THERE aren’t too many rivals bigger in the AFL than the battle between Carlton and Collingwood, a battle that dates back over 120 years.
With both clubs coming off confidence-boosting wins last week, it’s shaping up to be an epic battle between the old enemies, as Carlton looks to keep its form strong before heading into the bye week.
Speaking to media on Thursday, AFL Senior Coach Michael Voss said there’s no reason to shy away from the rivalry between these two sides, choosing to embrace the history rather than try and rewrite it.
“I think embracing it is a good thing, I don’t see anything wrong with it at all,” Voss said.
“As long as it still has its place, I think it’s a healthy AFL environment when you’ve got Collingwood going up against Carlton and there’s still some good rivalry.”
Voss personally has some strong investment in this game in particular, coaching against close friend and former premiership teammate Craig McRae for the first time.
He's also no stranger to clashes with Collingwood, leading Brisbane to two famous premiership triumphs in 2002 and 2003.
“My very good mate is coaching the opposition as well so it just adds another layer,” he said.
“Personally, I’ve had some personal clashes against Collingwood in some very big games [as a player].
"We understand what they bring: they’re a formidable football team and they’ve got some genuine strengths that we need to make sure we get on top of pretty early – otherwise they’ll have their day.”
Voss has been impressed with the way McRae has presented himself as a senior coach, listening closely to his messages and how his team reacts to his coaching style.
However, he knows there'll be no time for friendship when the two teams collide in what promises to be an engrossing battle on Sunday.
“I listened to what Craig has said consistently, it’s been around embracing that imperfection and going after it and they seem to be playing that way,” he said.
“They’re certainly not afraid of making mistakes and taking the game on when they need to.
“He certainly instilled that within the group so there’s some challenges in that and some real threats that we have to make sure we overcome on the day, no doubt.”
It’s expected to be a bumper crowd at the MCG on Sunday afternoon, with a Collingwood home game and a faithful Carlton crowd provided the ingredients for the masses to flood the home of football.
Voss did address the atmosphere that the Blues’ fans have been bringing to every game, telling his players to embrace the noise and the love that they receive each week – as long as they keep their composure and structure tight.
“You've got two big supporter bases and it’s an important match for both teams. Clearly both supporter groups are very vocal and we expect it to be a pretty big atmosphere,” he said.
“We always have spoken about embracing what environment is there and all it does is present a great opportunity to play in a really big game.
“What we’ve had is a supporter base that’s coming along to games and we’re loving it: we’re loving the energy. They were back against Sydney, stayed until the end of the game and that moment was a really good moment.
“Most of our supporters stuck around and were embracing that as well. A lot of us feel that, so we’ll never step away from that, but our job is to ensure that when we turn up, we turn up to play well, despite what’s going on around us and we can concentrate on what we need to do.”
