IT’S finals time again and we believe that we’re in a better position than last year in terms of our depth.

The guys are in better nick this time around, we’re not just hanging in there and we’ve nearly got a full list to choose from.

The buzz around the club is as good as it’s been and we believe with the depth that we’ve got, we can get in there and have a real crack.

We know it’s going to be contested-style footy against the Swans in the second elimination final on Saturday night and we match up pretty well in that type of scenario. They do try and run it at certain stages and try to involve Barry Hall.

It’s going to be interesting to see what happens this time around because we have won our last three games against them. But we’re not going in over-confident, those games could have gone either way, we know that it’s going to be a really tough encounter.

It’s going to come down to our tackling pressure because their referred pressure is as good as anybody’s in the competition.

We’ll need to do well in the contested ball around the stoppages and we’ll have to kick straight because, if you’re going to get opportunities, you’ve got to make sure that you take them.

It’ll probably go right down to the wire, so we’re prepared for an arm wrestle all night.

We’ve given the boys a pretty light week on the track. At this time of year you’re not going to get any fitter, so we basically try and keep the guys mentally and physically fresh.

Early in the week we try and take them away from the club and as the week goes on we put some things in place to get the wheels turning to make sure the boys are at their best come Saturday night.

We took them down to the St Kilda sea baths on Monday and they did a session of hot and colds which is not much fun as a player, but it’s the best recovery scenario for the guys.

We trained yesterday, which was pretty short and sharp for a Wednesday session, it’ll normally only go for 40 minutes at this time of year. We’ll train on Friday at the ‘G’ and then it’s all about turning up on the night and putting place the things we’ve spoken about all week.

There’s no doubt that the season is a marathon and when you’re body hasn’t done those three to four pre-seasons it does give up on you at certain stages.

We’re in a good position now because we’ve been able to freshen a few of our younger guys up by sending them home or lightening up their training when they need it.

Mick (Malthouse, head coach) is really good at knowing when to send them back to their families so that they can get a weekend away and when they come back they’re rejuvenated and have that spark about them again.

It takes a toll on the young blokes, there’s no doubt. Even the older guys; to try and keep yourself up for 22 weeks and then the finals is a big ask, so you’ve got to monitor them closely.

Speaking of older guys, Bucks (Nathan Buckley) has been good, he trained well yesterday and this will be his third game back, so he’s starting to get over that sand dune where the legs start to feel fresh again.

I’m sure he’ll do well; he enjoys those big stage opportunities.