WHEN PUSH came to shove, Carlton rose to the occasion.

It looked as though the Blues' winning run was coming to an end at half time against the Saints, outhunted by the hosts to trail by 22 points at the main break.

From there, a resurgent second half ensued, where Carlton kicked the final six goals of the game to emerge with a 19-point victory.

For Michael Voss, it was a victory that was very much the sum of its parts: this is what he had to say.

On the win as a whole:

“That’s been a trademark of us for the last four or five weeks. We’ve had role players be able to get jobs done. 

“To be asked the question of being put under some so much pressure from the opposition, the Saints brought some serious heat. They asked a lot of questions of us, and there’s something in it when teams can absorb pressure. It wasn’t all going for us, but we were able to reset ourselves at half time, come back out and correct a few things and get to work on that. 

“It says a lot about the group, it says a lot about their mindset and where they’re at and it says a lot about their confidence. Thankfully we were able to turn it around: our second half was compelling.”

“I was particularly pleased - impressed - with our leaders, again. For them to be able to lead that charge and be big in those moments was particularly impressive.”

On the half-time message:

“The first part was the acceptance that we were under an enormous amount of pressure. We had to modify a few things. When we were moving forward, we were clearly kicking it to their number and largely inefficient, so we needed to address that. 

“I just asked them ‘how do you want to play?’. ‘How do you want to play this second half?’. They wanted to play our way, they didn’t want to change anything, other than some things structurally to help us. We backed that in and went again. 

“A really big turnaround point was we had some big dominance in midfield. Clearances we were able to win really well, and we were able to get some territory on the field and be able to set up our game from there, which was really important. It was just whether we could get that scoreboard ticking over and start getting our efficiency up and going.”

On the ruck duo:

“[Tom De Koning] had some real statement plays. He brings some real energy to us. 

“It takes the combination of the two of them to get the job done. ‘Pitto’ was grinding away and then Tom can come in with some energy, they complement each other really well. We feel it’s a combination that’ll work really effectively both now and in the future.”

On Paddy Dow’s last-quarter goal:

“I’m going to confess… he was actually going to be subbed! And then he kicked the goal, and we though, ‘nope, we’ll get somebody else’. I’m going to put my hand up for that one . . . I thought the crowd might’ve tore down the stands if I subbed him, so I thought we better leave him on and see if he can finish the game off! 

“What a great moment, to finish the goal the way he did. With guys like him and ‘Fog’, I’m so impressed with their persistence through disappointment: clearly they want to be AFL players, and to be able to persist and play a role they are now, it’s been impressive. 

“We’ve got a lot of guys in our team right now that are in the same boat, and they’ve had to earn their way back in. Almost three quarters of our backline have spent time in the VFL, and there’s probably four or five in the forward line doing the same.”

On Charlie Curnow continually fronting up:

“It was about his persistence. It clearly wasn’t Charlie’s day, he just had to keep fighting. He had two guys playing on him, and AFL footy is hard enough with one, let alone two or three. 

“We had to absorb that, and for him to be able to be totally present and work his way through that was particularly impressive: then, when his moment came, he finished the play. There’s a lot to learn in that. 

“He wasn’t kicking a bag of six, others had to join in, but he did his job — that moment turned up, and he was good enough to finish it as you’d expect.”

On looking further ahead than Melbourne next week:

“Each challenge has been big enough to focus in on that. We’ve stayed present to what that actually looks like. Including Melbourne next week, we’re playing four of the top five teams in the last little period of time. 

“You’re not afforded the opportunity to drift and look too far forward. What we’ve got a lot of benefit out of is working on our game, staying completely present with one another and really enjoying what we’re doing. 

“We’re enjoying that part of the journey, so I see no reason why we would change that. We’ve got Melbourne next week, they’re a particularly impressive team that are going really well right now, so I think it’s dangerous to cast your mind any further than that.”

On the atmosphere inside Marvel Stadium:

“It’s a credit to St Kilda tonight, I thought the pressure they brought was fantastic. 

“There was a real energy in the stands tonight, it was so loud out there at times. It had that finals atmosphere about it, there was a real energy in the stadium. It was built off the pressure they were able to bring. 

“I’m so pleased we were able to absorb that and then be able to come out and answer that: I think it’s a special trait to be able to have. It shows the resilience of the group. Then, as we started to build the momentum and our pressure, the crowd came with us. It was pretty special.”

On Zac Fisher’s half-back move:

“He’s been playing back there in the VFL for a period of time. He wanted to go back there and explore it, there have been a few coaches that have been pushing for it to see if it was something worthwhile to consider. 

“He was good tonight, wasn’t he? He added some real punch out of the back half and joined in with that back six really well, he certainly asked the question of us. To be able to see him transfer that from the VFL team to the AFL team was really good to see.” 

On the position where the team has come from:

“What we’re keen to tell is what our ‘now’ story is, not what was last year or what was six weeks ago. We’re done with looking back. We’re looking at the now and looking forward. 

“We take those lessons with us clearly, because if you find yourselves in those situations again and you find yourselves thriving, it’s because it comes from exposure. There’s no other way. At the end of the day, we’re enjoying where we’re at right now, and we feel like we’ve got so much to gain and so much left to give.”

On the scenes in the rooms post-match:

“It was good. It’s always a special moment, no matter how long you’ve been in football, when you’re in a winning room and the boys can take that 5-10 minutes to enjoy that together. 

“I’ve spoken to the boys before about this: they’re the team that’s got to get out there and get it done, but it takes clubs to turn it around like we have. It takes a team of people. They’ve got great support around them, we’ve got a great club supporting us. 

“It was a great club win, and they went out there and did us proud.”