MINDFUL of the challenge.

Should Carlton walk away with its first win over West Coast in eight years, the team will need to bring its A-game in the trip to Perth. 

That's the belief of AFL Senior Coach Michael Voss, who fronted media today to discuss all of the storylines leading into the Round 17 clash. 

On West Coast's form:

“The name tags look different compared to what they were earlier in the season. It’s very easy to look at what they were and some of the struggles they had at the start of the year with personnel, which is incredibly difficult to try and work your way through. 

“They’ve been able to get some continuity with those players who have been back for a little bit and have had some more recent returns in the last couple of weeks that make them a bit better as well. 

“We’re well and truly on guard: the last couple of weeks, they’ve been in some pretty solid form… if we play at our best we like to think that will get the job done for us.”

On the importance of the game in the context of the season:

“All games at this time of the year are critical. At the end of these games, there are consequences everywhere — good or bad. 

“The real challenge within that is focusing on the job you need to be able to do. We feel like we’re in total control of that. 

“We feel like we’re in a really good position which is a credit to the playing group, our coaches and the Club that we’ve been able to put ourselves in that position. But that’s all we’ve done: put ourselves in the position.”

On the team adjusting to the circumstances:

“I think we’re adapting a lot of that throughout the year… it’s something new. 

“I was reading some statistics about the last time we beat West Coast and the last time we beat West coast over in Perth. There are some stats there that haven’t been kind to us, but we have to accept that. 

“That’s been part of the story and part of the narrative: it’s up to us to change it. We’re in the moment and we get the chance to be able to do that, so we’re pretty determined to be able to go about it that way.

“[The players] have completely committed themselves to what they’re doing. As long as we do that, then the result will ultimately look after itself.”

On Jacob Weitering’s return:

“We’ve been talking about the next-man-in approach a lot: I’m glad the next man in is ‘Weiters’! 

To get him back, he’s a pillar. He’s clearly a very important leader for us, he drives that back six really well. When some players come in, they make other players walk taller around them. 

“We’re not looking for heroes: he’s going to have a job to do. Kennedy and Darling have got themselves going so [Carlton’s backline] will have their hands full. The best way we can help him is ensuring we get some pressure on the ball and making it as difficult as we possibly can when they move the ball forward.”

On Carlton’s midfield dynamic: 

“It might have been the case three weeks ago where we needed to adjust a little bit, but the boys have gone to work really hard. Against St Kilda, it didn’t go our way early but they corrected and the numbers went in our favour in the second half. 

“While the numbers say one thing, we have to be realistic that we’re not after complete dominance all the time: that’s an unrealistic expectation to have. We expect that they compete and give us even looks, and if they give us even looks then we feel like we’ve got a front half that can threaten. 

“The last couple of weeks, they’ve been in pretty good form. They might not have started the game as well as they would’ve liked, but generally they’ve been pretty good.” 

On welcoming back personnel in coming weeks:

“We have to carefully integrate them back in. How we do that, we’ll probably treat each case as it comes. 

“There are a couple of guys in there like [Marc Pittonet] who will be back in a week or two, so it’s about how we get them back into the side. We haven’t had that discussion yet, but it’s firmly on the radar. 

“We’re not sitting here saying we have to rush anything. We want sustainability, we don’t just want to fix an acute area and think that’s going to change everything for us.

“We have to play the long game and make sure they’re ready to go and help us get momentum.”

On Nic Naitanui v Tom De Koning: 

“[Naitanui] was pretty good, wasn’t he? The AFL is a better place when ‘Nic Nat’ is running around out there: he’s a class act. 

“I’ve been super impressed with Tom all year and the growth that he has had in himself and the way he’s gone about it. 

“Some of the challenges that he has had have been massive and he gets another one this week. He’s been well-supported by his midfield group who continue to back him in and he’s growing in confidence every week.”

On Patrick Cripps’ influence possibly dwindling:

“What I’d say is if he maintained that level [from the start of the season], he’d have 80 votes in the Brownlow. That might be a bit unfair on everybody else! 

“The challenge is when you set such a high standard like that, some of that is not plausible to continue on that trajectory. 

“‘Crippa’ is really clear on what he needs to do and he is doing an amazing job for us as a leader of this Club. I reckon his last couple of weeks have been fantastic… I think it’s unrealistic to expect he will play at that level for 23 weeks of the season. 

“When we were missing personnel in our front half, we needed him to play a different way. When we’ve had personnel, he’s played slightly different. 

“You could not get me to express more gratitude for our captain. He has embraced absolutely everything asked of him.”

On the opportunity of an interstate trip:

“Any time you go on the road is a great chance to go away together. What I’m pretty confident on is there are going to be a lot of Carlton supporters still in that stand. 

“We’ve had a lot of support not just in Melbourne, but everywhere we’ve played. 

“It does present a different challenge. Obviously the opposition is in really good form so we’ve got to be mindful of that. The stadium presents challenges in itself and we’re absolutely aware of that. 

“There are no excuses to not go over there and perform the way we want to.”