SENIOR Coach Michael Voss is looking for a strong response from his side after a disappointing outing in Round 17.
With a few personnel changes and a big milestone for the captain, it will be a challenge under the roof at Marvel against the Dogs.
Here's what he had to say.
On Mitch McGovern:
"He pulled up a bit sore from the game itself, at the end of the game we didn’t think it would be too much of a problem but he couldn’t get through training. If you can’t get through training, you’re unlikely to get through the game. At this point in time, it’s sitting in the one to two weeks basket."
On Charlie Curnow and Jacob Weitering:
"[Charlie] was certainly impacted last week, no doubt about that, but he was able to train yesterday, he’s right to go.
"[Jacob] was unfortunate with a couple of knocks last week early in the game, same with a couple of our boys, but he seems to have pulled up okay. Early in the week, we weren’t 100 per cent sure but he was able to train yesterday and got through."
On typical July niggles:
"It’s a beautiful month, it’s my birthday in this month, but other than that, it’s not a great month for weather. I think it’s a byproduct of the year, we’ve talked a lot about it not being about one week, it's about the journey we’re on as well and part of that is when things are going for you and when things aren’t, including the weather or if you’re a bit sore.
"What we do know is everyone is in the same category and we’ve got a lot to look forward to, we’ve got a good style of footy we’ve been able to produce over the last little while and we’re really clear on the roles we need to play and we expect effort and intensity every single week we play.
"There’s no excuses here, there’s certainly an expectation of the way we want to play, I’m expecting we’re able to do that tomorrow."
On not looking too far ahead or resting players:
"No bigger picture here. We play eyes in every single week we play. I think the competition is just too good to think otherwise.
"We value every opposition we play against and we’ll let those scenarios play out accordingly when we’re in those moments. We’re about getting our best people out there, who is fit and available and we’ve got to get wins on the board."
On the inclusion of Marc Pittonet:
"We look at every game and we look at what we feel can impact the game. All things considered, we feel like that’s going to be an important part that will help us win the game. The Dogs are a very strong team around the ball and they bring a strong contested game to us, so we’re going to need all our personnel to get the job done.
"If we can have some fresh intensity in there, some fresh energy on the ball, that will be something we’ll do."
On the lessons learnt from the Giants' loss:
"There was a bit that went wrong after the first quarter. I think we’ve got to put that in the ‘lesson’ basket. I back the boys in that we evaluate performance over time but that was pretty disappointing what happened after quarter time.
"We let the scoreboard get a hold of us too much and we’ve got a standard we want to make sure we meet and that we play towards and we didn’t meet that. I’m certainly hoping we get that response and prioritise the right things."
"I think what we’ve prided ourselves on as a team is that no matter what shows up, we can still get the job done and using those external factors to impact performance – that’s not what we’re about.
"We make no excuses about that, we weren’t good enough on that particular day and the Giants were too good.
"We lowered our standards around a few things and we’ve talked about pressure, talked about defence, we haven’t changed that but it’s something we let ourselves down on over the course of that game. We need to make sure we correct that."
On Patrick Cripps' 200th game:
"Sitting in the opposition coaching box and watching him play, I’m sort of glad I’m coaching him on the other side, that’s for sure. Clearly great teams and great clubs are built off the foundation of having great people and when you’ve got a person like 'Crippa' who has been able to come in and lead and be captain of this Club, you know you’re in good hands.
"What our members and supporters can really take pride in is that they’ve got a captain who has great values and is really passionate about our Club and he really wants success for our football club.
"We don’t need him to do anything special except to get his job done, he’ll rise to the occasion if that’s needed at the time."
On Cripps potentially lining up on Marcus Bontempelli:
"It would be a great matchup, the Bont is a critically important player, we do admire from a distance, he’s captain of their team for a reason, he lifts when he needs to.
"We’re going to have to try and influence his performance, I don’t think you take it entirely off the table, he’s shown over the course of the whole year, he’s hit the scoreboard, he comes into the middle and makes a difference, so it’ll be a big job for our midfield and up to our other players to have an influence as well."
