THE NOTION the Demons celebrated too hard after their drought-breaking finals qualification last week couldn't be further from the truth, says coach Simon Goodwin.
The Demons' 17-point win over West Coast on Sunday saw the club lock in its first finals appearance since 2006, which resulted in an outpouring of emotion from the players directly after the siren.
But Goodwin said it was business as usual in the hours after the game, despite game great Chris Judd's belief the players went over the top.
"You probably have to be on the inside to really know how we celebrated," Goodwin said on Thursday.
"Clearly the first half hour after the game there was a lot of emotion, and we've got some players who have been involved in this club for a long time, so clearly they were very excited.
"But by the time we settled in and really just relaxed, everything was back to normal – how we're going to recover, how we're going to get prepared, how we're going to keep improving as a footy team and that's been our focus all year."
Jack Viney trained strongly on Thursday and is on track to fully join in with the main group next week.
Goodwin said the co-captain would definitely play in the Demons' first final.
He also said defender Michael Hibberd (hamstring) and forward Tom McDonald (shoulder) would face Greater Western Sydney on Sunday despite injury scares against the Eagles.
Finals might be assured, but there's still plenty for the Demons to prove with this week's opportunity to secure a confidence-boosting win over the finals-bound Giants in front of their home crowd.
Last week's win over the Eagles was the first time this season they've beaten a team ranked inside the top nine at the time of the game.
A win, combined with Collingwood losing to Fremantle, could see them finish as high as fourth and earn a double chance.
A loss could see them fall to seventh or eighth, depending on how the Geelong-Gold Coast game pans out.
It's these permutations that have Goodwin determined to not look beyond Sunday and instead focus solely on what happens against the Giants at the MCG.
"The stakes are high every week – we're playing for a lot this week in front of our home crowd," he said.
"It's the chance to be in a position to go as high as we can on the ladder and give ourselves the opportunity to set ourselves up for the next tournament.
"That's what we're looking to do, really build a team that can play a really good style of footy and be in form at the right time of year."
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