“IT WAS definitely frustrating”. 

That was what Jacob Weitering had to say about the last two minutes of the Melbourne clash. 

Now reviewed and moved on from, Weitering said the team will learn a lot from the pressure of those moments, noting that the football they played beforehand was some of their best of the season. 

“We watched it twice over, and you try to just look at moments, no one ever goes out there to make mistakes,” Weitering said. 

“Everyone involved is frustrated and wants to do better and that’s going to be the learning for us if the situation arises next week against a team that has done it eight or nine times this year, getting over the line in the last two minutes. 

“We looked at it and it was probably 118 minutes of very good football, a brand that we really want to play and I think Melbourne would say the same about themselves. It was a contested brand, there was lots of pressure, tackles and our defence held up really well.” 

Now looking forward to what Weitering said will be the biggest game of his career, the Blues are looking to secure their spot in September action for the first time since 2013.

The significance of the game isn’t lost on Carlton, and Weitering stated the group is privileged to be playing in such high-stakes games at this time of the season, when in the past, they would’ve known their fate by Round 23. 

“Last year, I had holidays booked for September,” he said. 

“This year, there is a very hungry club in Carlton that wants to play at the back-end of the year. 

“It’s an awesome opportunity to be involved in and what better team to come up against than Collingwood, the old rival. I believe tickets are sold out and it’s going to be an incredible environment.” 

While making finals is the ultimate goal for the Club, Weitering also acknowledged the growth and progression that the team have made in the past nine months to get to where they are today.

“The moments that we’ve had across the season shouldn't go unrecognised,” he said.  

“We’ve had games where we’ve been down and we’ve been able to come back, there’s games where we’ve been up by a lot and teams have come back and challenged us and we’ve still been able to get the win.

“Richmond stands out to me, GWS up there, the Sydney game, the Fremantle game over here – there’s been moments and there’s been games where we’ve been able to stand up and do a job. In the last two weeks, we haven’t been able to do that and there is that inner motivation to do the job with the external noise that will come with this week.” 

Apart from Round 1 clashes with Richmond, Weitering believes he won’t have played in front of a crowd this big – especially not at this stage in the season – than what is being predicted for Sunday’s clash, which is now sold out. 
 
Knowing the atmosphere will be electric for both sides, Weitering hopes his side can be motivated by the grandeur of playing to a full MCG and give themselves the best opportunity to play in the back-end of the year. 

“I’ve played in front of a few 70-80,000 crowds in Round 1, but I don’t think I’ve run out in front of a  crowd this big and certainly the stage is set,” he said 

“We’ll take it on board and it motivates me to go out there and do a job for this team. 

“There’s plenty to play for, the whole AFL world will be watching and hopefully the Blues  come out on top.”