Josh Kennedy: ‘We are going to the MCG to play in a grand final’

THE atmosphere at all of our games at Optus Stadium has been amazing, but the two finals have been at another level.

The noise around the ground last week against Melbourne was deafening and it certainly helped get us going.

After beating Melbourne in the preliminary final we will be going to the MCG next Saturday to play in the grand final. That’s obviously pretty exciting and we’re really looking for to it.

When you start pre-season training, putting in the hard yards during the summer, it’s all about doing whatever you can to give you a shot at success in the season.

That happens across all 18 clubs, but only a couple get the chance to capitalise on that work.

While it’s clearly the biggest game of the year, we’ll stick to our usual travelling routine.

We’ll catch a Virgin flight at the normal time, stay at the same place, eat the same meals.

The only thing that will change will be our training time on Friday because everything will need to fit around the grand final parade.

For a lot of the players, we have experienced all of this before back in 2015, so that will help us to understand a bit about what’s required in the lead up. For those who weren’t there in 2015, they will be able to lean on some of the senior guys.

While there are a lot of peripheral issues going on, our job will be to focus on the preparation and performance for the game.

All the other things that happen around it will be arranged by staff at the club.

We are looking forward to enjoying everything that’s associated with the game and our fans should do likewise. They have been extraordinary this year, turning out in such big numbers.

At the MCG it will be a little different, but I expect a lot of our fans will get across there and support as strongly as ever.

We look forward to seeing a sea of royal blue interspersed with the black and white of the Collingwood fans next Saturday afternoon.