WITH eyes set on the next challenge, Jacob Weitering is excited by the prospect his side has to take their fate into their own hands.

While last week's loss to the Crows was a disappointing result, the Carlton co-vice captain is ready to take on the Lions in a hostile environment at the Gabba to kick off an important finish to the home-and-away season.

Here's what he said to say.

On the outlook ahead of the last three rounds:

“It’s pretty positive. You look at our position on the ladder at the moment – we’ve won 12 games but we’re taking it one week at a time. Obviously, it was a disappointing result against Adelaide over there. We’ve got Brisbane which is a fantastic opportunity this week, and then Melbourne and Collingwood to finish off.

"If we are wanting to test ourselves at the end of the year, these are the teams we’re going to be playing against. We’d rather find out now and take it week by week and it’s a massive opportunity next up against the Lions.”

On the loss to Adelaide:

“If you look at our last six weeks in totality it’s probably been a bit inconsistent – we’ve had some really good weeks and some down weeks. Geelong was probably one of those weeks, then we bounced back against GWS and then had a down week last week.

"It was disappointing to say the least: they beat us in the contest which is an area we’re pretty strong in. They’re an incredible pressure side and our tackling numbers were probably a bit lower than we would have liked.

"Full credit to Adelaide, we can’t take away from their performance but at the same time, we probably played into their hands and they beat us at the contest, which is the main takeaway for us. It’s something we can certainly work on and look to improve this week.”

On regaining consistency:

“It’s probably been an inconsistent block of games for us but it provides us with a massive opportunity to bounce back against a side that probably needs to do the same. We are in a strong position going into the latter part of the year, but we’re not satisfied with that result.

"We understand that every game’s important and we’ve got to go out and do a job against the Lions. We won’t change too much but we’ll work on our contest, the way we move the ball, our defence and go in confident and try and get the job done.”

On matching up against a dangerous Brisbane forward line:

“They’ve got some tall timber down there and obviously their smalls are really dangerous as well. Full confidence to us, with the personnel we have now – we’re starting to get some troops back with 'Pitto' [Marc Pittonet] and 'Gov' [Mitch McGovern] coming back and getting into some form. We’ve got some tall timber that can go with theirs and we’ll look to play to our strengths.”

On the missed tackles against Adelaide:

“To credit Adelaide, I remember watching the Collingwood-Adelaide game and I think there was 230 tackles in that game, so we understood that they were going to bring the pressure and we were going to be in a high tackle game. I think we had 23 missed tackles on the weekend which is something pretty tangible that you can work on during the week.

"It’s always a tough pill to swallow when you get out-hunted and beaten in the contest, but we’ve got some bulls in there with Cripps, Kennedy, Walsh, Cerra and Hewett to come back. We’ve got some strong guys that can really do a job in that area, so we have full confidence.”

On Jack Silvagni:

“I look at it this way – we’re in a really strong position from a list point of view and to have problems like that is a bit of a privilege. In previous years, we’ve had a pretty set 22 and there were guys on the fringe that probably weren’t pressing for selection. Now we’ve got a group of 30-34 guys that are looking to get picked up and play in the starting 22.

"I think Jack’s attitude and the way he went about it - he travelled and obviously played a fair portion of the game late - he was terrific on the weekend. Obviously, he was disappointed and so was the group for him: he’s been a player that’s done his job throughout the year, and he’ll look to do the same this week or the next week, whenever he gets picked again."

On Mitch McGovern:

“'Gov' is a fair talent, as you can probably see – it’s been a frustrating couple of years for him. You can see what he does for our defence: he’s a great interceptor, a great mark, great communicator on game day as well. He’ll be looking to work into some even better form in the latter part of the year as well.”

On Adam Saad:

“It’s obviously really disappointing. It’s an ongoing investigation between the AFL and the clubs and there will be statements in the future.

"When it comes to 'Saady,' you won’t find a nicer human being at the Club – his work amongst the community and just the way he is as a person. It’s disappointing for him but we’ve wrapped our arms around him and we’ll try to support him as much as possible – obviously it’s a big game for him and hopefully he can celebrate with his friends and family.”

On taking it one week at a time:

“We're not looking too far ahead. I’ve been through some pretty tough times at this Club but coming out on a Monday after a loss is still very disappointing. We’ll certainly learn from what happened on the weekend but at the same time, we’re in a strong position and the opportunity is there for us to take with both hands and we’ve got to do that still.

“We’ll head up to the Gabba, it’s a pretty hostile environment up there and they’ll be looking to bounce back after a tough loss. They’ve got the firepower to match ours so full respect to them – we’ll bring our strengths and they’ll bring theirs and I’m sure it will be a really good battle.”

On potentially lining up against Joe Daniher:

“Most likely – probably the deepest. They’ve got some really tall timber down there, and some guys that are in really good form but probably Daniher for me.”