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7:01:37 PM Wed 5 June, 2002 - lions.com.au

Don’t worry about inspirational Lions skipper Michael Voss suffering any complacency in the approach to Sunday’s clash with the young St Kilda side at the Gabba. While Voss would never have been complacent about anything in his life, the Saints always represent a special occasion for him on the football calendar.

His younger brother Brett is in his second year in enemy colours this season and there is no way his big brother will tolerate a loss. “I’ve got to say I do (look forward to this game),” Michael said. “It’s probably even more of a reason why you want to win because you don’t want to give him (Brett) bragging rights for the next 12 months, or the next time you play them at least anyway. “From that point of view you really want to win. “While you don’t cross each other all that much, you always obviously hope he goes well, but at the same time there’s still a little thing in the back of your mind that you think ‘it would be good to win this one’.”

Brett played 34 games in five seasons with the Lions, before moving to Moorabbin in search of greater opportunities. He has certainly found them, being on the verge of matching his tally of Lions games already with his new club. Michael admitted he has followed St Kilda’s form a touch more closely than other rivals since Brett’s departure. “I guess I’ve been pretty mindful of it because of the fact my brother is there,” he said. “I haven’t seen a lot of their games but they have gone through a rough patch in terms of personnel they’ve had on the field. Now they’re starting to some of their personnel back they’re putting in better performances. “It’s important to have your leaders out on the field and they’re missing a large majority of those leaders. You take that out of any side in the AFL and they’re going to struggle. “They had a period where they really toughed it out, and to their credit, they’ve really held it together strong and come out of it really positive. Now they’ve got some senior and more experienced guys coming back, they’re really starting to put in the hard yards.

“Anyone who thinks it’s going to be a walk-up start for us on Sunday is kidding themselves.”

Nonetheless, the fact that the Saints haven’t beaten the Lions for five years would make a visitors’ win something of a slap in the face for the table-topping home side. “Absolutely, and we should view it like that,” Voss said. “They’re coming to the Gabba and their form’s been indifferent partly because of the reasons I’ve outlined, but certainly if you lose this one you can’t offer any excuses. It should be a winnable game for us at this particular stage of the season.”

Voss was equal with Daniel Bradshaw as best-on-ground in last year’s corresponding clash, but was forced to spend the crucial dying stages of last week’s clash with Adelaide in the forward pocket after cramps curtailed his running ability. He allayed any fears that there might be a problem with his legs, describing it as a “one-off”, despite suffering similar problems earlier in the year. “I cramped on the weekend, but the previous times I had it a few weeks ago was because I was sick,” he said. “I had been crook for the best part of 10 days, so it affected two of the games I actually played. The weekend was a bit of a mystery to me, maybe I just ran too far! “It is unusual for me because I rarely cramp. It was just one of those games that was pretty willing, had plenty of running, and was on a bigger ground, and then you could throw flying and a six day break into the mix. You can try and drink as much as you like, but sometimes you cramp and sometimes you don’t. “It is frustrating when you’ve got 4-5 minutes to go at the end of game which is in the balance and you’re pretty much nearly gone because you’re cramping. That’s something we don’t want to happen every week, that’s for sure.”

The Lions’ rivals ability to beat them in the clearances at bounces and around the packs was noticeable against Collingwood in Round 8 and Adelaide last week, and the heat has focused squarely on the midfield group. The centre clearances were of particular concern to the Lions last week, especially in the last quarter, and Voss said that naturally the midfield group would be looking to rectify the situation. “Every single week we look at how we can get a little bit better and our set-ups and what have you,” he said. “There’s a few things we probably have to go over. I’ll go over last week’s tape with Lamby (assistant coach Craig Lambert) and the rest of the guys and see the areas we can improve. It is a critical part of the game, and getting set up right and getting your hands on the ball and getting forward as opposed to them doing likewise is pretty important.

“I think you’ve also got to look at the quality of the ball that comes out of there too. If it’s a clean breakaway, that’s the worst thing for a defender to happen. If they’re still getting the clearances but it’s coming out sloppily and kicking in the air and what have you, I don’t think there’s that much of an advantage. We just have to maintain how much quality ball comes out of those areas.” Voss felt the Lions were on top in the clearances early last week, but gave credit to Adelaide for the way they turned the situation around.

“They will have been looking at us closely, but I wouldn’t have thought Adelaide would have gone too far away from what they wanted to do on the weekend either,” he said. “They would have had a back-up plan for when we were getting the ball out of the centre, probably in the first quarter and a half. They adjusted and put in a defensive zone and what have you, and that started to work a little bit better for them.

“Maybe we just didn’t concentrate enough on stopping them doing what they do well.”

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