“WHEN YOU look at teams over the years that have been together, everything seems to be automatic and in sync with them.”

Finding the right mix and setting the appropriate standards. After nine months as a coaching group, that’s still the focus for Michael Voss and his assistants heading into Round 20 of the 2022 season.

While the Blues have tasted 12 wins from their 18 games from the campaign to date, all involved know that the team is not yet the finished article.

According to assistant coach Aaron Hamill, there’s only solution for that: time.

“We’re challenging a supportive group of coaches that sing the same hymn song quite often to the players. The constant messages and standards that are in our face all the time becomes the norm,” Hamill said on SEN Afternoons.

“The traction that we’ve been able to get and keep building is significant, but we’re all really aware that we’re just scratching the surface of where we need to get to.

“We’re not there yet and we certainly acknowledge that. But we’ve always said we need to and want to keep driving and getting better. It’s obvious to us where we need to get to work and keep sharpening up.”

According to Hamill, who is enjoying his first season back at his first club in a coaching capacity, the message around accountability on standards come from the very top.

And he believes the playing group is picking up what Michael Voss is putting down.

“I think he’s got a really clear understanding about his leadership, strong standards and a high level of accountability,” he said.

“Particularly with ‘Vossy’, he’s really keen to share the workload. He’s got a really clear vision of the footy club and the team and where he wants to take it. 

“We’ve got a strong leadership group to support him, in terms of off-field as well as on-field… I feel the players have embrace it. They haven’t shied away from anything.”

Leading into the Round 20 clash with Adelaide, Hamill said the coaching staff would continue to look at the right mechanics of a team which has had 40 players rotate through the senior side in 2022: the second most in the competition behind West Coast.

With the Blues to play both Tom De Koning and the returning Marc Pittonet in the same side, Hamill said it was all part of the process to analyse what best suited the team as a whole.

“‘Vossy’ has been on the record saying we’re still finding out about our list, and we want to be a better team at the end of the year than what we were at the start of the year,” he said.

“Is it the two talls and four smalls, is it three and three, at times do we go a bit smaller and have Harry and Charlie up there? 

“We’re looking at a couple of different mixes within our group.”