"WE'RE not looking to be someone else, we’re looking to be us."

Michael Voss has not understated the importance of tomorrow night’s clash with Richmond, with the AFL Senior Coach embracing the sense of occasion that naturally comes with the Round 1 season opener. 

Working all pre-season to build and enhance a style and brand that reflects the way the Blues want to play, Voss said it’s vital to bring that to the table straight off the bat in their first official game of the home-and-away season. 

Wanting to showcase greater consistency in their physical game style established in 2022, Voss is confident that his side has put in the work to put on a strong showing tomorrow under lights at the MCG.

“I think we had multiple conversations last year about being able to sustain what we do and play the way we need to be able to play,” Voss said.  

“There’s an intensity that we need to match to be consistent but there’s also a style that we want to play against – we have to be able to replicate that no matter the opposition we’re playing no matter what we’re challenged with.

"We want to bring a really contested style of game and we want to bring that consistently and that’s an expectation we should have of ourselves more than anything else."

Find out more about the game here. 

Voss wasn't keen on divulging into hypothetical 'what ifs' that could come up later in the season, instead preferring to focus on the here and now of tomorrow's blockbuster.

What he was keen to celebrate was the inclusions that have been disclosed already for the Round 1 clash: the debuts of Ollie Hollands and Lachie Cowan, Jack Silvagni’s 100th game and the return from injury for Mitch McGovern and Jack Martin. 

On the milestone man, Voss lauded the versatility and flexibility Silvagni allows not only himself, but to the entire team and coaching panel. 

“[Silvagni is] one of those pieces that enables us to do different things, so if you want to stay flexible and play him in different positions, he can do that,” he said. 

“He’d probably say he’s in the best shape of his career so the fact that he can do that puts him in a great place to get his role done.”