They may have been less than convincing in the past fortnight but Collingwood are still oozing confidence ahead of their Qualifying Final against the Western Bulldogs.
The minor premiers battled to a three-point win over the Adelaide Crows in Round 21 and fell to the Hawks last weekend by the same margin, but that hasn't dampened the positive vibe amongst the group.
"We’re very confident. We finished on top for a reason," gun on-baller Dane Swan said before training on Friday.
"The last couple of weeks, we certainly didn’t go out there to take our foot off the pedal, but subconsciously it probably is at the back of your head a bit that we’ve got finals in two weeks," he said.
“But we’re all ready to go."
Swan copped flak in some quarters for his output in last year's finals but oninously for the Bulldogs, he says he's never felt better, courtesy of a training load designed for him to peak at the business end of the year.
“I probably feel the best I have in six to eight weeks," he said.
“I haven’t got any problems at all this year, so I’ve got no excuses not to perform in a final.”
The interest that Collingwood generates, exemplified by a 16-page spread in a Melbourne newspaper last week, is unsurpassed in Australian sporting circles. But Swan said, despite growing expectation for a first flag since 1991, that the players were relatively unfazed by the hype.
"The weight of expectation from thousands of Collingwood supporters happens every week so we're used to it now."
"We always play in front of big crowds and playing at Collingwood there's always huge pressure to perform week in, week out, with all the media focus on us."
Alan Didak, Ben Johnson and Leigh Brown all return for the Pies. Simon Prestigiacomo, who amazingly spent four days having blood drained from his bruised quad, will sit out another week.