INDIVIDUALLY, you'd have to say that there are some vivid memories of Collingwood-Carlton clashes over the years.

Carlton won a fair few premierships that were always touch-and-go, and the Wayne Harmes incident where he kept the ball in, of course, rings a bell.

There's a lot of history there, and you couldn't not know about those games because they were all the ones that were on TV.

It will be a great game this Saturday. They always are, aren't they?

There's a fair bit of history between the two sides. For some reason, the navy blue and black and white don't mix on game days.

Through the 1980s the two sides always had great tussles and it's carried on into this decade. It's something where the tradition has just kept going.

There should be another good crowd there, as we expect it to be a sunny day.

Before the match we don't even speak about the rivalry. We just treat them as another opposition, and while we know there will be a decent crowd there, it shouldn't change the way we play the game.

We just make sure we do the recovery this week, which is probably the most important part, and then during the main session we make sure we all understand how Carlton play, and we'll go in and prepare.

Carlton is a very active, high-scoring team. Their intensity and their running are outstanding, and they do get scored against, but they believe they can kick a winning score, week in, week out.

They've shown some really good football over the first six rounds.

Some of their young kids, like Marc Murphy, are really coming on, and Heath Scotland has had an impressive 2007 season so far.

Brendan Fevola is always a concern. He's a quality player, and he averages about four goals a week. He's a major concern, but you have just got to make sure you put the pressure on in the midfield.

Unfortunately for us, James Clement will miss a few. I'm not sure what the longevity of his injury is, but he'll miss this week anyway. It's a big loss, as he has a vast amount of experience, he's a quality player, can play small and tall, and he's a leader down in defence.

Hopefully, our young kids have started to take on a bit of responsibility, and will start to have the experience to stand up there on their own.

His absence will give an opportunity for someone else, as he normally plays on the quality forward. We'll need someone to take up that slack.

Players like Nick Maxwell, who has been great his year and has been a great attribute for the 2007 season, will be no doubt given a chance to stand up as leaders this week.

We haven't picked the side yet, but Brodie Holland has an opportunity to put his hand up now he is available again after suspension.

Honestly, he's been banging at the bit and dying to play, but when you're reported, you can't play anywhere. He's done all the training, and now he has to put all that training aside and see how his match fitness goes.

He's just a competitor. He pushes his body to that next degree that not many people can, and that's his strength. He really gets the best out of his body each game.

As we do later in the week, Alan Didak will be given tests to see if he'll come up. Hopefully he will, but we'll have to wait and see on that one.

He's a class player, and it was basically his first game back on Anzac Day, so it's a tough ask when you miss a bit of footy to come up every week after such a long lay-off.

Last week, we wouldn't say our win over Adelaide was against the odds, because we always thought we could compete and we play well over there, but we did know it was going to be a really hard job to win the game.

We did everything that we planned, and the Crows were under pressure all night.

The travel factor from Adelaide isn't an issue. It's only an hour flight, and in peak hour traffic, it can sometimes take you that long to get to the MCG.

The players who have really impressed me lately start with Harry O'Brien. He's been playing on talls, and you have to respect his efforts. Alan Toovey has done a role, week in, week out, and is a positive from our new kids coming in.

It's really been a team effort over the past three weeks. Everybody has put their two bob in and made sure that we don't rely on too few to get the job done.

It will be a competitive game this week; hopefully both teams compete well. It's going to be a great day.

But, I'm hoping the black and white jumper wins on the day.