BACK in familiar territory. 

It will be the third time in 12 months that the Blues will take on the Lions at the Gabba come Saturday night’s elimination final. 

Most recently emerging from enemy territory with a win under their belt, Carlton will be looking to implement their brand of footy in front of a Brisbane home crowd once again. 

All-Australian defender Jacob Weitering didn't feature in the Opening Round clash earlier in the year, but he was blown away by his side’s ability to knuckle down and get the job done when it really mattered. 

“The last 90 seconds were incredible to watch, the way we played the scenario and iced the game,” Weitering said. 

“It’s going to be exciting, they got it done in the prelim [in 2023], we got it done at the start of the year and now all that matters is the next contest come Saturday night.”

Weitering admitted both sides have an advantage—while the Lions carry the home-ground advantage, the Blues may have personnel changes that make their style of play unpredictable to the opposition. 

With the potential inclusions of their two key forwards in Harry McKay and Charlie Curnow, Weitering believes the Blues will look like a different side that lined up in the final two rounds of the home-and-away season. 

“There’s an advantage to both sides: we’re going up there trying to do the job for the third time in 12 months,” he said.

“They’ve probably only been able to see what we’ve put out there the past four weeks and all I’ll say is, we have a large group of very motivated individuals that want to perform and do a role for this team.

“The last time we were up there, we didn’t start the best but we ended the way we wanted to, it’s going to be a great challenge for us.” 

Following the review of the St Kilda clash, the Blues worked on a few key areas that they had trained on during their bye week. 

Despite who takes the field in the elimination final, Weitering is confident that they’ll bring their best to the contest. 

“The mission now is to get the job done this week, we’ve reviewed the St Kilda game, and we’ve worked on a few things that we can get better at,” he said. 

“In the last two weeks of the season: the way we played against West Coast and the way we played against St Kilda for the most part was very good. 

“The guys that do come in need to play their role and bring pressure, I’m sure they’ll do that.”