TIME TO capitalise.
AFL Senior Coach Michael Voss is confident the Blues are on the right track but need to take hold of their opportunities and execute good footy for longer.
With a relatively even match-up in Melbourne, Voss is sure that the contest will be physical and hotly contested.
Here's what he had to say.
On debriefing the Collingwood clash:
"We debriefed well. It felt like we fell short in a couple of areas, so it all comes down to really tight margins, certainly when you’re playing against quality opposition.
"It often comes down to the little things, the marginal moments and do they go your way or don’t they? We debriefed what those moments were and what we thought went really well throughout the game because that can’t be ignored. We have to put focus on what we have done really well, but we also can’t ignore the things we have to get better at and what are the small moments we have to get after that could be a difference in those particular moments."
On defensive progression:
"From where it was a month ago to where it is now, we’ve made some of those progressions. Clearly, we’d already looked at the trend and that’s why we felt like we needed to address that and we’re moving the needle, it’s just the needle isn’t as far as it needs to go.
"I don’t think it sits on one particular unit. We talk about the defensive system as a collective, that’s what we talk about: it’s an 18-man unit that we need. Whether that’s forwards or defenders, that’s what we feel like we get our biggest shift from.
"We’ve tried to get after that. That’s not just about how the ball moves from one end to the other. That’s got to be in shape, but it’s about how we defend our stoppages when we need to, how we outnumber at the second contest, so there are a few things to get after.
"We also appreciate that we might not be able to achieve all those things all at once, so that’s why we need to continue to show that progression."
On returning players being match fit:
"I think what our high-performance team, our environment and our training provide is that they’re ready to go. Anyone we put out there, we feel like they’ve done enough of the work and the planning is very precise and we’re able to expose them to a game-like environment that gets them ready.
"If we feel they’re ready to go for the AFL, it’s because we feel like they’ve got adequate preparation to get out there and get the job done."
On their approach to the Melbourne defence:
"Probably having first and foremost the same attitude the other way. That’s the game that they provide for you: you have to work your way through that, you have to be patient and also seek your opportunities when you need to.
"Clearly, their defensive structures are very strong. They’ve shown that not just over the short term, but over a long period of time. I think what I admire about Melbourne is their discipline to get their role done.
"They know who they are, what they bring and they stay true to it. For us, we need to make sure we understand that and that’s the environment we’re walking into but we’ve got to bring a similar approach and take our opportunities to get them."
On the contest battle:
"Mentally we have to be prepared for a really tight game: that’s the way their games have panned out, but we don’t expect anything. We have to earn the right to go out there and play the way we want to play and Melbourne provides some real constraints to that but there are certain things we need to make sure we provide.
"We fell short on some of those last week, we lost some ascendency around the ball last week. When you look at Melbourne’s strengths, they’ve got a real strength around that part of the game with Gawn, Petracca, Oliver and all the names that sit around that part of the ground.
"It will be a pretty good contest around there, they’ve got some big bulls around there and so do we, so it’ll be a strong contest."
On Charlie Curnow and Melbourne's defenders:
"Every week, we spend time on how the opposition might play. What are the nuances they provide that are slightly different to another team? We have to give that some attention.
"I think the strength is in our collective. I think [Charlie] buys into that extremely well. I’ve been nothing but impressed with how he’s approached that and he knows as well as anyone that our success is off the back of being able to get our forward line cohesion and connection right.
On the plan moving forward:
"It’s probably about executing for longer. We’re really confident in the way that we play, really confident in the method that we bring and certainly, the belief that has been built over a period of time shows that we can compete against some really good sides . . . not just compete, but we’ve been doing pretty well.
"We also understand there’s a few things to get after and we want to be able to execute for a little bit longer."
