CTV > Collingwood players visit the Shrine in the lead up to ANZAC Day

I DON’T think you'd be human if you weren't a bit excited about playing on Anzac Day.

Everyone likes to play on a big stage, whether it be during finals or for a big game like this, to see how well you can perform. It's always a good challenge.

I played in seven Anzac Day matches for Essendon and Collingwood, and one of them was my second game. At the time, it was unbelievable to actually experience the amount of noise the stadium makes when it's full.

It wasn't like I'd had a similar experience before, and to have played in only one game in front of a crowd of 60,000 against the Kangaroos, to go to a game like that was amazing.

I could actually feel the Southern Stand shaking on the ground, and I was yelling at my teammates that were 30 metres away. I've still got a memory of trying to yell at them and they couldn't hear me. It was just so loud. It was incredible.

Before the game when you're standing there and it's silent, and the Last Post is playing, it's really one of those things that make the hair stand up on the back of your neck. It got me really excited to play, because it's an honour to be a part of a game that honours the Anzacs.

Both Mick and Sheeds are history buffs, and they showed some war stuff in the lead-up to the game. I think the younger people of today, myself included, haven't got the upbringing of the older generations, with them being a lot closer to the wars with their grandparents and parents usually being involved in the military.

We're a bit more secluded from that type of thing, so the young players don't really know what it's all for. Mick asked the young players the other day, and there were a lot of answers and laughs about what it's all about.

So, we had a bit of an education, and I think that helps for the players to understand why it's such a big day and why it's an honour to be playing.

We took the players to the Shrine of Remembrance on Tuesday for them to get a bit of an education. They got a lot out of that trip, and they got to see about the history of the day.

As for the game itself – when looking at Essendon, you see they're a really fast team and they're playing exciting football. They've scored a lot of points, so we have to make sure we don't go into those lapses we've had in the past few weeks.

If you switch off, teams can kick five goals in five minutes, as we saw in the Bulldogs game on the weekend.

We're not too concerned about their pace, even though Josh Fraser said the players are a bit tired. We've still got a fair bit of pace in our side as well, and if they haven't got the ball, they can't run away from us.

If we play the game on our terms, then it won't become an open shoot-out anyway.

The boys trained well this week. They were very lively, up and about, and after two six-day breaks, it was good to see the boys that way especially after two losses.

We rested a few players from training on Tuesday because we've had two six-day breaks in a row, and a lot of the older players needed a rest. We've got to make sure our players are right to go on Friday.

You can expect blokes like Anthony Rocca, Alan Didak and Dane Swan to play. It would be nice to have Scott Burns – our captain out there leading from the front.

But we've got some other good leaders now that have stood up throughout the pre-season, and I'm sure we can hold the front.

Our vice-captain in Josh Fraser played the best game he's played in a while last week. He took a few good marks, ran with the flight of the ball, and kicked a few goals as well. He was really being influential in the stoppages too.

If we can keep him up and running for the rest of the year, it's going to be a major advantage for us.