CHASING excellence, chasing high performance.

Joining Gerard Whateley for a 20-minute chat about pre-season so far, Harry McKay went in depth about what is defining the Blues' summer so far, including how the forward line is shaping up, the balance in high performance and the advancements he's seeking in his own game.

Speaking on SEN, this is what he had to say.

On match simulation on Monday:

“It was very strange. It was forecast to be 40-plus so we brought everything forward for the day - meetings and training - to beat the heat.

“It was actually very cool: it was raining, there was thunder and rain, we had everything except extreme heat. Once we finished it started to get pretty hot, but the boys trained well. It was a very solid session, the weather gods looked after us a little bit.”

On 18 clubs training to high levels in January:

“It’s a really good question. There’s a fine line, the narrative is sometimes in pre-season you don’t want to get injured and the risk attached with training at a high level. But if you don’t train at high intensity, you’re so unready for games that your risk of injury goes up so much more when games start. You have to be training at a really high level.

“We’re all very competitive so when the ball is bounced in match sim, the competitive juices come out, but you have to be towing that line to be ready to perform when games come around but also harden your body and get resilience. High performance is always on a knife’s edge around being in the best shape of your life versus going after that line, sometimes that can get blurred.

“It’s really important at this time of year to train at a really high intensity.”

On setting those standards in training:

“You’re competing at a really high level with things as an individual that you want to work on in your game that you have front of mind, there’s a team focus that we’ve got. As a leader and as a team, you think you want to set the standard with the intensity and how we compete.

“There’s always common sense around looking after your teammate: if someone is coming back with the flight, you’re not going to put them in hospital or come over the top late or anything like that. You’re definitely on.

“There’s an element of setting the standard for the younger guys of this is how we train and this is how we perform, and then also the ability for your own body to get used to getting hits again and get that load in. There’s also the craft element when games start in 3-4 weeks, you need to be on in terms of your craft and your ability to capitalise on the game.”

On how match simulation is tracking:

“It’s always funny - we’ve done a few weeks of match sim now, but sometimes in the first one you don’t get a kick and you walk away wondering ‘gee, can I still play footy?’. You get a fair gauge of where you sit.

“When you’ve been around for a while, it’s the little craft nuances closer to games that you dial in on a bit more. As games approach, you focus on those a bit more. Every year, the standards of the young boys and the draftees coming in, the gap between your quote-unquote best 22 and the rest gets so much tighter every year.

“It’s a real credit to the young boys and the way they came back, the draftees with their approach and their fitness levels and professionalism from day dot.”

On which youngster has impressed:

“Jagga Smith is pretty impressive as a kid. He’s the one everyone will go to. As a high pick you know he can play footy, but the way he has approached training, he’s got time for everybody, wants to learn and get better which I love and in terms of a footballer, he’s got some serious talent.

“The way he moves and covers the ground, he’s a fierce competitor. At this stage, everyone is excited about what he might bring, but also in the same breath he’s a first-year player and it doesn’t matter how well you train, there’s ups and downs and things to learn and work on throughout your first few years.

“I’m not putting too much pressure on Jagga, but he’s very exciting so far.”

On Zac Williams’ permanent move to the forward line:

“Zaccy has been training all summer as a forward. He came down in 2024 and played as a forward and had some really good games down there, he’s been an awesome addition to our group.

“He’s got a lot of talent around his ball use and ability to win it, but it’s some of the unheralded stuff up forward in terms of patterns and defensive stuff, being an awesome teammate and putting in blocks.

“I can’t speak highly enough of how Zaccy has been going about it, he’s added a really good spark to the group. Now that games are coming up, I’m really excited to see what he can do after a full pre-season.”

On how the rest of the forward line is tracking:

“Brodie Kemp has been playing as a key, which has been awesome. Late last year he came forward and had some really solid games, and over the pre-season he’s trained fully as a forward.

“I’m really enjoying working with ‘Kempy’. He’s very selfless and team-first, and the flexibility he gives us as a team is awesome. He’s had a strong pre-season.

“I always like pumping up my forwards: Jesse Motlop has been awesome, Orazio Fantasia has been moving really well, Corey Durdin, Ashton Moir has had a really good block. Our forwards have had really good pre-seasons which is great, and the ability to back up and train has led to consistent summers.”

On continuing his ruck relief role:

“That was a new addition last year and something I really enjoyed doing. There are obviously little breakdown sessions where you do a bit of ruck craft, ‘Kreuz’ comes in and works with us.

“Now that match sim has come around the corner in the last few weeks, getting some organic exposure to it has been really good. The coaches are great and with ‘Pitto’, ‘TDK’, ‘Crippa’ - working through it as a group and finding ways to get little hits here and there has been fun.

“It’s something we’ve been working on over the summer. I’m not sure what it’ll look like when games start, but it’s been something we’ve been chipping away at.”

On refining his goalkicking craft:

“It’s still been a huge focus of my individual summer. Goalkicking is not something you ever master and it’s always something you can get better at.

“This time last year, I made some quite significant changes and it’s still something I’ll be doubling down on to make more of a habit. Until I finish [my career], it’s something I’ll keep having a focus and something to put time into. It’s important like any skill or craft element, reflecting on what you did well with it and what you can get better at, plus a couple of focus points over the pre-season to get better at.

“It was nice to get some transfer last year, but I still think there’s room to grow and be more consistent.”

On how ‘confident’ he is with his routine:

“Confidence is a funny word, I like to think of the competence of it.

“The ability to execute the skill, I feel the best I have - a lot of work has gone into a routine and a technique that gives me the best chance to execute. In terms of that, absolutely.

“Confidence ebbs and flows, but I think if you’re competent with the consistency of your routine and approach, that gives you the best chance to kick it through the big sticks.”

On how team is chasing consistency after the events of 2024:

“From a whole Club and football department, when the players and coaches and HP staff go away and look at the nuts and bolts of the season closer than us players, they work on two or three things we need to get better at, two or three things we did really well to double down on. In that period, I know the coaches looked at the first two thirds of the year compared to the last third, what the key things are in our game to look at and go after.

“As much as it was disappointing in the last six or so weeks, when we started back in pre-season the messaging was we’re not chasing a million things. After Round 19, we were second on the ladder and there was plenty of good we were doing, so it was closing that gap and being more consistent with what we were doing and closing out games, to finish the season in a stronger spot.

“There’s been little adjustments game-plan wise and holistically having more players available, we had key injuries at key times which isn’t ideal. We know that if we can have the majority of our players healthy and a few tweaks game-plan wise, we’ll be in a good spot. Nothing is guaranteed, 17 other teams are really optimistic about what they’re doing but we feel really confident that if we can tidy up a couple of things things and bring our best with a consistent group, we’ll be up there.”

On the changes to high performance:

“As a player, I always think it’s your obligation to get yourself right to train and play week in and week out. That’s what you’re paid to do. There are some bigger factors around the HP team and what training sessions look like, it’s a relationship which both parties have accountability for.

“We’ve had a bit of a change in personnel around the HP team, but it hasn’t been a huge reinventing of the wheel and throwing out everything we used to do. It’s very similar, but every HP manager has some slight tweaks and a few little different philosophies.

“I think it was a credit to the playing group coming back in really good condition - as I said, ultimately I think the onus is on the player, supported by the group around us. Everyone came back in really good condition and there’s been some positive personnel change and a few little tweaks, but ultimately it comes down to the players and a little bit of luck.

“I know we’ve spoken about whether there’s too much emphasis on training too hard in pre-season, but sometimes you get unlucky and a lot of the injuries last year - not to talk too much about last year - was a bit of bad luck that you get from playing an extremely combative game. I think it’s a perfect mix that you need the ownership from players to prepare really well because that’s important, a little bit of off-field stuff with personnel and making sure that’s connecting well, and then a little bit of luck from the footy and injury gods.”

On greater perspective with more time in football:

“I think when you’re younger, you think you’re going to have a million opportunities to win a flag and to win multiple Grand Finals. As you get older, you realise nothing is actually guaranteed and nothing is promised - you don’t get given the chance to win a Grand Final and they’re hard to come by.

“That awareness definitely grows as you get older and you’ve been in the game for a while. As a group, we’re right in the window now and anything can happen for as long as you’re playing. I don’t think there’s a sense of rushing that we need to win the Grand Final this year, but there’s obviously an understanding that they’re hard to win as you get older, that window gets smaller. All you can do is focus on the day and control what you can control, and enjoy the journey. The group is in a good spot.”