes to preparing for games, whether that’s as a player or a coach.
"I’m just looking forward to getting out there and seeing what the boys can do."
On having fans back at the footy:
"It’s exciting that we’re going to have 80-85,000 at the ’G. It’s been a long time since our members and fans have been able to come to games so we’re pretty determined to put in a good showing."
On what he expects from the game:
"I think I want to see some transfer in the way we’ve tried to play. We’ve seen some of that through the pre-season and I spoke about being able to take those small wins as we’ve gone, so that gives you enormous encouragement that we can transfer that into when we need it and play in a real consistent manner.
"As far as expectations go, I just want us to make sure we stay together as a group right throughout the whole game, that we play for each other. I know if we can bring that spirit, we put ourselves in contention in the game and if we do that, we get a look at the end, then we’ll be happy."
On the Richmond rivalry:
"I think the reality is that we need to own that part of the story, but it’s important that we own it because that’s where the lessons are learned. We’ve learnt a lot of things about ourselves over the last little while but it’s been more about what we’re doing and how we want to be able to play moving forward and what’s important to us right now.
"I understand that there’s been a past there, there’s history, but it’s been so much about what we want to be able to do now and what we want to stand for moving forward. Tomorrow doesn’t really change that approach for us."
On Oscar McDonald:
"Oscar will play. He’ll take that position. Jacob [Weitering] is clearly a very important person in our team so he’ll come in.
"From Oscar’s point of view, it’s just a great story, he had some injuries last year, he hasn’t started, he started as a sub for Carlton so this is different in a small way for him. Partnering up with 'Weiters' will be important."
On Mitch McGovern:
"Over the pre-season, we’ve been able to get some feedback on how it's going. We have to also acknowledge that it’s a positional switch and there’s some craft that he needs to continue to work on, but certainly the early signs are promising."
On Sam Docherty:
"I just want him to be one of the 23 out there to do a role, we haven’t shied away from any of those conversations throughout the year and we spoke a lot about being able to generate an 18-man system that’s not relying on one particular person.
"We understand that players will step up in their moment when they need to, but fundamentally if we can stay together as a footy team and play together, then he plays one role in that and that’s all we’ve asked him to do and nothing more special than that."
