“WE’RE done looking back.”

Footy has always forced you to look ahead to what’s next instead of dwelling on the immediate past.

And for Carlton, there’s no better example of that than the all-too-familiar test that will roll around once again on Thursday night.

Just six days after the Blues’ historic win over the Lions, they’ll look to repeat that winning feeling when it hosts the Tigers at the home of football, in what will be the first game of footy in Melbourne for 2024.

For AFL Senior Coach Michael Voss, he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Having a game like Richmond in Round 1 at the MCG, our first home game, the opportunity to connect back with our supporter base, that moves your eyes forward pretty quickly,” Voss told media on Monday.

“We’ve got a very important game coming. I can’t wait. We’ve got our job to do on the field, but to be able to walk into a home game and you’ve got your supporter base here with that noise again, we can’t wait to get back out there.

“We talked a lot about connecting back in with our supporters, and they love when we play a really tough brand of footy. We’ll continue to try and do that.”

Ahead of a night which captain Patrick Cripps - when speaking to Sunrise - said would be “another cracker”, co-vice captain Charlie Curnow couldn’t wait to be back out in front of a capacity crowd.

It could very well be Carlton’s third consecutive Melbourne crowd in excess of 90,000, with Curnow expecting both sides to bring the heat to mark the occasion.

And, as he said, Blues-Tigers games in the past has seen previous form count for nothing.

“It’s going to be a big game and a big turn-up on Thursday night,” Curnow told SEN.

“We’ve learnt from the past that no matter where you sit on the ladder, it’s always quite a tough contest. We’ll be ready for a pretty heated game.”