“I JUST want to see the full version of ourselves, because I know it’s a good version.”
Senior Coach Michael Voss was strong on his position on AFL 360 on Monday night, where the three-time premiership captain acknowledged his belief and excitement for Friday’s elimination final.
With eight years of finals experience while at Brisbane, as well as leading the Lions to a win over the Blues as coach back in the 2009 elimination final, it's fair to say Voss knows a fair bit about preparing for September and what to expect.
And yet, when asked about what he would tell his skipper Patrick Cripps - the 28-year-old Brownlow Medallist who'll play his first final on Friday night - Voss was firm with his answer.
“I don’t think it’s that different,” Voss said.
“That’s the advice I have to [Cripps] and to our team.”
What may seem like a calm statement from the coach verging on the Club’s first finals appearance in a decade, what shone through and spoke louder than words was Voss' feeling of belief.
His Carlton side showed what it is capable of in the back half of the season, winning nine consecutive games to solidify the fifth spot on the ladder, beating three of the competition's top-four sides (Port Adelaide, Collingwood and Melbourne) in a five-week stretch.
Coming immediately off the back of a regrettable six-game losing streak, the gap between the Blues' best and worst was stark. As such, consistency will be key.
Suffering a loss to Essendon was the turning point for Carlton, with Voss admitting the group - himself included - needed to chase the things which they wanted to value above all else.
“We took a position as a Club that we wanted to be really consistent through that period of time: we felt like stability would be the biggest thing we would need to have that could create the greatest change of all,” he said.
“I think that will be one of our most successful achievements throughout the year, that as a Club, we worked through all that together. It’s not one person or leader, it takes a group of people to stay the course.”
It was an achievement indeed that kick-started the Blues’ hot streak, leading them to a sold-out elimination final at the MCG this Friday night.
Despite everything that went on mid-season, Voss’ Carlton has been able to come out the other side with a crystal-clear vision of how it wants to play football.
A team-wide defence which has role players executing, a collective attack on the contest and pressure from all angles has been the backbone. But the underlying thread has been the team and Club standing as one through the tough times, Stronger Together.
While the team is far from the finished product, Voss said if Carlton could show the best football it has displayed in 2023's run home, then it'll give itself every opportunity against a Sydney side that knows all about September.
“We’re not there yet, we’re not pretending that we are. We’ve got this great little chapter that is about to come on us in a finals series but to be able to navigate all of that and come out on the backend of it playing finals football is pretty significant for us,” he said.
“The sum of the parts is what has given us the needle shift.
“We feel like the formula we need to go in with will help us win no matter the conditions and we believe in that.”
So with over 90,000 people expected to fill the ‘G on Friday night, with a sea of Navy Blue behind the team every step of the way, Voss hopes his team can remember one key message.
Stay present.
“The biggest thing you can do through finals is stay totally present in the moment and enjoy it as best as you possibly can,” he said.
“It’s an extremely exciting time and some people struggle to know how they should act, but just be yourself.
“Stay totally present. Don’t drift out to the outcome, don’t worry about if you’re best on ground, whether you win or lose, just stay in that moment.”
