> Watch Dale Thomas, Shane O'Bree and Tarkyn Lockyer address the media on MondayCOLLINGWOOD forward Tarkyn Lockyer says he is confident his side can go on to win the premiership after Saturday night's dramatic last-gasp victory over Adelaide.
Speaking two days after the Magpies’ inspiring win, Lockyer said he has the belief that his team can take on all comers, including Geelong, their opponents in this Saturday's preliminary final.
“We’re confident we can beat anyone. We are confident we can beat Geelong. They are a wonderful team and have proven that over the last couple of years,” Lockyer said.
“They’ve certainly been one of, if not the best side in the competition, so we certainly know the challenge in front of us is quite big because they are such a great team. In the same breath, if we play our footy and play to the best of our potential, we are quite confident we can get over the line.”
Jack Anthony’s last-minute goal on Saturday night prompted a deafening roar from the Collingwood crowd, but Lockyer said there was no chance the Magpies would get carried away with the win.
“I suppose the biggest amount of euphoria and expectation comes from outside the footy club,” he said.
“(It's) the same as over the past fortnight when we’ve had our losses - you move on pretty quickly and stick to the task at hand, which is not worrying about what happened on the weekend but looking forward to this weekend and putting in place what we need to do against Geelong.
“As pleased as we are with the results and the effort that went in, certainly after today you do your review, and then your focus turns solely to Geelong next week.”
The Magpies have a relatively good record against Geelong in recent years. They were the only team to knock off the Cats in the home and away season last year, and came within five points of defeating them in the 2007 preliminary final.
“I don’t know how many different personnel there are, but there would be quite a substantial lot. I’m not sure how much confidence you can drag from a win like that (in 2008),” Lockyer said.
“They beat us pretty soundly in the NAB Cup final and earlier on in the year, so it didn’t count for too much then. If we play to our style of footy and play it well, we are pretty confident we can beat anyone."
