AN OPPORTUNITY.

With eyes of the entire football world on South Australia this weekend, Carlton AFL Senior Coach Michael Voss is looking for his side to kickstart its season when it takes on West Coast tomorrow.

From the group's key focus for the week to providing "energy" for a big Blues contingent in Adelaide, this is what Voss had to say.

On getting away for Gather Round:

“It’s being able to get over here and embrace the footy culture. It’s a celebration of football and it takes you off broadway a bit, gets you over here as a team. You’re going to come across a few different people at the same time - we’re looking forward to the game. We know the task we’ve got.”

On the support of the Carlton army, both SA-based and travelling:

“Amazing. They’ve been incredible, there’s something like 4,000 that have been able to come over. We always feel incredibly well-supported wherever we go. This is a nice, pleasant surprise, to know that you’ve got in excess of 2,000 people here to watch a very light session.”

On the football world’s support for Harry McKay:

“I’ve only really known that as a football industry. When people find their challenges, we’ve got a wonderful way to support where we can. I’m really proud of Harry, and I’m really proud of our Club for the way we’ve stood strong in behind him and given him the space to work through a few things. He’s in a good place.

“I said when you see his name on the team sheet he’ll be ready to go: he’s in a good spot, feels like he’s ready to go and can’t wait to get out there.”

On what he’ll bring:

“He’s an important member of our team, but more importantly for us we see him in the space he’s in now - that’s all we ever want. The fact he gets to come out and play football and do the thing that he loves is a reward.

“He wants to get on with business and doesn’t want too much fuss about it, although he acknowledges there’s going to be some interest in it.”

On commentary around it:

“It’s continual education and awareness. There are some really disappointing things that can be said that lack any understanding whatsoever. The more we can understand it and get it educated, the better off we’ll all be - because people can then come forward more if they’re struggling themselves and can speak openly about it, knowing they’ll get the support they need.”

On the overarching message for this week:

“A lot of it has been about sticking to what we know. That’s what we’ve reinforced. We’ve had a few extra days this week to absorb last week, where we’re at and what we want to take moving forward.

“The players have been fantastic, our leaders have led strongly throughout the week. We’re taking the approach that it’s an opportunity for us to be able to get away together, play against a side at Adelaide and get a win.”

On what’s been falling short:

“The reality is over four quarters, the scoreboard isn’t ticking over the way we want. You can overemphasise that a bit, clearly it’s critically important. There’s a process we like to follow, and at times we haven’t followed that how we’d like.

“It requires us to do it for 120 minutes, and the reality is we haven’t done that. We’re still trying to find what that version looks like and we’ll have continual discussions to get the best out of ourselves.”

On addressing second halves:

“It’s not something you leave alone, it becomes a conversation piece without ignoring the other things that are going well in your game. Our game will always be built off how we want to defend, that’s the most important part - because it puts you in great positions on the ground.”

On the overall make-up of the team:

“There’s always selection pressure on individuals. You’ve got a group doing very well and in some great form, but also acknowledge we don’t have the 22 in the same amount of form. There are pieces that need to be able to move.

“Being able to have Harry and Charlie back in the same side helps us, having them in the form we want is the next part. That’s up to us to get the supply to give them that chance.”

On Charlie Curnow’s current form:

“You’ve got some money in the bank, if you want to call it that. If you miss a pre-season, given all the other pre-seasons, he’s hardly missed a beat for three years since I’ve been here. He’s played almost every game bar the latter part of last year and hardly missed a training session. He looks pretty good.

“He doesn’t need a lot to come to hand, but like all of us, we’d love a little bit of continuity. We’d love a run at that. He’s had a month under his belt now, the team has changed a bit more than we’d like in that front half, so we’d like to settle that down and give the opportunity for these players to find the form they want.”

On preparing for warm conditions:

“I’ll bring my zinc in case I end up on the bench and I’m guessing the players will as well. The thing we like to pride ourselves on is being able to perform under any conditions, any club would want to say that. They’re the same cards the opposition has been dealt, we have to find our way through that.”

On responding after an 0-4 start:

“The bigger picture says there’s urgency in it, no doubt. The temptation is to go into that space, but our performance is about what’s in front of us. If you go any further than that, you can find yourselves in a bit of trouble.

“There’s a style of footy we want to bring, and we want to bring energy to it. You’ve seen the excitement around Gather Round, our supporters have been able to hit the road, and we want to play a similar brand of football that brings excitement and connects us to our fans and bring a bit of energy to the stadium.”

On Tim Kelly’s absence for West Coast:

“Roles that we want hand out [might be different]. It causes us to rethink a couple of match-ups, but it certainly doesn’t change the way we want to play.”

On what debutant Matthew Carroll will provide:

“A bit of bounce from half-back. His development has been really extraordinary over the last 12 months, to be fair. He hardly did a training session in his first 12 months, his body wasn’t in a position to do so. He had to learn how to be a professional and had to go to work on his body, work on what being a professional was all about.

“Since he’s come back and through pre-season, he’s done nothing except impress. He’s lively, he’s tough, he puts his head over it and he loves to be able to bounce off half-back, run with the ball and use it. We’re hoping we get all that tomorrow. He won’t be the sub! I can confirm that, I tend to not like throwing first-gamers out there as sub - we’ll give him his shot.”

On how the debut news was announced:

“I’d love to claim I was the guy that came up with the concept, but I was merely the one executing it. ‘Jeff’ fell asleep in one of my first meetings that we had: first-year players come in and they’re under a bit of stress and pressure and getting the schedules right.

“He fell asleep in one of my meetings and as such got the nickname from ‘wake up Jeff’. That has stuck, and he seems to actually like it… I’d rather he doesn’t, but he tends to think it’s an okay nickname!”