The Magpies are currently sitting second on the AFL ladder with seven wins and Senior Coach Michael Voss is more than aware of their ability.
“They are in good form,” Voss said.
“They lost against Geelong last week but before that they had been in very, very good form so they should come up here fresh and confident.”
While Captain Jonathan Brown continues with his modified training program, Voss isn’t ready to make excuses for his skipper.
“He’ll increase his training and we’ll do that over a period of time but ultimately it comes down to our performance on Saturday and we live and die by that and individuals are no different,” he said.
The training change has come after Brown’s first goal-less game of the season but Voss isn’t concerned.
“Browny is pretty resilient and he’s pretty tough and his exterior is always one that exudes confidence in the people around him and that is why he is our skipper.”
Voss conceded that the Lions have paid dearly in recent weeks for lapses in concentration and he understands the importance of starting strong.
“It’s just these 20 minute patches where we are letting our self down a little bit and we have to claw ourselves back,” Voss said.
“You are one moment away from turning your form around so I don’t subscribe to the method of what else we should be thinking about because all that really concerns me is the first 10 minutes of the game.”
