CAMERON Wood says Carlton holds no fears about playing St Kilda at the unfamiliar venue of Westpac Stadium despite the Saints' determination to use their Wellington experience to their advantage.
The Blues and Saints touched down in New Zealand on Thursday afternoon, each minus key players including Chris Judd, Chris Yarran, Nick Riewoldt, Leigh Montagna and Mav Weller.
It's the third time the Saints will play a game for premiership points at the venue, colloquially known as the "cake tin" because of its round shape and silver walls.
But it will be the first time the Blues have played at the ground, which measures small by AFL standards and usually results in heavily contested, stoppage-filled clashes.
Click here for the Saints and Blues squads
"There's definitely not apprehension, it's more exciting. Most of the guys are just excited to be able to play on Anzac Day," Wood said after the Blues arrived.
"Dean Laidley was at St Kilda a few years ago and he had a game over here so he's passed on a little bit of knowledge, and Andrejs Everitt, who's playing his 100th game this weekend, he's played here a couple of years ago as well.
"They've passed on a little bit but from what I've heard it's a little bit smaller but nothing too drastic."
The Saints, who lost to the Sydney Swans by 16 points in 2013 and the Brisbane Lions by three last year, are looking for their first win in their adopted country.
Defender Shane Savage said they wanted to exploit the Blues' lack of knowledge about the ground's intricacies and get their elusive victory in Wellington.
"We've played on the ground a couple of times now so hopefully we can use that to our advantage and hopefully get on top of them pretty early," Savage said
"It can be windy at times and it's a pretty small ground so it's a real contested type of footy.
"We know Carlton are going to bring four quarters of effort so we really need to bring our A-game.
"The last two years we haven't won a game and last year was pretty close as well."
Despite the reduced star power with the long list of forced omissions, Savage said the game still had plenty to offer local sports fans.
He also backed the young Saints' team, which is likely to feature No.1 draft selection Paddy McCartin for his second AFL game and potentially a second ruck option in Tom Hickey, to measure up well against the Blues.
"There's only one game here a year and it's on Anzac Day as well so it's a good opportunity for fans and people that don't follow AFL to come down and watch a game of footy," he said.
"They're obviously really big players, Judd and Yarran are really crucial for the Blues and Rooey and Joey and Mav are really big losses for us.
"In saying that, I think Richo's picked a pretty good team that can get the job done this week and hopefully we can get the four points."
Savage, who was born in Auckland and moved to Australia when he was two years old, still calls himself a "proud Kiwi" and is anticipating the chance to play in front of his home country for the second time.
After a disappointing performance last year where he gave away a costly free kick and 50m penalty in the loss to the Lions, Savage has even more motivation to stand up on Saturday.
"Last year I wasn't coming into the best of form and had a few brain fades during the game but my form has been pretty good this year and I'm looking forward to having a really good game," he said.
"It's always great to come home and play the game I love at Westpac Stadium.
"It's pretty exciting times and a pretty special day this year, 100 years since the Gallipoli landing so all the players are looking forward to it."
Despite a three-game suspension for striking Essendon's Paul Chapman, Yarran made the trip across to New Zealand with his teammates.
"He's out for a few weeks but it's good to have him around the team and lend us some support," Wood said.
"He's definitely still part of the team even though he's not going to be playing for the next few weeks but he's got a lot of things he can pass on to the younger players in the squad."
