FINISH the battle.
AFL Senior Coach Michael Voss was determined that the only goal for Carlton this weekend: win, regardless of the situation they find themselves in relating to what's to come.
Wanting to take every opportunity and leave nothing to chance, Voss urged his team to put it all on the line as they prepare to take on Greater Western Sydney on Sunday night, locking in a potential home final in the process.
Speaking on returning players, Toby Greene and night training, here's what he had to say.
On players returning to the lineup:
"There will be three or four that come back: all the ones that we were expecting to return will be available, so that is left up to selection.
"We’ll fit Sam Walsh in somewhere though, he’ll get a go! 'Cez' might go alright as well. We’ve obviously got to get through training today, a couple of things they need to be able to do.
"They’ve trained well up until this time. We've been a bit conservative with their return and they’ve been pretty patient so they’ll be right to go."
"If a player is fit, they’ll play: if they’re not fit, they won’t play. We’re pretty determined to go the line as hard as possible. That gives us the best possible chance to win this game and that’s the way we play."
On the importance of returning faces building cohesion:
"We feel like the benefit of getting them back and building that cohesiveness is really important.
"The main area that it affects at the moment is the midfield, given the people that are likely to come back in that area of the ground. We need to factor that in, the other areas will not have too many changes."
On winning their final game:
"The way we’ve approached most of the year is trying to get our game together: we’ve struggled so much to be able to have the momentum that we have, we just don’t want to give that away.
"For us, being able to finish the season strongly is a real priority for us. Regardless of whatever shows itself - home finals spots up for grabs, whatever situation GWS find themselves in - we hope we bring the same level of intensity, no matter the moment. We feel like we're coming in with some really good form and finishing off the season really well is an absolute priority for us."
On complacency setting in with September secured:
"I’d be extremely disappointed if that was the attitude we took into this game. The conversation for us has been back to the players and we’re quite determined as a group to make sure we finish this season off really strongly.
"We’re not afforded anything, we’re given nothing. We’ve spoken a lot about the group about earning the right within this competition: it’s taken a lot of energy to get back to this particular place, and if there’s a group that should understand that and not taking it for granted right now, it’s got to be us."
On training in the evening:
"We thought every margin counts a little, so we thought with a 6:10pm game - which is highly unusual - we’d shuffle training to the afternoon. We’re afforded a longer week so it has been beneficial, so we were able to change our training, get it a bit later in the day.
"It’s a little bit unique with how the week panned out and the length of time we’ve had in the week. We’ve taken a few opportunities in past weeks to do the same when we’ve had a few day games in a row and then we turn to a night game, we put that session in the evening to make sure we’re ready to go.
"The players enjoy the change up: especially when it’s Round 24, we’re looking for changes that can make a difference."
On Toby Greene's impact and Nic Newman's role in Round 3:
"It’s not a locked [role], but if we got the same result, we’d be happy. [Greene] is a pretty good player: every time GWS has been able to turn the momentum in games, he’s had a significant say.
"Whatever strategy we do come in with, they’re going to have their hands full because he’s a very important player to them. He’s an exceptional player and I don’t think you ever stop those players from having an impact in the game, but that [Round 3] game we did.
"That was a great role for 'Newy' and we’ll call on that from time to time. We’ll have a different strategy coming into this game."
On Jack Silvagni's timeline:
"We’re hoping we’ll have an update in the next 24 hours, so once he can get fully assessed and work out where he’s at. The early indication is a short period of time.
"Jack went through a four-week block of recovery, he had a great two weeks where it felt like he was ready to go but banged up the same area, which is a bit unusual. We’ve taken the time to assess it and hopefully, we’ll have a bit more clarity during the next 24 hours."
